I woke up to my alarm. No. Not an alarm clock. I woke up to the sound of yelling and doors slamming. I heard my mother screaming at my father and then I heard glass shatter. Nothing new, nothing unusual. I let out a huff and patted around on the table in an attempt to find my phone, pausing every few seconds, getting more and more frustrated. When I picked it up, I checked the time. 3:30 am. Four hours before I have to get up for school. There's no point in going back to sleep so I stood up, slid on my pants and grabbed a hoodie and my shoes and slipped out my bedroom window onto the driveway. I stood in the grass for a minute, looking up at the moon. My parents have been fighting my entire life. A peaceful night is rare in this house. So rare, that when it does happen, something is usually wrong.
I took off down the sidewalk, headed for my best friend Ava's house.
Counting my steps. I heard the birds start chirping but the sun was still down, it was nearly pitch black outside so I turned on my flashlight on my phone. I slid on my hoodie and kept walking. I texted Ava to see if she was up but no reply. I kept walking. I walked for maybe 5 minutes before k heard it. A faint laugh. Followed by a shush. My heart sank. I picked up the pace and cut through the alley, not too fast but not too slow. I stuck my hand in my bag and grabbed my keys, clutching them between my fingers as my only way of self defense. I pulled out my phone and dialed Ava's number. No answer. I dialed again. No answer. So I walked faster. I got to the corner, a block away from Ava and stopped to call in an attempt to wake her up one last time. As soon as I put the phone to my ear, I heard a deep, husky voice in the other ear say loud and clear "she's asleep." My heart skipped a beat and I swung around but no one was there. I took off toward Ava's house, not stopping or looking behind me. I felt someone behind me, I knew there was someone there. I could feel it. I got to Ava's porch and pounded on the door but there was no answer. I ran around the side of the house to her window and pounded on it where a short, startled girl with a sideways nose ring greeted me.
"Jordan, what's wrong?!" She screamed as she slid the window open and I practically jumped through it.
"There was someone following me, he talked to me." I stammered, hardly able to breathe.
"What did he look like?" She asked.
"I don't know, I never saw him, he just talked in my ear but he wasn't there, I think it was a ghost."
She looked confused, I could tell she was trying not to smile. "Are you okay? You didn't see this person at all? What did he say to you?"
"I was trying to call you but you weren't answering, he.. I don't remember what he said." I stopped myself. I was tired and didn't have the energy to convince her to believe me so I let it go.
"How much sleep did you get?" She asked.
"I was out last night with the boys and got home at midnight. I woke up at 3:30 and came here. "
"3:30?" She asked, confused. "Jordan,  it's 7:15. I was about to catch the bus."
"There's no way, it's only a 15 minute walk.." I couldn't believe it. I looked at the clock.. 7:15. School starts in an hour. And here I was, tired, confused and scared our of my mind. How had time gone by so fast? It was literally impossible considering the fact that I had ran most of the way.
"You're right. Maybe my clock must've been wrong. " I said. I had looked at my phone when I got up, I knew it wasn't wrong. I looked at my phone again. 7:17.
"Well we missed the bus but I can probably get dad to give us a ride," She said, heading for the door. "There's coffee in the kitchen if you want it."
I sat on the edge of the bed staring at the clock in disbelief. Today wasn't gonna be an easy day.