CHAPTER 1

-Mara P.O.V-

"Mara... We have to break up." Mick said as he held onto my arm.
"You're… You're too sensible. You know… predictable. Too... Geeky. I'm an athlete. To be honest…you're too much of a ... nerd. I hate to say it… but it's true. It's bad for my image to be with you. I'm Sorry."
"I-I know. I know it's bad for your image. But… I have a question. Did you… Did you go out with me… for me? Or did you go out with me for my smarts… or-or... pity. I know how I put you in a rough spot when I heard you called me sensible and I just want to know… because I know you never liked me… more than a friend at least..." I said as I looked at him sadly. I mean, I had lured him away! When he didn't answer me I just nodded and flung my book bag over my shoulder and speed walked out of the drama room. Once I had made my way out of the school, I let the tears I had been holding back fall. With my face buried in my hands, I walked to Anubis house not even looking up. All of the sudden, I slammed right into someone's chest. I looked up and noticed it had been Jerome. The school prankster. Oh god. He was the last person I wanted to be there at a time like this. He would probably make fun of me or something.

"Mara? Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I started to walk but was stopped by Jerome's hand on my wrist. I looked back and saw an unfamiliar expression on Jerome's face. Was he actually worried? Did he actually care?

"Mara, you can tell me."

I just stood there not knowing what to say.

"You can trust me. Cross my heart." He said as he drew a fake cross with his finger over his heart. Well, he drew it over the opposite side of where his heart was. But it's the thought that counts. I smiled and walked up to him.

"Your heart is… here." I said as I moved his hand across his chest to the right to rest on the right.(1)

"Oh… so are you going to tell me why you're crying?"

I nodded slowly and grabbed Jerome's hand to pull him into Anubis. When I grabbed his hand I felt tingles. Hmm... was I supposed to feel this?

"So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" He asked as we sat on my bed.

I took a deep breath.

"Well... Mick... broke up with me." I literally think I heard my own heart break a little more... If it's possible. He just looked at me with raised eyebrows so I continued.

"He said... He said that I was too... nerdy and... geeky. And he said that being with me was bad for his image."

A tear fell from my eye and I looked out the window as a few more fell.

-Jerome P.O.V-

I was supposed to feel happy. I was supposed to be ecstatic! I was supposed to be jumping for joy that I finally had my chance with Mara and the meathead was out of the picture. But I wasn't. I was here. I was sitting on her bed watching her cry. I felt nothing but hate towards Mick. Although I always do. Damn, what do I do? I'm not good with these kinds of things. Umm... Should I...

I pulled Mara into a hug and (much to my surprise) she wrapped her arms around me. Really tightly. Not that I'm complaining.

"It's okay, Mara. Mick isn't worth your tears."

We sat there for some time and when she calmed down, she wiped her eyes and looked up.

"Thanks... For comforting me. I didn't think you cared about these things."

"Well," I shrugged.

"I try not to because I don't want people to come to me with their problems and think that I'm a big softy. That clear?"

Mara nodded smiling and I got up and left.

-The next day-

-Mara P.O.V-

"Supper's ready, dear"

"Thanks, Trudy, I'll be right there." I said typing the last few words onto an e-mail to Mr. Sweet about getting newer and better laptops for the school and hit 'SEND'.

I got up fixed my dress and walked downstairs.

I walked into the living room and saw Mick and Joy practically eating each others faces. I cleared my throat just loud enough for them to hear.

"You weren't sorry, were you." I asked. He wasn't sorry about our break up. If he was actually sorry about our break up he wouldn't go kissing some other girl. And even if he didn't care he should have the decency to wait a week. But noo... he goes and snogs Joy the very next day.

"Mara, I'm sorry I just-" Mick said.

"No you're not. But it's fine. It's just surprising how fast you can get over a relationship that lasted so long. Even though it didn't mean anything… "

I sat next to Jerome and let Joy sit in the seat next to Mick that used to be mine.

-Jerome P.O.V-

"Mara dear? Someone's on the phone for you." Trudy said. Mara walked out of the dining room and about 5 minutes later I heard her footsteps running up the stairs. Everyone at the table stared at each other silently and I got up and walked upstairs to Mara's room.

"Mara? It's Jerome. Open up"

"It's open." I faintly hear her say.

I slowly open the door and I see her curled up on her bed with a small blanket covering her small body..

"Hey. What's wrong?"

She turns to me and I see a single tear roll down her face.

I sit on her bed right next to her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Everything's going wrong for me." She said sitting up.

"Mick broke up with me. He got a girlfriend the next day and didn't even spare my feelings, My dad's in the hospital and- Oh yeah! My mom and my little brother are dead."

My eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry, Mara."

-Mara P.O.V-

For some reason, I'm glad it was Jerome who came to comfort me. I tried not to cry. I really, really did. I closed my eyes to try to stop the tears and I buried my face in my hands. They came anyway.

"Mara, I'm sorry." He said and wrapped his arms around me.

"I-I- I'm going for a walk"

"Can I come with you?"

"S-Sure." I said hesitantly.

-Jerome P.O.V-

Mara and I walked out of her room. We stepped right into the cool autumn breeze. I was still dumbfounded at how that meathead could even think about hurting Mara like that. But there are more important things happening in Mara's life right now.

"Jerome?"

I finally came back to reality and noticed I had been staring at Mara while we were walking.

"S-Sorry." I stuttered.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Come on! Tell me!"

"No. I just dazed off for a while. That's it."

"Okay..."

Before I knew it we had made our way into the woods.

"Jerome? Do you remember how to get back?"

"Uhh… Of course I do." I said looking at our surroundings.

"We're lost aren't we?" She asked.

"No. We'll be back there in no time!"

We spent the longest time walking in circles trying to find a way out.

"Jerome?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay close? I'm afraid of the dark."

"S-Sure."

"Thanks."

After about half an hour of walking I was already really worried because I may have possibly walked us even more into the woods. Mara was clinging to my arm since the only source of light was the moon. But even that was becoming too faint and was being covered by the tree tops and branches.

"Oh Jerome this is hopeless! We're probably even more lost than we were before and we're just walking in circ-"

"Mara! It's okay. Calm down." I said gripping her shoulders gently.

-Mara P.O.V.-

"Sorry." I said with a sigh. I'm really trying to think positive about this situation but it's really difficult since each step we take I feel like we're getting more and more lost. I hear some of the leaves on the bushes move and I quickly turn around.

"What was that?" I ask trying my best to see through the darkness.

"What was what?"

"Umm... nothing. Never mind.." I said with a nervous smile.

"Okay then… Anyway, I think I saw some light through here." He said as he moved some of the branches out of the way to get a better look.

I was looking around and I see a man in a black hoodie staring right at me. I started to run to Jerome but before I know it, a cloth with a powerful smell is over my mouth and nose. My eyes widen as big as saucers and I start kicking and thrashing to try to get away from the person's arms. The person carries me over their shoulder and away from Jerome in record time. With the common sense I had, I knew to hold my breath as long as I could because if someone is taking you away from where you are and puts a cloth that smells bad on your face, it's probably not going to be a good thing.

Jerome. Turn around. Please. Please turn around.

But he doesn't. He doesn't turn around. Tears start to fill my eyes as I'm dragged away and thrown into the back of a black van. The man takes off the hoodie and starts to walk to the drivers seat but then notices that I'm still conscious.

"Don't scream. If you do, you'll be in a hell of a lot of pain." A man who I've never seen before says with a cold smile towards the end of his sentence.

"You understand?" He whispers.

I don't answer as I stare into his eyes in fear. His eyes are blue. But not the shade Jerome's eyes are. Jerome's eyes look like little cups filled with ocean water. Oh those beautiful eyes… His eyes are- wait. MARA HOW COULD YOU BE THINKING ABOUT JEROME'S EYES AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! Anyway, this man's eyes are a cold shade of blue. I don't like his eyes. He gives that color a bad name. He suddenly shakes me out of my comparison of his and Jerome's eyes by grabbing me by the chin to stand me up in a harsh manner that I'm sure will cause bruises.

"Answer me." He whisper- yells at me.

"I... I understand." I say as tears threaten to spill. I don't want to seem too sensitive to him. He probably will take advantage of me being fragile and sensitive. Even though I'm sure I already seem like a porcelain doll that'll break if you touch it the wrong way.

"Good." He says as he throws me back down and causes me to hit the back of my head with one of the metal poles placed to… I don't know why they're here… but I know he's prepared to use them as a sort of way to torture me if I do something wrong. I rub the back of my head as the throbbing pain increases.

"Be QUIET!" He yells at me.

I nod in a frantic manner, scared to get him any angrier than he already is.

"You're going to be here for quite a while so don't make any noise at all."

I nod once more and he sits down on the drivers seat and puts the key in ignition.

"Sit tight." He says coldly.

-Jerome P.O.V-

"Hey, Mara! Anubis house is right there!" I say reaching behind me trying to find her with one hand still looking through the branches.
"We weren't even-" I begin as I turn around to no sight of Mara.

"Lost. Mara? Where are you?" I say as I try to find her.

"Mara! Mara where are you?" I yell frantically as I become scared for Mara.

"Oh my god, Mara! Where are you!?" I said as I started running and looking behind trees.

"MARA!" It was abnormally quiet. Somehow, I knew I was alone. I knew she wasn't here anymore.

I ran as fast as I could towards Anubis house and opened the door with such force that I may have loosened some hinges.

"Oh goodness, Dearie! I think you may have broken-" Trudy started.

"Have you seen Mara?" I ask, cutting Trudy off in the middle of her sentence.

"No, last time I saw her was when she left with you. Why? Is someth-" I ignored Trudy (which was quite rude of me) and ran towards Nina and Amber's room since I knew the whole Scooby gang (which was most of the house already) hung out there to talk about their little "missions" they had to solve. I knocked rather hard on the door and Amber opened it slightly.

"Oh… Jerome," Amber said, looking quite annoyed at my presence.

"We're kind of doing something right now so you can chat with Alfie later."

"No, Amber, I really need all of you to help me out with something!"

Amber stayed quiet for a moment and finally answered.

"It depends. Tell me. Quickly." She said with a drawn out sigh at the end.

"I lost Mara!" I said loud enough for them to hear but not enough for Trudy or Victor to hear.

"WHAT!?" I heard them all yell simultaneously from inside the room. Amber's eyes widened and she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room. Nina and Fabian were sitting on her bed with a closed laptop in between them, Alfie sat cross legged in the middle of the floor, Patricia and Eddie sat side by side next to Amber's bed.

"Jerome, tell us what happened." Nina said sternly while Amber sat down comfortably on her bed.

"W-Well she was crying about… something," I didn't think I should go into much detail in what was happening in Mara's life.

"and I looked away for like 5 minutes and when I turned around she was gone! I didn't even hear her leave and I went to look for her but I couldn't find her anywhere!"

"Okay, Jerome, did you see anything unusual in particular?" Fabian asked.

"Well no I didn't, but Mara said something."

"Okay, then that means…?" Nina asked her fellow Sibuna's.

Everyone nodded.

"That means what?" I asked.

"Nina! Do we have to tell him?" Amber whined.

"What? Tell me what?" I asked again.

"Amber, we know he's out there and for all we know he could have Mara." Fabian reasoned.

Why doesn't anyone listen to me? They have their own secret language and I feel so confused.

"Fine." Amber said leaning back on her bed.

They all stayed silent looking at each other.

"Well?" I said breaking the silence. Nina sighed.

"Jerome… Rufus is back."

1: I didn't know how to explain the whole heart thing… but you understand me right? I hope so… sorry for any confusion.

Also, Mick won't be part of this story because I don't really care for him and I don't know how I would include him in this story. Hope this was pretty good for a first time writer. Was this too long? Personally, I like long chapters. But if you don't like them so long I'll try to make them shorter. I'm just an 8th grader with a D in Language Arts. Don't expect too much from me :) Also, I'm an extremely slow writer… sooo I'm trying to write reeeaallllyyy fast. Anycrayy... byeee….