Be mine…

His feet echo along the narrow alleyway, growing in speed as they reach her. The wind whips at her hair and the rain lashes her bare arms and her face. The ground is slippy and she slaps her hands on the wall as she runs, trying to keep herself upright as she runs.  Her breath is failing her, she wheezes and almost collapses. Her feet still scatter over the uneven pavement but she’s slowing down, her whole body is crying out, pleading her to stop running. His voice sounds ‘I love you.’ She screams, panicking and trips over. Her head smashes against the wall but she pushes herself up, crying, to face him. He bends down and grabs her arm. She shrieks, a mixture of tears and snot dripping down her cheeks. His face is suddenly illuminated as he shines a torch on her. She gasps ‘But, what…?’

February 14th. It starts like an average day. She gets up, brushes her teeth, gets dressed, and leaves for school. No breakfast, she’s watching her weight. She goes to school by limo, her Dad’s rich. She gets to school, chats to her friends, goes to her Homeroom and kisses her boyfriend. And all the time, he’s watching her. His palms get sweaty when he sees her, he just wants to hold her, to kiss her. He slips into Homeroom after her, he says hello but she doesn’t even hear him, she’s too busy engaging in tonsil-tennis. He sits in the corner and waits for her to open her desk. The teacher comes in and reprimands them, they scurry to their seats. She opens her desk, draws out a pink piece of card. It’s got a picture of her in a t-shirt and underwear with hearts and kisses drawn clumsily around it. She opens it and thousands of glittering sequins. Inside is written ‘Be my valentine?’ She laughs giddily, her face glowing. She stands up, ignoring her teachers protests and begins to walk across the classroom. He thinks she’s coming towards him. He beams, he knew she loved him all along. He beams, but she is flinging herself into the arms of her boyfriend. Her boyfriend looks surprised for a minute but returns the embrace. They kiss fervently. The teacher yells but the bell sounds. Everyone files from the room, the couple exit, still locked in their passionate embrace.
    Later that day, she’s got gym. She pulls on her skirt and regulation t-shirt, applies spray and puts it back in her toiletry bag. She throws the bag into her school satchel and goes to join her friends. When she comes back to change before Home Ed. She opens her bag to reapply her makeup. Another pink card is inside the drawstring bag, with another picture on the front. The picture shows her doing stretches in her skirt in the gym. More sequins fall out and inside is written ‘Come on, be my Valentine?’ She giggles and kisses the card. He’s watching her. She leavs the changing room after putting on her makeup but he’s already left, he wants to run into her casually on the way third period. He’s standing, smoothing his hair and leaning on a locker when his tutor spots him. ‘I’m worried about you, Peter, you’re grades are slipping your attendance is appaling and you look terrible. Like you haven’t slept or showered. Is there something the matter at home, hmmm? But he’s already staring straight past her. In the distance he sees two people kissing. It’s her. But this is wrong, it should be him she’s kissing. The teacher turns away and when she turns around, he’s gone, storming off towards the couple. The couple don’t surface from their kissing session even though he’s pushing past them.
    She opens her locker at lunch to get her Earth Science folder. She reaches for it, but it’s not there. Instead, hundreds of tiny pictures of her fall from the locker. She searches the locker but none of her things are there. She looks at the mirror on her locker door and finds a pink card sellotaped to it. A picture of her laughing with her friends is glued messily to the front. She opens the card. More sequins. And a message. ‘I’m getting tired of this, be my Valentine?’ She spots her boyfriend at the other end of the corridor and runs up to him. ‘Thanks. But how did you get into my locker?’ She says. ‘Thanks for what? I never went in you locker?’ He replies. She kisses him and says ‘Don’t be silly, I know you’re the one leaving me all these cards. It’s very sweet but I need my stuff back from my locker, I’ve got Earth Science next and I need my folder.’ He pulls away from he. ‘I haven’t been in your locker, or left you cards. You’re acting really weird today.’ He says, and walks off. She shrugs, puzzled but all is forgetten as she links up with her friends. She doesn’t know she being watched. She doesn’t know that he is getting fed up with this game. She’ll wish she did.
    She gets home at nine after cheerleading practice and finds her walls and furniture plastered with pictures of herself. She scrreams and runs into her ensuite bathroom. On the mirror is scrawled a message. ‘You will be my Valentine.’ She picks up the phone, shaking and fumbles with the keys. ‘I’m coming over. Right now. This isn’t funny anymore, Lucas, I’m getting really scared.’ She slams the phone down before he can reply and runs out of the house, not bothering to change, still wearig her cheerleaders outfit. It’s begun to rain but she doesn’t care, she ignores the beep of the limo’s horn and walks. It’s been about fifteen minutes when she becomes aware of a person behind her. She crosses the road and goes into a shop. When she comes out of the shop person continues to follow her.  She gets scared and starts taking longer routes, hoping she’s imagining it. It’s been half an hour and the person is still following her. She’s near Lucas’ house, when she realises that she could ring him. ‘Lucas, you gotta help me. I’m on Westchester road, this weird guy is… Argh!’ The figure knocks the phone out of her hands and says ‘I said. I’m. Tired. Of. This.’ She screams and kicks him. He doubles over and she runs. She rushes down the pavement, thinking she’s lost him. She stops, leaning against a wall and breathing hard. The she hears his voice again. ‘You will be mine.’ She shrieks and runs, not thinking about her route, going down an alleyway.
    His feet echo along the narrow alleyway, growing in speed as they reach her. The wind whips at her hair and the rain lashes her bare arms and her face. The ground is slippy and she slaps her hands on the wall as she runs, trying to keep herself upright as she runs.  Her breath is failing her, she wheezes and almost collapses. Her feet still scatter over the uneven pavement but she’s slowing down, her whole body is crying out, pleading her to stop running. His voice sounds ‘I love you.’ She screams, panicking and trips over. Her head smashes against the wall but she pushes herself up, crying, to face him. He bends down and grabs her arm. She shrieks, a mixture of tears and snot dripping down her cheeks. His face is suddenly illuminated as he shines a torch on her. She gasps ‘But, what…?’
    It’s Lucas. ‘Well, I got your weird phone call and I looked around for you. I got worried when you didn’t get to my house. You don’t normally take that long.  You’d been a bit off today. What’s wrong? I called the police? Brittany?’ But she’s gone, fainted.
The police can’t find any evidence of the alleged crime. Peter Williams is mysteriously absent, he never returns. But no one suspects him, Brittany doesn’t even remember him. Everyone thinks she’s made it up, seeking attention. She refuses insisting that it’s true. She drives everyone away, friends, boyfriend, even family. They send her to counselling but she just burbles about sequins and pictures. She’s put into an institution within a year. And that next year, on February 14th, she was huddled in her corner, rocking back and forth when her door flew open. She screams. He says ‘I told you you’d be mine.’