We drove down the old, battered dirt road that traveled our property. My uncle had the shed built square in the middle of miles and miles of land. Soon it came into view, a nature worn shed with a tin roof and aging walls. It looked sad and abandoned but on the inside it was your worst nightmare. Hoping out of the truck I felt my gut drop as my uncle drove away. I didn't really care too much about this part of the hunt, a hunt was a hunt, but the lies always made me uncomfortable. The looks on their faces, the false hope. It was brutal sometimes.

The ground was soft beneath my step. Summer was coming and the forest was beginning to recognize it. The grass was bright and lively, the trees built a green canopy above me and the wind carried only the sweet smells of summer. I approached the wreckage that was the shed and could hear weeping. Sighing I undid the bolt and threw open the door.

Something hit me. I stumbled to the side. A sea of blonde sailed past me. I watched as a young woman ran for the road, not looking back. She was on a mission. She was going the wrong way though. She was heading for the house. My uncle wasn't at the house. Nothing was at the house, except a working phone.

"Wait!" I called after her. "Don't leave me!" She risked a glance over her shoulder and then slowed. I ran to catch up. My age always threw them off.

"Who are you?" she asked.

" Shay. I don't know how I got here but we can't go that way."

'Why?" She looked around, the natural instinct of a frightened animal taking over.

"It's where I came from, he was right behind me. We have to go this way." I pointed towards a tattered trail off the road. She grabbed my hand and ran to the trail. Her palms were sweating and it felt as if I could lose her grasp at any moment but she held on tight. She refused to leave me behind. She ran through foliage without any sense of direction, just the desire for distance. I looked back for a moment and when I returned my focus I ran into her. Gasps of pain filled the air. Looking past her I saw the blood on my uncles hands and the smile I knew all too well.

That's when I left. I was never involved after this point. I didn't know what happened to the bodies and I didn't want to. It was just information that could turn against me one day. Lying awake thinking about the bodies hidden somewhere along the property was not on my to do list. I enjoyed being able to walk the forest without knowing there was a body buried beneath me. Ignorance was bliss.

The next day at school the teacher started exam prep. She wanted to put us in pairs so we'd actually do the work. I sat at my desk, droning the name that would match mine. I waited as she picked through the attendance, conjuring up reasons why we'd only be able to study at their house. The names seemed endless but finally she reached mine.
"Shay and Fray." I looked up immediately. Fray? I would be working with Fray? I glanced just in time to glimpse an awkward smile upon those pretty, thin lips. She was just my Uncles type and for some reason that unsettled me.

Commotion arose as the students made their way for their partners. I got up and walked over to Fray. I slid into the seat adjacent to her and smiled. "Hey."

"Hi." She mustered, her voice hush. She fidgeted with her hair but held eye contact. Impressive. Once the awkward contact was over she flipped open the text book and asked me to write down the facts she would list. Instinctively, I did as I was told.

Fifteen minutes passed before she grew bored with the task at hand. "So what are you doing tonight?" She asked.

"Homework."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty boring." I lied, flashing a grin.

"Honestly, I don't have plans either." She started fidgeting with her hair again. " Maybe we should do something. I'd be nice if we weren't working on this as total strangers, you know?" I paused. I Considered.

"Sure. Your place?" I had the truck today, my uncle wouldn't have to be bothered.

"Alright." She smiled. A real smile, not the awkward, forced one. I liked that smile, I really did.

It was like any other day. I sat on the uncomfortable chair, in the boring, uncomfortable class room and pretended to be with everyone else. I pretended to be the weird, quiet kid. I pretend to be this stereotype because the other option is to be myself. If I did so I would undeniably have friends and I can't have friends. Nope, friends are too dangerous. Friends learn stuff about each other and I can't have that. So, there I sat, in the back ground as the teacher went over the test review. I didn't need to be there, I already knew everything.

So I studied the class instead. I watched as Emerald Simmons admired John Ratchers every move and as the teacher sighed every time Sally and Jane Edmir passed notes. I watched them all, I observed their patterns and made sure none of them observed mine. Finally my eyes fell upon Fray. Just Fray. I didn't know her last name. Fray had gone to this school for two years and I still didn't know her last name, why she'd moved here or anything about her. Yet, I knew about her little smile that spread across her thin lips when the teacher congratulated her on the right answer. I knew how she blushed when too many people turned to look at her and how she fidgeted with her flat, blonde hair when she took tests. All of this, yet, I really knew nothing. She was the one puzzle piece that I couldn't place.

The bell broke my focus. I packed up my bag and headed out to door, down the hallway and into the fresh air that greeted me beyond the school doors. Uncle Phil's truck could be seen from the front steps. I made my way through the mess of teenagers that had emerged from the school and through my bag in the back. When I climbed in, we started to going through the regulars. "How was your day?"

"Boring, yours?"

"Interesting."

"Do tell."

"Caught one today."

"Going to be a challenge or just practice?"

"A challenge." His uncle flashed his crooked, stained teeth.