Her Name was Scarlet by Fernanda Medina (best non fiction books of all time TXT) 📕

Chapter 1: Misery Loves Company

The same old routine of the day is starting. Being ambushed in a corner of the hallway while no one else is around. Becoming outnumbered five to one. How freakin’ sweet; they went out of their way to add two more members just for me… morons. “You got some nerve showing your face here at school.” says Alex Martinez with his black hair spike up so high that it makes him look like a porky pine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I say while they still huddle over me like a football team does on the big match. “Don’t bullshit us!” says Brian from my math class. “You know what you’ve done. Everyone knows what you’ve done! You killed Juan and Drew!” That stupid rumor has been around for the past three weeks. “I didn’t kill anyone. Why would I kill them?” Everyone has been annoying me with this stupid rumor. Even the teachers are afraid of me. No one makes eye contact with me, and if I’m more than one foot close to them they step back and make lame excuses. “Isn’t it obvious why?” Alex says.
“They teased you a little and you just couldn’t handle it just like the bitch that you are.” Teased? Exactly what is teased to them? Either they don’t know what those two actually did to me or they aren’t human at all. I’m really mad now and I guess it shows because by the time I look up at these morons Alex grabs me by the collar of my shirt and lifts me up, knocking my glasses off. “The police are stupid and think that you’re just an innocent little girl who isn’t even capable of hurting a fly. But we know the truth; you killed them! You’re the one! You’re the one who made them bleed to death and dump them in front of the school for the whole world to see!”Alex is really annoying me today; more than other days. “I told you, I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO THEM!” Just as he is holds his fist up someone comes into the hallway. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” We all turn around at the same time and see that it’s agent Michael Reid from the FBI that’s investigating the supposed murder of Juan and Drew. Alex finally puts me down after agent Reid eye balls him. Brian goes over to Alex, “Let’s get out of here.” He whispers. But before they all leave Alex stops when he is right by my side and whispers in my ear “This isn’t over.” I already knew that. I knew that since the first day I moved here. All the chills travel from my neck to my spine. Dealing with the pain in my throat and my shortness of breaths I quickly try to get out of there without dealing with agent Reid. “Wait” he says before I can even open the exit door. I stop and wait for what he’s about to say. “Are… are you okay?” He seems flustered while he says this. “I’m fine” I lie. Obviously I’m not fine. Ever since agent Reid and the other agents have come, the harassment has only increased, especially when it’s Alex’s harassment. He treats me like a toy. Since he’s miserable, he needs someone else to be even more miserable. His parents divorced when he was two years old, his stepfather never comes back unless he needs money (which he uses for gambling), and his mother is a workaholic who is afraid of being alone. No one knows where his real father is. He is pretty much miserable, and misery likes company.
My breathing gets worse as I start getting flashbacks about the bullying that I’ve lived through my life. “Wait a moment.” Yells agent Reid but before he can take a step closer to me I run out the exit door. On my way to the convenience store I keep on wondering if the FBI agents are either really smart or just plain dumb. It’s obvious that they’re keeping an eye on me. The FBI agents stick out like sore thumbs compare to the people in this small town. You walk down the street and see these tall men that have serious looks to match their muscular appearance; almost like they popped out of a mafia movie. In the day they wear sunglasses and stay inside their car. The way you know that they’re following you is when they start their car. I wonder when they get tired of following me. I don’t do anything out of the ordinary. As soon as the bell rings and school is over, I walk my way home, go to the convenience store sometimes to buy a snack and a drink for the walk home, and stay home. Nothing more. Nothing less. Today is a really hot day. The weather man said that it wouldn’t be more than eighty-eight degrees. They always lie. Luckily the convenience store has a thermometer. It’s freakin’ ninety-two degrees. While I’m paying for my water bottle and an apple I see out the window agent Reid and his teammate agent Gabrielle Hernandez. They’re sweating as if they were blocks of ice left outside the street. Since I’ve been a bit rude to them I decide to grab a few more things.
I get out of the store and head to their car. Before I knock on the window I can hear them complaining about the heat. When they hear the knock and see me they look completely shocked. What I would do for a picture of their faces right there at that moment. “Good after noon agent Hernandez, agent Reid.” I say as they just stare at me like their cover was blown. “Good afternoon Melinda. What can I do for you?” asks agent Hernandez. I hesitate to calm my nerves. “Oh, nothing. I just noticed that it’s a hot day today and that it must be tiring to be in a car just watching me twenty-four hours a day.” I tell them. They look baffled as I say this. “Anyways” I continue as I reach in the grocery bag. “I brought a cold bottle of Pepsi for you agent Hernandez. And a cold bottle of lemonade for you agent Reid.” The look on their faces when they received the drinks made it look like it was a gift from God or something. “Thank you.” They both say. Without a second to waste they swallow their cold drinks and let out a big “aahhh”. They look like small kids who just got a big piece of cake. As I start heading home someone yells “Wait!” I turn around and see agent Reid coming out of the car. He walks up to me and gets something out of his pocket. “Here” He says as he hands me my glasses. “You forgot them when you ran out.” Oh yeah… I forgot my glasses. “I don’t need them.” I tell him. “How come?” he asks all confused. “They’re broken.” I tell him. I guess he didn’t realize that one of the lenses broke. “Oh…. Sorry.” He says. He looks like a said puppy. “Don’t worry about it.” I say trying to reassure him. “I only need glasses for reading, my eyesight isn’t that bad. And I also have a spare at home.” It looks like I made him calm again. He seems relieved. “Here” He says as he hands me a card with a phone number. “If you ever need anything just call me whenever.” I shove the card in my pocket. “Okay. Thank you.” I tell him, although I don’t really mean it when I say “thank you”. These people are making my life even more badly than it was before. I still remember when he and the rest of the agents first came here, he was the most anxious. They all came in my class during second period. There was agent William Harrison , who was the leader of the group. He was tall, with nicely comb hair, and a serious face. He seems like he was in the navy. Agent Harrison would not take crap from anyone. He even made Brian shut up with just one look when he was acting like a total jackass. Then it was agent Emily Justices. She seemed like the honor student from the top private school of the group. She had short clean cut hair, and stood up straight with confidence. Agent Gabrielle Hernandez was next. He looked like a cool bad boy from a chick flick that all girls would fall for. He wore a jet black jacket that showed off his arm muscles. And last but not least, agent Michael Reid. You could tell that he was nervous, but also anxious. He introduced himself, talked about the situation and the buddy system. But most of the students spent more time just staring at him rather than listening to him. He looked more like a sophomore in college rather than a twenty-three year old FBI agent working in the BAU. That day is so vivid because that’s the day all the fingers in the school started pointing at me. But that day wasn’t the beginning.

Chapter 2: The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are capable of every wickedness. – Joseph Conrad

As soon as I come home I am greeted with a smashed mailbox, a door with red spray paint that read “MURDERER”, and a tree and roof covered with toilet paper. This isn’t what I was looking forward to after a long day in school. I go inside my house and get a big bucket filled with water and soap. I rolled up my sleeves and start scrubbing off the red message on the door with an old rag. I somehow managed to leave no trace of the word. Next, I went and picked up the mail off the floor and used a broom to sweep the broken pieces of the maliciously destroyed mailbox. When I finished getting all the pieces picked up, I started to wonder how I’m suppose to get all the toilet paper off my roof and tree. “What happened here?” I turn around to see that it’s Sam, my neighbor and probably only pure and kind person in the world I’m forced to live in. “Are you okay Melinda, did those brats do anything to you again?” He always worries about me. Sam is such a kind man. “I’m fine.” I tell him. “They just threw toilet paper all over here, it’s nothing. Really.” He obviously isn’t convinced. “Is that so… then what happened to your mailbox?” I don’t dare look at his face. He just lets out a breath and shakes his head. “I got a ladder in my garage.” He says while I stare at the big apple tree. “I’ll climb up and take out all the toilet paper. You go