Maia Lange &  Claire Senatore – Cliff  Hanger Contest Piece

I stare at him from behind. So gorgeous, so cute. 

“Knock yourself out of it girl,” Bella whispers to me, “We have a test on Monday. If you don’t pay attention, you’re going to end up with another F”

“Oh, right!” I say still not taking my eyes off his gorgeous brown hair, unlike mine, all blonde and flat. I snap out of it and take out my phone, forgetting that I was still in school. 

“Ava, why is your phone out?” Ms. Smith asks, “Give it to me right now.”

Reluctantly I get up and hand it to her. I sit back down and, RING! The bell rings. I quickly snatch my phone out of Ms. Smith’s hands, pick up my bag and sprint. Bella is beside me. We run to the bus loop and look for bus 46, A.K.A the worst bus in the history of buses. I spot it and pull Bella behind me. We need to get the best seats.

“Hurry up!” I scream to her, “If we want to get good seats we have to go!”

“Ok, ok! I’m coming, little miss bossy pants.”

We run up the stairs into the bus and try to scooch our way into the middle row.

“There he is!” Bella whispers, “This is your chance, Ava!”

“No, no. I’m not ready!” I reply as I brush past his seat, “I’ll text him at home, we are having a sleepover, you know. It’s Friday!”

We sit down and start to map out what we are going to do for our sleepover.

“Ok, so, we need to do our nails, get a full makeover, eat junk food, watch movies, and possibly text Oliver” Bella says, “If you’re not a wimp.”

We hear loud noises in the back,

“Your mom! Your mom! Your mom!” Ed screams from the back of the bus.

“Shut up, Ed” We both scream back at him.

“How annoying can that kid get?” Whispers Bella.

“STOP IT” Ed screams louder, “I’M TELLING MY MOM”

“Wow,” I say in response

“CACA! CACA! CACA!” Ed continues on.

“Finally our stop,” I say.

We hop off the bus and begin the long journey up the road to Bella’s house. Oh how I loved getting off that bus! I think. We walk into the house and Bella’s mom is out at work so it is just us. I grab a bag of chips and head upstairs to Bella’s room. I plop down on one of her many beanbags and open the bag.

“First things first,” Bella says as she walks in the room, “Text Oliver.”

“Or… we could get our nails done, do everything else and then text him?”

“No, now,” She demands. “But, first let me use the bathroom.”

“Ok! Sure!” I reply. Anything to slow this down! She walks into the bathroom and closes the door. I look down at my phone and text my mom that we got to the house safely. I stare at the awkward texts between me and Oliver.

So weird, I think. I watch the clock- It’s ticking too fast! I glance over at the bathroom door. Huh, that’s weird. She’s normally out by now. Maybe she’s redoing her makeup? 

“Bella!” I call out to her.

No response.

“Bella!” I call even louder.

Still, no response.

Where is she? Why can’t she hear me? I hear a loud thump.

“Bella! Are you ok?” I yell, still not sure that she can hear me.

I hear a piercing scream. I run to the door and fling it open. I see a flash of black and flashes of long black hair. The window is open. I blink and then I feel something or someone drag me to the floor with vicious claws. My head hits the hard wood of the floor with a loud thud, pain seems to suffocate me. I feel wetness on the back of my head. Blood.  I break out in sweat. I’m seeing doubles of the ceiling fans, then, my vision goes black.