"Don't forget to come straight home. We need to leave tonight at midnight to catch our plane," a large man yelled from behind her. Arianna quickly nodded and waved to her uncle as she turned the corner.

Arianna ran to the nearby bus stop and ducked into the bus-waiting shelter to escape the light rain. Raindrops accumulated on the plastic enclosure and trickled to the ground as she waited. The old man shuffling along with his small black dog across the street waved to her as he continued to be led by the much younger dog. Every Friday Arianna took the same bus to meet with her friends at the movie theater. As the rain picked up, Arianna rushed from the bus shelter, through the open door of the waiting bus.

"Hi, Fred," Arianna said to the portly bus driver as she swiped her pass which showed as belonging to Robert.

"Five o'clock movie, Ethel?" he replied with a wink.

"Is there any better time?" she responded as she passed the normal riders: the dark-haired tall girl always dressed in ripped, purple fishnet stockings matching the streak in her hair, the clean-shaven, young bald businessman wearing a suit and tie, the older gray-haired couple who shopped each Friday near the theater, the two twenty-something boys she always counted as brothers that went to the gym to play basketball, and the cute blond-haired, blue-eyed boy from her math class that always sat in the back corner. Just like Arianna, they all rode the five o'clock bus to the parking lot next to the theater.

"What's playing today?" the young black man asked.

"It's Mary Ellen's choice," Arianna answered, sitting behind him. "So I'm guessing it will be that new teen romance. I dunno the name."

"Something Roses, I think," he replied, putting his business papers away at her arrival.

"It's my choice next week," Arianna replied. "I'll make sure to pick something bloody with a lot of action to make up for this week." The man smiled and chuckled. To the outside world, Arianna was just a shy fifteen-year-old, but around her friends she was her normal, bubbly self.

As they neared the parking lot, Arianna walked to the front of the bus. "Fred, can you let me off by the theater before you turn?" The driver nodded as the rain poured down faster. He checked each of her hands. "No umbrella. I didn't know it was supposed to rain," she explained.

"Have fun, kiddo," he replied as he stopped the bus as near to the door as he could get. "Keep dry." Arianna smiled and waved as she ran from the bus to the theater door. The driver smiled back as she left. Everyone on the bus knew life had not been easy for Arianna, but despite everything she was always cheerful and friendly.

Arianna hurried through the door and out of the rain. She quickly scanned the lobby, but her friends had not arrived yet. As she had every time since she started Friday night movies with her two best friends, Arianna went to the concession stand and ordered her usual large popcorn and small drink. The teenager behind the counter filled the empty popcorn bowl that was sitting alone near the drinks. Arianna nodded her head in thanks as she took the bowl and carefully slipped her hand beneath the cardboard edge. She cautiously pulled the note from the bowl and slipped it into her sleeve.

Arianna sat down in the lobby and waited for her friends. She was eager to read the note, but she had to be careful. The writer had warned her if anyone found out about the notes they had been exchanging, she would get into trouble. It had been over six months since she received the first one. She thought it was a prank by her friends, but both Mary Ellen and Tish had no idea what she was talking about. At first she didn't respond to the notes. It was obvious the person knew who she was, but without knowing who the writer was, Arianna only glanced at the messages each time. It was not until the person told her he knew her mother and father that Arianna began to seriously read each note. She had only a very faint memory of her father, who died when she was four, and nothing of her mother who died the day she was born. No one, including her aunt and uncle, would talk about either her parents. Arianna didn't even know if her guardians were siblings of her mother or father. They were the only family she had ever met and neither talked about their families or her parents. The complete silence and lack of any family often disappointed Arianna as a child. Though she never felt sorry for herself, she could not help but be interested in the notes from someone who claimed to know her parents, whom she knew nothing about.

The notes began with little questions Arianna had always hoped someone would answer. What color were my father's eyes? What color was my mother's hair? Was she pretty? Each week, she got answers to her unspoken questions: blue like, yours; dark brown; extremely. And again she would think of more questions. The last week she finally got the courage to ask the writer to meet her in person and left a note of her own. Arianna knew the dangers of meeting a complete stranger, but she had so many questions left unanswered and the note-writer had all the answers. There was nothing she had thought yet that he or she could not answer.

Arianna tapped on the full popcorn bowl as she waited for her friends. She scanned the room as always, studying each person. Could the middle-aged man in the corner with the blue-button down shirt be the writer? Or was it the flamboyant woman with bright red lipstick bending over the concession counter, trying to get free food? Arianna studied each person as she waited, but she had yet to see the same person twice at the theater. Not even the teenager behind the concession counter was the same.

"Hey, earth to Ari," Mary Ellen said as she tapped Arianna's head. "You were supposed to wait for us outside the theater." She reminded her friend. "We were going to pay for you this week for your birthday."

Arianna shrugged as she stopped searching the room. "But it isn't my birthday yet."

"Today is close enough," Tish replied.

"Only forty-eight hours and you'll be sixteen. Do you feel any older?" Mary Ellen teased.

"Terribly," Arianna replied. "Soon I'll be an old maid, just like you." Mary Ellen pretended to frown.

"So you leave tonight then?" Tish asked, sitting next to her friend.

"Yeah. They still haven't told me where we're going. They said it's a surprise," Arianna complained. It wasn't that she disliked being surprised, but from her aunt and uncle's actions, they were purposely hiding something from her. Arianna hated secrets and this was a secret, not a surprise.

"Well, you are still just a child," Mary Ellen replied, patting her shorter friend's head. "Children don't need the details." Mary Ellen tried to make light of the situation.

"You should talk. You're only two weeks older than me. I may be shorter, but at least I look older than you," Arianna responded, tugging her friend's dark brown braid. "The worst of this whole trip is the dress Aunt Lilly bought. It's pink and shiny and has lots of lace. She said I needed to have a formal dress. I thought she meant something you would wear to prom or homecoming, but instead this very ugly dress. I have no idea where she plans to make me wear it, but when I finally get my hands on it, I'll at least fix it as much as I can. But it seems quite hopeless right now."

"The lace should be easy to get rid of, but you can't change the color or fabric so easily," Tish replied, knowing her friend hated light pink. Arianna had spent years being referred to as a little kid by everyone, including strangers, due to her petite frame. Even though Arianna looked young, she wanted to be treated just the same as everyone else her age.

"We should go find seats," Mary Ellen suggested.

Arianna stood to follow her friends, but quickly decided otherwise.

"Here," she said handing her drink and popcorn to Tish. "I'll be right back." Normally Arianna waited until after the movie to read the note, but she was too anxious today.

Heading to the bathroom, Arianna ran into the nearest empty stall. She pulled the delicate paper from her sleeve. Carefully she opened the note and quickly memorized it.

Meet me 9 o'clock behind the diner. Offer to take out the trash and make sure to wait out of view of the back door. Don't wear anything electronic or jewelry or they will track you.

PS: When you pack your bags for your trip, take anything of value with you.

Arianna threw the note into the toilet and flushed it away. Early on the writer had informed her that her movements were monitored by an unnamed person. Arianna had always wondered why her aunt would buy her such an expensive cell phone when they didn't have a lot of money until she found it had GPS tracking in it. The person writing the notes was correct. Aunt Lilly could be overprotective, but Arianna had never given her a reason to be. It had to do with the past that both her aunt and uncle refused to talk about. Hopefully her mysterious correspondent would answer the questions Aunt Lilly would not.

Arianna hurried back to her waiting friends. She hated to lie to them about the notes, but she kept reassuring herself that she wasn't lying, just withholding information. From the initial note experience, her friends thought she should tell her aunt about it and if she told her aunt, she would never get the answers to her questions.

Arianna sat patiently though the movie, daydreaming in her own world. Who was this person that knows so much about her mother and father? Was he or she a friend or an enemy? How could they know so much, and yet, her aunt and uncle always replied that they didn't know the answers? As a child Arianna could tell from early on that the subject of her mother and father was painful for her aunt to even listen to, so she turned to her uncle. He, on the other hand, just outright refused to answer the questions. When Arianna searched the home for photos or memorabilia of her parents, she found nothing. She always found it strange that the photo albums started when she was five. Later, through her correspondence with her mystery friend, she found the photos were all a year after her father died. Arianna could not understand how there could be nothing of her parents or her life before those albums.

"So you leave tonight?" Mary Ellen asked as they walked outside into the wet air and fading sunlight.

"Yep. It's a bit strange, but we leave at midnight," Arianna replied as she halted near the bus stop.

"We can give you a ride home," Tish offered as her mother pulled a car to the curb and waved to the girls.

"Don't worry about it," Arianna replied. "I live in the opposite direction. Fred should be back by now soon, anyway." Arianna had found after her first few trips, the bus she rode to the theater could make its loop in three hours and return to bring her home. Her friends climbed into the waiting green car.

"We'll see you in a week," Mary Ellen called. Arianna nodded as she waved to her friends.

She had told her friends she would be home in a week, but her aunt had only said it was possible they would return in a week. The whole trip was strange. They refused to explain why they were leaving so late, where they were going, where they were staying, how long they would be gone, or even why they were leaving. Arianna was beginning to feel even her secret correspondent knew more about her trip than she did. For weeks they refused to even give her a time they would return. It was not until Arianna bugged her aunt every ten minutes for a day that she finally gave a tentative return date.

"So, was it good?" the bus driver asked, opening the door.

"If you like that lovey-dovey stuff," she replied.

"Your choice next week?" he asked as she sat down near the front door.

"I'll be gone next week, but the week after I'll choose something much more interesting." Arianna sat and stared out the front window. She had ridden the bus so many times she could picture each stop without looking out the window. The rain began again, lightly. Arianna sat in silence for the remainder of the ride home. Who was this writer? Was it safe to just go meet someone who obviously did not have her guardian's approval?

The rattling of the empty bus did not help calm her nerves. Arianna always knew she was an orphan. Every time she was asked what her parent did for jobs, she would have to explain that they were dead. Her lack of parents affected her attitude and made her want to please her aunt and uncle. Without them, Arianna felt she would be homeless. It was the first time she was deceiving them.

"I'll see you in two weeks, Fred," Arianna said as she cheerfully bounced off the bus. The driver nodded.

"Then have fun in those two weeks, Ethel," he replied. "By the way, happy birthday, kiddo. Soon enough you won't need me to drive you around." Arianna smiled and waved to the older man as the door shut.

Arianna ran around the diner to the back door. It was past eight o'clock, so the front door would be locked by now. Briefly Arianna peered into the kitchen before heading upstairs. As expected, it was almost empty. Aunt Lily was done for the night and was in the living room folding laundry as Arianna opened the door to their apartment.

"How was the movie?" she asked.

"Okay if you like love stories," Arianna replied.

"You just wait," Aunt Lilly responded. "Someday you'll fall in love and your opinion on love stories will change." Arianna rolled her eyes. Aunt Lilly always preached about the benefits of falling in love and how love can change a person. "Have you finished packing yet? All the laundry is done, so if you need something here, just take it."

"I'm almost done," Arianna replied, walking through the small living room to her bedroom. "I can help downstairs after I pack the rest of my stuff." Aunt Lilly nodded. Lilly and Dean had never asked Arianna to help with the diner, but she always offered. Small tears trickled down Aunt Lilly's cheeks as her eyes glazed over. Arianna moved across the room quietly and put her arms around her aunt. It was not often, but when she began to cry, it was a sign Aunt Lilly needed a hug. "I love you, Aunt Lilly," Arianna said quietly as her aunt tried to quickly wipe the tears away.

"I can't believe it's been ten years already," Lilly said as she hugged Arianna back. "Time goes by so quickly. I wish I could sprinkle some magic dust on you and keep you a child forever."

"Now do you really want that?" Arianna teased. "I thought the last time we had this talk you told me how proud you were that I was growing up."

"I wish I could have both," Aunt Lilly complained.

"I better finish my packing and get the diner cleaned with Uncle Dean," Arianna said, letting go of her aunt. Aunt Lilly smiled at Arianna. Arianna was not her biological child, but Lilly had never doubted for a moment Arianna loved her like a mother.

Arianna walked into her room and plopped down on the bed. She had already packed everything days before. From her aunt and uncle's refusal to tell her how long they would be gone, Arianna secretly packed everything she could not live without. She fell back into the pillows and began to question how long it would be before she would be back in her bedroom in their small apartment above the diner. She studied each crack in the ceiling that she had spent years staring at. She felt her life was about to change, but she could not understand to what extent her life would be turned upside down. Arianna glanced at the clock: 8:52. It was time to meet her mystery friend.

Following the instructions, Arianna offered to empty all the trash bins. As she brought out the last bag, she quietly slipped behind the large green alley dumpster and waited. The rain had stopped again and a fog was beginning to arise. Arianna stared at her watch. One minute to go. Patiently she waited, keeping out of view of the back door. In the light fog, she did not see the person nearing her. In only a flash, Arianna felt her knees weaken and her body quickly fell only to be caught by two large hands.

"Who?" She tried to question, but the hands gently scooped her up and her world dimmed without seeing the mystery person's face.

About the Author.

Originally from Wisconsin, B. Kristin currently resides in Ohio with her husband, two small children, and three cats. When not doing the mom thing of chasing kids, baking cookies, and playing outside, she is using her PhD in Biology working as a scientist. In her free time she is hard at work on multiple novels; as each day passes, she has more ideas for both current and future novels.

For more information on upcoming novels, please visit www.bkristinmcmichael.com.

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