Whispers
in the Dark
Chapter
3
All
through class, I kept stealing sideways glances at Zachariah. He
was sitting as far away from me as he could in his seat, but he was
turned slightly towards me. Sometimes, I would catch him looking at
me, and, embarrassed, I would drop my eyes back down to my calculus
book. I had an 81 in this class, and I’m fast, but Zachariah
is faster. He was done with his homework in 20 minutes. Once the
bell rang, I grabbed my stuff and went out the door. I noticed that
Zachariah was in every one of my classes. Either that or he was
following me. But the teacher wouldn’t make him introduce
himself. In every class, the teacher would make him stand in front
of the class and introduce himself. And each time, he’d say
the same thing. He would never talk to me, but somehow he’d
always end up sitting next to me. He was always in the same
position: On the edge of his chair, turned towards me. Every time I
looked at him, my eyes went straight to his scar, and I found
myself wondering how he had gotten it. Before the end of my last
class, the soccer coach came in the room.
“Dasha? You don’t need anything for
practice except shorts, a shirt, and tennis shoes. Okay?” I
nodded. “See you at 5!” And she left. Out of the corner
of my eye, I noticed Zachariah look at me, and then lower his head
to the table once she had left. The bell rang and I grabbed my
stuff. I headed out the front doors, and walked towards home. I got
dressed for soccer tryouts. My red hair hung in a loose ponytail. I
walked to the soccer field where everyone else was. “Alright
ladies. Apparently, you think you have what it takes to be the
best. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Now, I want only the
fastest girls on my team. If you can run a mile in under 8 minutes.
Good. First string player. If you run it in under 12 minutes,
second string player. If it takes longer than that, sorry. Maybe
next year. Alright? Now, just run the track once, and I’ll be
standing at the end with a stop watch. Good luck. Ready? Set?
Go!” I pushed myself as hard as I could go. When I crossed
the finish line, Coach Carter looked up at me. “I can’t
believe it. That’s impossible” She turned the stop
watch to me, and I looked. 3:18.