Assassinating Aliyah

Chapter 1

          Aliyah walked swiftly down the hall to her class. She had gotten so caught up talking to Michael that she’d lost track of the time and now she was going to be late, Her professor had a strict closed door policy- meaning once he closed the door, it would not open again ‘till the end of class- and if she missed one more class, he would kick her out.

            Aliyah reached the door, panting, just as Professor Lindt was about to close it. “You’re cutting it close, Miss Smith. Take a seat.” She slipped past him, taking the only available seat near the front.

            As Aliyah sat taking notes on the lecture, she thought about the day she had met Michael. She started to zone out, letting her mind wander more and more, until she slipped into a daydream of the day they’d met, forgetting completely that she was in Phycology class.

            About a year ago, Aliyah had walked into Washington University, a freshman in college and only just seventeen. Stumbling from class to class, still struggling with her new language. She’d been so focused on her schedule; she hadn’t noticed the group of guys standing on the path in front of her. That is, not until she ran into them.

            “Where ya goin’, sweetie?” They called after her, as she tried to apologize and keep walking. “Why don’t you stick around, hang out with us for a bit. We can, ya know, play some games.” They grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back, off the path a few feet. Three of them held her, one on each side, and one behind, while the fourth, obviously the leader, looked her down, practically undressing her with his eyes.

            “You’re a sweetheart, you know that? You look like you shouldn’t be out walking alone, someone might,” he paused, leaning in, “take advantage of you.”

            “Leave me alone!” Aliyah screamed, falling back into her native German. “Hilfe, Bitte! Help me please!” The men on either side covered her mouth until she shut up. She fought to break free, but didn’t have the strength to overpower all three men.

            The leader of the group leaned in again, whispering something suggestive in her ear. Aliyah spat in his face. “Schwein,” she hissed.

            The man slapped her face, causing her to stumble. She regained her footing, and then repeated what she said.  She was pretty sure he didn’t understand that she was calling him a pig, but she assumed he understood his tone of voice. He raised his hand to slap Aliyah again, but just as he was about to, a new voice called out, “Leave her alone, Greg!”

            Instantly, the men holding Aliyah released her and ran off, followed closely by their leader, Greg. Aliyah later learned that he did this to many new girls on campus, trying to take advantage of them. Aliyah walked cautiously up to her rescuer, a tall and handsome man who was definitely older than her.

            “Are you okay? I’m sorry about Greg, I don’t know what’s gotten into him this year, and he just doesn’t know when to stop. I’m Michael, who are you?” he asked, keeping a distance while still being friendly.

            “Ich heiβe-oh, um, my name is Aliyah,” she said shyly. They shook hands. “I’m from Germany.”

            “That’s really cool. Is it really different there?” They talked for hours after that. About a month later, he asked her out, and they’d been dating ever since. She’d gotten really good at speaking like a normal American since then, and only relapsed into German occasionally.

            “Miss Smith! Class ended fifteen minutes ago. If you’re just going to sleep in my class, don’t bother coming back next week.”

 Aliyah snapped out of her dream state, looking around. Sure enough, all the other students had left, leaving only her. She stood up sheepishly, grabbed her bag, and left. This had been her last class of the day, so she decided to drop her bag off at her dorm before dinner.

            On her way out, she ran into Hailey. She’d met Hailey about a month ago, and the two didn’t get along well. Aliyah had heard that Hailey was dating Greg, who’d been pestering her to cheat on Michael with him for the past four months. She also knew that Hailey knew about the four other chicks Greg was banging, two of which didn’t want to be doing so.

Hailey blocked the door, smiling evilly at Aliyah. “Hi there, sweetie.  You wouldn’t happen to know where my boyfriend is, would you?”

“No idea, Hailey. Let me through.”

“I don’t think I will. You see, I don’t like you. You make me look stupid in all of the classes we have together.”

            “I can’t help that you’re stupid. There’s nothing I can do about that. You’re the only one who doesn’t see it. Even Greg knows you’re stupid. Why do you think he’s dating you? You’re the only girl in this school who wouldn’t care that he’s cheating on you with four other girls and would have sex with every girl who’d let him.”

            Hailey snapped. “You are so dead, Aliyah! I’m going to murder you, and I’ll get Greg to help me! I will chase you around the world if that’s what it takes to kill you!” She stormed off.

            “That was strange,” Aliyah thought aloud. “She wasn’t serious, was she?” Aliyah continued on her way out to the dining hall, where she was meeting Michael and Annabel for dinner. She told them about what had happened.

Michael looked at her with the most serious face in the world and said, “So you got kicked out of Phycology and got a death threat within twenty minutes of getting to this table? I’m sorry, that qualifies as ‘horrid luck’ and means you can no longer sit at this table.”

            “You’re kidding right, Michael?” Annabel asked. “We love Lea, she can’t leave.”

“Of course I’m kidding! I would never kick her out of the table, she’s my girlfriend!” Aliyah leaned over to give him a hug.

Suddenly, a large, pointy knife hit the table, flying right through the spot Aliyah’s head had been only a moment before.

“What the heck is going on?!” Annabel cried out. All three of them stood up and made for the door as fast as they could, and Aliyah looked back over her shoulder to see Hailey and Greg chasing after them.

            “Guys, I don’t think that was just a threat. Hailey is the most psychotic chick I’ve ever met, that Dummkopf!” Aliyah ushered her friends forward faster, trying to get them outside in front of her.

Aliyah could hear the sound of heavy footsteps behind her as she and her two companions dashed through campus, heading for the next closest building to hide in. They hid behind a bench in a dark area by the chapel, and Aliyah took a gulp of air as she thought over her options.

“You guys should go. You shouldn’t be near me, it’s me they’re after. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

Michael shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. I will go with you around the world a dozen times if that’s what it takes to keep you safe, Aliyah. I love you.”

“And I’ll come, too,” Annabel added.

“Guys, why can’t we just call the police?” Aliyah asked, curious.

“Well,” Annabel said, “this is an action book, therefore it has to be full of fighting and drama and if we call the police it will be boring and short.”

Aliyah looked at Annabel ridiculously, but in the end, she just went with it.

“So, which way are we going?” she asked.

“We can take my truck and drive west,” Michael suggested.

“Sounds good,” Aliyah and Annabel said simultaneously.