I should be doing my work...

Disclaimer** I still own nothing. Except the boy and the idea.

December 24, 2004

The sleet of snow on his window was all that the boy needed to see for him to hurry and search for his boots and coat. He had just awoken to the sight and was elated. No idea where his parents are, he rushed downstairs and opened the front door. To his dismay, there was nothing but cold wind and frostbitten grass. The boy was confused, until he heard his father's booming laughter.

"You should have seen your face!" He said in between his fit of laughter. "This isn't some sort of Christmas movie miracle. It's not snowing this winter, kid."

"B-but I wanna make snow angels," the boy sniffled.

"You wanna make snow angels, eh'?" He went to grab a bucket of fake snow, the same he used for the windows and cast it out the door. The boy felt a hand on his back before being shoved into the snow.

"Have fun."

Click.

The door locked, but the boy didn't falter. He knew he would be there for a long time. This wasn't the first of his father's "pranks". He knew she would come save him.

She always did.

Clare POV

"Bye!" I shouted to my parents as they pulled out of the driveway. They waved back and I waited until they honked the horn to close the door. Jake left at six in the morning to beat traffic, though I doubt anyone will be heading where he's going. Part of me didn't want them to leave, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to become more social if they're here.

I went upstairs in my room and looked around.

What was I supposed to do?

Speculating what I was going to do today, I sat down on my bed, but I felt something hard under me. I moved over to figure out the mysterious object. I sighed and picked up the book that put a pain in my back and restrained from throwing it on the carpet.

The next two weeks are gonna be so boring.

After a while of picking at some of my finger nail polish, I sighed and went over to my desk, and turned on my laptop.

I logged into Face Range and tried to entertain myself by reading others' status'. That was until I came across one.

Heather Poulette

This break has been fun so far, I feel sorry for anyone who has no plans.

2 people liked this.

I don't know what to be more surprised about, that 2 people actually liked Heather Poulette's status, or that I even have her as a friend. Now I felt kinda dejected.

I logged off of Face Range when I ran out of status' to read, and went on Gmail to check my email.

I had a new email from a website called, "Penpal World". How ironic is that?

I clicked it and read over what it said,

"Feeling lonely?"

Yes.

"Need a friend?"

Uhh...sorta.

"Then join Penpal World today!"

Below, it had a link to .com. It seemed legit, and out of curiosity I clicked it. Before I know it, I was on a page saying, sign up or log in. I clicked sign up, and waited patiently for the page to load.

When it did, I answered all the questions asked, and made my user True_Clare. I edited my profile, putting my name, age, gender, etc. Then I changed the blank profile picture into a picture of me that Alli took at the frostival.

After that, I saved the changes. I clicked the 'confirm' button, ready to meet someone new.

The Boy's POV

It was defenseless. I had it. A few more seconds and it would be mine. She was nothing but a pawn for something bigger.

Her father was nowhere in sight. Good. She wandered aimlessly, mocking her mother who was searching for food. She went her own separate way, now busying herself with the wild berries on the bushes. Now all that was left was her. An easy target.

Through the telescope, one thing was clear. I steadied my shot, knowing I only had one chance. One mistake and I jeopardize everything. The reticle on the telescope appointed the fawn about forty-two meters away. My finger lingered on the trigger.

"One...Two..." I gulped. "Goodbye."

Ka-pheew

The sound of the gun echoed through the forest. Smoke from the shot blocked my view. Was it dead? I ran up to where the deer once was. There was nothing but dirt and the faint rustling sound of hooves thumping against the floor as they trotted away.

"Dammit! What the fuck?!"

My rifle hit the barren ground with as much force a I could muster.

I look around for something to hit, anything to hit.

I swear, you act like a pansy.

"I am not a goddamn pansy!" I hit the nearest tree with my bare fists.

"Oww..."

Take charge.

"Shut the hell up, father! Get out of my fucking head!"

Suddenly feeling dizzy, I took a seat on a tree trunk and put my hands on my forehead.

"Get it together, Demetrius," I told myself.

Just then, I saw a flash of lightning in the sky, followed by a fleet rain drops. Awesome luck I have.

I searched for my rifle which was next to the trunk of another tree. Surprisingly, it wasn't broken, despite how hard I threw it. Grabbing my bag, I headed toward my car, my head down the whole time.

When I got in the car, I drove to my apartment, also know as the crappiest place in history. Home of the rats, roaches, and who knows what else. I set my bag down after getting inside. The couch made a squeaky noise as I sat down. I turned on the television like I do everyday after a failure and hoped something good was on.

To my dismay, my cable showed nothing but a black screen; and a message saying,

Your connection has been discontinued. Please renew service.

"Are you serious? That means..." I ran into my room to get my laptop and checked if I still had connection.

But it had the same message the tv has.

"Fuck." I began to think of a way to get some internet connection.

"The neighbors."

I looked on the connection list, and saw a list of different connections.

Home 403...locked

Fred and pat...locked

Shawn1...locked

Jason215...locked

"Well I have to guess somebody's password."

I looked over the list again and tried to entertain myself by guessing.

Jason215.

"Well obviously his password is Jason215," I joked.

I typed in the password and hit enter.

You have been connected to Jason215.

"Get a less obvious password, idiot!"

I signed into Facerange, wondering if any of my new friends replied to my messages. Nope. The same result happened when I logged into Twitter.

All that was left was that crappy pen pal website. Ever since this guy asked to send me nudes, I tried to avoid that site. Yet, I was desperate, so I logged on.

I observed the home screen. It was different from before. No perverted old guys. Maybe that was why. In addition, at the bottom of the screen were new members who recently joined.

Cindy224 joined 10 minutes ago.

Matt-J joined 17 minutes ago.

True_Clare joined 32 minutes ago.

True_Clare. She looked so familiar. She almost looked like...

December 24, 2005

The boy endured the practically unbearable winds. There was no snow, but there was the coldness of his father's heart. The hope that his mother would return was all that fueled his spirit.

Headlights shined through the evening fog and blocked the boy's view. It was his savior. She got out of the car, closing the door behind her. Her face displayed pure agony when she saw her son laid out on the grass.

"What happened?"

He couldn't bring himself to speak. Not only was he scared, but he didn't want his parents to fight again. It would be his fault, but she already knew.

She attempted to open the door with much force, but it was locked. This would be something the boy would laugh at if this wasn't an inappropriate time. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.

"Logan! Get down here!"

The footsteps of his father scared him. They were menacing. They foretold nothing but trouble.

"What Juliana?" He said, annoyed.

"What do you mean 'what Juliana'? You locked our son outside!" She exclaimed from the door.

She examined a bucket on the rug near the door frame and white stuff under her shoes.

"What is this stuff all over the ground? Fake snow? Logan stop playing games."

"Calm down, I was just playing around with the kid."

"Well playtime is over!"

My father said nothing, all he did was walk back into the house and sat on the couch.

My mom turned towards me and sighed. "Lets go in the house and get you cleaned up. I know you must be cold, so I'll make you some hot chocolate. How does that sound?"

"G-good." She helped me up and we walked into the house.

The boy was about to stick his tongue out at his father as he was guided to the kitchen, but when his mother looked at him with her reassuring blue eyes, he knew that it wasn't worth it.

"Mom..." I stared at the picture in shock. I didn't know anything about this girl, but all I know is I had to meet her.

So I sent her a message.

Clare's POV

Staring at this screen was becoming tedious. I didn't even notice that it began to rain. I did try to distract myself by reading Lullaby for some time, but the anxiety of this was killing me. How did this process work? Do I talk first? Do I wait?

I checked the time. I had sat here for about half an hour. Sadly, anxious wasn't the word to describe me, desperate was. I needed to do something with myself. Refresh, or something.

Wait.

I sat here for thirty minutes and didn't refresh the page? Smart, Clare.

Once the page reloaded I inhaled deeply, letting out a long breath. I couldn't acknowledge why I was so nervous. A high-pitched noise averted my attention back to the screen. A message. I checked it, hoping it wasn't some weird person.

The message read,

Failure_Child6: Hey. I'm Demetrius, what's your name? Wanna play twenty questions?

I wasn't expecting that. I mean it was a little too ominous, but then again I did sign up to talk to random people. Twenty question couldn't hurt.

True_Clare: Clare. Sure. I'll start. How old are you?

His reply came in less than a minute.

Failure_Child6: 21. You?

True_Clare: 16. 17 soon.

Failure_Child6: What up with the name? Are you known to be a pathological liar or something?

True_Clare: No. And i'm not pestering you about your name. Plus, it's my turn remember?

Failure_Child6: I'm sorry if i'm not familiar with twenty questions. Go ahead.

True_Clare: You did suggest it... Where are you from?

Failure_Child6: Born in America, raised in Canada.

True_Clare6: Very descriptive. I live there, too.

Failure_Child6: Sorry, It's complicated. Nice. What city?

True_Clare: Why would I tell you if you didn't tell me?

Failure_Child6: Toronto.

True_Clare: Same.

I spent almost an hour talking to Demetrius. He wasn't as creepy as he seemed. He could be a little uptight when I asked some things, but I guess they were touchy subjects. I understood. I would act the same if he asked about my parents.

However, I was happy I did it. The fact that he didn't know me helped me to talk about a lot of things (even though it was a one way street between us). And I learned that he lived somewhere near me.

We didn't finish our game because he had to go back out. Turns out he hunted wild animals for money. That was...interesting. I told him about my job as editor and writer at Degrassi and he told me his mother was once into writing.

So now I've returned to Lullaby and prepared to eat in a few minutes. Before I could, I got another message.

Failure_Child6: Let's hang out.

True_Clare: uh. We just met. Not even that. Messaged each other. How do I know you're not some stalker killer?

This time, his reply took longer than a few seconds. Minutes, maybe.

Failure_Child6: Check my profile. If you trust me, meet me at Canyon Creek at 6. If not, we can always still talk.
-Stalker Killer

I didn't reply. I was in shock. Had he really asked me to go with him to somewhere I didn't know about after talking on a pen pal website? It was absurd. I know, but what was even more absurd was me actually considering his offer.

Thank you for being patient with me, but I finally figured out the storyline so it's not as confusing as before. One last thing: I appreciate the reviews, favorites, follows and stuff like that, yet I would really like to hear what you like about the story (or what you dislike). It would help me figure out what you want/like and what I'm doing wrong. Any time you get a chance PM me or review and I'll listen.