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Description
Follow the Leaders

I fold and unfold my hands in my lap as I angrily struggle to figure out how to introduce myself to my new “family.”

These people have never met me and I have never met them. This isn’t going to work.

I ignore my pessimistic attitude with weak faith as I introduce myself to my hands. Of course, I’m not really talking to myself. Last time I did that people stared. But last time is really just a few seconds ago. So, that’s my bad habit, no nose picking, constant hair twirling, and nasty fingernails. Just that.

Ok!

I clench my hands together and start.

My name is Hannah and I am seventeen years old going on eighteen this July. Ok, good so far, I tell myself trying to keep everything in my thoughts.

My parents died when I was eleven in a plane crash. I was with them. I shut my eyes and feel a rush of pain come over me.

Suddenly, I’m in an airport. I watch an airplane take off into the sky. Everything begins to get blurry. I turn my head and look at a couple, or what might be a couple, looking back at me with big smiles on their faces. All I see is the smile, than everything fades to black.

“Ok! Not a good way to introduce yourself!” I say as I clench my fists until they turn white. A bunch of people turn to look at me.

Dang. I did it again.

I always seem to talk to myself out loud when I was younger to make me feel less alone. The habit left me without friends.

My name is Hannah and I’m seventeen. I have a mental illness.

I take in what I just thought. Even though it’s true it hurts to say it. The doctors tell me that I have a problem in the memory department. You see, when I was in the car crash that killed my parents I hit my head. The hit affected the brain’s spot to store memories. To me, everything I ever knew was forgotten, every memory erased. Trust me, it was hell relearning everything. It took me a year and a half. That’s only because I’m a fast learner. To catch me up in school I got a tutor and ended up getting ahead in school so I was sent back this past year to high school as a senior. Now I’m finishing my senior year in Sulver. The doctors told me that my memories were still there, hidden away in my mind. They told me six years ago I would get my memory back and it was only temporary amnesia. Now they have no idea what it could possibly be. They don’t understand why I can’t remember. They don’t know what to classify it as or anything. Because now, almost six years later, I still can’t remember. It seems that I just had a flash back though, today. Why today?

I want to know what my parents looked like. There were a few of their wedding I saw but it hurt my head so bad to see it so my grandparents took down all the pictures of my parents. I’m sure it was difficult for them. But, they said it was for the best. They were lying. They wanted me out. My grandparents thought I was different, I know that for sure. My cousin, Sarah, was treated nothing like me. When she visited she was adored at the highest level. I, in fact, was very different. They would set food out for me, but would never eat with me. They said weird things like “why couldn’t your parents just let the pieces fall into place.” I have no idea what that means but I feel, deep down, that my past is telling me that it’s all about me.

These people I was going to live with were my only chance at heaven and that was that. If I screwed up, I was done for. I’m almost eighteen, once that happens I am considered an adult and won’t be able to go into foster care, or get a social worker. Mind that, Aunt Susan and Uncle Toby must not be poor for Amanda. I’ll have no one to turn to if I screw this up. My only known family is Sarah’s family. There are eight kids in that family. No way.

It’s sad, I’m not related to any of these people. But I talk, well think, as if they are. It’s comforting to me, I guess.

I shut my eyes, feeling sleep take me, I hope I don’t miss my stop. I open my eyes to darkness, what a long ride. I guess it’s to the top of Idaho, and I got off my plane at two AM. It’s sad I never noticed how late it was or the darkness at all until now. People snooze across the train, like a band. I sit up, and look to the lady next to me. Still asleep, I watch her breath for a few minutes, then look forward. What I see takes my breath away and makes my heart start to pound. A boy, probably around my age, stares back at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I look closer at his face, squinting through the darkness. He has dark brown hair, curly and messy. But, in a way, it’s good looking. Before I get a better look at the rest of his face he turns away from me. His face shows a quick expression of shock. I sigh and shut my eyes.

“Dang it! I forgot love was hopeless.” I say falling back into sleep, again. I open my eyes one last time to see the boy looking at me, a smile on his face. I shut my eyes, succumbing to the sleepiness I suddenly feel.

My head hurts like someone hit it as I lift my head from the seat, I had the weirdest dream.

I’m on stretcher and I’m crying. I don’t know why but everyone around me is crying too. My head continues to hurt in this dream and I feel blood drip down my face, soft and sticky. My dream ends and I’m still wondering what happened. I rub my hand against my head, trying to figure it out.

“I wonder if that actually happened and it’s really a memory.” I ponder when my emotionless voice gets interrupted.

“All passengers getting off at Sulver please exit the train in an orderly fashion.” Says a woman over the intercom. Three people stand up.

Oh wow. Big rush.

I click open my seat belt and stand up. I gather my diary and walk along the aisle, no one else gets off. I look ahead to see three boys getting off the train. The two laugh and shove each other as they walk down the stops, the third has his hands clenched walking behind them. I look closer. The first boy, a skinny red head with caramel colored eyes laughs as he turns back towards the train and waves to it. The second, a blonde haired boy with bright blue eyes smiles as he walks over to pick up his bags.

“Where am I?” I whisper as I look around. I’m standing on a small piece of concrete as the train slowly begins to move again. I look around towards the trees. So many trees. I feel lost, never have I been so lost. A worn path is ahead in the trees. I look to the right of me and there stands the third boy. He seems familiar.

“Oh my gosh!” I whisper to myself. It’s the boy who was staring at me! He clenches and unclenches his fists. He looks very angry.

Mental Note: Stay away from him!

His tousled brown hair looks even messier and his green eyes seem to match the forest’s darkness as I quickly glance toward the other two boys. One of them, the blonde one, lifts his head and laughs while turning towards me.

“I didn’t notice you there! Normally no one comes here! I’ll get your bags.” He smiles as he picks up my bags and my cardboard box easily and puts they by my side. The other boy, the red one, picks up three small bags and walks over to hands one to the silent brown one. He than walks to the side of the blonde one and smiles.

“It’s nice there is someone else coming here besides us. I’m Felix!” He smiles as he bows.

So much for “the red one.”

“This crazy man here is Lemual!” He continues through laughter.

“Who’s that?” I say as I point my finger towards the silent boy. Felix and Lemual get scared looks on their faces and quickly turn their horror to wary smiles as they laugh nervously.

“That’s Ian.” Says Lemual as he goes pale.

Something isn’t right. Obviously, these two boys are older than Ian but they seem so scared of him. This puts chills up my whole body. At that moment Ian turns to Felix and Lemual and stares at them with an empty stare. The two boys nervously laugh again and look at me.

“We better get going! It’s two miles until we reach the town!” Felix says as he starts walking. The two boys match each other’s pace and quickly get ahead. It’s only me and the boy they call Ian. I quickly get my box on top of my suitcase and slide my diary between the two and start walking. Ian looks back at me and stops. My mental note screams in my head. But something about his eyes makes me stop from speeding up to follow Felix and Lemual at their heels. His anger and fierceness slowly seem to melt away, making him look more..cute. But what I saw earlier wasn’t cute and I wasn’t going to forget it easily.

“I’ll carry that for you.” he reaches out his hand and smiles.

Such a nice smile.

I nod and try to keep from blushing, it doesn’t work. He slides the handle of his bag on his right wrist and grabs the handle of the suitcase. He resumes walking, I match his pace beside him.

“So how old are you now? He looks toward me with a smile.

He knows me? He couldn’t!

“I’m seventeen.” I state slowly, in a shocked stupor as I look into his eyes, so green, they’re beautiful. “You have beautiful eyes! They’re so green!” I say and automatically go even redder in the face.

Dang it! I suck at talking to guys! I look towards my left to look at the forest. I glance at him from the corner of my eyes, he doesn’t notice but instead he is looking at the ground with one of the saddest looks I have ever seen. As I walked, watching him, I fell forward, tripping on a root. My hands flip out to stop my fall and I draw a sharp intake of breath. I hit the ground and gasp at the sudden impact. I feel someone grab my shoulders from behind and he pulls me up, grabbing both my hands. His hands are warm, unlike the cold anger he was showing earlier.

“Um..” I stop, his eyes look into mine with a concerned look. He brings he face closer to mine, as if he is looking for scratches on my face. The world has stopped. I can’t breathe.

“It’s not like your eyes aren’t beautiful, either. Gray eyes remind me of ash. They are the start of a brand new and better beginning. His face is average, but still beautiful. A few acne spots here and there, but not bad. He pulled his face away from mine, letting go of my hands. “Try to be more careful, you must not be used to here. There are a lot of dangerous things around.” He says looking straight ahead. He bends down and picks up my bags. He wears a dark green shirt with the words “Down to heaven” written across it in yellow spray paint like writing. His pants are normal guy pants, baggy, of a dark wash with holes scattered across it. He wears a brown jacket unzipped over his shirt. I shiver, trying to act like I’m cold to wear his jacket. It works. He looks at me and stops. He turns to me and slides off his jacket like any gentle man would do. I can’t help but look into his eyes, again. He looks back curiously and lightly takes my hands and slides the coat up my left arm, and than slides it up my right. He zips the jacket up for me. I feel like I’m a helpless baby all the while looking into his eyes. He grabs his bag and my suitcase handle and continues to walk. We walk in silence for a while until he finally breaks it.

“I guess you know my name is Ian from Felix, right?” He glances toward me and I nod. “Okay. I’m eighteen years old and my full name is Ian William Evander. I’m almost 19, I work as a sub at the high school. I have a little sister named Belatrix, but we all call her Ella. I live with my Uncle Leander, Cousin Lemual, my grandpa Lector and his brother Oliver. Also, you can’t forget Ella! He laughs as he walks. “That should get rid of a lot of questions!”

“Wow! You sure live with a lot of people!” I say, truly amazed. He stops walking.

“Yeah. Sometimes I wish it was just Ella and I though.” He sighs, looking down. “But it will never be that way. I will always have a lot of people around me. Sometimes I just want to be alone. But I never can be. I hate it. I hate everyone that keeps me company. Sometimes I even hate Ella.” He looks forward, glaring at the trail as he picks up walking again. I’m shocked at what I just heard.

He feels the opposite? This is not going to be fun. He’s also pretty emotional, like a girl.

“I feel the exact opposite of you.” I say in a small voice. “I want to be around tons of people who..” I stop. He’s glaring at me.

“You’re disagreeing with me?” He says, his face mixed with anger and shock. I suddenly feel all the cold anger return to him, like a disease. If I was going to have a friend, it wasn’t going to be one who would force me to do anything he wanted me to do or say.

“Yes, I’m disagreeing with you.” I look him in the eye and try not to crumble. His eyes now remind me of a burning forest, everything dying. I have to explain. “The truth is.. No one around me cared for me. I’ve never had really any family. I’d love to be around family that loves and cares for you!” I say gaining confidence as I go. I look towards him and he stomps my confidence in a second. He’s glaring at me, again.

“Well than. What if they don’t love or care about you, Hannah? What if you’re just a puppet to them? What if it’s all a lie?“ He says in a hiss.

“Are you lying to me?” I ask, looking straight ahead, also.

“No.” He says glaring at the dirt furiously.

“Than that’s good. I say quietly. I’m scared, I take a step away from him. He stops, and I turn to watch him.

“Hannah, do you really think this is the first time we’ve met?” He says, stepping closer to me, his posture tense.

“Uh.. I don’t know.” He stops and takes a step back.

“You still have amnesia?” He says in a shocked tone. I nod.

“Hey!” Felix yells to us ten feet away. He stands at the end of the trailhead. I laugh, we’re finally here. Ian sighs and shakes his head.

I wonder if he was my own personal bully in the past.

I run up ahead to Felix and Lemual, leaving Ian in the dust. I look back quickly and unzip his jacket, letting it slide off my shoulders to the dirt. I than run to Lemual’s side and listen and smile as they talk about the train ride. I twist my head slowly to get a good look at Ian, he’s brushing dirt from his jacket with an angry expression. I grin menacingly.

That’ll teach that jerk to mess with me!

“Felix, why don’t you walk Hannah home?” Lemual says happily as he picks at his nails.

“No.” Ian says, grabbing hold of my arm. Lemual opens his mouth and Felix covers it. They nod quickly and march off, gaining speed as they go. I gasp as he brings me closer to him, his arm pulling me closer and closer until are noses are touching.

“So you think you’re so tough!” He says, a smile on his face as if he‘s talking to a little kid trying to be a strong man. I nod, still struggling to get away. “Okay.” He says lifting his hand to twist it in my hair. I’m curious. You can’t remember anything at all?” He says, lightly pulling on my hair.

“No.” I say keeping my glare on my face. He laughs.

“Now don’t you look cute!” He says through laughter. I push out of his grip and start walking along a road, it looks more like a path though. It isn’t paved, in fact, none of the roads are paved.

Wow! This town doesn’t have any paved roads?!

“Hey! Get back here!” Ian huffs as he runs after me. It’s to the graveyard!” He raises his long, muscular arm to point father down the road. I glance up and see no streetlights.

‘Oh. Creepy!” I say, taking a step back.

“Eh.. For you.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. “Come on! Let’s go take you home! He says as he reaches for my hand. I jump back.

“Okay. Three questions!” I say looking into his now happy eyes. “First, why were you staring at me last night?” He keeps his gaze, a blush rising onto his cheeks.

“I wanted to make sure it was you!” He pulls his hand under his chin, thinking. “I haven’t seen your beautif..face in a long time!” His blush gets deeper as he gives me a side-glance for approval. I nod.

“How do you know where I live? Even if I used to live here, how would you know where I live now!“ I state putting my hands on my hips.

“Uh..here..We kind of have a council thing going on here…everyone is tightly knit.. Including the Sohms.” He looks down to his shoes, blush fading. I gasp and than quickly maintain my glare.

“Okay. And last, why do you keep acting like you know me so well! Even if I did know you, why do you keep touching me, and being so kind? I have no idea who the hell you are!” I say, my hands flying up to my sides. Hurt appears on his face, like a man who’s wife just told he’s not going to watch the super bowl.

“That’s because..” he stops. “best friends.” I quickly read his expression, only pain is shown. Suddenly I feel light headed. I stumble, and feel like I’m drifting away.

I’m in a big oak tree, sitting on someone’s lap. I look back and see the same piercing green eyes.

“Hannah, do you like the view?” He says, his voice is higher now. I nod and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You’re the best best friend ever!” I say, my voice seems a lot more childish sounding. Ian laughs, the same blush on his cheeks. I feel a blush rise to my cheeks and join in his laughter. I turn my head to see a vast amount of mountains as pinks, oranges, and reds cross the sky. We’re looking towards the West, high from the ground on a tree limb. “It’s beautiful. I say. As the picture fades I hear Ian’s voice.

“Someday, we’ll watch the sunset together without having to hide from those.. demons.”

Description
Follow the Leaders

I fold and unfold my hands in my lap as I angrily struggle to figure out how to introduce myself to my new “family.”

These people have never met me and I have never met them. This isn’t going to work.

I ignore my pessimistic attitude with weak faith as I introduce myself to my hands. Of course, I’m not really talking to myself. Last time I did that people stared. But last time is really just a few seconds ago. So, that’s my bad habit, no nose picking, constant hair twirling, and nasty fingernails. Just that.

Ok!

I clench my hands together and start.

My name is Hannah and I am seventeen years old going on eighteen this July. Ok, good so far, I tell myself trying to keep everything in my thoughts.

My parents died when I was eleven in a plane crash. I was with them. I shut my eyes and feel a rush of pain come over me.

Suddenly, I’m in an airport. I watch an airplane take off into the sky. Everything begins to get blurry. I turn my head and look at a couple, or what might be a couple, looking back at me with big smiles on their faces. All I see is the smile, than everything fades to black.

“Ok! Not a good way to introduce yourself!” I say as I clench my fists until they turn white. A bunch of people turn to look at me.

Dang. I did it again.

I always seem to talk to myself out loud when I was younger to make me feel less alone. The habit left me without friends.

My name is Hannah and I’m seventeen. I have a mental illness.

I take in what I just thought. Even though it’s true it hurts to say it. The doctors tell me that I have a problem in the memory department. You see, when I was in the car crash that killed my parents I hit my head. The hit affected the brain’s spot to store memories. To me, everything I ever knew was forgotten, every memory erased. Trust me, it was hell relearning everything. It took me a year and a half. That’s only because I’m a fast learner. To catch me up in school I got a tutor and ended up getting ahead in school so I was sent back this past year to high school as a senior. Now I’m finishing my senior year in Sulver. The doctors told me that my memories were still there, hidden away in my mind. They told me six years ago I would get my memory back and it was only temporary amnesia. Now they have no idea what it could possibly be. They don’t understand why I can’t remember. They don’t know what to classify it as or anything. Because now, almost six years later, I still can’t remember. It seems that I just had a flash back though, today. Why today?

I want to know what my parents looked like. There were a few of their wedding I saw but it hurt my head so bad to see it so my grandparents took down all the pictures of my parents. I’m sure it was difficult for them. But, they said it was for the best. They were lying. They wanted me out. My grandparents thought I was different, I know that for sure. My cousin, Sarah, was treated nothing like me. When she visited she was adored at the highest level. I, in fact, was very different. They would set food out for me, but would never eat with me. They said weird things like “why couldn’t your parents just let the pieces fall into place.” I have no idea what that means but I feel, deep down, that my past is telling me that it’s all about me.

These people I was going to live with were my only chance at heaven and that was that. If I screwed up, I was done for. I’m almost eighteen, once that happens I am considered an adult and won’t be able to go into foster care, or get a social worker. Mind that, Aunt Susan and Uncle Toby must not be poor for Amanda. I’ll have no one to turn to if I screw this up. My only known family is Sarah’s family. There are eight kids in that family. No way.

It’s sad, I’m not related to any of these people. But I talk, well think, as if they are. It’s comforting to me, I guess.

I shut my eyes, feeling sleep take me, I hope I don’t miss my stop. I open my eyes to darkness, what a long ride. I guess it’s to the top of Idaho, and I got off my plane at two AM. It’s sad I never noticed how late it was or the darkness at all until now. People snooze across the train, like a band. I sit up, and look to the lady next to me. Still asleep, I watch her breath for a few minutes, then look forward. What I see takes my breath away and makes my heart start to pound. A boy, probably around my age, stares back at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I look closer at his face, squinting through the darkness. He has dark brown hair, curly and messy. But, in a way, it’s good looking. Before I get a better look at the rest of his face he turns away from me. His face shows a quick expression of shock. I sigh and shut my eyes.

“Dang it! I forgot love was hopeless.” I say falling back into sleep, again. I open my eyes one last time to see the boy looking at me, a smile on his face. I shut my eyes, succumbing to the sleepiness I suddenly feel.

My head hurts like someone hit it as I lift my head from the seat, I had the weirdest dream.

I’m on stretcher and I’m crying. I don’t know why but everyone around me is crying too. My head continues to hurt in this dream and I feel blood drip down my face, soft and sticky. My dream ends and I’m still wondering what happened. I rub my hand against my head, trying to figure it out.

“I wonder if that actually happened and it’s really a memory.” I ponder when my emotionless voice gets interrupted.

“All passengers getting off at Sulver please exit the train in an orderly fashion.” Says a woman over the intercom. Three people stand up.

Oh wow. Big rush.

I click open my seat belt and stand up. I gather my diary and walk along the aisle, no one else gets off. I look ahead to see three boys getting off the train. The two laugh and shove each other as they walk down the stops, the third has his hands clenched walking behind them. I look closer. The first boy, a skinny red head with caramel colored eyes laughs as he turns back towards the train and waves to it. The second, a blonde haired boy with bright blue eyes smiles as he walks over to pick up his bags.

“Where am I?” I whisper as I look around. I’m standing on a small piece of concrete as the train slowly begins to move again. I look around towards the trees. So many trees. I feel lost, never have I been so lost. A worn path is ahead in the trees. I look to the right of me and there stands the third boy. He seems familiar.

“Oh my gosh!” I whisper to myself. It’s the boy who was staring at me! He clenches and unclenches his fists. He looks very angry.

Mental Note: Stay away from him!

His tousled brown hair looks even messier and his green eyes seem to match the forest’s darkness as I quickly glance toward the other two boys. One of them, the blonde one, lifts his head and laughs while turning towards me.

“I didn’t notice you there! Normally no one comes here! I’ll get your bags.” He smiles as he picks up my bags and my cardboard box easily and puts they by my side. The other boy, the red one, picks up three small bags and walks over to hands one to the silent brown one. He than walks to the side of the blonde one and smiles.

“It’s nice there is someone else coming here besides us. I’m Felix!” He smiles as he bows.

So much for “the red one.”

“This crazy man here is Lemual!” He continues through laughter.

“Who’s that?” I say as I point my finger towards the silent boy. Felix and Lemual get scared looks on their faces and quickly turn their horror to wary smiles as they laugh nervously.

“That’s Ian.” Says Lemual as he goes pale.

Something isn’t right. Obviously, these two boys are older than Ian but they seem so scared of him. This puts chills up my whole body. At that moment Ian turns to Felix and Lemual and stares at them with an empty stare. The two boys nervously laugh again and look at me.

“We better get going! It’s two miles until we reach the town!” Felix says as he starts walking. The two boys match each other’s pace and quickly get ahead. It’s only me and the boy they call Ian. I quickly get my box on top of my suitcase and slide my diary between the two and start walking. Ian looks back at me and stops. My mental note screams in my head. But something about his eyes makes me stop from speeding up to follow Felix and Lemual at their heels. His anger and fierceness slowly seem to melt away, making him look more..cute. But what I saw earlier wasn’t cute and I wasn’t going to forget it easily.

“I’ll carry that for you.” he reaches out his hand and smiles.

Such a nice smile.

I nod and try to keep from blushing, it doesn’t work. He slides the handle of his bag on his right wrist and grabs the handle of the suitcase. He resumes walking, I match his pace beside him.

“So how old are you now? He looks toward me with a smile.

He knows me? He couldn’t!

“I’m seventeen.” I state slowly, in a shocked stupor as I look into his eyes, so green, they’re beautiful. “You have beautiful eyes! They’re so green!” I say and automatically go even redder in the face.

Dang it! I suck at talking to guys! I look towards my left to look at the forest. I glance at him from the corner of my eyes, he doesn’t notice but instead he is looking at the ground with one of the saddest looks I have ever seen. As I walked, watching him, I fell forward, tripping on a root. My hands flip out to stop my fall and I draw a sharp intake of breath. I hit the ground and gasp at the sudden impact. I feel someone grab my shoulders from behind and he pulls me up, grabbing both my hands. His hands are warm, unlike the cold anger he was showing earlier.

“Um..” I stop, his eyes look into mine with a concerned look. He brings he face closer to mine, as if he is looking for scratches on my face. The world has stopped. I can’t breathe.

“It’s not like your eyes aren’t beautiful, either. Gray eyes remind me of ash. They are the start of a brand new and better beginning. His face is average, but still beautiful. A few acne spots here and there, but not bad. He pulled his face away from mine, letting go of my hands. “Try to be more careful, you must not be used to here. There are a lot of dangerous things around.” He says looking straight ahead. He bends down and picks up my bags. He wears a dark green shirt with the words “Down to heaven” written across it in yellow spray paint like writing. His pants are normal guy pants, baggy, of a dark wash with holes scattered across it. He wears a brown jacket unzipped over his shirt. I shiver, trying to act like I’m cold to wear his jacket. It works. He looks at me and stops. He turns to me and slides off his jacket like any gentle man would do. I can’t help but look into his eyes, again. He looks back curiously and lightly takes my hands and slides the coat up my left arm, and than slides it up my right. He zips the jacket up for me. I feel like I’m a helpless baby all the while looking into his eyes. He grabs his bag and my suitcase handle and continues to walk. We walk in silence for a while until he finally breaks it.

“I guess you know my name is Ian from Felix, right?” He glances toward me and I nod. “Okay. I’m eighteen years old and my full name is Ian William Evander. I’m almost 19, I work as a sub at the high school. I have a little sister named Belatrix, but we all call her Ella. I live with my Uncle Leander, Cousin Lemual, my grandpa Lector and his brother Oliver. Also, you can’t forget Ella! He laughs as he walks. “That should get rid of a lot of questions!”

“Wow! You sure live with a lot of people!” I say, truly amazed. He stops walking.

“Yeah. Sometimes I wish it was just Ella and I though.” He sighs, looking down. “But it will never be that way. I will always have a lot of people around me. Sometimes I just want to be alone. But I never can be. I hate it. I hate everyone that keeps me company. Sometimes I even hate Ella.” He looks forward, glaring at the trail as he picks up walking again. I’m shocked at what I just heard.

He feels the opposite? This is not going to be fun. He’s also pretty emotional, like a girl.

“I feel the exact opposite of you.” I say in a small voice. “I want to be around tons of people who..” I stop. He’s glaring at me.

“You’re disagreeing with me?” He says, his face mixed with anger and shock. I suddenly feel all the cold anger return to him, like a disease. If I was going to have a friend, it wasn’t going to be one who would force me to do anything he wanted me to do or say.

“Yes, I’m disagreeing with you.” I look him in the eye and try not to crumble. His eyes now remind me of a burning forest, everything dying. I have to explain. “The truth is.. No one around me cared for me. I’ve never had really any family. I’d love to be around family that loves and cares for you!” I say gaining confidence as I go. I look towards him and he stomps my confidence in a second. He’s glaring at me, again.

“Well than. What if they don’t love or care about you, Hannah? What if you’re just a puppet to them? What if it’s all a lie?“ He says in a hiss.

“Are you lying to me?” I ask, looking straight ahead, also.

“No.” He says glaring at the dirt furiously.

“Than that’s good. I say quietly. I’m scared, I take a step away from him. He stops, and I turn to watch him.

“Hannah, do you really think this is the first time we’ve met?” He says, stepping closer to me, his posture tense.

“Uh.. I don’t know.” He stops and takes a step back.

“You still have amnesia?” He says in a shocked tone. I nod.

“Hey!” Felix yells to us ten feet away. He stands at the end of the trailhead. I laugh, we’re finally here. Ian sighs and shakes his head.

I wonder if he was my own personal bully in the past.

I run up ahead to Felix and Lemual, leaving Ian in the dust. I look back quickly and unzip his jacket, letting it slide off my shoulders to the dirt. I than run to Lemual’s side and listen and smile as they talk about the train ride. I twist my head slowly to get a good look at Ian, he’s brushing dirt from his jacket with an angry expression. I grin menacingly.

That’ll teach that jerk to mess with me!

“Felix, why don’t you walk Hannah home?” Lemual says happily as he picks at his nails.

“No.” Ian says, grabbing hold of my arm. Lemual opens his mouth and Felix covers it. They nod quickly and march off, gaining speed as they go. I gasp as he brings me closer to him, his arm pulling me closer and closer until are noses are touching.

“So you think you’re so tough!” He says, a smile on his face as if he‘s talking to a little kid trying to be a strong man. I nod, still struggling to get away. “Okay.” He says lifting his hand to twist it in my hair. I’m curious. You can’t remember anything at all?” He says, lightly pulling on my hair.

“No.” I say keeping my glare on my face. He laughs.

“Now don’t you look cute!” He says through laughter. I push out of his grip and start walking along a road, it looks more like a path though. It isn’t paved, in fact, none of the roads are paved.

Wow! This town doesn’t have any paved roads?!

“Hey! Get back here!” Ian huffs as he runs after me. It’s to the graveyard!” He raises his long, muscular arm to point father down the road. I glance up and see no streetlights.

‘Oh. Creepy!” I say, taking a step back.

“Eh.. For you.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. “Come on! Let’s go take you home! He says as he reaches for my hand. I jump back.

“Okay. Three questions!” I say looking into his now happy eyes. “First, why were you staring at me last night?” He keeps his gaze, a blush rising onto his cheeks.

“I wanted to make sure it was you!” He pulls his hand under his chin, thinking. “I haven’t seen your beautif..face in a long time!” His blush gets deeper as he gives me a side-glance for approval. I nod.

“How do you know where I live? Even if I used to live here, how would you know where I live now!“ I state putting my hands on my hips.

“Uh..here..We kind of have a council thing going on here…everyone is tightly knit.. Including the Sohms.” He looks down to his shoes, blush fading. I gasp and than quickly maintain my glare.

“Okay. And last, why do you keep acting like you know me so well! Even if I did know you, why do you keep touching me, and being so kind? I have no idea who the hell you are!” I say, my hands flying up to my sides. Hurt appears on his face, like a man who’s wife just told he’s not going to watch the super bowl.

“That’s because..” he stops. “best friends.” I quickly read his expression, only pain is shown. Suddenly I feel light headed. I stumble, and feel like I’m drifting away.

I’m in a big oak tree, sitting on someone’s lap. I look back and see the same piercing green eyes.

“Hannah, do you like the view?” He says, his voice is higher now. I nod and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You’re the best best friend ever!” I say, my voice seems a lot more childish sounding. Ian laughs, the same blush on his cheeks. I feel a blush rise to my cheeks and join in his laughter. I turn my head to see a vast amount of mountains as pinks, oranges, and reds cross the sky. We’re looking towards the West, high from the ground on a tree limb. “It’s beautiful. I say. As the picture fades I hear Ian’s voice.

“Someday, we’ll watch the sunset together without having to hide from those.. demons.”