Saviors: Book 1, Chapter 2

By Rowan, Grade 7

Chapter 2

In the hallway before class, Gabby decided to pass out the invitations. Grace knew she was coming, so she only had to give out the invitations to Sophia, Katie, Hailey, and Maya. Gabby jogged up to Katie, who was chatting with a group of girls. Gabby shyly offered an invitation to Katie, who, in return looked surprised but happy.

“For me?” asked Katie. Gabby nodded and smiled.

“It’s for my birthday sleepover in 2 weeks. See if you can come and tell me later. It’s going to be fun!” Gabby replied. She left the group with a happy feeling in her chest. Hailey and Maya stood outside the classroom door chatting. Well, at least Maya was chatting. Hailey was listening and trying to get a word in now and then, but Maya was talking a mile a minute. Gabby passed out the invitations to the two girls, in which Maya stopped chatting with Hailey and started asking a million questions.

“What is this for?”

“Is it an invitation?”

“Will it be fun whatever it is?”

“I hope it will be fun. But if it wasn’t going to be fun, you wouldn’t pass out the invitations would you? Well, if it is an invitation. Whatever it is I’ll try and go!”

“What she said,'' said Hailey, kind of lamely, looking relieved she could finally get a word in. Gabby didn’t blame her. Next she set off in search of Sophia. She was looking for a few minutes, but she finally spotted Sophia with her Girl Goons in a corner, whispering and making googly eyes at Grayson, who was a few feet away with his friends. He didn’t seem to notice. Gabby thought that Grayson was gross, with his 2 pounds of hair gel and big feet, but these girls were looking at him like he was a million dollars. Gabby rolled her eyes.

“Hey Sophia, I was wondering if you would come to my birthday sleepover in 2 weeks. I”m turning 13, and I’m going to make sure that my birthday party is awesome for my first time being a teenager.”

“Oh.” Sophia said. “Maybe I could make it, but I might have….. more important things to do. It all depends. Are my galfriends invited?” Her galfriends are what she called her Girl Goons. Why did she have to call them something so…. ‘Interesting’?

“Um….. I can only invite 5 girls.”

“Then invite me and my galfriends, and maybe some other people. Like Grayson.” Gabby wasn’t going to invite Sophia’s ‘Galfriends’, and she definitely wasn’t going to invite gross Grayson just so Sophia could flirt with him.

“I already invited 4 other people. It would be a bit rude to take back the invitation, don’t you think? Gabby replied, trying to sound sympathetic.

“I guess so. I’ll decide later. Right now I’m too….. I’m busy.” Too busy looking at Grayson?, Gabby thought. But of course she didn’t say anything. You didn’t want to make Sophia mad. There are ghost stories about her temper.

“Okay. See you later!” Gabby replied. As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder at Sophia. Gabby sighed. Maybe, just maybe, her mom was right.

It was the night before Gabby’s slumber party, and there were streamers and balloons everywhere. She had spent all week in her free time preparing, and hoped it wasn’t too much. There were candles and some matches for ghost stories, though she had to tell her parents whenever she lit one. Maybe Gabby could practice now, so she didn’t light the house on fire at her party. That would be embarrassing. Gabby struck a match and stared at the flame. It was entrancing. She lowered it to the candle and set it on the table. She stared at the dancing flame again. It was beautiful. Unlike Grayson. Gabby snickered and sat on her bed. Suddenly the flame flickered. “Is my window open?” She asked herself. She slipped over to it, and checked it. It wasn’t open. Not only that, but it was locked. She shivered. Those candles sure had an effect. Perfect for ghost stories. She went back to her bed. Gabby sighed and went to the candle again.

Pitter-patter

Pitter-patter

Pitter-patter

Was it raining? It couldn’t be raining. The weather forecast said no rain. Gabby had to check anyway. She walked to the window, opened it, and stuck her hand out. She felt no water on her fingertips. Where was the sound coming from? Gabby was getting creeped out. But where was the sound of rain? It was gone. Was I hearing things? Gabby thought. Inhale, outhale. Inhale, outhale. She slowly walked back.

Pitter-patter

Pitter-patter

Pitter-patter

She froze. It was back, and it seemed to be coming from her table. Inhale, outhale. Inhale, outhale, she told herself as she walked toward the table. Towards the candle. Towards the flame.

Pitter-patter

Pitter-patter

PITTER-PATTER

All she saw before everything went black was the candle, the flame flickering into a roaring fire.