Stalker
Chapter Two
Summer happily jumped into Marissa's car. No more walking. She was still creeped out about the whole incident from the day before. She hadn't told anyone, though – at least, not yet. As a child, Summer was known to have an active imagination, and sometimes she still caught her mind wandering. This could be just one of those times. Come to think of it, she had just recently seen a movie about a stalking secret admirer; she was probably just letting that get to her.
She flashed Marissa an unusually warm smile as she fastened her seatbelt. A grin formed on her face as Marissa pulled into the street towards Pacific Heights. There was no need to feel anxious – it was silly. Remember, Summer, it's just your mind playing tricks on you. There was no one following you.
Marissa watched her out of the corner of her eye, curious at the brightness that was Summer. Summer was usually snarky and blunt, and it was a rarity to witness her with a smile on her face without having an obvious reason for so.
"Hey, Sum, I'm gonna get some gum," she said as she pulled into the parking lot of a gas station. "Want anything?"
"No, I'm good," Summer replied. Still cheery. Weird.
Marissa shrugged it off and hurried into the small convenience store. Summer turned on the radio; Marissa had left the keys in the ignition. She turned the tune down so it was just a low, soothing background. Outside the open window, the wind blew and brought forth a cooling breeze.
Summer closed her eyes. This was one of those relaxing summer moments. Perfection. She heard footsteps and opened her eyes. Coop surely couldn't be back already; it was less than twenty seconds ago that she had exited the car. It wasn't Marissa. In fact, there didn't seem to be anyone else around.
Clapclap.
No. No, this couldn't be. It wasn't right. No, no, no. She was hearing things.
Clapclap. Clapclap.
Summer's heart caught in her chest. Where was it coming from? Her eyes, which had been warm and intense this morning, became cold and steely as they darted back and forth across the parking lot. They shifted to the passenger-side mirror. Into the store windows. Nothing. Nobody there. Just your imagination, Summer. Slow it down; breathe.
Wait! A shadow. There, in the rearview mirror. There had been a shadow there – a shadow of someone walking away. The person had rounded a corner before Summer had a chance to see who it was, or even what they were wearing.
* * *
Marissa frowned. Since she had arrived back in the car, Summer's blitheness had been replaced by a stern look upon her face; arms crossed and scared eyes.
She didn't dare say anything. She could've sworn that Summer's time of the month had already passed, and there was no way she was going to ask her if indeed it was her period causing the mood swing attitude. If it was, she knew that Summer would chew her head off, and she just wasn't in the mood for that. So she had simply greeted Summer with a curt nod and resumed the trip to the school.
When they finally got there, Summer didn't look any happier. It looked like she was trying not to cry, actually. She went from carefree to frightened to being on the verge of tears.
Awkwardly, Marissa offered her a piece of gum. Summer ignored the offering and exited the vehicle. She walked away without another word to Marissa.
* * *
Marissa felt a jab in her shoulder. She turned around. Seth was handing her a piece of folded paper. She took it curiously and faced forward. She glanced up to make sure the teacher wasn't paying attention, and unfolded the note.
Marissa,
What's going on with Summer? She seems so… un-Summer. I mean, I said "hi" to her, and she didn't even give me a dirty look. She mumbled a greeting back, and that was that. Is something going on that I should be concerned with? Wait, who am I kidding? Like Summer really wants me meddling in her problems. But seriously, if there is anything I should know… well, yeah, you know.
SethAfter reading the note, she glanced up again, and picked up her pen, scrawling her own message underneath.
Seth,
I really have no idea what's up with her. She's been acting strange all day. She was super happy this morning. And Summer isn't a morning person… I've never seen her that cheerful before noon.
Almost as an afterthought, she scribbled
If I find anything out, I'll let you know.
Always,
Marissa
underneath the rest, refolded it, and passed it back to him. He didn't hand it back to her, so she knew that he was okay with it.
She just hoped that Summer was okay.
But little did she know, that clapclap was playing over and over in Summer's mind at that very moment – and Summer was anything but okay.