Chosen Read online

  I nodded and made my way out of the room.

  Clara was in for one heck of a surprise.

  ***

  CLARA EVANS

  This weekend I had no personal space whatsoever.

  Adam was all over me, trying to take care of me like a mother. He said I needed ‘rest and nurturing’ after the traumatizing event. Yes, it was scarring, and I wouldn’t forget it anytime soon, but I didn’t want anyone fussing all over me.

  I hated it. He made me stay in my room the entire time and put me on bed rest. Ironically, my room was one of the only rooms in the house that wasn’t destroyed. We either watched movies and talked, or I wrote my essay that I thankfully finished with the help of Wikipedia and Adam. I barely left the room for fear of remembering what had happened in the hallway.

  I heard Herbert and Irene cleaning the house while telling me that they were trying to reschedule the dinner they wanted to have to celebrate my birthday. I didn’t bother to argue with them, but I was intrigued since we hadn’t had a birthday dinner since I was ten. They seemed determined to have a birthday dinner with me and a few guests. At least that was what they claimed. Couldn’t we just go out to a restaurant? They insisted we needed to stay home for ‘privacy reasons.’

  That didn’t sound sketchy at all. Nothing was adding up, and it was frustrating the heck out of me. Why were Herbert and Irene being somewhat decent and wanting a dinner party?

  Adam made us celebrate my birthday the next day with cake and presents. He got me a cute bracelet with different charms that I didn’t recognize. I asked him about it, but he just smirked and moved on, making me vow to never take it off.

  I rolled my eyes at his usual dramatic self and agreed.

  Soon it was Monday, and I had to literally drag Adam out of my room.

  “I’m changing, Keller! I don’t want you in my room while I’m doing so.”

  “Why? You think it will make my hormones burst? I think you forget, Girl Scout—”

  “I know, I know, you’re not rooting for my team. Now out!” I demanded and closed the door on his face.

  Teenagers.

  I quickly changed, showered, and put on skinny jeans and a blue shirt that said: “Is that what you’re calling yourself, ‘Greg’?”

  I hopped around to get my Converse on and put on my new bracelet. I threw my hair into a messy bun and opened the door to a pouting Adam.

  “Are you ready now?” Adam asked, waving a banana in my face.

  I took it gratefully and devoured it. We quickly went down the stairs to get our stuff, and I looked around in confusion.

  The house looked completely clean, like nothing had happened. I gave Adam a look and he smiled forcefully.

  “Your parents cleaned faster than I thought,” he said with a dark chuckle, but I just raised my eyebrow. No way they did all that without some help. I didn’t hear anybody else while we were upstairs.

  He looked at his wrist and gasped. “Well, look at the time, we’re running late. Let’s go!” he shouted, dragging me to the truck before I could protest.

  As we were getting to school, Adam looked at me.

  “Are you alright with this? You don’t have to go—”

  “Yes. I can do it. I have to face them sometime. And Adam?”

  He hummed in response.

  “I’m being very lenient with your secrets, but I would like to know soon before I blow a gasket,” I said, looking at him, completely serious.

  Adam glanced at me quickly before nodding slightly.

  “You’ll get your answers soon, I promise. I think Jay should explain it.”

  Jay? Why does he know? I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by that. Adam had told Jay, but not me?

  Ouch.

  We parked in our usual spot and I took a deep breath.

  “You ready for this?” Adam asked nervously. I gave him a small nod and swung the door open.

  I didn’t really know what I was expecting when I got out. Bryce had probably spread the word or twisted the story so that I was the villain. Everyone was probably going to be worse than usual. I turned to the crowd, preparing myself for the worst.

  What I didn’t expect was everyone completely ignoring me.

  I looked around and saw that no one even glanced my way. No whispers, no glares.

  Nothing.

  I looked at Adam, uncertain, and saw that he looked just as curious as me. Were they all plotting something?

  Adam followed me to my locker.

  “What’s happening?” I whispered. “Are they plotting to kill me and want me to let my guard down? Are they going to con me? I don’t like this, Adam,” I rambled nervously.

  Adam looked around as well and shrugged.

  “Don’t let them affect you, Girl Scout. Keep your head high and show them who’s boss!” Adam cheered.

  I looked at him like he was crazy. He was joking, right? I shook my head at him and turned away quickly, accidentally kicking someone over. Their stuff was all over the floor, and I quickly picked it up. The person joined me and soon all my stuff was collected. I looked up to thank them when I froze. I swear, I lost all the color on my face.

  Jess.

  “S-sorry. I-I—”

  “It’s alright,” Jess said with a sweet smile. I gawked at her smile. Say what now? “It was an accident. I’m Jess by the way and you are?”

  I looked at her in shock.

  Say what now?

  “Clara?” I said slowly. Did she get a concussion over the weekend or something?

  “Alright, bye Clara.” Jess waved and began to walk away.

  I turned and looked at Adam in shock, who was wearing the same expression.

  “Say what now?” I shout.

  “Clara,” Adam said seriously. “I think I know the cause of this.”

  “Say what now?”

  “Is that all you can say?”

  “Psh... no. Adam, what is going on? I am officially scared.”

  “Well—”

  But of course, just when I was about to get answers, the bell rang. I felt the steam coming out of my ears as I silently cursed at the bell.

  Adam shook his head and dragged me to our first class.

  “Adam! I want—”

  “I think you should ask Jay,” Adam cut in insistently.

  “And what makes you think Jay knows everything?” I snapped.

  “Just trust me, alright Girl Scout?”

  Knowing I wasn’t going to get anywhere, I sighed and nodded.

  Jay had a lot of explaining to do. I was going to get answers or I was going to pull his hair out.

  As we walked in, the teacher stopped me.

  “Hello there. Are you a new student?”

  I gaped at my teacher. First the students, now the teachers. Man, they did their pranks well at Ford.

  I decided to play along.

  “Yes. My name is Clara,” I said tiredly.

  The teacher smiled and told me to grab a seat. I sat in my usual spot and banged my head on the desk.

  “You alright, Clara?”

  I looked and glared at a concerned Jay.

  “You, mister, have so much explaining to do!” I whisper-yelled.

  Jay sighed and nodded.

  “I’ll tell you after school, alright? Just not here in public.”

  “What are you going to do? Murder me?” I retorted. Then my eyes widened. “Are you?” I ask curiously.

  Jay looked at me and laughed.

  “How did you know?”

  I rolled my eyes and turned to the teacher. I hoped time would go by fast.

  ***

  This day had been the strangest day of my life.

  No one, besides Jay and Adam, seemed to recognize me. They looked at me curiously and whispered. Usually their whispering was harsh, but this time it was more excited and curious.

  That’s not what really unnerved me though.

 
; I went to give my paper to Ms. Cole, and she looked at me like I was the strangest person on the planet. She took the essay and told me she was surprised a new student had done an essay for a good impression before shooing me away.

  She assigned me the dang essay! What was the matter with everyone?

  I wasn’t dressed differently. I wasn’t wearing a wig or strange outfit.

  I felt so confused. I went to sit at my normal lunch table with Adam.

  “Keller, I’m about to go crazy!” I groaned and banged my head on the table. I ignored the pain that shot through my head. I’d been doing it a lot lately.

  Adam sighed and gave me a look of sympathy.

  “Sorry Girl Scout, I can’t say until you two talk,” Adam said with determination.

  I was about ready to throw something at him. This was the one time he decided to keep his mouth shut.

  “Besides, this is somewhat great! Nothing happened today and all the guys have been staring at you like you’re a steak,” Adam said with an encouraging smile.

  I rolled my eyes at that. That wasn’t true.

  Jay sat next to us and gave me a small smile. I gave him a full-on glare, hoping he would burn to death.

  Jay raised his hands in surrender and ate his food. We ate in silence because I was too frustrated to talk.

  Adam nudged me and whispered, “Bryce coming our way. I guess he got around his suspension.”

  Jay stiffened and clenched his fists. I tried to calm down my racing heart. Bryce was going to end me now. I turned to meet my death. Might as well face it like a champ. Bryce smirked at me and gave me a mock salute. This was it. It was a good eighteen years.

  “Hello, Smokin’. The name’s Bryce. And you are?” he smoldered.

  I gawked at him.

  HIM TOO?

  I couldn’t take it anymore.

  Without even registering my actions, I slapped the guy. Apparently, it shocked him so much he fell to the ground. The cafeteria went silent.

  I decided that it was time for everyone to know the truth. Maybe they’d listen, maybe they wouldn’t, but I didn’t care. It needed to be done.

  I looked at him and glared.

  “That’s what you get when you and your team beat me to the pulp. I hope you rot in hell,” I snapped.

  I heard the cafeteria start their gossip, but I didn’t care. I’d finally come out with it.

  And man, did that feel good.

  With that, I grabbed my stuff and marched out of the shocked cafeteria and away from everyone, including Jay and Adam.

  I needed to think alone and I knew just the spot.

  8 - Is This A Gang Fight?

  I looked around the park.

  It was pretty secluded. Either everyone was at school or at work, so it was no surprise that it was basically empty. Quietly, I made my way to the woods end of the park and followed the trail. The trail was covered in weeds and sticks, making it invisible to the public eye. It was one of the most satisfying things about my hiding spot. It was so isolated that no one would even consider looking for me here.

  After passing through the trees, I finally found the murky creek. I went to a larger log lying across the water and slowly walked across. Of course, being me, I almost fell into the water, but I kept my balance at the last second. I fist-pumped myself before moving along the trail.

  A few more minutes and I arrived at my spot. It was a hidden beauty. It was a clearing with a small waterfall connected to a little creek. The grass was a bright green, and the giant tree gave the clearing cool shade.

  I’d found this spot when I ran off while Irene and Herbert were arguing at the park. I decided to ‘run away’ and found this place. It had become my sanctuary whenever I was down.

  So, pretty much I was here all the time, except when Adam was available.

  I admired the waterfall. Even though it was small, you could see the beauty of the flowing water falling from the rocks and into the creek. I felt something wet on top of my head and looked up. Another drop fell on my face and another.

  Perfect.

  Quickly, I made my way under a large oak tree and settled down, putting my hood up in a poor attempt to keep myself dry.

  I watched as the sky began to downpour. Nothing like a spring shower. How fitting. Sighing, I thought about the main problem I was supposed to be focusing on.

  An entire high school completely forgot about my existence.

  How is that even possible? Just days before, they all bullied the crap out of me. Now they’re just friendly strangers? Even my teachers couldn’t remember me! I did an entire essay for nothing!

  How could they all forget about me? Was I not worth being in their memories anymore? Was I that nauseating to think about that they completely blocked me out of their lives?

  Adam even thought I’d caused it. He may not have specifically said that out loud, but the underlying tone of his voice said it all. Did I tell them to forget about me? Sure I thought about it.

  Thought.

  Thought.

  Forget about me.

  My mind reeled at the thought, but it couldn’t be. That was ridiculous. Yes, even though I thought that during my beating as a punching bag, it didn’t mean it had come from me. I pleaded for them to leave me alone all of the time.

  There had to be a logical explanation.

  I thought about Bryce in the cafeteria today and shivered. I brought my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

  I shouldn’t have slapped Bryce. It was unreasonable. I’d just got back the reputation people had forgotten about. Perfect. But I couldn’t help it. All those emotions had poured into that one slap.

  The fear, anger, sadness. It had to come out somehow.

  And it came out on Bryce, the jock. He was an evil, demented, person who wanted to...

  Just say it, Clara. Tell it how it is.

  “Kill you,” I whispered to the rain.

  What had even led him to do such a thing?

  I let my head rest on my knees and closed my eyes.

  I didn’t know how long I was sitting there like that, but I was startled by a voice next to me.

  “The view looks nice,” the voice commented.

  I lifted my head and saw none other than Jay Woods. I wasn’t surprised. A lot of chaos came into my life whenever he showed up.

  He was completely soaked due to the rain. His blonde hair stuck to his face and droplets cascaded down his skin. His clothes were wet, sticking to his form.

  Realizing I was staring, I sighed and looked up at the branches, the droplets from the rain hitting my face. I was almost as soaked as Jay, despite the tree and my hood.

  “Yeah. It’s broken down, but still has that warmth to it,” I said, trying to make light conversation in my somber mood.

  I felt him sit next to me, and we sat there in comfortable silence.

  “How did you find me?” I asked, breaking the silence.

  Jay looked at me sheepishly.

  ”I followed you here. I just left you alone for a while, so you could collect your thoughts. Are you alright?” he asked with genuine concern.

  I snorted at that. Everyone had been saying that a lot. I could feel myself starting to get worked up again.

  “At this point, I’m about ready to send myself to a mental institution,” I cried out hysterically. I look at Jay pleadingly. “Please tell me what is going on? I’m begging you.”

  I could see the conflict in his grey eyes. I couldn’t look away, and apparently he couldn’t either. As I stared at him, everything faded away. It was just me and him.

  I heard a snap, and I pulled away to look at our surroundings. I couldn’t see anything, so I shrugged it off. It was probably a bunny.

  I looked and saw Jay’s jaw clenched and his fists were balled tight.

  “Jay, calm down. It’s probably a bunny or some other thing,” I reassured him.

  Jay didn’t relax as he
stood up and looked around.

  “Pretty sure it’s not a bunny, and that other thing isn’t going to be pretty. We got to go.”

  He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

  “Go? Jay, it’s pouring outside and we’re soaked. Besides, no one knows about this spot. We’re safe—”

  “No, we’re not,” Jay cut off. “You’re basically screaming where we are, so they can find and kill us. You don’t have control yet.”

  “Control? What the—”

  Before I could finish, Jay picked me up and started running.

  ***

  After struggling for ten minutes, I finally gave up as he ran. We were completely soaked and my wet hair kept flying in my face. I covered myself to hold off the cold, but it didn’t work. Occasionally, Jay tried to rub my arms for warmth, and I snuggled into his embrace.

  He was like my own personal heater.

  He didn’t seem to be breaking a sweat, even with running and carrying me. I couldn’t help but be a little jealous about how fast he was. Dang him and his long legs.

  I kept asking Jay to tell me what was going on, but he completely ignored me.

  I slowly got angrier. I hated being left in the dark like this!

  Jay stopped in the middle of the forest and gently put me down. I fixed my clothes quickly and gave him a glare.

  “I guess we have to take a stand here. I can’t get them off our tail,” he muttered.

  Now he was scaring me more than ever.

  “Jay—”

  “Well, well, well. Look who we’ve found,” a voice said.

  Jay pulled me behind him as a man and five other guys trailed behind him and surrounded us.

  Something about them didn’t scream sunshine and rainbows. I looked at the guy who had spoken up. He was tall (just like every guy there) and wore black clothing. What really gave him that scary vibe was the scar that went from his left eyebrow to the right corner of his lip. I felt myself beginning to shake.

  This was so not good.

  “Vlad is going to be one happy man once we tell him we’ve finally found the Chosen.” The man grinned cockily and assessed me. I really didn’t like the way he was looking at me.

  Jay pulled me closer to him and glared at the guy.