When I wake up the next morning, it isn't because my body decided that I had gotten enough rest, it's because of someone with tiny hands pulling at my hair to try and get me to move.

"Wake up, Braska!" Jason whines, giving one more tug at my hair. I groan annoyed at his antics and softly push him away so I don't accidentally hurt him. I may not be strong but Jason is weaker than me so I have to be careful with him.

I yawn loudly and stretch my arms and neck before looking over at Jason. He's already dressed in his own clothes, even though his hair is still pretty messy, and he has his shoes on but they're untied.

How is an eight year old more of a morning person than me?

Glancing at the time, I see that it's an hour before school starts. For me at least, Jason's school starts later than mine but I walk him there early because we have no other ride. I could always use Tony's care but I'm pretty sure he already came by earlier in the morning or late last night to get it. Plus he needs it to drive himself to work.

"Go make sure your backpack is packed and wait for me to cook up something. Watch tv or play with your toys until then," I say, rubbing the back of my head while pushing the covers away from me. If Jason keeps at it, I'll have no hair before the year even ends. Maybe I should consider getting an alarm clock...

I get up and walk to the bathroom. After a quick five minute shower, I wrap the towel around myself and then put moisturizer on my face. I lotion my arms and legs before walking to my closet to pick an outfit for the day.

Sadly, the amount of clothes I have is limited so it doesn't take long for me to pick out jeans and a light blue top. I put on my only pair of sneakers, which are still slightly wet, and grab a comb before walking to the living room.

Instead of watching tv or playing with his toys, Jason is sitting patiently on the table, hands folded on the table, looking around the kitchen. His backpack is leaning against the door while his tiny feet are dangling over the edge of the seat. I wish I have a camera to snap a picture of this perfect moment.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I ask, opening the freezer.

"Mickey Mouse," he replies, with a toothy grin.

I smile back before taking out the Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets and heating them up in the microwave. I pour two glasses of milk and hand one of them to Jason. He makes a face but starts taking small sips of it.

For my breakfast, I quickly pour myself a bowl of cereal before sitting down. After the microwave beeps, I hand the plate over to Jason and we start eating.

"Jason," I start, with my mouth slightly full, "did you even take a shower?"

He shakes his head. "No, I do it tonight," he says, stuffing more food in his mouth. Once he finishes, he pushes his empty plate and half finished glass of milk over to me. "I'm done," he states, getting off the chair.

"Not with your milk," I say, motioning to the glass with my spoon. He pretends not to hear me and instead runs over to his room before I hear the sound of his door closing shut. I roll my eyes at his behavior but drink his milk since I finished mine a few minutes ago.

After I finish, I brush my teeth and comb my hair before grabbing my phone from the counter and putting it in my pocket. "C'mon Jason, time to go!" I shout, grabbing the house keys. I also grab a pack of Sour Patch Kids and place it inside my backpack. Even though it came from the creepiest person ever, it's still my favorite snack.

Stalker or not, I love those sour-sweet little things.

When I reach the front door, I see Jason waiting for me with his backpack on. He opens the door and steps out while I turn the lock. "You remembered to close your windows, right?" I ask, putting the keys inside my backpack.

He nods. "Yes Braska, I lock the door." That wasn't what I even asked but okay then.

I smile and grab his hand before beginning the walk to his school. Luckily his school is only about a five minute walk from here. Before, Jason used to complain about walking there and even made me carry him sometimes. I'm glad he's used to walking now, it saves me from having to carry the child all the way to school and back. Well sometimes Tony picks him up but more than often I'm walking him home.

While we wait for traffic to pass, Jason starts talking. "Braska, promise to give me back the toy?" he asks, with a hopeful look on his face.

I nod and he turns back to look around the area. The toy, which I carefully placed in my backpack, is from the creep. There's no way I'm letting Jason keep it unless I know for sure there isn't some camera or bomb or poison device on it. Maybe nothing that serious but same idea.

Once we arrive to the front of his school, he walks in front of me and I bend down so he can hug me. "Bye Braska! Will you pick me up, Tony, or you friend?" he asks, with a curious look while playing with the strap of his backpack.

I bite my lip as I debate on the answer. Of course I don't want the creep to take my brother but what's stopping him from reaching Jason before I do?

I really wish I have the money to buy a car.

"It'll be me," I say, fixing his hair since he never bothered to brush it. "Jason, if he comes to you before I do, don't go to him. Promise?" I ask, giving him a serious look.

He tilts his head in confusion while frowning. "Why? I like him. He's-"

"Jason, please just promise me?" I repeat, trying to keep the frustration from my voice. I don't want to hear about how my young brother thinks that the guy stalking me creepily is 'nice' and 'friendly'.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Honestly, if we had the money, I would have moved us to another state by now. I mean I'd feel bad for leaving Haley and Lucas but they'd understand that it was for the best. They'd understand if I tell them that my life is being threatened.

He pouts. "Fine," he replies, interlocking his pinkie with mine. I smile and give him a kiss on the cheek before watching him enter the building.

I stay there for another minute or two before making my way to my school. It's not too far from Jason's school since there's a shortcut that I usually take if the ground isn't too muddy. Since it rained yesterday, I can't take that road which means the longer route. I still have twenty minutes before the bell and I can make it there with about five minutes to spare.

I take the Sour Patch out of my backpack and rip it open. Just to make sure, I sniff the packet to check if there's poison in it. Wait, does poison even have a smell?

Shaking my head, I decide to take the risk and pop one in my mouth. I squint my eyes from the sour flavor but continue to eat more until my mouth gets used to the taste. Lucas always tells me how funny my face looks whenever I eat these.

Before I know it, I'm standing outside of the red brick building. Haley is sitting at the steps outside on her phone. She looks up at me before grabbing her bag and walking over. "Hey cutie," she greets with a smile, giving me a side hug. I laugh and push my glasses further up my nose.

"Hey yourself. So, how's last night?" I ask, nudging her ribs.

She smiles and tucks some of her hair behind her ear. "I didn't bother with it. He's too...childish for me anyways. Besides, I got someone else in mind," she says, with a faraway look on her face. Whoever this 'someone' is will be the luckiest guy in the world to be going out with the goddess that is my best friend.

We walk over to our lockers and Haley opens hers and starts getting her books our while I lean against mine. "At least some guy called you cute. The only time a guy would ever come up to me would be to ask for your number or homework answers," I joke.

"Right," Haley stretches out, rolling her eyes. She suddenly gets a glint in her eyes and shuts her locker. Turning towards me, she smiles and copies my position against her own locker. "Oh yeah? Open your locker."

I get a bad feeling in my stomach but under her stare, I know I have no way around this. Handing my snack to Haley, I take a deep breath and enter my combination.

42...

16...

26.

Once my locker opens, a note falls down from the top but the thing that draws my attention is the bouquet of black roses. As usual, I resist the urge to slam my locker shut and march to the police to hunt down the creep.

Haley, on the otherhand, reacts differently.

"Oh my gosh! I knew it! I saw a couple days ago that you were reading a note and I knew it was a love note! So, is it a secret admirer or is it signed? How long have you been getting these? Black roses are a little different but still so romantic-"

"Hales?" I interrupt, making her stop her rambling. "How is this romantic?"

She looks like me like I'm stupid. "Really? You get roses and love notes and you're asking how it's romantic? My last boyfriend didn't even get me anything for my birthday!" At least she had a boyfriend.

"It's still a little weird to me."

She looks at the time and pushes away from the locker. "The way I see it, you'll definitely have a date for the Winter Dance," she says, bumping her hips against mine before walking away.

I silently congratulate myself for keeping my mouth shut and not screaming that this guy is a creep who kidnapped my brother and snuck in my bathroom last night. How did he even manage that? I had a lock and everything!

I rub my head before tossing the note and roses in the trash. Glaring one last time at the note, I turn around and close my locker before walking to homeroom.

It's not like there's going to be anything important in that note.

***

"Hey where's Haley?" Lucas asks, while we stand in line for food in the cafeteria.

"Apparently she got caught texting in class and got detention," I reply, grabbing a cheeseburger and a water bottle. I hand the money to the lunch lady and grab a bag of chips while Lucas pays for his food and we make our way to our table.

"She got caught?" he asks, in a worried tone. I nod and he stays quiet. Weird.

After we sit down, I open the bag of chips and place one in my mouth. "She has Mrs. Moores, the lady has like four eyes at the back of her head." Lucas laughs and take a bite from his pasta. Before I can say anything, I see a figure coming closer to our table.

He isn't like anyone I've ever seen before. He's tall, with dark blond hair and piercing green eyes. As he walks, many eyes follow after him. However, he doesn't seem to notice all the flirty glances he's getting and continues making his way over to us.

He dark sunglasses despite the cloudy weather, and the hoodie and pants make him look like a criminal. Almost every inch of his skin is covered. Maybe he's hiding tattoos or piercings?

Suddenly he drops his backpack near Lucas' leg and sits down next to him. "I'm Levi," he introduces, holding his hand out to me, which is covered with thin black gloves.

My mind immediately goes back to the letters. Whoever it is always signs off as L. What if Levi is the stalker?

He looks strong enough to kidnap my brother without any struggle. But there's no way anyone would trust him at first sight since he looks like he's on his way to rob a bank or something.

Also, what's odd is that you can't even see this table from the cafeteria line. But here comes this guy who walked over here as if he knew that there would be a table at the back end of the wall.

Not wanting to be rude, yet, I reach over and shake his covered hand. Maybe he didn't want to leave fingerprints? "I'm Nebraska, but everyone calls me Braska," I say, giving him a fake smile.

Oh yeah I'm so on to him.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"I'm Lucas," Lucas introduces, bumping fists with the guy. Why didn't he just shake his hand?

"Nice to meet you both. Me and my brother are new here so it's kinda hard making friends," Levi says, taking a bite from his apple.

I look over at the girls behind him throwing flirty glances while whispering to each other. So not obvious. "You sure about that?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He laughs and flips some of his hair back. I swear I just heard a few girls sigh when he did that. "Okay, maybe it's not so hard to make friends. But I want-"

Just when he says that, Haley comes over and takes a seat next to me. "Hey, how's it- whoa who's the new kid?" she asks, giving him a platinum smile.

"Levi," Lucas answers, with a guarded tone. I stare him down suspiciously but he pretends not to notice and continues stabbing into his pasta. Okay then.

"Oh, wait why is he sitting here? Not that we don't want you here but...why?" she asks, looking around at the table.

I elbow her before turning towards Levi. I can't even tell what his expression is since the dark glasses are hiding almost his entire face. "Anyways, what were you saying?" In other words, admit that you stalk me so I can take your butt to jail.

"Oh yeah, I was saying that I want to make friends here, not girlfriends."

"And how do you know that we aren't looking to be your girlfriend?" I ask with a scoff, hoping to get a rise out of him. People are more likely to admit their deepest, darkest secrets when they're angry. I read that in a magazine.

Lucas almost chocks on his water while laughing and Haley starts giggling. Heat rushes to my cheeks when I realize what I blurted out and I drop my head to the table.

I can't believe I said that.

"I don't swing that way so no," Lucas says, still chuckling.

"I'm on a flirting base with this guy on the soccer team and I don't cheat," Haley says, glancing over me with a smirk.

"I wasn't thinking when I said that, okay!" I exclaim. Lucas and Haley start laughing again while Levi starts chuckling.

"Don't worry Braska, I wouldn't date you," he assures.

Wow, that's a smack to my pride.

He must have seen how hurt I feel because he jumps up in his seat with panic and he starts trying to take his words back. "Wait that wasn't what I meant! I just meant that I wouldn't date you because I know who already likes you and he and I are close so I wouldn't do that to him," he explains.

I give him a confused look and push my glasses up my face. "Right..."

Right now, I'm starting to doubt that he is my creep.

But something's telling me that even though this guy probably isn't the creep, it doesn't mean that he doesn't somehow relate to him.

Levi knows something. And I'm going to find out what.

__________________