Dusk Shadows

First little bit of a new story.

Jennifer slammed the door behind her. It was unfair that her mother could decide whether or not she went here or there and what time she had to be home and when she could leave. She wanted to live her own life and not have someone live it for her. She threw herself across her bed and buried her head in her pillow.

As soon as she closed her eyes, her phone vibrated on the nightstand beside her bed. The screen glowed in the dark room and she had to avert her eyes so they could adjust.

Jenn where are you? It was a text from her BF Skylar. Jennifer slowly typed in her sorry reply.

Home. On my bed. I can’t make it. Get Sarah to go with you or something though. I’d feel guilty letting you go alone.

Skylar’s text lit up the phone within seconds.

You can’t let your mom do this to you! Come with me pleassssseeeee?????!!!!! You have to break her rules sometime... Come on Ms.Goody-Goody...

I don’t know...  Jennifer thought back to all of those years when she had gone out of her way to make sure her mother’s rules remained unbroken, and that her mother remained happy.

Why not? Her mind gently trod on these dangerous thoughts. She jumped off her bed and raced for the closet. She couldn’t remember the last time she had taken one night and just had fun. Jennifer quickly pulled out last year’s blue and black striped party dress which she had never had a chance to wear. She slid it over her head and slipped on her ballet flats.

She felt clumsy as she grabbed her small purse and shoved open her window. The cool night air bit into the exposed skin of her arms and it reminded her of the one time when she had fallen into the pond in her backyard in the middle of winter. Jennifer shivered and jumped from the sill to the ground.

The street was empty and every house was dark. She quickly pulled her phone out and began a text letting Skylar know she would take her advice for once and break the rules. The neighborhood park passed her right just as she finished the long message about that this should be the right thing and that her mother should lighten up. Her hand hovered over the send button, and she slowed to a stop on the sidewalk.

She just couldn’t send it. She couldn’t go to the party. She couldn’t break her mother’s rules. What was I thinking? She thought silently. Jennifer shoved her phone into her purse and stared at her feet. There was no way she was breaking her mother’s rules. Not tonight.

She wrapped her arms around her shivering frame and stepped over the wooden curb of the park. The gravel crunched under foot; the only sound in the cold, still night. She curled her hand around the cool metal chain of the swings and sat heavily.

“Hello.”

Jennifer jerked to her left. A boy about her age of sixteen sat on the swing beside her. He had disheveled black hair, and a perfectly sculpted face. His features were soft but had a strong willed look about them. His skin was pale in the moonlight, and his eyes were a soft hazel that glistened with a caring gentleness. Jennifer stared at him in wonder, and her mind fumbled for a response.

“Do you live here?” she threw out lamely.

“No, I was on my way to a party but decided against it. Not much of a party person,” he answered smoothly.

” Do you mind me asking which party you were headed to?" Jennifer questioned curiously.

“A friend of a friend’s. I think his name was Gabe...”

“What a coincidence... I was headed to the same place.” At this the boy chuckled softly.

“Sure, but it is the biggest party of the month.”

Her cheeks blushed red, and his smile became more brilliant. Jennifer turned towards the woods behind the park and shivered.

“Hey, you probably shouldn’t be outside right now... I mean in that dress... You could catch something.”

She turned toward his swing, but he wasn’t there. She looked up, and he was standing right in front of her. She had never heard him move, shift the gravel, or cause the old chains on the swing to creak. His eyes looked worried, and his outstretched hand came closer.

He must have seen the puzzled look in her eyes, because his next words answered the question that had lingered in her mind.

“Jake. And I believe you’re Jennifer?”

“Yeah... How’d you know?” she admitted.

“Well...” His head snapped up, and his eyes grew cold. He grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her to her feet. He scanned the empty park and its surrounding woods as he hurried Jennifer across the park into the lone street.

“Jake...” Jennifer started.

Jake covered her mouth with his hand and looked right into her eyes.

“Shhhh... I have to get you away from here. Don’t ask questions right now. I don’t have time to answer them. You’re not safe.” And with that, he hurried her down the street toward a silver Porsche.              Jake reached for the passenger door and opened it, gently coaxing Jennifer in. She wouldn’t move. She planted her feet and fixed him with a hard stare.

“I’m not moving,” she informed him.

“I can see that.”

“Jake, how can I trust you? I just met you! Why would I just decide one day, ‘Oh, I think today I am going to meet a random stranger and hop in their,’” she paused and glanced at his car, “’Porsche’?! I mean you seem nice but most strangers do. And gosh, you’re only sixteen!”

“Fifteen,” he corrected her. She stared at him in bewilderment.

“And this doesn’t bother you?” she nearly shouted.

“Shhh! Please try to keep your voice down, and yes it bothers me that I have to ask you to ‘hop in my Porsche’ after just meeting me. It doesn’t bother me that I am fifteen though... Look, you have every right to be scared of me, not trust me, and maybe even hate me right at the moment. But you should know that I am trying to help you, and you do need to leave...with me...now.”

 

Author's Note

Feel free to note grammatical errors and such. XD

Reviews

[Kayla]

This is very good!! I am curious to see what is going to happen!! I wonder what Jake is protecting her from. Very good!!! I'm totally sucked in now!!

[deeps]

I really liked this i thought it read well, didn't really see any errors as reading it,
Then again I have a editor for my work. I like your story it's very intersting and
full of detail. Very well written and wonderful read!