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Chapter 2

Courtney screamed and tried to free herself when she heard a familiar voice,
“Courtney, it's me".
She turned and was looking in the eyes of Max Garcia. She blushed and looked away. Max has brown hair, his bangs over his black eyes. He has a small mark on his cheek, but he told her it was a birthmark, that made him look cute. His blue book bag was hanging from his shoulder; he had a black shirt with jeans and blue sneakers. She has known Max since 5th grade and has been friends ever since. She also has a crush on him.
"Who were you running from?" Max asked, searching the street, his black eyes full of concern. Courtney started to say a guy was following her but she turned and the guy was gone.
"No one, I thought I was going to be late for school", she lied.
"You have at least an hour until class starts" Max answered. She nodded then she noticed that Max had her by her arm; she looked down and saw that his fingers were centimeters away from the nearest dot of the triangle. He released her as if sensing her thoughts. She started walking to school, Max following behind her.
"Are you sure you weren't running from someone?" Max asked. Courtney stopped walking and looked at his eyes. She hated to lie, but she was afraid that he wouldn't believe her.
"I'm sure" she said.
They were inside school grounds and walked over to a near by bench in the shade.
"I had the same dream again" Courtney said.
"The one of when you were younger?" Max asked. Courtney nodded.
"Maybe your dreams are telling you something", Max said, "It's better to try and understand it".
"I wish I could", said Courtney," But the dreams become different each time".
"How different?"
“There's always this 'thing' that comes after me," said Courtney "and when I wake up, I feel like I was running for my life" Courtney touched her thigh, as if it was still sore from last night. Max put a hand on her shoulder, as if he understands her.
"Max" she said, and she looked at him, the wind blowing on her face. Bef0re Max could say anything a girl was calling to them. Courtney turned and saw a girl walking towards them. She was wearing a black tank-top shirt, showing her waist with a hip-hugging skirt. She had median size blond hair, with some brown highlights, falling on her shoulders. Courtney almost did see the girl, but then she saw that it was Jackie Fernandez. She started to get up but Max grabbed her wrist and cautions her to sit down. Jackie came running to them.
"Well, well, well...look at what the cat coughed up" Jackie said.
"Look what the ocean washed out" Courtney said.
She stared at Courtney with her golden/brown eyes. Jackie and Courtney used to be friends but Jackie got into cheerleading and stuff and Courtney with art so they broke apart and hated each other.
"Do you need something, Jackie?" Max asked as if he sensed the pressure of a fight starting around them.
Jackie smiled, "Yes, I do. You got a second?" Before he could answer, Jackie grabbed his wrist and dragged him away, leaving Courtney alone.
She sighed and started to get up when she had the feeling that someone was behind her. Courtney turned and saw James Fernandez, Jackie's twin brother. He was leaning on a tree, his book bag next to him. His hair was blond and his bangs had some brown highlights. His eyes were closed. He was wearing a black shirt and faded jeans.
He opened his golden/brown eyes and was looking at her for the first time. For some reason, she went and touched her small yellow diamond on her waist. It vibrated on her fingers, as if sensing that she was nervous. She had it for as long as she can remember and when she asked her brother about it, he said she was born with it.
"You know, at first I thought you and Jackie were going to have a cat-fight", James said, “Me-ow!”.
"Yeah, you wish" Courtney said. She didn't hate James as much as Jackie, but he can be annoying sometimes. She started to walk away from him, when he grabbed her wrist. She gasps and turned around.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I need to tell u something." he said.
"What do you need to say?"
"You need to be more careful around here," James said and was looking around as if making sure no one was around, "it's not safe anymore."
"What do you mean?" Before he could say anything, Jackie stepped in between them.
"What are you doing, James?" Jackie asked. James let go of Courtney's wrist and said
"Nothing". Jackie grabbed her brother's arm and walked away from Courtney. Someone touched her shoulder. She turned and saw Max behind her.
"Hey" he said.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"She was asking about homework" he rolled his eyes.
"Right, same old Jackie" Courtney said. James's word stayed in her mind. What did he mean by saying she had to be careful?
"Courtney?" Max said, bringing her back to the present.
"Yeah?" she said.
"You kind of went blank for a minute. What were you thinking?" he said.
“Just some stuff”
She looked down at her watch. "Whoa, we got 5 minutes until class starts." she said. "Lets go" Max said, grabbing her wrist and running through the crowded hallways. At the end of the day, Courtney waved "goodbye" to Max and went walking to her house.
She heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw nothing. She shook her head and continued walking. She heard the footsteps again and quickens her pace. The footsteps became louder and closer now. She stopped and turned, but saw nothing. She started walking slowly when someone grabbed her arms and covered her mouth.