SEVENTEEN

                                    

                                          


                          
It was now the last week of November and Sophie had barely seen her friends. Of course they were now at school, but they never talked to her and every time she tried to go up to them they'd get called by Dame Alina.
                          
     It was really weird.
                          
     On the bus, at Lunch, Gym, and Study Hall she always sat alone. It was like she was invisible.
                          
     Sophie didn't like being left out. What had she done to make everyone hate her so much?  
                          
     Then, one day, she'd had enough.
                          
     Right after school, she found a way to follow Fitz and Keefe to Fitz's car in the parking lot. "Hey guys!" She called when she was close enough.
                          
     Both boys turned around, but when they saw her they turned back and kept walking to the car.
                          
     Sophie had finally reached them before they had a chance to get in the car, and she stood in front of the hood so Fitz couldn't drive away. "What's up?" She asked them, hurt filling her voice. "Why've you guys been avoiding me—did I do something wrong?"
                          
     Keefe and Fitz both looked at their feet for a long time. It was kind of unsettling.
                          
     Sophie bit her lip. "Why aren't you talking to me? It's been weeks—what did I do?"
                          
     "Sorry Sophie," Keefe said as both he and Fitz got in the car. "But we can't talk right now,"
                          
     Sophie's eyes got wide. Somehow Keefe calling her Sophie hurt more than him avoiding her. "Why not?" She asked.
                          
     Fitz looked at her with a stern expression. "Sophie, we're just trying to—ugh!" He slammed his hands against the steering wheel. "We can't talk about it—we're going to leave you alone, and you should leave us alone—before there's any trouble."
                          
     "But—" Sophie started, but Fitz already turned on the car and started to put it in reverse before they drove away.
                          
     Sophie felt tears sting her eyes as she watched them drive over a hill before disappearing. Sophie blinked a couple of times before tears fell down her face. She ran—she had no idea where, but she just ran.
                          
     Away from the cars, away from the parking lot, away from the school, and away from everything she knew. Sophie ran pass neighborhoods and stores, her legs burning like fire. Tears kept falling from her eyes as images of her friends flashed before her eyes. 
                          
     She didn't want to lose them. She knew that the only way for her to feel whole again was to have them all back; all together. But now that they no longer wanted to talk to her, how could she achieve that?
                          
     Sophie's mind was so fixed on her friends, that she didn't realize that she'd ran into the woods until she tripped over a root.
                          
     Sophie tried to throw her hands in front of her, but instead she hit her head on a rock and passed out.
                          
§§§
                          
Sophie woke up to a bright light and a ginormous headache. She sat up and groaned before looking at her surroundings.
                          
     The room she was in had a bright fireplace illuminating the space. Over the fire there was a cast iron pot cooking something that smelled delicious. In front of the fire was a table with a few chairs around it, and to the left there was a recliner. So Sophie assumed this was a living room. 
                          
     But who's?
                          
     "Hello?" Sophie called—which was honestly pretty stupid. She'd watched many horror movies where little girls' died because they said that word.