The Riverbed

Hannah sat in her car, her long athletic legs resting on the gas pedal, moments before her foot had stomped against it repeatedly. Her friend Tasha Steeles sat beside her. Her dark brown hair was tied in a messy scrunch atop her head, and beads of sweat were making their way down her face.

Her teeth were clenched, in no world would Tasha ever be known as patient. She had just finished the tennis match that she and Erika had together, preparing for the tournament. But this, this was just uncalled for, Erika's car had worked in the morning, but there they were, sitting in the car, in an empty parking lot.

How creepy was that?

Tasha reached over and pushed the gas herself, the position was kind of awkward, but Hannah seemed thankful that Tasha pitched in. Luckily, Tasha had a brother who would usually drone on about worthless topics, and luckily, car mechanics was one of them.

She got out of the car, giving a small nod to Hannah. “Do you mind if I take a look at this? My brother taught me a lot about mechanics.” Erika smiled with relief, she had no idea what to do in a situation like this.

“Yes, please.” Hannah answered, leaving the car as well. Tasha opened the hood of her gold jaguar, a gift for Hannah's sixteenth birthday. She started fiddling with the motors while Hannah sat against a tree. Tasha played with the car for some time after finding the problem. She fit it back into place, and it seemed to work.

“I got it!” She exclaimed. Hannah's face lit up and she smiled wide, if Tasha weren't there who knew what would have happened. Erika was watching as Tasha was ready to close the hood but hesitated. There was a yellow oil stained note at the corner with red pen marks all over.

“What's wrong?” Hannah asked. Her face was like a pit of worry, Tasha's hesitation reminded her of what happened on last Sunday. The thought made her shiver.

“Nothing, you just wait for me in the car okay?” Tasha replied with a small smile, behind that smile there was a layer of thick fear, if someone left a note, then her car must have been tampered with. And if her car was tampered with on purpose, that meant somebody was out to get Hannah.



Tasha and Hannah were finally home. They were in Hannah's bedroom, styled by her mothers decorator, Genevieve. The walls were done in an elegant blue, with Victorian paintings hung on the wall. The girls sat on Hannah's bed, with their textbooks laid out.

“When was the Quebec Act signed, and who's reign was it?” Tasha asked.

The girls had a history test on Friday, and they were studying. Hannah wasn't the best at history. She didn't like to dread on the past.

When Hannah and Erika were young, they would pretend they were vikings and that they were going to rule the world. They'd have visits with the Natives and hunt for treasure with the Africans, their adventures never stopped and they always had loads of fun.

Hannah answered the question, it one was easy, even she knew that. The girls continued studying for a while, but then all the questions got boring.

“Do we have to do this?” Tasha whined. She had been laying in the same position for over an hour and her legs were going numb. Tasha had changed into jeans after that got home, there was no need to stay in sweaty shorts.

“Yeah, actually, we do, unless you want to fail.” Hannah spoke, a bit annoyed. Tasha was her friend but things always seemed to end short. She had no patience and had to have things exciting to keep her interested.

Tasha sat up moving her foot weirdly. “My foot's asleep” she explained. The entire time Tasha kept her hand over her pocket, obviously hiding something from Hannah. Hannah's eyes lingered on Tasha's hand but quickly looked away, it was none of her business.

“Girls, it's supper!” Maria exclaimed. Maria had practically raised Hannah, because her mom had been away on business trips and vacations.

The girls got off the bed, with Tasha limping awkwardly. They made their way down into the Dining room, done in magnificent hardwood the color of dark coffee. The girls took their places, Hannah sat beside her mom, Her dad sat on the other end of the table. Tasha didn't know where to sit, wouldn't it be weird if she sat beside Hannah's father?

To Tasha's relief Hannah pulled out the chair beside her and smiled softly. Tasha sat down and dug in. They were having steak with potatoes and Greek salad. The food was scrumptious and when the girls finished they went back to Hannah's room.

“So, how are things with you and Eli?” Tasha asked grinning. Tasha and Eli were best friends, they had grown up together as kids.

“Every-thing's great, I guess.” Hannah answered.

“I heard you blew him off on Sunday.” Tasha had talked to Eli, he seemed pretty upset because Hannah wouldn't give him a reason she had to cancel. Hannah's expression changed from confused to frightened.

“Yeah..about that--” Hannah's voice was cut off by the ring of Tasha's phone.

Tasha held up her hand, making a one. “Hello”, she said. The conversation continued with a lot of groaning and nodding her head. Tasha finally finished and told Hannah she had to leave right away. “Tell me tomorrow, okay?” she asked making her way out of the door.

When Hannah got back to her bed she saw a note lying there, on it in red ink was a red smiley face with X's for eyes.

Was that what Tasha was hiding from her?