I slightly panicked as the feeling in my legs started to fade away, but I kept moving. With each time I lunged myself forward, I sped up. I whipped my head back but quickly regretted it after seeing that he was gaining on me. A few tears trickled down my cheek, but the wind quickly carried them away. A pinch at my side urged me to stop, but I kept moving. As I sprinted, I looked up at the sky and noticed the bright star that lingered right beside the moon. How did I get from enjoying that sight to wishing I was already dead?
The sound of my ringing phone shot through my sleepy body, as I turned over onto my side and flopped my hand onto my night stand. I noticed it was still pitch black in the room except for the dim glow of my phone. Who would be calling so early in the morning? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elara throwing her pillow over her head on the air mattress she had slept on. I swiped the arrow on my phone, answering the caller.
“Hello?” I croaked, my voice in a whisper so I wouldn’t wake Elara. I pulled my hair out of its messy braid and stretched the hair tie around my wrist. The voice that replied startled me, but I didn’t make a move. A deep, unfamiliar voice replied, “Hello.” I waited for whom I assumed was a guy to respond for a few seconds, but only silence filled my ear. After an awkward pause, I answered once again. “Uh, who is this?” I asked, and suddenly I heard a loud gasp. “You know who I am! I am your father!” I widened my eyes, tempted to just hang up the phone.
With my ear still pushed up against my phone screen, I tiptoed to my dad’s room. It was dark, but I could just make out the human figure under the covers. I tiptoed back to my room, and whispered, “My dad is asleep, so you have got some explaining to do.” It was silent for another moment while he thought of what to say. I quietly smirked, thinking about how dumb this person must have been. In the midst of the pause, I glanced out the window and smiled at the sight of a bright star that remained besides the moon. New York was bright, but this star seemed to brighten it up even more, begging us all to not sleep and instead adore its light. Finally, he let out a breath, and continued on. “No, I’m your real dad. Your biological one.” This statement startled me, and I almost hung up the phone before I heard “No wait!” And I pressed the phone back to my ear. “What?” I said in an irritated tone. This time his voice sounded different. It was not as deep and strict. “Ivy?”, He begged, “That is who I am talking to right? Ivy I didn’t mean to make you mad it was just a joke.” I scoffed, and decided to play along with the kid. “You know what, just because you didn’t mean to make me mad doesn’t mean it doesn’t make me mad.” Another silence occurred as my body silently shook with suppressed laughter.
Whoever this Ivy was, this kid obviously liked her. “Ivy, I’m sorry it’s just that you prank call us all the time!” I paused for a second. “Who is us?” I asked. “You know, me and Chris.” He said in a “duh” tone. I decided to leave it like that, as I hung up the phone and collapsed back onto my bed.
“Elara, what would you like to drink?” My mother asked my shy best friend as we sat around the kitchen table. “Just water please,” She mumbled, and pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “And what about you Saph?” She asked again. I raised a single brow as I examined the choices. I pointed to the green tea, and she handed me a glass. My phone suddenly vibrated, and I glanced to see who it was. I glanced to see my mom’s reaction and she gave me a warning look. Normally I can have my phone whenever I want, but now that Elara was staying with us she was considered a “visitor”, and when we have visitors we are supposed to give them our undivided attention. I gave her pleading eyes. “Mom, just for a second,” I asked. She sternly shook her head so I put my phone in my lap under the table and quickly read the text. It was a random number, so I didn’t know the person sending it to me. It said “Ivy? You okay?” I rolled my eyes and stifled a laugh. I typed as quickly as I could so my mom wouldn’t figure out. “No.” I clicked send. About 0.00001 seconds later he replied. “Ivy.. you’re not usually one to hold grudges. You’re not even Ivy are you..?” I paused, panicking now that my cover was blown. I sighed, deciding to tell him the truth. “No. I am Sapphira.” Suddenly my mom called “Sapphira Kay!” And I whipped my head up, knowing that she was mad since she used my middle name.
After dinner, Elara and I continued texting this mystery dude. We soon figured out his name was Scott, and a group chat was then created. It contained Scott, his best friend Chris, Elara and I. The four of us had become really close over the next few months. We facetimed, we texted, and talked on the phone on a daily basis. They seemed innocent enough. They lived in New Jersey, only one state away from us. One day, they announced that they were visiting New York City, and that they would be able to see us. Everyone seemed excited, except for Elara. She always lingered in the corner, and seemed more isolated than the rest of us. I tried talking to her, but if you are friends with someone like her, you quickly learn that sometimes the last thing you should do is try to talk to them. I tried my hardest to let her be, but sometimes I begged her to open up. The thing that bothered me the most was the Chris seemed to understand her more than I did. They would separately call all the time, excluding Scott and I from their conversations.
Elara’s parents were in Australia for four months, so you would have thought that living with me would let her trust me more. The day that we would meet Chris and Scott finally arrived, and we had decided to meet at the 8th street Station. After a long time of squinting and examining the faces of everyone, we eventually found the same exact faces of the people we had been facetiming for the past five months.
All was good at first, as we ate dinner at a small diner. Soon enough, Elara and Chris wandered away, excusing themselves from the table and explaining they wanted to go shopping in Times Square. I quickly grew frustrated, and so did Scott. After he and I finished our desserts, we decided to go looking for them. It was dark out now, but the whole city was illuminated by the intense lights of passing cars and signs. We took the Subway to Times Square, and as we stepped out of the station and onto the ground, I felt a force pushed me to the ground. Thinking it was a typical New Yorker, I scoffed and pushed myself off the ground. Then, I suddenly couldn’t breathe, and after looking down at the fist that punched me, I looked to the head of who the hand belonged to. Elara glared at me dead in the eye, and Chris smirked as he whispered “You better run Saph.” I looked around for Scott but he was nowhere in my sight, so I began to run. I turned corner after corner, running in a complicated maze of blocks and streets. The sidewalks were still busy, but that didn’t help me. No one helps you here.. They watch you run for your life. I slightly panicked as the feeling in my legs started to fade away, but I kept moving. With each time I lunged myself forward, I sped up. I whipped my head back but quickly regretted it after seeing that they were gaining on me. A few tears trickled down my cheek, but the wind quickly carried them away. A pinch at my side urged me to stop, but I kept moving. As I sprinted, I looked up at the sky and noticed the bright star that lingered right beside the moon. How did I get from enjoying that sight to wishing I was already dead? I quickly turned a new corner and hid behind a dumpster, in hopes to confuse them. When I heard the sharp sound of their footsteps, I held my breath, not risking a single sound. “Where did she go? She couldn’t have possibly run the other way?” I had heard that voice before, It was Elara’s. I never heard her talk so loud, so confidently. “No, she ran this way. I’m sure of it.” Chris replied. I slowly let out a breath, tensing up at the thought they might be smart enough to look behind the dumpster. I looked out the corner, and soon I saw two brown eyes peering through the crack. I gasped, as I felt a strong hand grasp my wrist. “No wait!” I shrieked, as Chris pulled me out from behind the dumpster and standing on the sidewalk.
I tried to keep myself together, but my tears didn’t quite care, flowing down my face and making me feel vulnerable. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he pulled out a knife, ready to hurt me. “What do you want from me!” I screamed, attempting to kick my way out of his grasp. In the back I heard Elara chuckle. Soon, Chris started to chuckle too. He finally let go of me, as he collapsed on to the floor with laughter. My brain told me to run but I couldn’t move a muscle. I stared at the two laughing freaks with a raised brow and crossed arms.
“Okay okay, joke’s over. What’s going on here?” I asked. Elara handed me my phone, and continued to giggle. “We took it so you would call the police.” I suddenly saw Scott peer over the corner of the building, and once Chris gestured him to come over, he smiled and walked to us. I scowled at the three of them, waiting for one to speak up. They never did, and instead they kept on laughing. Soon I decided to call a taxi home without them, and get some sleep. It was a very interesting first day of April, and I wanted to drift off into a nice deep sleep and forget it.