Walking through the Fire

Chapter Two

Delilah put the car in park, and wound down her window. She found herself staring into Jasper's bright green eyes, which were filling with genuine concern.

"Are you okay?" Jasper asked, as he bent down to make better eye contact with Delilah. Delilah glanced at her rear view mirror and could see that the driver behind her was also getting of their car, and Delilah inwardly groaned. She recognized who it was immediately, Mr. Hughes, Delilah's Honors English teacher.

"That truck seemed to come out of nowhere, lucky you stopped in time - are you sure you're okay?" Jasper asked a second time, as Delilah looked back at him and gave a small nod, saying,

"Yes, I am - sorry, just a near miss." Delilah responded, wanting more than anything to just wind up her window and be on her merry way. Nothing to see here folks, she thought to herself. Mr. Hughes joined Jasper then, and also bent down, but rather than leaving it at that, he practically thrust his whole head inside Delilah's driver window.

"Wow, what a lucky miss! Delilah, I am sorry - I shouldn't have beeped, I'm just always in a rush, and for what? But lucky you didn't go through, or else - well, let's not think about that. Are you okay? You like fine, just a bit shaken ae?" Mr. Hughes said, all of his words tumbling out of his mouth in a mad rush. Delilah gave another small nod, followed by an even smaller smile, hoping that both Mr. Hughes and Jasper would take the hint: she was fine and just wanted to get going.

"Well, best get back to it," Mr. Hughes said, as he retracted his large head from Delilah's car, "You need a ride Jasper? Happy to give you a lift to school if you like."

Jasper just kept looking at Delilah, and replied with a soft "No, thank you" before turning and continuing his walk. Mr. Hughes smiled at Delilah and said,

"See you at school Delilah, drive carefully." And he turned and made his way back to his car. Delilah put the car in drive, checked that the intersection light was green and made her way through, releasing a loud breath with a sigh, when she made it through. Luckily enough, this intersection was usually a quiet one, so it seemed only Delilah, Jasper, Mr. Hughes and the irresponsible truck driver, were the only people privy to the almost accident. Delilah shook her head, hoping that it would help her gather her thoughts, what was that? She thought, trying to make sense of the instant fear that flooded her system, and the strong warning to stop the car from moving. Somehow her body had just known that there was danger ahead, and that Delilah needed to delay her car being in that intersection, even by a few mere seconds. But how was that possible? Delilah was lost in her thoughts, when she almost sailed by Charlie, who was frantically waving her long, muscular arms in the air, trying to get Delilah's attention. Delilah quickly, and safely pulled over, as Charlie yanked open the passenger door, and jumped in, closing the car door behind her.

"Daydreaming Woods?" Charlie asked, as she fumbled with the heat, trying to turn it up - Charlie always preferred spaces to be hot, and really couldn't stand wearing more than two layers of clothing if possible.

"It has been a weird morning." Delilah responded, as she indicated to return into traffic. Delilah then started to make the ten-minute journey to St. Agatha's, the school that both Charlie and Delilah attended.

"The twins being terrors?" Charlie asked.

"I wish - no, I was almost in this car accident, on my way to get you, and Jasper Mace - " Delilah started.

"Jasper Mace?! As in Jasper, Jasper Mace?" Charlie squealed, clapping her hands together in child-like glee.

"The one and only." Delilah responded, as she drove very cautiously through a roundabout.

"Wait, sorry - did you say car accident?" Charlie asked, turning her body in her seat so that she was facing Delilah.

"Yep, this truck just ran a red and almost totalled my car. But, I hadn't gone yet, so it was okay." Delilah said. Charlie reached over and rubbed Delilah's arm in a comforting way, and said,

"Are you okay? Do you need me to drive?"

"I'm fine, truly, nothing happened." Delilah said, turning quickly to give her best friend a quick smile. Charlie seemed to only half-buy it, but she was too distracted by the other piece of key information.

"Okay, and Jasper fits into this how?" Charlie asked, turning up the heat even more. Delilah gave a small laugh,

"He must have been walking to school or something, and saw it happen. He just came over to my car, and was checking to see if I was okay." Delilah responded.

"What a gentleman." Charlie said in a sing-song manner, "Well, at least you know, that he knows, that you exist."

Delilah laughed again: Charlie, always the optimist, and always trying to find the silver lining. As they got closer to school, more and more students could be seen walking the pavement, and Delilah suddenly thought that she should have offered Jasper a ride to school as well. Strange that he was even walking actually; his family had to be the richest in Balem, there was no way that Jasper did not own some sort of fancy sports car. Not that Delilah could ever see Jasper sitting in her small car, she thought to herself. As they turned the corner, St. Agatha's loomed ahead. Delilah entered the student carpark, parked the car, and both girls got out, hauling their bags alongside them. As they walked towards the main building, Charlie looped her arm through Delilah's and asked,

"Do you have music first?"

"Sure do, but it is more a practice session than anything. We have our performances next week." Delilah responded.

"Oh right, on Wednesday night right? I will be there." Charlie said, as she wrenched open the main door, allowing her and Delilah to pass through. Delilah smiled, knowing that other than her family, Charlie was her number one fan, and would never miss an opportunity to support and cheer Delilah on.

"Chemistry?" Delilah asked, and Charlie simply pulled a face in response. With that, the girls said their goodbyes, and made their separate ways, knowing that they would see each other in form time later in the day. Delilah reached into her bag and pulled out her headphones, jamming them in, and scrolling through her music until she found what track she was looking for: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement. Something about classical music really calmed Delilah, and moreso, this was one of the pieces she was playing for her performance, so she found it helpful listening to other artist's interpretations of it. Through her headphones, Delilah heard the bell, and picked up her walking pace towards the music rooms. All around, students were making their way to their respective classes, when Delilah felt a strong tingling at the back of her neck. She whipped around quickly, and peered around her, but did not notice anything amiss. It almost felt like someone was watching her, and her body was alerting her to it. Or had the person who was watching her wanted Delilah to know that they were there? The tingling feeling was instantly gone, and Delilah was left feeling confused for the second time that day. Another bell peeled through the hallway, and Delilah was ripped from her thoughts - the last thing she needed was a detention for being late. As she began walking again, she couldn't shake the feeling though, that she was being watched, no matter how hard she tried.