Twisted Nightmares

This is a book that I've been trying to write, but I have no one who will read it so I decided to put this on here in hopes for some feedback, so thank you!

Glass leapt from the now shattered window falling to the floor in huge chunks only to crack into smaller pieces. Rain from outside immediately poured through the broken window, the wind exploring the dark room as well. A girl covered in scars crept through the window, landing on the floor below. She got onto her feet and looked around her, her eyes scanning the room for her prey. Her winter blue gaze stopped as she saw him, her mouth forming a twisted smirk.

“Oh Lancey, where are you?” She sang taking a step towards the hidden boy. She heard his shoes against the floor as he tried to go further back behind the cabinet. She took a few more steps until she reached the edge of the cabinet and drew her knife, peering over the edge.

Lance gasped as he sat up in bed. Sweat covered his body, his chest rising and falling heavily as he gasped for air.  He looked around his bedroom, looking for any sign of his nightmare turning into reality. As his breathing finally went back to normal he glanced at the clock only to see that it was one-twenty-three. He shook his head and got up, knowing that he was not going back to sleep after that dream. He grabbed his phone and went down the stairs, turning left into the living room. He sat on the couch and ran his hand through his smoke colored hair trying to decide what to do. He sighed, sat back on the couch and texted his friends to see if they were up. He got a response from both and after a couple minutes of messaging they were both on their way. He got up and grabbed a few energy drinks from the fridge then opened the door to reveal a pale, tall and thin black haired girl. Standing next to her was a tall but skinny boy with dark honey hair and forest green eyes.   He smiled and let them both inside. They all sat on the large black couch, Zoe on the end and Daniel next to Lance.

“So what has you all freaked out?” Zoe asked, opening her can and taking a sip. Daniel and Zoe both looked at him expectantly. Lance scoffed awkwardly.

“What? I can’t see my friends in the middle of the night for no reason?” They both looked at Lance.

“Fine. I had a bad dream. That's all though.” They both shared a look and then Zoe looked at him.

“What was it about?” Her winter blue eyes stared into Lance’s purple black ones. He looked away.

“Some crazy chick trying to kill me. She got really close to actually stabbing me and it was all so realistic. It just freaked me out.” Lance looked down. He couldn't tell her that she was the one after him in his dream. It would hurt her. She got up and walked to him. She sat on his lap and pulled him into a hug.

“Hey you know you can tell us anything right?” I nodded. She smiled but didn't get off his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and just held them there. Daniel looked at them awkwardly before grinning mischievously. He scooted over and all of a sudden sat on Zoe, completely squashing her. Zoe threw her head back laughing and slapping his back.

“Get off you big jerk!  You're going to suffocate me!” She dramatically gasped and pretended to die with her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

“Hide the body!  Quick!” Daniel jumped off of her and picked her up bridal style. Zoe laughed and slapped him again.

“Put me down! You're going to drop me! Put me down!” Daniel laughed and pretending to drop her, only to actually drop her on accident. Zoe squeaked and landed on the floor with a thud. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head with her hand. She glared at Daniel’s hand as he offered to help her up. She got up on her own and walked over to Lance and sat next to him, sticking her tongue out towards Daniel. He walked over to her and grabbed at her tongue but she put it back in her mouth faster than he could grab it. She smirked and then turned away from him. Smirking back he sat on her again only for her to screech and started hitting him again. Lance laughed silently.

“Hey I'm not here to babysit you guys. You guys couldn't afford me anyway.” Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny. He threw it at Lance which he caught mid air. He smirked before looking at the penny.

“Guess I'm babysitting now.” They all burst out laughing.

A couple hours later of talking Zoe stood up and stretched her arms.

“Well I gotta go home. I have to put makeup on and change you know, girl things. Daniel should        understand.” Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Haha very funny. But let's admit it. I would look way better than you with makeup on.” Now Zoe rolled her eyes. She waved to Lance then left his house. Daniel turned to Lance after she was gone. All humor had left his face,  only seriousness taking over.

“So what aren't you telling us?” Lance looked at him in surprise. He was about to ask him what he meant when Daniel glared at him. He sighed in defeat.

“The girl trying to kill me… it was Zoe. It was so freaky. She was covered in bruises and scars, she looked like someone tried to tear her apart. And she had this crazed look in her eyes.” He shuddered remembering the calculating coldness in her eyes. “It was like she was insane. And it felt so real,  like I was actually living in it. It just freaked me out.” Daniel’s face softened. He leaned over and gave Lance a weak shoulder punch.

“Hey you know it's all ok. Zoe isn't more insane than usual,  no one tore her apart, no one is hurting her. It's ok.” Lance nodded. Looking at the time he stood and walked into the kitchen and grabbed two apples,  tossing one to Daniel. He bit into the apple, still trying to shake off the sense of uneasiness he felt. After the two ate they left for school stopping by Daniel’s place so he could change.

As they got to school they saw Zoe who was walking on the sidewalk. Both boys caught up to her but she didn’t seem to notice. Lance looked at her face and saw she was pale and deep in thought.

“Hey? Hello? Zoe?” She didn’t even react to his voice. Lance looked at Daniel who only shrugged in return. Lance grabbed her shoulder which startled her. She let out a gasp and turned to him, calming down when she saw who it was.

“Geez! Why did you do that? Trying to scare me to death?” She reached out and opened the doors to the school. Lance looked at her confused. Daniel had the same look.

“Zoe we’ve been walking with you. We said hi like 8 times but you didn’t seem to hear us.” Now it was Zoe’s turn to look confused. She seemed to think over what Daniel said, only to be interrupted by someone shoving past her. She snapped out of her thoughts and shrugged it off. Turning around the three walked in silence until they reached where their lockers were. Closing his locker Lance turned to say something only to be cut off by the morning bell. He sighed and then turned to go to his and Daniel’s first class of the day: Creative Writing. He turned his head back as they walked away to see Zoe walking the opposite direction of their class. Turning towards Daniel again as soon as they reached the door he was met with a shrug.

“She wasn’t like that this morning right?” Daniel shook his head no.

“Hmm.” Lance had no time to ponder what happened. As soon as he sat down the bell rang again and class began. As soon as the teacher was done Lance felt a paper poke him in the side. He took the folded paper in his hand and opened it. It was blank. He turned to Daniel who shrugged.

“Hey this is creative writing. Be creative about what it says.” Lance rolled his eyes then smirked. The teacher looked at him and held out her hand. Lance handed the paper over, only to see puzzlement across her face. She looked at him again.

“Hey this is creative writing, you gotta be creative with it. That’s what Daniel said at least.” She looked at Daniel and looked at him again. She looked like she was about to scream when all of a sudden she was bent over laughing. She laughed for a little bit and then class was over. She smiled and gave Lance the paper back. She waved and said good bye as they all left the class. In the hallway on the way to their next class with Zoe they passed by the art teacher. He stopped them and asked if Zoe was ok.

“Why do you ask? Did something happen?” Lance asked concerned. The teacher shrugged.

“I don’t know. She just wasn’t in class today, I was wondering if she was sick.” Daniel and Lance looked at each other.

“We saw her just this morning before school started. I wonder where she went.” Daniel half said half muttered. The teacher shrugged and sent them to class. They walked into Science to see Zoe already sitting down. She was considerably less pale than this morning, nothing seeming to be wrong with her, The boys sat down next to her, about to ask where she was when the teacher began talking.  Throughout the teacher’s lecture Lance stole glances at Zoe who was looking at the teacher. She glanced out the window and let out a small gasp. She paled considerably and looked down at her desk. She looked around and saw Lance looking at her. She straightened and pointed at the teacher. Before turning to look at the teacher. Lance broke his gaze to try to focus on what the teacher was saying but he couldn’t. What was Zoe hiding he wondered. It wasn’t like her to keep secrets, and she usually was really focused in class. A poke in the ribs from Daniel alerted him that the teacher had stopped talking and was staring at him along with the rest of the class. He turned to the teacher who looked amused.

“I know she is gorgeous but you can attempt to flirt with her later. Now is the time to learn about science, it is not the time to think about your hormones.” He smiled and seeing that Lance was embarrassed he began lecturing again. Lance stole a glance at Zoe who would usually be a dark shade of red right now only to see that she was distracted by whatever was outside of the window again. He turned back to the teacher who was watching him. After the teacher was done talking and had given the group assignments, the three went to work. Daniel sat on Lance’s desk as the three tried to decide what to do for the presentation. No matter how hard she tried to pay attention though Zoe kept stealing glances out the window. Lance looked in the direction she was looking but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He looked at Zoe.

“What are you looking at?” He asked while looking back out the window. Zoe’s gaze turn to him. She smiled and shrugged while blowing her black hair out of her face.

“Just being bored. So where should we meet tonight? My place, Daniel’s or yours?” She asked, looking at Lance. Daniel looked at him expectantly also. Lance shrugged.

“Let’s meet at my place. My parents are still not back from wherever they went” Zoe and Daniel nodded while looking away. All three of them remembered the day when Lance’s parents said they were going on a vacation without him, and were hiring a nanny to watch him. But that was 8 years ago. His only contact with his parents since then was a check in the mail each month for food and clothes. Not a single letter, not a single phone call. Just a check each month for two thousand dollars. Lance sighed at the memory. The bell rang and the three got there stuff and made their way to the library for their mutual free period.

“Oh I have to stop by my locker for a sec, see you there.” Zoe  said as they reached the first left of the hall. The boys nodded as she took a left towards their lockers. As soon as she was out of earshot Daniel turned his head towards Lance.

“So why were you staring at Zoe in class? Have you got a crush on her or something?” Daniel looked at him as he asked. Lance opened the door of the library as he answered.

“She was staring outside the window, it was like she couldn’t focus in class which is unlike her. She usually is yelling at me to pay attention but she wasn’t even taking notes! She has been acting weird lately.” Lance pulled out a chair and sat down, Daniel mirroring his actions. Daniel looked thoughtful for a moment before looking at Lance.

“Was it just this morning that this happened?” He asked. Lance tried to think back to the last couple of days. He shook his head as he snapped his fingers.

“No remember last friday? When we were in the park? She kept looking around and barely paid attention.” Daniel nodded. They had been hanging out while having lunch in the park. Daniel and Lance had been talking about movies when Zoe ate her food.

“Come on that movie sucked!” Lance exclaimed, mildly irritated. Daniel’s eyes went wide.

“That movie was the best movie ever and you know it!” He proclaimed. Lance laughed.

“You didn’t even read the book series! The movie didn’t follow the book at all and now there is no way that they can do the rest of them! The movie ruined it’s chances at being a success, even the author hates it.” Daniel glared at him. He turned to Zoe who was staring at the woods near the park.

“Come on tell him Zoe. That movie was the best ever.” She didn’t seem to hear him, and if she did she showed no response to it. Daniel poked her in the side.

“Zoe? Zoe? Zoe!” Daniel poked her again. Zoe gasped and turned around and swung her fist, barely missing Daniel. Daniel leaned back and fell on his back. Lance put his arms out towards Zoe.

“Calm down, it’s just Daniel. Are you ok?” He asked her. Zoe put her arms down, breathing hard from the sudden scare. She nodded and pulled her bangs out of her face. She put her hand out to help Daniel backup, which he refused and leaned up on his own.

“Geez what was that for? All I did was poke you.” Daniel crossed his arms and huffed. Zoe glanced back at the woods again before answering.

“Sorry you just scared me. I guess I’m a little paranoid, I’ve been watching the news lately. Really, I’m sorry.” Daniel nodded and dropped his arms. The three went on about their day without another incident.

Daniel nodded as he remembered. Lance was about to say something else when he saw Zoe entering the library. She looked around the room until she saw her friends. She smiled and walked over to them.

“Sorry I got stopped by the principal.” Lance nodded as he studied her face. Her smile looked fake, and her eyes looked nervous and worried. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she pulled out her sketchbook. She started to draw while talking to Daniel. Lance shook his head trying to clear his thoughts as he tried to focus on the conversation going on.

“So are you coming with us this weekend?” Daniel asked, both him and Zoe looking at Lance. Lance, not knowing where he was going or what he was agreeing to nodded his head.

“Sure sounds like fun.” Zoe looked shocked while Daniel smirked, knowing Lance wasn’t paying attention. Zoe was about to say something but Daniel cut her off.

“Ok well you’re getting one done too.” Lance felt his face pale at that sentence. What was he getting done? Daniel and Zoe, who had now caught on shared a small laugh.

“Wait what’s going on?” Lance asked, only to be met with smirks. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he knew he wasn’t going to like it. He asked again what was going on but the two refused to tell him. Every time he tried to ask they would talk over him until eventually he gave up. The three talked while Zoe drew until the school bell rang and it was time for their TA period. All three walked towards the classroom until the principal called for Zoe to come into his office. The boys watched as Zoe went into the office and continued on into the Culinary Art room. The boys graded papers until the teacher asked Lance to grab papers from the office. He nodded and walked to the office. He walked into the office and grabbed the papers glancing at the principal office window as he did. He gasped and quickly walked out of the office. He handed the teacher the requested papers and quickly walked to Daniel. He leaned to talk to him.

“Dude I think Zoe is in trouble.” Daniel’s head snapped up at that. He looked around to make sure no one else had heard, but they didn’t.

“What do you mean?” He whispered back.

“I glanced into the window of the principal’s office, she was in there with the counselor, the principal, and a police officer.” Daniel’s eyes went wide.

“What!” He accidentally shouted. Everyone looked up at him. He crouched down and apologized. Lowering his voice again he looked at Lance.

“There is no way Zoe would have done anything. She’s too...well she’s too Zoe!” Lance shook his head.

“I don’t know she’s been acting so weird lately.” He trailed off. Daniel nodded, unsure himself. The period continued on silently until it was over and both boys left silently. The day continued on with neither of them seeing Zoe. Lance and Daniel both texted her but got no reply back. Daniel followed Lance into his house where they grabbed a snack, waiting for Zoe. Three hours later and she had still not shown up. Lance sighed as he paused his game and set his controller down. Daniel looked up from the screen and set his down too. Lance looked at the time and turned back to Daniel.

“Well we better start working on the project without Zoe.” Daniel opened his mouth but was interrupted by a car door being closed from outside. Both boys walked to the front door and opened it in time to see Zoe’s older brother pulling out of the driveway with Zoe walking towards the door. Her brother backed onto the street and stopped, rolling down his window and calling to Zoe.

“I’ll pick you up, just text me when you’re done here.” Zoe smiled and yelled back a thank you while giving him a peace sign with her fingers. He waved to the boys and drove off. Zoe reached the front door and the boys moved aside, letting her in the house. She sat on the couch and set her backpack down. She looked at the boys as they just stared at her. Her smile faded as they just stared. She shifted uneasily.

“Um hello? Can we work on the project please?” She asked, sounding a little irritated. Both boys snapped out of their stupor and cautiously joined her on the couch. She opened her textbook as they sat. She got on the right page and was about to read when Lance placed his hand on her book and pushed it down onto her lap. He stared into her eyes,  his black purple eyes contrasting her winter blue eyes.

“Zoe...what is going on? I saw you in the principal’s office, you’re acting like someone is out to get you, you can hardly focus on anything. What is it? We’re your friends, let us help.” Lance softly trailed off, allowing Zoe to think. She looked down, and after thinking for a couple of seconds she looked at Lance again.

“I’m sorry I’m not allowed to tell anyone. When it’s all over though I swear you’ll be the first ones to know.” Lance nodded at her words. She looked down at his hand on her book. He moved his hand and she started reading the chapter they had to present on.

They worked on the project for a while, almost getting it done until Zoe got a text saying that her brother was outside waiting for her. She apologized and collected her things. She waved and walked out the door and got into her brother’s car. Lance watched until she was out of sight and closed the door, making sure to lock it. He walked back into the living room to see that Daniel was asleep on his floor. Lance softly chuckled to himself and leaned down, shaking him awake. Daniel groggily opened his eyes and looked up at Lance.

“Come on we can share a bed. Let’s go. Come on!” He laughed at his still half asleep friend, who apparently lost his ability to think or walk. Daniel got off the floor only to trip over his science book and fall onto Lance. Lance fell along with him and they both tumbled to the floor. Lance laughed as Daniel shook his head mumbling apologies. Daniel looked down at his position on top of Lance before turning beet red. Lance laughed at his face before attempting to get them both up. Lance eventually got them both off the floor and into his bedroom. He took his shirt off and got under the covers next to Daniel. They both fell asleep pretty quickly.

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A rose fell on frost covered ground, it’s soft red petals bouncing as it hit the ground. Ruby red drops fell from the thorns, staining the snow below. Fog hazed the trees surrounding the small clearing as the night sky turned pitch black, the moon the only source of light.

“Lancey! Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are!” A girl’s voice sang out. Lance did not know why but he felt the need to hide. He ducked down below some bushes, the broken dead branches clawing at his bare arms. He crouched down low and peered out of the bushes. The same girl from his dream earlier, a girl who he refused to call Zoe stepped into the clearing. Her eyes scanned the clearing.

“I know you’re here Lance. Why won’t you come out and be with me? Don’t you love me? Lancey!” She turned looking behind her. She went stiff, and snapped back around. The crazed look in her eyes was gone and sheer panic had taken over.

“Lance!” She cried out. She twisted around, a vicious snarling sounded behind her.

“Run Lance! Run!” She screamed as black fog clouded around her, her shouts at him morphed into screams of pain as she faded away into darkness.

“Lance! Lance! LANCE!” Lance opened his eyes. Sweat covered his body but he felt stark cold. Daniel was on top of him shaking him, concern painting his face as he looked at Lance. Lance sat up shaking his head. He could still hear Zoe’s, no the girl’s screams in his head. He looked at Daniel who sat back.

“What happened?” He asked, looking at the clock to see it was five a.m. Daniel shook his head.

“You were shouting and clawing the air. I tried to wake you up but you grabbed my arm. Are you ok?” Lance looked at Daniel’s upper arm to see a huge scratch matched with a bruise from his grip. Lance looked down.

“Sorry about that.” Daniel nodded and pulled Lance into a hug. Lance just sat there, numb still from his dream. He looked down at his wrists, halfway expecting to see scratches from the bushes but saw nothing on his wrists. Daniel let go of him and looked at him. Lance nodded.

“I’ll be fine. Sorry for waking you, go back to sleep.” Daniel nodded and turned to go back to bed before stealing one more glance at Lance, making sure he was really going to be ok. He sighed and laid back down under the covers. Lance sighed and slide back under the covers. He looked at Daniel, whose breathing had slowed down and was softly snoring. Lance watched him for a while until he looked away.  Lance looked up at the skylight, staring at the stars and letting himself get lost in thought. An hour later Daniel turned in his sleep and cuddled against Lance. Lance smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Daniel. He dreaded going to sleep but he could feel his eyes getting heavy. He fought sleep for a while, but eventually he relented allowing himself to fall into a restless sleep.

Lance opened his eyes only to instantly be blinded by the sun. He looked next to him to see that Daniel wasn’t in bed. He was about to wonder where he was when he heard talking downstairs. Curious, he walked downstairs to be met immediately with a warm piece of toast to his face. The toast fell off of his face, with small butter smears left on his nose. He looked down at the toast on the floor and the back up at his frozen friends. Zoe was on the ground in front of him, Daniel to the side, and Zoe’s brother Ryan was in front of him, his arm frozen mid air from when he launched the toast. All four stared at each other, unsure of what to do when suddenly Lance started laughing. The three remaining all looked at each other before bursting out laughing. Ryan was the first to finally stop laughing, standing up straight before pulling Zoe into a hug. She hugged him back and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and let go. Ryan waved to the two boys and turned to leave. As soon as the door closed Daniel swooped down and picked up the piece of toast. He tossed it into the trash can and grabbed another piece off the counter. He took a bite of it before sitting on the counter. Zoe was texting on her phone when she looked up at Lance.

“So what are we going to do today?” She asked. Lance shrugged and was about to speak when Daniel shouted something.

“Wfe wbur gyin tu thee ing mber!” Zoe rolled her eyes and blew her black bangs out of her face.

“We don’t speak toast idiot.” Daniel tried to quickly swallow his toast. He finally was able to swallow his toast down when he spoke up again.

“We were going to that thing remember? And Lance was going to also get something done?” He wiggled his eyes suggestively. Zoe thought for a moment, her face twisting into a smirk as she remembered what he was talking about. Lance looked back and forth between the two. He had really hoped they would forget. He sighed as he grabbed a piece of toast and went to get into the shower.

After his shower and getting dressed he walked downstairs, ready to go. Zoe and Daniel were both on opposite sides of the couch.

“You ready?” Lance asked. Both looked up at him and nodded. They all three walked out the door and closed it behind them. The three walked in silence with Lance in the middle. Lance looked back and forth between the two, he was sensing some tension between them. He briefly wondered what happened while he was showering but before he could ask Daniel pointed out the mall, running excitably before them. Zoe rolled her eyes and was about to yell at him when she let out a cry. Daniel ran across the street without even looking just as a jet black car was speeding down the road. Daniel heard the screech of the tires and saw the car. He froze in panic. Lance, without even thinking ran into the street. He tackled Daniel, the momentum throwing both of them out of the way of the car. Both boys hit the pavement as the car sped by, barely missing them. The car sped off, not even slowing down. A crowd of people started to gather around them, wondering what was going on and more importantly, if they were both alright. Lance pushed himself off the ground and looked at Daniel. He held his hand out to Daniel, who groaned and took it, hoisting himself off the ground.

“Guys! Are you alright?” Zoe asked as she ran across the street over to them. Both boys nodded.  Zoe looked them over before leaning down and grabbing Lance’s leg.

“Lance your leg is bleeding. And so is your forehead Daniel! Come on sit down.” She ushered them to a nearby bench. Both boys shook their heads.

“I’m fine Zoe. I’ll walk it off. It’ll be ok.” Lance assured her. Zoe looked at Daniel who was wiping the blood off his forehead with his sweater. After the blood was mostly wiped off a small cut was revealed. Zoe grabbed their wrists and dragged them into the mall, immediately heading for the small family bathroom. They all went into the tiny room and Zoe grabbed paper towels. She ran them under water for a couple of seconds before washing off Daniel’s forehead. She checked him for other cuts, and after washing off a few on his right arm, got new towels and turned to Lance. Lance pressed his back to the wall and slid to the floor. He stuck out his leg and allowed Zoe to wash off most of the blood. After she was done with his leg she looked him over for more cuts. Seeing none, she threw the towels away and washed her hands. She turned and walked out of the bathroom without saying a word. Daniel and Lance looked at each other before each washing their hands and leaving. When they got out of the bathroom they saw Zoe on her phone talking to someone.  She was waving her right arm avidly and pacing back and forth. She turned and saw them, immediately going still. Her expression changed and she turned away. A couple of seconds later she hung up the call and turned back to the boys, walking towards them. When she reached them she stopped, looking at them both. Without warning she slapped Daniel across the face.

“That’s for being an idiot and running into traffic!” She turned to Lance before slapping him too.

“And that’s for being an idiot and chasing after the idiot!” Lance and Daniel both held their cheeks. Zoe sighed and pulled them into a hug.

“Don’t ever do that again please.” Both boys hugged her back and nodded. A few seconds later they all let go, and with that Daniel and Zoe each grabbed a wrist of Lance’s and ran, dragging him along. Lance ran to keep up until they stopped in front of Zoe’s favorite place in the whole world: the local piercing parlor. Lance’s face immediately paled.

“No no no nononono.” he chanted, trying to get away from the parlor.

“Oh come on!” Daniel laughed. They both tightened their grips on his wrists and pulled him towards the door.

“You already agreed to this too! Yesterday during free study.” Zoe said, straining to pull him through the door. Lance braced his feet against the doorway, trying his hardest not to let them win. Daniel managed to pry his left foot away from the edge of the door, leaving only his right foot outside the parlor.  Daniel leaned down and grabbed Lance’s remaining leg and pulled, successfully removing it from the door frame. The loss of his anchor caused Lance to fall back on the floor of the parlor, dragging Zoe, who was still attached to his wrist down on top of him. Zoe pushed herself off of Lance, her face turning bright red. Lance launched himself off the ground before attempting to rush past Daniel.

“Relax dude we’re not really going to make you get a piercing.” Lance looked at Zoe suspiciously.  He looked at Daniel who pointed to one of the chairs in the seating area. He slowly sat down, still keeping his eyes on them. Zoe and Daniel walked up to the receptionist, both requesting what they wanted. The woman behind the desk nodded before going in the back. She returned with two more people, both covered in piercings. They talked to Zoe and Daniel before nodding and turning towards the back. Zoe gave Lance a peace sign before following Daniel and the workers back. Lance got comfortable in his seat before pulling out his phone.

After a while of playing solitaire Daniel walked to the front of the store and took a seat by Lance. Lance glanced up at him, noticing his pierced ears. He pointed at Daniel’s earrings while laughing. Daniel turned a dark shade of red and covered his ears with both hands,hiding the small hello kitty earrings.

“Why do you have girly earrings?” Lance asked. Daniel shrugged.

“They ran out of normal earrings. It was this or tinkerbell.” Lance held his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from bursting out with laughter, only to fail miserably. The woman who had pierced Daniel’s ears walked out to the front of the store. Lance, feeling a strong sense of either courage or sheer stupidity, walked up to the woman. He talked to her for a little bit and handed her some money. She smiled and led him down a small hallway before turning left into a small room. Lance sat in the chair and held still as she marked small dots on his left ear. She smiled at him reassuring as to which he smiled back nervously. She turned around and grabbed a needle. Turning back to him she smiled again and leaned in.

Lance rubbed his ear as he walked into the waiting room. Zoe and Daniel were waiting in chairs, both looking up as he walked in. Zoe gasped, covering her mouth with her hand while Daniel just stared. Lance looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling self conscious. What if he looked stupid with piercings? Lance popped his head up as Daniel suddenly started laughing. Zoe looked at Daniel and joined in with the laughter. Lance looked at both of them not understanding the joke. Zoe calmed down first and gasped out between heavy breaths.

“We didn’t think you would actually do it! But it looks good, don’t worry.” She assured him. Daniel finally stopped laughing, his face beet red. Both of them got up and joined Lance. Lance rolled his eyes and turned, walking out of the shop.

“Wow! He got some attitude with the piercings!” Daniel exclaimed. Zoe poked him, trying not to laugh again. The two walked out after him, poking each other while dodging the other’s pokes. Daniel ran ahead of Zoe, only for Lance to reach out and grab his hand, pulling him back. Daniel looked back at Lance, his face mimicking a kicked puppy.

“Last time you ran in front of us we almost got hit by a car. You’re not doing that again.” Daniel stuck his tongue out at Lance’s comment. Lance continued walking, still not letting go of Daniel’s hand. Zoe jogged up to them before slowing to their pace. The three walked out of the mall only to see Zoe’s brother waiting out front. He leaned out the window and waved. The three waved back before Zoe started to walk towards Ryan’s car. She turned to see the boys walking the opposite way. Groaning she turned and ran to them, grabbing Lance’s hand and pulling the boys towards her brother’s car.

“Come on! He’s giving us all a ride, idiots.” Zoe pulled the guys to the car and opened the back seat door, motioning them to get in. As the boys climbed in Zoe got into the passenger seat. Ryan turned back to the boys.

“You guys dating or something?” He laughed as both boys looked at their still conjoined hands. They quickly pulled their hands away from each other with Daniel blushing and turning away. Ryan laughed and turn to Zoe. He reached his hand out and moved her bangs away from her eyes to admire her new eyebrow piercing. He smiled and faced forward. He started the car and started to turn out of the mall.

After a short drive and a very random conversation on whether or not you can make a pig naturally taste like maple syrup, Ryan pulled into Zoe’s driveway. He stopped the car and Zoe jumped out of the car’s open window. Lance opened the door and the two boys climbed out of the car. Zoe ran up to her front door and walked in, motioning for the boys to hurry up. The boys thanked Ryan for the ride and walked in after her. They walked in immediately to see stairs, which they climbed up. They walked down a small hall to the last door, Zoe’s room. Lance opened the door and walked in, Daniel following behind him. Lance heard Zoe coming up the stairs as he sat on her window seat, Daniel sitting down next to him.  Zoe walked into her room with three energy drinks from the kitchen. She closed the door behind her and sat on her bed. She tossed two of the drinks to the boys before opening hers. Lance flicked both cans and handed one to Daniel knowing that he would open it only to spray the drink everywhere. He took a sip of his drink before looking around Zoe’s room. It wasn’t often that they met up at her house so each time was like the first time. He glanced around noticing the differences around her room. The walls which use to be bubblegum pink were now black with electric blue and neon green paint splatters on each wall. Zoe had put posters on her ceiling and had hung photo frames on each wall. Two of the photos were of her family, one was of her beloved pet tortoise and the final one was a picture of the three friends. Lance stood in the middle as Zoe and Daniel were on either sides of him, all three laughing at the off photo funny face Zoe’s mother had made. Lance smiled at the fond memory  before turning his head to Zoe.

“So why are you suddenly joined at your brother’s hip lately?” Zoe swallowed even though she had not taken another drink. Daniel nodded and added on to Lance’s question.

“Yeah, and what happened in the tattoo parlour earlier? You were paler than usual.”  Zoe looked around until she faked interest in her wall. Lance sighed and got up to sit by Zoe. She looked at him in surprise. He nudged her with his shoulder. She looked down at the drink in her hands.

“Come on Zo, you can tell us. We won’t tell anyone. We’re your friends, we care about you.” Daniel nodded along with Lance’s words. Zoe snuck a glance at her closet door before quickly looking at Lance. She opened her mouth to say something before closing it again, biting her lip in the process. She let out a mark of surprise as her teeth hit one of her piercings and it started bleeding. She set her drink down and pushed a finger against her bite mark. A small trickle of blood fell down her finger and fell onto her leather bracelet. She took her piercing out and walked out of the room to go into the bathroom. After she left the room Daniel jumped up from the window ledge and walked out of the room after her. Lance was about to follow but his eye caught sight of the closet door. He briefly wondered what was in there before glancing down the hall, making sure Zoe and Daniel weren’t on their way back into the room. Seeing no one coming, he walked to the closet door, glanced around again before opening the door quietly. He saw nothing unusual inside. The closet was full of Zoe’s leather jackets, leather pants, her leather bracelets with various spikes and all of her piercing extras. He leaned down under one of her shelves to see a small black box. He reached out to grab it when he heard footsteps behind him. He gasped and turned to see Ryan standing towards him with his arms crossed over his chest. Ryan raised an eyebrow towards him before speaking.

“Close the door and follow me. Apparently we need to talk about privacy.” Ryan said sharply before turning around before walking out of the room. Lance sighed and closed the door before following Ryan down the stairs and to the back of the house to his room. Ryan opened the door and motioned Lance inside. Lance walked into the room, Ryan following and closing the door. Ryan motioned for Lance to sit on the bed, to which Lance did. Ryan leaned against a desk and stared at Lance with his arms crossed. Lance, avoiding looking at Ryan, took the opportunity to look around Ryan’s room. He had never been in his room before. The walls were a basic white color with a small window facing the neighborhood. Ryan’s room was bare except for a small desk, his bed, his closet and a small picture of Zoe and him on his desk.

“So what were you doing in my little sister’s closet?” Ryan asked. Lance gulped nervously and let out a small nervous laugh. He was about to lie and say nothing when Ryan glared at him. Lance unconsciously shrank back from Ryan.

“I was..”  Lance trailed off, trying to find out how to say he was snooping without sounding creepy. Zoe’s brother was a pretty scary man when angered.  Standing at 6’5” and always working out had caused Ryan to be extremely fit and Lance knew Ryan could easily pummel him. Ryan raised an eyebrow expectantly and waved his hand for him to continue on. Lance shrunk back and quickly choked out what he was doing in her closet. He closed his eyes and winced, expecting Ryan to hit him. Nothing happened. Lance slowly opened his eyes to see Ryan looking out the window. Lance turned and faced him again. Ryan sighed and uncrossed his arms. He took a step towards Lance and sat next to him.

“Look, it’s nice and all that you care, but you have to respect my sister’s privacy.” Lance nodded, happy that Ryan didn’t punch him or something. A moment passed before Ryan spoke again.

“ Right now, Zoe is going through something that she can’t really control. And she isn’t allowed to talk about it but she could really use her friends. Ok?” Ryan looked at Lance to which he nodded. Ryan patted him on the shoulder before telling him to get out of his room. Lance nodded and bolted out of the room. Lance slowed to a walk before slowing down to a walk. He turned up the stairs and walked into Zoe’s room. Zoe and Daniel looked up at him as he walked in. Zoe’s lip had stopped bleeding and she had her piercing back in.

“Where did you go?” Zoe asked curiously. Lance shrugged and told her that he and Ryan talked. Zoe looked at him curiously as Lance sat on the window ledge next to Daniel. Zoe was about to talk when a tall pale woman with black hair walked in. Her ice blue eyes lit up when she saw her daughter and the boys hanging out.

“Hello Lance, Daniel.” She nodded towards the boys.

“Hey Drianna.” The boys responded back. Drianna looked at her daughter.

“Hey mom.” Zoe looked at her for a moment before Drianna motioned for her to step into another room. Zoe nodded and left with a promise to be right back. Zoe closed the door behind her, leaving the boys in complete silence. Daniel looked at Lance who shrugged in return. Lance looked away before remembering something.

“Hey what happened between you and Zoe earlier?” Daniel looked at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“When I got out of the shower this morning and came downstairs, you guys definitely had something going on. Zoe was glaring at you, you guys weren’t talking the whole way to the mall. So what happened?” Lance looked at Daniel expectantly. Daniel bit his lower lip before looking away. Just as Lance was about to press on the bedroom door opened and Zoe walked in. Daniel looked up and smiled softly at the luck of escaping Lance’s questions. Zoe jumped onto her bed before sitting.

“Hey so you guys want to sleep over tonight?” Zoe asked as she texted on her phone. Lance thought about staying in the house with Ryan. He shook his head in a no.

“Nah thanks though. I think I’ll go home and watch some t.v. Daniel you staying over tonight?” An unreadable look flashed over Zoe’s face before she smiled sweetly at Daniel. Daniel looked at Zoe before smirking.

“Yeah sure. Sounds fun.” Daniel got up to leave with Lance following behind. They both left the house before turning towards Lance’s house. As they walked onto the sidewalk a black car roared to life and sped off. Upon hearing the car speed off Ryan and Zoe ran to the window facing the street. Zoe stared at the car before glancing nervously at the boys. Daniel shrugged and started to walk before noticing Lance was frozen still. Daniel looked at him curiously before grabbing his wrist and pulling him. Lance shook his head and looked towards the siblings in the window. They were facing each other and arguing. Lance looked towards where the car had sped off to before he continued walking. Daniel walked besides him, his hand still holding onto Lance’s wrist. Lance didn’t notice this as he was deep in thought. As they rounded the corner of the block he finally spoke.

“Daniel. Isn’t that the same car that almost hit us this morning?” Daniel thought before speaking.

“I think it is. Any chance they were just looking to apologize?” Lance shook his head. Daniel let go of Lance’s wrist as he crossed his arms. Lance only noticed that he had been holding onto his wrist as he felt the warmth of Daniel fade away. The boys walked in silence after that until they reached Lance’s house. Lance unlocked the door and left Daniel go inside. He looked around before entering the house and immediately locking the door after it was shut. Lance turned around to see that Daniel was in the kitchen and looking through the freezer. He pulled out a frozen pineapple pizza.

“Do you mind?” He asked Lance. Lance shook his head no and preheated the oven. He was about to turn around and unwrap the pizza when he heard Daniel let out a small sigh. Lance stopped what he was doing and looked at Daniel. Daniel had small tears in his eyes that he was trying to hide, his shoulders were sagged, and his usual happy mood was gone. Lance looked down feeling ashamed. He should have been paying more attention to his friend. Lance silently put the pizza down and grabbed Daniel’s arm. Daniel looked up at him in surprise but Lance pulled him into a hug. Daniel hugged onto Lance as he began to sob uncontrollably into Lance’s shoulder. Lance said nothing as he just held him there. The oven beeped as it was heated but Lance ignored it. As Daniel started to grow silent Lance gently pushed him in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked. Daniel used his sleeve to wipe away some tears. He shook his head in a no and started mumbling apologies before trying to turn away. Lance held onto him firmly and pulled his chin up, forcing Daniel’s forest green eyes to look into Lance’s purple black ones.

“Daniel, come on bud, tell me what’s wrong?” Daniel looked down before mumbling something. Lance shook his head.

“So I can hear it please?” Daniel bit his lip again, a habit he had for when he was really nervous.

“It’s nothing really. Zoe just said some stuff, look I don’t want any drama can we please just forget this?” Daniel looked at Lance pleadingly. Lance sighed before nodding.

“For now, but I want to know what’s going on soon.” Daniel nodded before leaving Lance’s arms in favor of putting the food into the oven. Lance shook his head but grabbed two sodas from the fridge. He gave Daniel one who smiled softly in return. Lance popped open his before taking a sip. He wondered what the problem between Zoe and Daniel was lately. He also wondered what Zoe said to Daniel. The only things that made Daniel cry was mentioning his dead parents or when he was scared and couldn’t change anything. Lance shook his head and sighed. He left Daniel in the kitchen to watch the pizza as he walked into the living room. He sat on the end of the couch before flipping on the large flat screen television. He went through the channels before settling on a movie he knew Daniel liked. A call from Daniel in the kitchen alerted him that the pizza was done followed by a sharp cry. Lance lept off the couch, spilling his pop in the process and rushed into the kitchen. There Daniel was running his right hand under the water faucet. Lance looked over at the stove to see it was wide open with the pizza halfway pulled out. He noticed an oven mitt on the floor before grabbing it and pulling the pizza out, setting it on the stove top. He then walked to Daniel to inspect his hand.

“What happened?” He asked as he saw a small burn mark start to appear on Daniel’s wrist. Daniel shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile.

“My arm hit the edge of the oven rack. It’s just not my day I guess.” Lance turned off the faucet before turning towards the pizza. He took out a knife and cut it in slices. Daniel grabbed his pop off the counter and started to take a sip when he suddenly spit it out. Lance looked up at him in shock.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel shook his head and pointed towards the street. Lance looked out the window in time to see a black silhouette running away from the house. Lance rushed over to the window to get a better look before closing the black curtains. He turned to face Daniel only to find that he wasn’t in the kitchen. Confused Lance peered into the living room to see Daniel closing all of the window curtains. After they were all closed Daniel turned to face him. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were wide.

“Who was that? How long were they there? Where did they go?” He asked Lance, his voice was quiet as he looked around the house for more windows. Lance strode over to him and pulled him into a hug. Daniel was freezing cold and was shaking all over. Lance held him there for a moment until Daniel stopped shaking. Lance led Daniel over to the couch and made him sit down. He walked to the kitchen and got them both some pizza and a can of pop before returning to Daniel. Lance gave Daniel some pizza before sitting down next to him. He offered Daniel some pop to which Daniel declined. Lance leaned forward and set the can on the floor before leaning back. He started to eat his pizza, glancing every few moments at Daniel to make sure he was ok. Daniel was completely engrossed in the movie while eating his pizza, he didn’t even notice Lance staring at him.

Author's Note

Please feel free to leave criticism or suggestions. I especially love constructive criticism!

Reviews

[Luke Gilliam]

It's a long piece and need to read the whole thing. The opening is well written. Lots of intensity to bring the reader in. I like it.

[Ivy]

Thanks, it is just the beginning of the book I am writing. Glad you liked it!

[Luke Gilliam]

No worries ! I'm more of a music producer and painter than a writer. However there are a couple of writers I can recommend if you are getting ready to publish. Carlos Castaneda and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Writing can empower people. Make sure to check out these two strictly for mind expansion. The power of the written word is near infinte. Enjoy !!

[Ivy]

Thank you!