Chapter One

Chapter one

The world turned and turned backwards but I stay grounded in my place. I don’t move except for the thoughtless turning of my pedals, round and round and round. It gives me a strange sense of control. As long as I keep cycling, there is nothing for me to lose control of. I shake my head and let go of my peculiar daydreams. The trees that surround me make a beautiful arch in the bright colours of autumn. The brown leaves had already fallen down, and they said a crisping hello every time I reached and passed one. But the hello’s grew louder and indicated that I wasn’t alone anymore. I turned my head to see another cyclist behind me. How strange, I thought, the people here didn’t seem to share my love for cycling. In the few weeks that I’ve lived here, not once did I meet someone other than those in cars on my way from school.

‘Hey!’ A warm voice greeted me from behind. The boy, or overly friendly American as I called him in my head, seemed to think we were having a tea party and it was acceptable to talk to strangers who just wanted to be left the f**k alone. I turned to greet something in a tone that said go away, when I recognised him. ‘Hi!’ I was surprised to see a familiar face. I had seen him around in school before. ‘You’re in my math class right? I didn’t know you cycled to school?’ I ended my sentence with a question mark, wanting him to explain. ‘I don’t actually, but my car is in the garage. I figured this was a lot faster than walking.’ ‘Yeah…’ An awkward silence fell, which gave me the opportunity to study him. He was quite tall and still a bit skinny, but I could see defined muscles starting to form. He had dark brown hair, cut pretty short. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I imagined them to be a warm brown colour, matching the slight natural tan he had. ‘So uhm… what do you think of Glenstown?’ ‘Oh! It’s…’ I searched for a matching word ‘Small. The people are very friendly’ Friendly was a big understatement. A simple trip to the supermarket usually cost me more than an hour, as I kept getting stopped by people on the street, who wanted to meet the ‘new girl’. OFA gave me an earthshattering grin ‘Yeah they can be like that. My trick is to wear headphones, only the really stubborn ones talk to you after that.’ I gasped. ‘You mean it doesn’t stop in time? I thought it was just because I was new.’  I would never be able to make a simple short trip in my life anymore.  He laughed at my expression. His eyes were green with a very dark ring around them.  ‘Nope. Be prepared for a life inside. Or only go outside after 8. No wait don’t go outside after dark!’ Woah, mister protective, calm down. ‘Okay…’ OFA caught up on my confusion and sighed. He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘I am Adam by the way.’ He said suddenly. ‘I’m Emily.’ ‘When did you move here?’ Was Adam going to follow me all the way home? That was another 20 minutes or so. ‘About three weeks ago. We wanted to be able to settle in before the schoolyear began. ‘ I’d been going to Glenstown High for two weeks now. The school was a lot different than what I was used to. So much more formal. ‘That makes sense. Do you have any siblings?’ He asked. ‘No, just me. I moved here with my dad, but he is away for is job most of the time.’ Adam frowned. ‘So you’re alone in your house? Don’t you get lonely?’ I shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. PlusI have a cat, so you know…’ Great. Show the cute boy you’re a crazy cat lady. Way to go Emily.  Adam gasped dramatically and held a hand on his heart. ‘You’re a cat person?! Kill me now, won’t you? This is unacceptable.’ I laughed. ‘I take it you’re a dog person?’ ‘I sure as hell am! I must be, after three dogs.’ ‘Three dogs? Your house must be crazy full!’ Adam started a story about his three sisters who left all their stuff lying around. It amazed me how easy he was to get along with. He was very easy on the eye as well, with a strong jawline and those piercing green eyes. I suddenly wondered what the hell was happening. Adam had been cycling next to me for a while now, and I had no idea where he lived. This road leaded nearly straight to my home, and there weren’t a lot of exits. Unless he had to take one of them, which I doubted, he was going to be here for another while. It dawned on me that it was starting to get darker, and we were completely alone in the woods. I laughed offbeat to Adam’s joke. I looked to the side of the trees. Would it be rude to cycle ahead of him? Yes, yes it would. I was actually having fun with this boy, a rarity, but me thoughts made me feel uncomfortable. Did I have anything to fear from Adam? My gut told me not to, but it had been wrong before. Adam sensed my discomfort and dragged a hand through his hair again, ruffling it. ‘So where do you live?’ I gave him a vague direction. ‘If you follow this road eventually you practically end up there.’ ‘Ah I see. I live here after the exit’. In my head I felt relieved, but my heart betrayed me by sinking in my stomach. I didn’t actually want to say goodbye just yet. ‘Oh okay.’ Thoughtlessly we crossed the road to follow the bike lane on the other side. I looked at him. ‘Uhm so I guess I’ll see you to… ‘ But before I could finish my sentence I felt the blunt force hit me in the back. Everything went black after that.