| Chapter 5: Emily walked through the halls of PC High in a daze. It was the last day of school before vacation. She hadn't seen or talked to any of her friends at all. She opened her locker and put in some of her unneeded textbooks. "Emily!" Emily turned around at the sound of her name to see Elizabeth Webber running toward her down the hall. She finished putting her books away and closed her locker. "Hi, Lizzie." "Hi, you haven't seen my sister around here anywhere, have you?" "No, why?" "Because she wasn't in English class." Emily stared at her in surprise. "That's exactly what I'm thinking too. My sister would never skip class." "Maybe she wasn't feeling well and went home." "Well, I'll call home just the same." The warning bell rang. Kids rushed to their next class. Lizzie turned to leave, but then stopped. "Have you talked to Lucky lately?" she asked. "He seems sort of quiet." Emily shrugged, acting as if she didn't care. Lizzie turned as the second bell rang. "See ya later!" she called over her shoulder. Emily watched her run down the nearly empty hallway. Classroom doors shut as the bell stopped ringing. She looked around her and realized that she was now alone in the hall. Alone again. Elizabeth Webber placed her books on top of the pay phone and slid into the seat. She inserted her quarter in the slot and punched in her telephone number. She waited for someone to answer the phone. "Come on." she muttered impatiently, but all she got was the endless ringing for an answer. She hung up the phone and sighed. "Okay, big sis. Where could you be?" Elizabeth grabbed her books and walked out into the school hallway. She walked down the steps and to the front doors. "Elizabeth?" Elizabeth froze. She turned around to face her principle. "Mrs. Kirscher." she said, surprised. "Just where do you think you're going?" Elizabeth took a deep breath. I'll kill you for this, Sarah. Sarah Webber shivered in the cold. What am I doing? she wondered. He doesn't want to see me. Why am I here? She pushed open the doors to the hospital and rode the elevator to Nikolas' floor. The floor was deserted, no one was around. Sarah hesitantly walked over to the window of Nikolas' room. The light was on. Nikolas was staring up at the small tv in the corner, but it was obvious that he wasn't interested in the program. Sarah took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Nikolas' eyes turned toward her. He shut off the television with the remote and set it on his bedside table. He picked up his pen to write, but Sarah stopped him. "Nikolas, please, before you say anything. Let me talk to you. I need to talk to you, and I need you to listen." |