Episode 3

Miah couldn’t get the note out of her head. As she went to the girls’ locker room to change back into her clothes, she took the note out again. Looking it over, front and back, she couldn’t find a name or signature anywhere, but she found a scribbling in the corner. Someone had written “Maya” and scratched it out, replacing it with the correct spelling of her name. This is weird. I mean, that’s how my name sounds, but Ben wouldn’t accidentally misspell my name. He sees it written out in every text message I send. She put it in her back pocket—and the back of her mind—and left, sinking into unease.

She quickly grabbed her backpack from her locker upstairs and headed outside to the picnic table area. The walk was long; the picnic table area was a long ways from the high school. She shivered as a breeze came through the parking lot, and thought to herself that this wasn’t starting out to be the perfect day she’d thought it would be. Anxious to see Ben again, she walked faster along the median between parking spots.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure step around a parked car near her. She gasped and jumped, turning toward the person and almost falling off the median. But it was only Ben.

He reached out to stop her fall, grasping her arm. “Miah! What’s the matter?”

Shocked for the second time that day, she regained her footing and stood looking at the ground, taking deep breaths. I keep freaking out. I wish I’d stop.

“Are you alright?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Miah nodded, clenching her teeth in frustration at herself. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry…you just startled me. I didn’t mean to get freaked out. I’m just…a little jumpy.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I started walking over here after you didn’t show up in an hour, and then saw you. What happened? Class go late or something?” Giving an encouraging smile, Ben continued walking along the median with her toward the picnic tables.

Miah nodded, “I fell in P.E. and scraped up my hands and knees,” she explained, showing him her palms specked with red and torn skin.

He paused to gently take her hands, his hands trembling against hers. “Is that all?” He looked in her eyes for an answer.

Catching her still-sporadic breath, she shook her head. “Did…did you slip a note into my pocket earlier?” She turned her hands to hold his.

Ben squeezed them absent-mindedly, his mind processing her question. His eyebrows scrunched up, and Miah’s stomach drew into a knot. He hesitantly replied, lowering her hands and letting go. “No, I didn’t…What did it say?”

Miah gulped and took the crumpled note out of her pocket, holding it by two fingers as if it were burning. “Here,” she said as she handed it to him.

He opened the crinkled paper and read it silently, casting his eyes over the front and back. He then looked quickly around, folding it up as he turned to survey the whole parking lot. Besides a couple students sitting by a tree next to the school, the area was deserted. Ben looked toward his navy blue Jetta, parked on the far side of the lot. Taking one of her hands, he put the note in his pocket. “It’s not safe here,” he muttered, and then nodded to himself. “We should go.” He headed toward it, and she followed close behind.

“But, Ben!” Miah hurried to keep up with him, pulling slightly on his hand. “My mom said we had to stay here at school all day.”

He turned to her for a moment. “You could be in danger. You probably are.”

“Ben—” she started, and then she froze.

As a gust of wind started up, a covered red convertible coming around the corner gunned its engine right toward them in the parking lot. Miah screamed, and Ben pulled her backward out of its path. The car spun away and headed in a circle to come at them again. Miah’s heart was beating so fast she could hardly breathe. Ben pulled her hand toward his car parked on the other side of the road and unlocked it hastily. “Get in!”

Trembling, she opened the door and hopped in the front seat. With the ignition coughing into the engine’s roar, Ben pulled out of the spot with the red car right at their heels. “Seatbelt!” Ben shouted, shifting into second as they careened around a corner. Flooring the gas, they shot out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Miah turned to look behind, only to see the red sports car gaining on them. “Wh-what do we do?” she cried frantically, looking ahead at the empty road. “Where are we going?”

Ben bit his lip, shifting up into fifth gear. “We can’t go to your house; we don’t know if they know where you live. If we head to an area with heavier traffic, we could lose them.” They passed speed-limit sign for 35 and Ben glanced at his 60-reading speedometer in anxious hesitation.

Miah clutched her seatbelt. “Are they actually trying to kill us?”

“I don’t know. They tried to run into us, so that’s definitely a possibility.”

The sports car nudged their bumper, and Miah gasped. Ben shifted down into third, accelerated suddenly, and then, with a quick glance in the mirror, pulled over sharply and slowed down. The red car raced ahead, unable to slow down fast enough. Pulling it into first gear, Ben headed down an intersecting road that headed downtown, shifting accordingly as he went, following speed limits, and nodding to himself. Miah covered her forehead with a hand as she sighed anxiously.

The red car was soon following again, but not as closely as before. Miah closed her eyes and leaned back.

Ben glanced at her, and swallowed. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Miah.”

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Well…” Ben started to say, but a screeching sound stopped him. Staring into his rear-view mirror, he watched with startled amazement as a black SUV flew out from a side road and T-boned the red car chasing them. The cars flew onto the shoulder and were abruptly stopped by a tree. Immediately slowing down, Ben brought the car into a U-turn to investigate.

From the red convertible, which had had the passenger side crushed, a man escaped and fled into the trees. The door of the black car opened with some difficulty, and the man inside started to chase the other who had run for the woods.

The man turned as their car pulled up and quit the engine. Ben stepped out and stood. Miah opened her door and slowly walked behind the car to Ben’s side to look at the man.

He was younger than he had appeared from farther away. He wore a black t-shirt and torn jeans, and his blonde hair hung in his blue eyes. Combat boots fit his soldierly look, and he folded his arms across his chest. He was muscular and tall, and from the looks of it, he’d probably get the better of Ben in a fight. The young man gazed at her silently, and she stepped closer to Ben. His gaze shifted to her companion, who stared back coldly.

“Why did you bring her into this?” the man asked bitterly.

“Hey,” Ben retorted, “it wasn’t my idea. I’ve been trying to protect her, but clearly, that guy knows too much,” he said, pointing toward where the man had disappeared.

“Obviously.” The blond looked at Miah again, and she felt as if she were some kind of possession, being talked about in her presence as if she weren’t there.

She looked up at Ben’s face, who met her gaze. Distraught, he clenched his fist and turned back to the man in black. “We should have left him alone.”

The young man rolled his eyes. “Please, Ben, you should have thought of that before now. Come on.” He beckoned for him to follow.

When he started to turn around to get back into his car, Ben took Miah’s shoulders quickly. “We’ve gotta go.”

“Ben, what’s going on?” she demanded as he turned, trying to grab his arm.

Heading for her door, he promised, “I’ll explain everything to you once we’re safe. Just trust me.” He put a hand on her shoulder and sighed, giving a sad smile.

Miah bit her lip and nodded. He stepped to her door and opened it for her, grim faced as he then walked to his side and slid into the driver’s seat. Droplets of rain splattered on the windshield, and Miah looked up at the sky as she put on her seatbelt.

As they drove away after the black SUV, Miah thought to ask, “What is his name?”

Ben’s face softened, and he answered, “Connor.”

“A friend of yours?” she asked, slightly more at-ease.

“Yeah. We met at boarding school,” he answered after shifting into third.

As it started to rain heavily, the SUV before them accelerated. Ben increased his speed and looked over at Miah, who sat looking out the window. He looked forward again, focusing on the road, but with a troubled air.

Everything had gone wrong.