A/N: This story is about to go in a different direction than when it started out. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning Alex, I'm just sticking in another person's POV here and there so we can see the other side of the story. Oh and I'm thinking of changing the title of this story. This was a working title anyway.

Chapter 8/Magenta Walker

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

My hand flew out from under my black and purple bedspread and smacked the snooze button of my alarm clock with as much force as it could muster. Smooshing my face further into the pillow, I groaned loudly. Why did school always have to start so early? I swear if I ever meet the guy who invented early school days I'll kill him. The only way out of bed at this moment was to just throw myself off. My body wasn't going to respond otherwise.

Taking special care not to land on my black high tops, I rolled out of bed and onto my butt. I winced but it woke me up . . . some. Scrambling with my sheets woke me up some more and so when I finally began getting dressed I actually had one eye half open. I stuck my hair up in two messy buns and stumbled down the stairs. My mom gave me a smile as she poured some coffee into a very large thermos for me to take to school. I collapsed on the stool in front of the island counter and flopped my head down onto my arms.

"And how's my sleeping beauty this morning?" Mom asked as she came over and gave me a kiss on the head.

I only managed a low grunt. A huge Rottweiler came bounding into the kitchen. It tilted its head and studied me for a moment, tongue lolling and panting slightly. It gave a happy bark and jumped on me licking my face. I shrieked and fell off the stool. The dog kept licking me all over my face as I beat at it with my fists.

"Get off, Indigo! I am not in the mood!"

The dog gave me a goofy grin and then shifted into the burly shape of my nineteen-year-old brother. His slanted, brown eyes twinkled mischievously and his straight black hair swished across his eyes. I glared at him before shifting quickly into my guinea pig shape in order to scurry out from under him. I shifted back and stood, straightening my shirt. I knew he only meant to wake me up and that was the problem. My eyes were fully opened now, and I used them to bore a hole into the back of his head as he walked over to the fridge to get the milk.

A pure black cat sauntered into the room. It licked its paws delicately before shifting into my twelve-year-old sister Lilac. She sat primly at the table and took a bagel from the stack which sat in the middle of the table. Where my brother looked messy and unkempt with his long swinging hair and small goatee, Lilac was the perfect model for Gap. It was almost sickening. Her perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect clothes always perfectly in place. I stuck my tongue out at her as I walked over to grab my book bag.

"Have a good day at school," Mom said as she handed me my thermos and a biscuit.

I only grunted, still not fully awake. I was going to ask where Dad was, since he was one of those annoying morning people, but I then I remembered the fight they had had the night before and shut my mouth. I said a vague goodbye to everyone but Mom was already scolding Indigo about drinking the milk out of the carton.

I walked over to the corner where I waited for the school bus. Ethan was already there. He adjusted his glasses and said a polite "good morning." I grunted, taking a large gulp of coffee from the thermos, allowing the caffeine to flow through my veins.

The bus came and with it a crowd full of noisy, despicable morning people. How these people could be so alive this early was beyond me. I purposely ignored all the cheerful greetings and made my way to the back where I could wake up by myself, not by some crazy kid with a perky attitude. Ugh, I hate that.

Ethan sat across from me and the bus began to move. I placed my head against the window and took another large gulp of caffeine. My half dead brain turned to the latest letter I had received from Violet who was going to some sort of Prep school out of state, against her will. Violet and I had always been really close. Even though on the outside she looked like one of those preppy cheerleaders, on the inside she was a wild child and always tons of fun.

But then she started getting into trouble. It actually wasn't her fault, but Mom and Dad were already touchy since they'd started fighting. One day she got into a drunk driving accident, in which the other driver died. My parents completely freaked. She was a little tipsy, but it was her friend that was driving. Her friend got put in jail but Violet only got fined. After a while Mom and Dad calmed down, but Violet never got over the fact that Mom and Dad had treated her like a murderer or something and was never the same. She became quiet and distant and I would be the only one she would talk to. Quite abruptly she decided to go to a preparatory school. She's been sending me letters and it sounds like she's doing better, but still I miss her.

My ruminations were interrupted by my energetic lump of a boyfriend plopping down in the seat beside me. He grinned at me. I grunted and drank my coffee. He began talking about some strange thing, I'm not sure what it was, I pretended to listen though because I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

It was only at lunch time when I was finally alert enough to carry on an intelligent conversation. Zach was telling some sort of strange story, waving his arms around and speaking around lumps of mystery meat. I stayed with my salad. I noticed Layla chose only salad too, but I think that's just because she's a vegetarian. Warren was reading a comic book, Will was listening to Zach with a weird sort of glazed expression, and Ethan was studying for our midterm. I rolled my eyes at his dedication. He didn't need to study, wasn't he smart enough?

The two new additions to our group arrived soon after we had started eating: Lash and that Spanish girl, Ana Lucia. Ana looked really upset. I could see tears in her eyes behind her thick glasses. Now me being the kind of girl that I am, didn't say anything about it. However I did listen attentively to her answer when Layla asked what was wrong (she being the kind of girl she is).

"Alex's run away," Ana Lucia said.

It took me a couple seconds to remember who Alex was. He was that wannabe Goth kid who didn't talk very much and who had listened to me rant about Zach forgetting my birthday, which was really stupid now that I think back on it.

"Did he leave a note or give any explanation?" asked Layla.

Ana kind of shook her head then nodded then shrugged. "Not really. He told me he 'couldn't take it any more' and that he had to leave. The night before he was acting strange though. He had a nightmare and when I tried to get him to tell me it, he went loco. He said a few hurtful things about how I wasn't paying any attention to him and only to Lash, which isn't true. I might be a little more preoccupied since Lash and I started dating, but he accused me of hating him, which I would never do!"

She began crying in earnest now. I shifted uncomfortably and poked at a suspicious looking black olive. Lash put his arm around her but looked almost as uncomfortable as me. Warren glanced up from his comic book then returned to it. Zach trailed off and Will seemed to come out of his stupor (see Mrs. Staley? I can use our vocabulary words in context!). Ethan adjusted his glasses and blinked, I could almost see the wheels in his head turning to try to figure out how to find Alex. Layla was getting tears in her eyes. I resisted the urge to roll mine.

To tell the truth I could see Alex running away. He was a loner and they're always doing things like cutting, drugs, or running away. That didn't make the situation any more cheerful but I had to admire his guts. At least he had the courage to actually confront Ana about his feelings. That was better than what Violet did. She just left with no explanation at all.

Ethan turned to Ana. "Was he acting strange before? Like did he obtain any bad habits or start hanging around kids of bad influence?"

She bit her lip as if she wasn't sure she should say anything before sighing. Her tears had stopped now but Lash kept his arm around her shoulders.

"Well, Alex started cutting . . ."

Layla gasped. Will turned slightly pale. Zach looked confused.

"Cutting what?" he asked. I punched his shoulder. He rubbed it as understanding entered his eyes. "Oh."

"And he also had a visit one morning from these kids who said they were his friends but Alex never had any friends besides me. He went with them though, and then didn't come back until night time. I found him in the middle of the park and he couldn't remember how he got there. I thought it was strange but didn't think much of it then."

Ethan whipped out a notebook and poised his pen over it. "What did they look like?"

So Ana Lucia described these dudes that she thinks might have influenced Alex to run off. I only half-listened. Taking a sip from my juice box, I shook some stands of hair out of my eyes. Suddenly I heard something that made me look over to Ana Lucia.

"Did you say that the girl had black skin, curly hair, and a chocker with a black heart on it?"

She looked confused for a moment before nodded hesitantly. I guess they had moved on from that subject. Oh well.

"My sister Violet used to hang with a girl like that. Her name was Megan something. I didn't like her. She kept flirting with my brother Indigo even though I knew she already had a boyfriend."

Warren glanced at me. "Your brother's name is Indigo?" He asked seriously.

I frowned. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

He shook his head but his mouth was smirking. I turned my head away and locked eyes with Ana Lucia. She looked thoughtful. Lash spoke up.

"Do you think you can get that Megan girl's address? Someway we can contact her? Maybe she knows where Alex is."

I shrugged. "I can try I guess, but I can't make any promises."

Layla nodded firmly. "We'll do what we can to help."

I smiled slightly. "Maybe Warren could talk to her. You know, since he's hot and everything."

Warren gave me his famous glare. I just raised an eyebrow. Megan had this thing for brunettes, so she would probably listen to whatever Warren had to say. I tilted my head slightly as I remembered something. Megan liked brunettes, yet her boyfriends were always blondes. I wondered about that for a few seconds before shaking my head. She was a messed up chick; I figured I probably would never understand her.

I told them that I would look through Violet's stuff to see if I could find anything about Megan and then the warning bell rang. The rest of the day was filled with Mr. Medulla's sarcastic comments, adoring looks from Zach, and smelly gym socks. When I finally got home I went straight up to Violet's room. I stood there for a moment, taking in the preppy cheerleader stuff with mild distaste, before walking over to her desk. Mom and Dad didn't change anything when she left so everything was still in the same place it was when she last left it. Right down to the high-heels tossed in the corner from when she changed and the makeup scattered on the dresser.

It felt a bit eerie, like walking into a dead guy's room. Even though I knew she wasn't dead. . . . I opened some of her drawers until I found her address book. After a while I found it. Megan Taylor. I smiled and copied down the address and phone number written next to her name in my sister's neat loopy cursive. My bold black capitals looked messy compared to hers. But of course, everyone had thought Violet was perfect. I was the only one who really knew different. Well, me and my parents. They were always quick to point out her flaws. It made me mad but what could I do?

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