The Rise Of The Phoenix

CHAPTER THREE: WELCOME TO MASSACHUSETTS, NOW RUN

Our new house wasn’t so bad once we settled in. We’d been here for about a week now, and Ivy and I had been enrolled in a new school. It wasn’t awful. I mean, it wasn’t what we were used to, but it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. A random Friday like any other, I woke up and got myself ready for school. While getting ready, I remembered I had stopped having that weird forest dream. It stopped after I saw the lady’s face while sleeping in the car. Even though it was weeks ago, I’ll never forget that face, or how terrified I was to see it. I took a long look at myself

in my mirror before grabbing my bag and closing my room door behind me.

Our dad dropped us off at school before heading to work. Ivy and I have very different schedules, so we went our separate ways once we walked into the school building. Walking by myself everyday was starting to get depressing. Being the new girl in senior year definitely wasn’t the plan. Everyone is already in a group, and I was basically an outsider to them. Everyday I walk through these halls alone, I miss my friends at home even more. I wonder what they’ve been up to without me.

Later in the day, I went to pick up a textbook from my locker when I saw Ivy at her locker as well. She was just down the hall from me, so I wanted to go over to say hi. I stopped in my tracks when I saw some girls walking towards her to talk to her. It was so nice to see my sister making friends. She was always more of a social butterfly than I was. They looked like they were Ivy’s age, so maybe they could be friends!One of the girls opened her mouth to say speak, and I noticed something very strange. Ivy didn’t turn from her locker to face them. She continued rummaging through like she was looking for something. I knew she wasn’t doing anything, and I guess the girls knew too, because the one closest to Ivy grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I stepped closer so I could hear what was going on. One of the girls spoke up.

“Who do you think you are?” She giggled as she spoke. “You’re meant to face us when we speak, don’t you have manners?”

“Why bother, Grace?” a blonde girl spoke up. “I don’t want to see that sulking face more than I need to.”

Everyone around them was awkwardly moving around, avoiding the girls’ line of sight. Oh. They were bullies. They had pinned the new girl as their target. I wanted to go over there and show them who’s boss, but I knew Ivy wouldn’t let herself be belittled like that, and I wanted to give her a chance to correct them herself. After all, this moment could make or mar her school year.

“Come on, Ivy.” I whispered, balling my fists. “Speak up.”

Ivy’s lips pulled up into a smile as she lifted her eyes to look at the girl who I think was called Grace. I knew that smile.

“Ew,” Grace sneered. “even your smile is weird!” she laughed. All her friends laughed along.

“What do you guys want? You’ve been following me around all day.” Ivy kept her smile. She was trying not to lose it. “Are you so obsessed with me? I’ve been here for just two weeks.”

The girls were shocked. They probably didn’t expect such a calm response. They looked at eachother briefly before they collected themselves. One of them laughed as she spoke up.

“You must be crazy if you think we’re following you around.” She chuckled as she pointed at Ivy and screamed loudly. “In that outfit? Honey, I wouldn’t be caught dead near you!”

People in the hallway stopped to stare. Ivy looked down at her outfit. I thought it was really cute!

A white long sleeved top with a light pink pleated skirt. Absolutely nothing was wrong with that outfit. They were just trying to embarrass my sister! Ivy shrugged.

“Hey, at least it’s better than whatever Norah has on.” She pointed at the third girl

with black hair. She was simply wearing a grey sweatshirt and black jorts. Nothing was wrong with her outfit either, but Ivy was trying to five home a point too.

The girls were confused. So Ivy took the opportunity to finish them off.

“I mean, Grace, I want to be just as bold as you! Taking that disaster of a hairstyle around so confidently!” Grace grabbed her head in terror. “And Lilly. I love how graceful you are, even when everyone says you’re the duff among your friends.”

Lilly screamed in absolute horror as I let out a laugh. They were about to say something else when I walked up behind Ivy.

“Anything else, ladies?” I asked.

They sneered at Ivy as they walked away.

“That was so cool, Ivy! I’m so proud of you!” I said as I gave her a side hug.

“I couldn’t just let them treat me like that for being the new kid.” She responded.

We talked for a minute before we had to go to our separate classrooms. The rest of the day, I didn’t see my sister. I knew she was just fine on her own. Those girls didn’t stand a chance!

After school, Ivy and I planned to walk home together. We walked for thirty minutes before I noticed something was wrong. We were being followed by a black Toyota. I acted like nothing was going on, as I moved closer to my sister.

“We’re being followed.” I whispered

“What!?!?!” She responded loudly. She tried to turn around but I pulled her back into place. We couldn’t let them know we were aware. That could be more dangerous.

“We have to lose them. So we’re going to run, and we’ll lose them in the trail.” I said.

Running into the Appalachian trail was the fastest way to get rid of the car. Whoever was driving would have to come out to follow us.

So we ran. The car sped after us, and just as planned, we jumped off the road and ran into the trail. We didn’t have hiking boots, and we simply planned to hide until the car gave up and left.

But the car stayed. The driver parked and I saw five people get out. Three girls and two older boys. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The girls looked like the ones who were bullying Ivy at school! Those two must've been their brothers.

“Where did they go!?” One boy yelled as he hopped out of the car.“God, Mason! You weren’t quick enough!” Norah whined as she hit the bicep of the guy standing

next to her. They had the same hair shade, so I assumed Mason was her brother.

He turned to her. “ Do not blame me, Norah!” He pointed a finger in her face. “How was I supposed to know those bozos would run into the woods?”

They stood there and stared into the forest from time to time, and Ivy and I stayed exactly where we were, hoping they would give up and leave. I wondered how crazy they were to hunt us down after school just to get back at Ivy! A few minutes passed, and they were still hanging around the car. Lilly hopped off the hood of the car and screamed angrily.

“If they won’t come out then we have to go and get them!” she yelled. They all stood and stared at her for a while before getting themselves into motion. When I realised they weren’t going to give up, Ivy and I had to keep running. Soon enough, they spotted us and began to chase.

Is this the end? Did we really come to Massachusetts just to be killed by some crazy teenagers?