Chasing You

"Sierra?" My mother called from downstairs. I sleepily stumbled off my unmade bed and practically crawled to the kitchen.

"Gosh, Sierra, your hair!" She disapprovingly pulled at my thick, abundant dark curls. Carelessly blowing a lock out of my eye, I yawned widely. "Today's Sunday, can't I sleep in for once, Mommy?"

Yes, I still call my mother Mommy. Deal with it, readers.

My mother awkwardly chewed her upper lip. I got that habit from her, and I do it whenever I'm nervous too.

"Sierra, honey...I have some news. Your dad told me about it."

My face lit up, and I jumped up. "I'm getting a laptop?!"

My mom bit her lip so hard it almost bled.

"No...Me and your father talked about it, and...We're moving."

And just like that, my whole world crumbled.

"WHAT?"

My best friend, Austin, glared at me.

Sighing, I flipped my ponytail out of my face.

"I told you. I'm moving away."

Austin scowled, red bangs dropping into his amber irises. "But why? Didn't you do well at school?"

"Austin, I topped the class."

"I don't want you to go...."

His sad little voice broke my heart.

"Hey, hey, Austin, don't cry-...."

He loudly sniffed, and then suddenly wailed. I nervously rubbed circles on his heaving back with my hands as he cried into my shoulder.

He lifted his head and stared into my eyes, making me uncomfortably blush. "What do I need to do for you to not go away?"

I smiled and shook my head. "You know my dad, once he's decided on something...."

He huffed and buried his face back into my shoulder, as the butterflies in my stomach fluttered uneasily.

"Stop it Sierra, you're leaving next week, it won't be fair to him...." I tried to convince myself in my head.

It didn't work.

Next week, I hurried to school as usual, the early golden autumn leaves fluttering through my wild mane.

"Hi Austin I-"

I stopped in my tracks.

In the corner, our secret corner, stood Austin and- some other girl.

He was sheepishly laughing, and she was laughing too- the girl with the lovely brown hair and the deep blue eyes.

I gave a small painful squeak in the back of my throat. The girl sharply turned her head and saw me.

"Um- hello? How may we help you?" Her blue eyes looked like chips of ice.

"Oh hey, Sierra! You're uh- pretty early today." Austin laughed nervously.

"I just wanted to sa-"

"Austin, we're leaving. Let's go." The girl tugged on his arm and dragged him away.

"Ah- Katie! I wasn't done talking!" He protested.

My face dropped.

"I just wanted to say bye for the day...."

I dashed through the lightly falling snow, soft flakes crunching loudly beneath my boots.

"Austin, I'm leaving n-"

I harshly collided with his tall, slim body and we both crashed to the ground.

My whole face turned cherry red. "I- I- I'M SO SORRY-"

He giggled playfully, and pinched my steadily reddening nose. "You look so adorable when you blush!"

He leaned in closer, his lips almost brushing against mine....

I squeezed my eyes shut. Blood was roaring through my ears, and I realized that his breath smelled like gumballs....

"Sierra...." He whispered.

My cheeks felt so hot, I was surprised steam wasn't coming out of my ears by then.

"Austin..." I answered, bringing my palm up to gently cup his face.

"Um....You're sitting on my bag...."

A sickening agony of embarrassment shot through my body.

Of course. Why would someone like him want to kiss me?

"I apologize." I lifted his soggy bag from the snowy ground and handed it to him.

"B-"

He had already left.

"-ye....." I wiped a frozen tear off my eyelashes, and trudged home.

"AUSTIN, WAIT!" I yelled, running as fast as I could. The twisting tunnels got darker as the dim torches began to get sparser.

"AUSTIN!" I screamed again. I didn't know why I was here, or what place this was. All I knew was that I had to find Austin before something bad happened to him.

"SIERRA, I'M HERE!" His distant voice echoed. My heart filled with hope as I ducked through the path from where it could heard.

"AUSTIN, DON'T WORRY, I'M COMING!"

"SIERRA! HURRY!"

"I'M NEARLY THERE!" My heart was pumping so fast I felt dizzy. Finally bursting into the tunnel's end, I grinned.

"I'm h-"

A huge dark figure prowled out of the corridor.

"K-Katie?" I leapt backwards in horror. A gigantic smirk curled around the monster's lip. She was absolutely enormous now, with two scarlet horns, misty arms, and ruthless claws.

"What ARE you? Where's Austin?!" I cried. She smiled all the more, and opened her mouth.

"What do you mean, Sierra, honey? I AM Austin." His voice....

"NO! NO, NO, NO!" I shrieked, taking off again.

Her large strides shook earth from the walls, and made the ground shake. I could hardly stand straight, and I knew it was a matter of moments before I became monster chow.

"Say goodbye, Sierra, darling!" Purred the monster from behind me.

"Good-"

The world went black.

"Bye....."

I sat up abruptly in bed, cold sweat trickling down my brow. "Au- Austin...." I sobbed, curling up into my damp pillow, my hair strands tickling my nose.

"Sierra, darling, the cab is here. Say goodbye to your friend." Smiled my mom.

Austin's forlorn expression was almost too much for me. I grinned, and poked him in the side.

"Why the long face?" It sounded feeble, even to me.

He tugged at his collar like he always did when he got upset. "So you're leaving?"

"I guess."

The cab horn honked loudly.

"Guess it's time to go. B-"

He suddenly smashed his lips on mine.

The colors around me seemed to get even sharper. Time seemed to speed up.

The horn honked louder and more insistently, jolting us back to reality.

"I've always loved you, Sierra...." he chuckled.

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "But I'm going."

He twined one of my curls around his finger.

"Because I'll chase you forever."

"It's never goodbye for us, is it?"

"Never."

THE END