I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, sorry if this chapter seems as though it moves slowly. I needed to get some of the character introductions out of the way. Please, I encourage you to leave a review giving me your thoughts.

CHAPTER I.

"Hey baby," Jacob Baker said to his girlfriend, walking up behind her and putting his arms around her waist. It was just after dismissal on that blissful last day before spring break and she was standing with a couple of her friends on the front steps of the high school building.

Her full name was Alexa Nicole Spennata, but she was known by friends as Alexa or A-Spen. She was a pretty young lady. Her eyes were a very dark green color with a tiny ring of hazel around the pupils, and her hair was a medium shade of brown. She was fairly small, standing at about five feet two inches, but slim in outward stature. She wore a garnet colored sweatshirt with the hem of a white lace cami peeking out from underneath, black opaque leggings which went down to her feet, and tall black sheepskin boots.

"Hey," she replied happily, "what's all this about? You're not usually this affectionate when we're around other people."

He shrugged.

"Are you saying you don't want me to?"

"No, I'm just saying that you don't usually do this when we're around other people." she said, putting her hands on his.

"I think it's cute," one of the other girls noted. This was Alex Lana Turaco. Her first name was only one letter off of Alexa's, and, indeed, they shared some similar characteristics. Her eyes were a similarly dark shade of green and she possessed the same kind smile that Alexa did, but Alex's hair was a rich and radiant blond. She was a vibrant and perky girl who was "not afraid to enjoy life" as described once by Alexa. But she was always willing to listen to problems and console those upset about things, especially within her circle of friends. She wore a black North Face sweatshirt and skinny dark wash jeans tucked into chocolate brown sheepskin boots

"Thank you, ALEX," Jake said deliberately but lightheartedly, "at least somebody here appreciates it."

Alexa rolled her eyes. Alex smiled.

"Corinne, I see you're feeling better," Jake said in the other girl's direction. This was Corinne Calandra Curciano. Despite her name being a mouthful to say, Corinne rarely had very much to say. She was extremely quiet, but polite, and almost always in a good mood, although it was difficult to tell as she rarely said anything about it. Her eyes were a dark chocolate color, her hair was a lighter shade of brown. Cuteness was her main appeal, but once she opened up, she was a very airy and lighthearted soul. She wore a grey, tight fitting long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of jeans tucked into, what else, a pair of boots.

"I am," she acknowledged, "and it didn't make things better that Ryan and I got into a big fight the day before I caught whatever it was that I did. I missed him so much over that week when all I could do was just lie in bed."

"Have you talked to him since?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "he came to my house on Friday to apologize. He said that he missed me too much and that he was really worried about me."

They talked on for a long while, and, eventually, Jake found his way back to the Baker residence.

When he walked through the front door, he found the house surprisingly empty. It then clicked that his parents were out of town for a little while with the others. This was no matter to him. He loved having the house to himself. Kicking off his shoes, he sprawled out on the couch, watching some rerun of the previous night's Chicago Blackhawks game.

Somewhere between the second and third periods, he plugged his cell phone into the charger plug sitting on the end table next to the couch; it had died two nights before, and he had just never brought himself to charge it.

Seconds after sticking the metal prongs into the charging slot, the phone buzzed on the end table for about thirty seconds straight. He flipped it open and read the screen:

15 NEW MESSAGES

Many of these messages were small talk and generally small matters, including a couple from his parents. There was one, however, that caught his eye.

It read:

RESTRICTED

U have something I want.

There was something particularly creepy and eerie about the phrasing of the sentence, despite the fact that it was five simple words. But he simply deleted the text, considering it nothing more than a harmless prank.

Tired after a busy week, he turned off the TV, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, the silence, itself, singing him to sleep.