I run.

After the principal lets us go, I run. I don’t know where I’m going, but it has to be away from here. I’ve got to get away from Jared; I have to run so he can’t catch up to me.

I end up in a different part of town, somewhere I’m not familiar with, but I know a friend that lives around here. I look for the closest food place, because I’m starving. The local diner is pretty small, so I’m seated quickly. I look at the menu when I feel someone sit across from me.

“Hello,” the voice says. Thankfully it’s not Jared, it’s Shannen, the friend that lives here.

“Hey, Shannen,” I say back with a smile. First time in a while I talk to Shannen, “what’s up?”

“Gabe, I have something to tell you,” Shannen says, her voice strong.

“Sure, go ahead,”

“It’s about… Jared,”

“Of course it is. I know he’s obsessed with me, I know I hang—”

“No, Gabe. I want to warn you, he’s dangerous!” I look at her straight in the face, speechless. She pulls down the top of her shirt a little, revealing a scar.