The Best Thing for Me

by Lauren Jackson

  I gasped, my own eyes widening. The person darted away just as Jason spun around.

  "What?"

  "Someone..." I trailed off, still staring. My stomach clenched painfully as I realised that we have been caught. Panic coursed through my body. I shot up to my feet, feeling suddenly flustered.

  "Somebody watching?"

  "How could they have known?" I cried.

  "Come on."

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me. He was already dialing Mel's number, my feet tripping underneath me. Her car soon was beside us impressively quick and I was pulled inside. I fell onto his lap in an awkward position. I just wanted to scream in anger.

  "Floor it." He commanded as soon as the door shut.

  Without hesitation, that car lurched forward.

  I stared back out the window, seeing a figure with crazy hair half hidden behind one of the mossy trees bordering the road.

  I knew who it was.

  31

  I couldn't stop moving. I probably couldn't count on my fingers the amount of times I'd paced my bedroom floor, wringing out my hair and cursing. Well, my version of cursing anyway. (For example, fudge cakes, balderdash, etc.).

  Mel had tried numerous times to calm me down, but in the end, after I'd snapped a few times, she left. I hadn't even gotten a chance to apologise; I was just stressing too much. I'd have to call her later. Thoughts were swirling restlessly in my mind, as if triggering my feet. They were stomping back and forth, without much commandment from me. I blinked numerous times, fighting off unshed tears.

  So, Mark was going to definitely know now.

  Had he already?

  How did they even know how to find us?

  I growled in anger, throwing myself on my bed. I let the tears flow down my cheeks as I hiccupped into my pillow, curling up into a ball. I could hear vibrating off in the distance. I slowly crawled over to the other side of the room, retrieving my phone.

  I stared at it stonily, seeing one new message. I opened it. There was one single line. Three words. I re-read it a few times, to make sure I fully understood.

  'I won't tell. '

  I stared at the message for a long time, the words slowly sinking into my mind. I wiped at my cheeks furiously, before with shaky hands, replied.

  'Who's this?'

  Even though I already knew, I knew assumptions usually turned out wrong, so I thought I'd ask. I waited there, frozen in cross-legged position, as they took ten whole minutes to reply.

  'I think you know.'

  Without a moment of hesitation, I typed back quickly.

  'Verification would be nice.’

  I sucked in a breath, waiting. I knew who it was already. Well, I thought I did, but it still didn't seem real. I waited again. This time longer. I got up, stretched, and slapped some water on my face. I checked my phone again.

  Nothing.

  Sighing in frustration, I threw it on my bed and marched into my bathroom once again. I slammed the door and peeled my clothes off. I had a nice, relaxing, steamy shower. It absorbed the tension from my body. I took my time, shampooing my hair and scrubbing myself clean, as if to wash all my stress away.

  I got out, toweled off and dress into my cosy pajamas. I decided on long pants and a hoody. I threw on my fluffy, blue socks, to keep my toes snug. Alas, I couldn't wait any longer and I trudged back to my phone. With a huff, I collapsed.

  I had a new message.

  I gulped, opening it with closed eyes. I took in a deep breath before opening them.

  ' Penny. '

  "Are you okay?" Mel asked as I jammed my long pants on. My phone was being held in between my shoulder and ear. Last time I did this, I'd somehow switched my language to Italian. It had taken me forever to fix it.

  "Yeah. I'm still pretty cut though. I thought she was my friend."

  "Friend?"

  "Well. Close enough."

  "Mm."

  After successfully getting my pants on, I slipped my socks back on instantly. I placed the phone down, enabling loud speaker. I ran my fingers through my hair, turning the straightener on. I began applying my makeup, continuous sighs escaping from my lips.

  I'd already apologised for being so prude yesterday, but she had just waved it off dismissively. I was thankful for that. Like I could cope with having a fight with her right now. I think I'd go insane.

  "Are you okay going to school?" she asked in concern.

  "Yeah, I'll be fine."

  "How's the arm?"

  "Not bad. I can get my cast off soon."

  "That's good."

  Silence lapsed as I began slowly putting my mascara on. No matter how hard I tried, it never turned out as good as when Mel did it. I sighed, placing it back down, giving up.

  Why did I bother anyway?

  "How are you getting to school?"

  "Luke is taking me."

  "Okay good. Well, I have to go. I'll talk to you tonight."

  "Okay, love ya."

  "Love you too."

  After the line went dead and I locked my phone. I slowly straightened my hair, deep in thought. So deep, that I realised I'd been sitting at my mirror, for twenty one minutes, but not staring at anything in particular.

  "Hurry up." Luke grumbled, coming into my room, his shoulders slumped and his hands dug deep into his pockets. "I have a life."

  "Do you?" I asked, turning around, a blank expression on my face.

  "You can walk if you want." he shrugged nonchalantly.

  "Kidding." I rolled my eyes. He never could take any of my teasing. "I'm ready anyway."

  I slung my bag on my shoulder and followed him to the car. I kissed Dad on the cheek, as he was just getting in his car too. He was still on his big job. He was getting paid heaps for it, so that was great. It was a massive job though. He came home practically asleep on his feet. I was going to be making dinner for the next few weeks.

  I waved a hand over my shoulder at Luke and strode into school, locating my table. A back was turned to me, but I could see her crazy curls. I took in a deep breath, before shrugging my bag off and sitting down. Her eyes swiveled to mine. She'd been on her phone.

  "Texting Mark?" I guessed, my voice coming out just a bit shaky.

  She kept her face emotionless. "I told you I wouldn't tell."

  "And I appreciate that."

  She nodded curtly, before going back to her phone.

  "Did he ask you?"

  "Ask me what?" she asked in a bored voice.

  "Ask you to spy on me."

  "I didn't just volunteer."

  I nodded, biting my lip. "What did he offer you?"

  "Cash. Obviously."

  "How much?"

  She looked at me, her lip twitching. "I don't kiss and tell."

  "You kissed him?" I made a face, sickened at the thought.

  She gave me a flat look. "How are you in the smart class?"

  I ignored her question. "Why aren't you telling?"

  She sighed, looking up again. "You were good to me yesterday, with my homework and everything. When I followed you, you were so happy to be with Jason. Your whole face had lit up. I hadn't seen you that happy in a long time. How could I do that to you?"

  I shrugged, not seeing how she could spy on me in the first place, but I thought I'd better not voice that opinion. Not everyone was alike to me. "Well, thanks."

  She didn't reply, going back to her phone.

  "How long have you been spying?"

  "A while."

  "Were you the one?" I asked quietly, almost dreading the answer. I played with a loose thread on my pants in nervousness.

  "The one...?"

  "The one who pulled me over on the stairs."

  She shook her head. "No."

  "Really?" I asked in surprise, looking at her closely.

  "No. But I know who did."

  "What? Who-"

  The bell suddenly buzzed. I got up, grabbing my bag. When I looked up again, Penny was gone. I blinked, looking around. Well, that was
fast. I sighed, and went to English, taking my usual seat. Jason took the long way to his desk, walking by my table. He looked at me expectantly at me as he passed.

  "Penny." I mouthed.

  His eyes widened before he gave a nod of understanding. I looked away again. Okay, so one down, several more to go.

  Who else had he hired?

  So there was definitely Penny. I just needed to keep an eye out, to see if I could catch any of the other(s), because someone obviously doesn't care to hurt me physically. My mental ranting came to a pause when the lesson started. I would try and sort it out later.

  The lesson slowly trailed by and what seemed like forever later, I was on my walk home. Luke was working today, so I didn't have a lift. I slowly made my way up the hill. I shrugged off my bag and kicked my shoes somewhere. I stretched, shredding my clothes and slipping something comfortable on.

  It was dead silent. Dad was obviously still working. He wouldn't be back until dark.

  "Charlie," I called, padding into the kitchen. I got out some chicken, pulling some chicken bits apart and dropping it down onto the newspaper, also known as Charlie's 'plate'. He trotted in, his toenails clipping the floor. His tail was wagging so much, it caused his whole body to sway.

  "Hey bud," I grinned, embracing him in a quick hug. I kissed the top of his head, before releasing him. I know you're not meant to kiss your dogs, as they could be carrying diseases, blah blah, but how could you not? He was just so cute.

  I re-filled his water and soon enough he was by my side, licking his lips. I frowned down at me, placing my hands on my hips. He was so humanised.

  "Are you still hungry?"

  I rolled my eyes and pulled out the chicken again. Once I finished that, I went to go start dinner. I wrenched open the cupboard door, meeting vacant space. I peered in there, looking for anything good. I groaned, realising there wasn't anything to cook.

  Grumbling, I slammed the pantry doors shut and shuffled into the lounge room. There wasn't even Nutella. Since Dad was working so much, he hadn't exactly had time to go shopping. I flopped onto the lounge and began lazily flicking through channels. Nothing exciting caught my attention, so I just put Prison Break season one on.

  A few hours later, I was dozing off when I heard a door being opened and heavy footsteps. I jumped in fright, causing me to roll of the lounge with a loud thud. I moaned, slowly sitting up.

  "Hey," Dad said. His feet were dragging on the floor and his eyes practically hanging out of his head. "What's for dinner?"

  "I'm good thanks, how are you?"

  He gave me a flat stare and I ignored it. "Er- that's the thing. Did you bring any food home?"

  "No."

  I frowned. Somebody was in a bad mood.

  "Well, I guess we could have some chicken noodles..." I trailed off.

  He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "I just haven't had time this week."

  "Well, IGA doesn't close until eight." I said. "I could pop down there before it closes."

  "Would you?" he asked, not looking up from his hands.

  "Yeah sure."

  "Thanks Em." he said gratefully. He reached into his pocket and threw some twenty dollar notes at me. I leapt up, just catching them before they flew everywhere.

  "I shall be back in a jiffy!" I sang.

  "You do realise that means I'll be back in a slipper, right?"

  I shrugged. "I do now."

  Ignoring his bad mood, I slipped on a coat and my shoes. I skipped down the hill and briskly walked to the local supermarket. That reminds me, I should definitely make up a resume and hand it in. It wouldn't be bad to have a job, to get some extra cash for myself, so I needn't have to worry if Dad's working late, etc.

  I was a bit conflicted with what to buy, so I settled on something easy. Just some frozen pizzas. (Score!) Tomorrow I'd make some steak or something. Tonight, I just couldn't be bothered. I grabbed some more essentials, (Nutella, of course) and some other chocolate. I swung my shopping basket onto the register and that young man smiled at me. The one who'd been so cheery to me, when I'd been so upset a little while ago. At least I was more friendly this time.

  We chatted for a bit before I bid him farewell. I was on my walk home when I literally almost had a heart failure. I was just walking along casually, when somebody wrapped their arms around me.

  "Got you." they breathed into my ear, causing my whole body to erupt into goose bumps and a shiver to run down my spine.

  Without even a moment of hesitation, I screamed. This was no usual scream. My screams were super high pitched and extremely ear-splitting. The guy groaned, slapping his palms to his ears. I swung one of the shopping bags, hitting him in the shoulder. I then took off in a run and hid behind the closest thing I saw.

  I could hear him calling out for me, but I remained silent. I could hear footsteps and I bit my fist, to stop myself whimpering. I began rocking back a forth, my heart racing a million miles per minute.

  Oh God... Please no. Mark was here to finish me off. The figure rounded and I opened my mouth to scream when he cut me off.

  "Please do not scream again!" he cried, covering his ears again.

  "Then stop following me!" I barked back but it lost all fierceness as it wavered.

  "Sorry!" he quickly apologised. "I thought you were my sister. We always play pranks on each other."

  "Lovely family." I muttered, still eyeing him wearily.

  "Honestly, my apologies. I didn't mean to give you such a fright."

  If only he knew...

  "I'm Chase."

  "Emma."

  He gave me his hand and I used it to haul myself up. I wiped the dirt off my butt and picked up my shopping bags, throwing glances his way the entire time.

  "How in the world did you learn to scream like that?" he asked, his American accent lacing his words. The corners of my mouth twitched. I loved accents.

  "Benefits from living with two males." I explained. "It's my defense mechanism for when they steal the remote."

  He chuckled, running a hand through his sun-bleached hair. "Well, you could definitely scare people away."

  I grinned proudly.

  "Well anyway, sorry again. I'll see you around, Emma?"

  "Sure." I nodded, a small smile on my face.

  He beamed back, before loping away. I shook my head, glad my heart had calmed down. The pace was slowly decreasing.

  Slowly, I made my way back on my path and climbed my hill. I eventually made it home and threw the pizza in the oven.

  "Took your time," Luke muttered, brushing past me.

  "Do you want to make dinner?" I snapped. "No, didn't think so. So shut up."

  "Emma." Dad warned, his eyes closed and his head resting on the bench. "Don't talk to your brother like that."

  "Sorry," I apologised.

  "Luke." he said in a low voice.

  "Sorry," he muttered.

  I rolled my eyes as we were both as stubborn as each other. Dinner was soon ready and we all circled around the table and dug in hungrily.

  "Oh, that reminds me, the people who hired me for the job I'm doing are coming over for dinner tomorrow."

  "What?" I asked, my voice coming out a bit like a yelp. "Why?"

  He shrugged. "I can't remember why."

  "Thanks for the warning." I mumbled, my eyebrows knitting together.

  He gave me an apologetic smile. "Well, I'm going to go shower and go to bed. Are you right with everything?"

  "Yeah, go on."

  The rest of the night went on uneventfully. I just crawled into bed and within seconds, I fell asleep.

  I took my normal seat, slouching. Even though I had fallen asleep easily, it didn't mean it stayed that way. I'd awoken a few times last night, from nightmares. I'm sure you can guess what triggered them: the stupid, American stranger.

  I had my head resting on the table, whilst the rest of the class piled in, taking seats all around me, but never the one beside me. I was used to that though. I was so dee
p in thought I hadn't even realised there was a new kid. I could almost feel the gossip around the room, but remained where I was. I was too tired. Soon enough, I heard a voice.

  An American accented voice.

  I snapped my head up, seeing Chase's tanned facing, grinning at me. Now that I could see him in better light, he was rather attractive. The teacher was directing him to a vacant seat. My vacant seat.

  "Emma!" he grinned, waving as though he was a few feet away and not mere meters. I frowned at his enthusiasm, not appreciating the attention.

  We barely even knew each other...

  Heads turned my way and I sunk lower in my seat, hating the gazes on me. My cheeks automatically began glowing from heat. I gave him a small smile in return, just to make him happy. I could feel Jason's eyes on me, but I refused to look his way. Chase padded down the aisle and collapsed in the chair beside me.

  "Sup."

  I turned to him. "Did you just move here or something?"

  "Yes ma'am." he saluted me with a smirk. "How are you since last night?"

  A few people snickered and my face flamed red. They were obviously getting the wrong impression. Chase remained oblivious. Actually, I think that was his intention. I looked at Jason, who was staring back at me confused. I shrugged at him, allowing him to see I was just as confused as him.

  "Oh, did people not know you were with me?" he asked loudly.

  "Stop it." I muttered, casting my eyes down and covering my face with my hair, as though it would shield me from the penetrating gazes I was receiving.

  "Why? People may as well know."

  "Know what?" I snapped at him, still refusing to glance up.

  "That we're in love!" He threw an arm around my shoulders and hugged me close.

  I squeaked in surprise and people began murmuring all around. I opened my mouth the send a silent message to Jason, but he turned in his chair, his whole body tense, fists clenched.

  Oh dear...

  32

  "What do you do for fun around here?" the persistent voice asked me as he trailed behind me.

  I sighed, continuing my speed walk to the canteen. So far Chase had not left me alone. Okay, so he was nice, attractive and funny, but also annoying. I felt like punching him. I'd also found myself checking him out more than once, which was not a good idea at all. There was a bit of a queue, and I bit my lip as I lined up. I hope there was something decent in here for me to eat, I was starving. I felt a poke in my ribs and spun around, glaring. I placed my hands on my hips.