We used to live in California, but my mom, Margaret, got a new job in Hawaii. I’m 16 years old, a sophomore, and my name is Tris. My little brother Max is 12 years old and he is in seventh grade. I really like our new house here in Hawaii, it’s way bigger than our old house in California. But something feels so strange about it, I feel like I am being watched by someone, but I know I’m not. We just started school here in Hawaii, and I know that Max likes it here because he already has so many friends. It’s harder when you're a girl, you don't want to be embarrassed or anything so you don’t walk up into any of their groups. I don’t think I am going to have a lot of friends here, but there is one guy I’m kind of interested in, and his name is Ryan. We just started talking today.

“Hey, are you the new girl everyone is talking about?” He asked. “What is your name?”

“My name is Tris, and I have heard about you, isn’t your name Ryan?” Even though no one actually told me about him, I just heard his name a couple of times.

“Yes it is. Nice to meet you Tris, I hope you like it here.”

And that was the end of our conversation. He seemed like he had actually cared about me, I mean he came up to me and greeted me but that was something to get us to become friends. When school was out I went to go find Max because our school district is small here, so they have a combined middle school and high school. After I got Max we began to walk home and I met up with Ryan again.

“Who’s that?” Max had proclaimed when I had said hi to Ryan.

“Max, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is my little brother Max.” Max gave a look of disgust on his face when he saw that I already had a guy as a friend.

“Hello Max. Tris, I was wondering what you were doing this afternoon.”

“I just have to take Max home, that’s all, why?” I was beginning to wonder what he wanted to do. We just met today and he already wanted to hang out with me. I thought that was a little weird, but from what I have heard, Ryan is a good guy and doesn’t do anything bad.

“How about we go to the mall tonight?” he had asked. “I can get to know you better, and I bet Max wouldn’t mind if we went to the mall, now would you Max?”

“Fine by me, as long as I get something,” Max had said happily.

And that is what we had planned to do. I felt better now that Max was coming with, and Max wouldn’t be left home alone. Our mom wasn’t home so I decided to call her and she said it was fine that we go to the mall. When we got to the mall, we were all starving so we ate at Auntie Annie’s, a pretzel restaurant.

“These are sure good pretzels,” Ryan proclaimed.

And we all had agreed. Once we were done shopping, we were just walking in the parking lot to Ryan’s car, and I had the feeling someone was following me. I didn’t know if I was just imagining things, or if there had been someone actually following me. So I looked behind me, but no one was there. I guess I must’ve just imagined it. But I had that weird feeling again. I couldn’t take it any longer and I just began to run.

“Why are you running Tris?” Ryan and Max had screamed because I was so far ahead of them.

“I’ll tell you guys when we get in the car but you have to start running with me.” Then Max and Ryan began to run too. We finally approached the car and got in. And when I looked out the window on the passenger’s side, I noticed him. I wasn’t imagining it, it was real! Someone had been following us all along.

“There he is, that guy! I had felt that someone was following us, and that’s why I told you guys you had to run!” I said. He had blonde hair, and blue eyes. “We have to get out of here Ryan, go!” But he didn’t move. He just sat there amazed at what I just told him. “Do you understand what go means?” And finally we began to move and I think we left the guy there because he didn’t start following us.

“That guy who was standing at the window of your car Ryan,” I said, “I think I know him from somewhere. I know that I have seen that face before but I can’t remember where from.”

“I know him from somewhere, too,” Ryan had said.

“Wait! I remember where I have seen him from. He was the guy I saw walking on the street the first day I moved here.” I didn’t have anything else to say, and Ryan didn’t answer me so we left it at that. And from there on we haven’t had any problems with the guy we saw in the parking lot. I haven’t seen him since then, and everything was okay.

A few months later, when everything was good, it started up again. This time it had been in our house instead of the parking lot, and Ryan had been there with me again. But once again I thought I was just imagining these things. And then I knew that I wasn’t. Ryan, Max, and I started finding clues a person had been in our house and was watching us.

“Look what I found here,” I said. “He must have been outside when it was muddy and it shows his shoe marks all over the house.” We found more and more clues like that.

The next day, I just woke up and I found the knife laying beside my head in my bed. It was a little pocket knife and at that moment I just knew that no one in our house would carry one of these along anywhere. That’s when I knew there had to be someone in our house. And whoever this man may be, he was out to kill Max, Ryan, and I.

I got up and went to the living room to call Ryan about the knife.

“How about I meet you halfway and from there we can go to your house and check out what is happening. Does that sound okay?” Ryan asked nervously.

“That sounds great I’ll meet you there, but let me get changed first.”

I walked back in my room so I could go and get changed. When I got there, I left the knife on my bed so I could show Ryan. I was walking to my closet to get my clothes for today. I opened the door and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I saw the same exact man from the parking lot, but this time he was in my closet. Before, I could scream he had me by my throat and I couldn’t even think of moving.