No Name, for now�
I saw him for the first time at my pond.
It was a cool, early September morning. I was writing poetry, sitting on a rock, stuffing my bare feet into the cold water. I remember it all, with the green grass covered in dew and the many trees turning their colors for fall; the birds chirping, the angry squirrels chattering at each other, the cool breeze, and the feeling of soft mud between my toes. It was my home, where I belonged, my own little sanctuary from the outside world. But sadly, after all that�s happened there, I can�t say the same anymore. It�s no longer a place of peace; of inspiration. No, now it�s more like a place of grief, fear, desperation, and embarrassment.
The boy didn�t appear until the sun came above the hills, about a half a mile from where I was sitting. And that�s what I was waiting for; the sun. It gave me the inspiration I needed for my poem, how it colored the clouds above, how it gave the entire world a warm feeling. Most of all, it filled the empty space in my heart. It was just the thing I needed for my poem. I started out slowly, erasing and rewriting, erasing and rewriting. Then I saw the figure in the sunlight, and I slowly drifted away from the ground, watching it. I just gaped at it, walking toward me with no fear at all. Then I remembered what I was doing, and for some reason, the figure gave me everything I needed; the words flooded from my head to my notebook. Of course, I didn�t know who he was then, or even what he was. Just a dark figure in the light. I thought it was a deer then, or maybe a coyote. I couldn�t tell, it was too far away. I finished the poem before the figure disappeared. Afraid I was going to scare it away, I didn�t get up to go back to my house. It was just too peaceful, too perfect; getting up would ruin it. So I just sat, inhaling and exhaling deeply, barely blinking. Just watching the figure and listening to the sounds of the forest: rustling leaves, the frogs� croaks, the ripple of the pond when a fish came up to eat food from the top. So peaceful, so�
�Kyri!� Two hands landed on my shoulder, causing me to jump in the air and fall face-first into the mud. I groaned when I tried to get up. After a quick look at the sun, I slammed my fist down and made more mud splat on my face. Goodbye, peace and quiet! I looked at my attacker and gave her a dirty look. It was Gina, my supposed friend. I gave her a hard shove when I stood up.
�Wha-�
�Why�d you do that?� I coughed, wiping the mud from my face.
She shrugged. �Why not? It was the perfect moment. I couldn�t resist, and I know you wouldn�t be able to either!�
Actually, I disagreed with her. I knew that if she was sitting peacefully in silence, I�d leave her alone. It was such a good feeling that you hate to lose. I was about to point out how important my peace was to me, but then an angry voice held from my house to make breakfast. Dad. How long have I been out here?
�May I join you?� Gina asked silently. It was so soft I could barely hear her.
�Join me for what?�
�Breakfast.�
�No, we don�t have enough food for four. Sorry.� She just nodded and headed home. Man, did I feel low.
I wouldn�t have felt as bad if we really didn�t have enough food. In fact, we had too much. But I didn�t want her to meet Dad. He was a captious abuser. He never did anything that was too bad to me, but he always slapped me around the house, and that�s why I woke up so early every morning. I needed to avoid him. Mom just made things worse. Sure, she wasn�t as abusive as him, but she was still strict and nasty. I could never walk out the front door without her stopping me and sending me to do something else. That was why whenever I needed to leave the house, I jumped out of my window. I sighed. Another weekend with the parents from hell.
As I walked into the door, they wouldn�t even let me clean myself up or change my clothes first. Breakfast first, then clean. Them first, then me.
I stepped onto the bus with a sweatshirt to cover the fresh bruises. Kids stared at me, and I didn�t blame them. I had had no time for a shower and I quickly had to run a brush through my thick hair. All I was to do that morning was clean, clean, clean.
May I please take a shower?
Finish the dishes!
Please, I need to brush me teeth!
Pack my lunch!
Just let me get my shoes on!
Make my breakfast!
It drove me insane.
I sat down in the very front of the bus. I hated the bus. But I had no choice. School was too far to walk, and my parents would never let me drive one of their seven cars. I remember the argument on the first day of school.
�How am I getting to school?� I had asked.
�Bus,� My dad grunted.
�But- you have seven cars! Why can�t I drive one?�
He didn�t reply. He just pushed me hard against the wall, punching, hitting. After that, I never asked him again.
�Hey, Kyri,� someone whispered in my ear. �Bad day?� All of a sudden I got tense. I knew exactly who it was.
�I�m fine, Andy. How�s Gina?� I muttered. My goal was to tick him off. But what I said only made him laugh.
�She�s out today. Her and I had such an awesome time last night that it was too much for her. She�s at home, howling in pain I�ll bet.� He grinned his unbearable grin as I looked up at the ceiling. �It�s just you and me, Kyri.�
Andy was Gina�s boyfriend. They had hit it off about a year before then. He often cheated on her, and somehow she didn�t know about it. Besides his dazzling green eyes and his dark blonde hair, I couldn�t understand why she was with him. Once, I asked why she replied, giggling, �He just has such a nice body!�
That he did. But you can�t date someone for their good looks. Gina disagreed. She always has. Always will. I wanted to mention how shallow she was, but I knew that she would probably come up with something childish like, �Oh, you�re just jealous!� That�s all she was. A child in a 17-year-old�s body.
�So what are you doing after school today?� He asked, grinning larger.
I hesitated. Saying the wrong thing would make him think I wanted to be with him. That�s how he was; that�s how his mind worked. Sadly, I wasn�t thinking well that morning because of the condition my parents put me in. All I could say was: �Leave me alone.�
It made him completely unbearable to look at. His grin was so huge now I thought it would fall off of his face. I could see sweat dripping down his forehead and there was an eagerness in his wide-open eyes. �Okay, Kyri. I�ll be there at seven.�
I gaped at him, bewildered. How could he? I hadn�t said anything about a date. Then he added �It�ll be nice to meet your parents.�
My parents? What did he want with those demons? Did he think he was going to make them like him and force me to date him? I laughed aloud. My parents were stubborn with meeting new people; especially people I knew. It would never look.
�What�re you laughing at?� Andy�s grin vanished. It was finally easy to look at him again.
�Nothing.� I replied, smiling at him. �See you tonight!� He smiled back in triumph.
My dad was going to kill him.
It felt good to finally be able to take a shower. I love showers, if it is the way they warm me up or cleanse me through, I don�t know. Sometimes I stay in even after the water grows ice cold. Every time I take a shower, I sing a song. Any feeling, any genre. That day I sang �It�s a Beautiful Morning� even though it was near evening. When I had finished, I wrapped a towel around my body and headed downstairs to my room, still humming the song. When I got to the foot of the stairs, I froze. There was Andy, playing cards with my Dad. His back was to me, and if I wasn�t so stunned, I could have made it to my room without Andy noticing. But I was stuck there, like a deer standing in the middle of a road, watching the approaching semi-truck with wide eyes. And there I was, standing at the foot of the stairs, watching Andy�s back turn with wide eyes. Run, deer! RUN!
My dad was focused on dealing the cards, but Andy was focused on nothing but me. His snake-like eyes slithered up and down my body. He was like a dog; I even imagined a saliva-filled hanging out of his mouth and him howling in pleasure. He reached for my backside but I was too quick and was in my room before he knew it. From behind the door I heard a loud thump on the floor which told me he fell off his chair. Through it all, my dad never looked up.
It still didn�t make sense to me after I had gotten dressed. Why was he there? My dad hated all the other guys I had brought to his house. What was so different about Andy?
�Kyri, I want you to meet my friend Andy,� Dad said to me when I met them in the living room. He slugged Andy on the shoulder. �A good looking one, ain�t he? Andy here got me a good deal on a motorcycle a couple months ago.� Dad grinned and on his way out the door he whispered, �You better not get this boy angry�I need myself another motorcycle.�
�I�ll leave you two alone,� My dad winked and shut the door behind him, and before I knew it, I was alone in the room with Andy.
�Didn�t think he�d let me in, did you?� Andy chuckled.
I ran for the door, but it was locked. It only made him laugh harder.
�Don�t you feel any guilt?� I snapped. �Gina is your girlfriend!�
�Gina? I broke up with her hours ago. The girl is pretty, but even you have to admit she�s horribly stupid.� He was right. She had chosen to date this jerk. �I just told her I met someone else.�
Three guesses who.
�Come on, Kyri, you know you want me.� He got ready to rip off his shirt and gave me his ugly grin. �Just a taste. Gina would never know.�
�Never.� I backed away as far as possible. Trying to avoid his face, I stared at the floor. A baseball caught my eye.
It was my Dad�s autographed baseball. I forgot who it was signed by. Don�t you hate that? They could at least print their name next to it, for god�s sake. But I didn�t need the baseball player�s name; in fact, I don�t even know why I was thinking about it. I quickly picked up the baseball and hid it behind my back without him noticing. If he came a step closer, I would throw it in his face. Then he�d never be as beautiful again, and girls wouldn�t be anywhere near as attracted to him.
�What�s that?� Andy said, pointing behind my back.
I looked at him. He was shirtless and watching me, his grin gone again. He reminded me of an Abercrombie model: good-looking, yet terribly pathetic. It made me dauntless and all my fear of him vanished. I was ready to throw it, and if I had extremely quick reflexes, I would have. But he came up to me so suddenly and did what I least expected: he walked right past me. I watched him open the window behind me and look around outside. It was hard to resist pushing him out. If I pushed him out, he would be gone, but I�d be stuck in a locked room. My only choice was to watch his backside and wait for something to happen, for something to come. And it did.
Just moments passed before I saw two hands grab Andy by the shoulders and pull him out. It was amazing, I had never seen human hands move so quickly. It saved me; my own miracle moment. The moments that only come once in a while, or even at all. Moments like winning big on the lottery, or having a test postponed for a few days, or even just when a pair of pale hands pull a pervert out of a window and start beating him.
I could tell the punches put him in a lot of pain. The boy hitting him was so strong and quick that Andy never got one hit in. It took me a while to get out of the living room. I was just so distracted, watching the fight from the window, watching Andy fall, getting kicked in his sides and howling in pain. I would have just sat there, looking out the window until Andy was beaten so badly he died.
�Move!� The boy shouted to me, and I did as he said. His voice was heavenly and I was desperate to hear it again, but I knew I had to get out of there before anything else. I shoved myself out of the window and looked around for a place to go. My room was on the first floor and it�s window was close to the ground. Before leaving, I stopped to ask, �Who are you?�
�I�ll explain later!� He shouted and struggled to hold Andy down. �MOVE!�
I couldn�t stop moving. Even after I rushed to my window and jumped into my room, I paced around my bed to calm my nerves. So many questions filled my mind and I had a hard time sleeping. Before I shut my eyes I checked the clock and sighed. 3:42 AM.
Surprisingly, even though I lacked rest and had to clean more in the morning, I was in a good mood that day. Not only that, but I actually looked nice when I stepped onto the bus. But my good feelings and high hopes ended when I noticed who actually dared to show up for school that day.
In the second seat from the front, sitting comfortably and with a wide grin was Andy. I got a little bit of joy when I saw his left eye coated with blue and black. No other bruises from the night before were visible. I just figured it was make up. But I knew that there were more bruises under that cover-up and blush. The punches were loud and painful, I heard them, and I witnessed them. You�d never expect them from a boy so averagely-sized. I headed for a seat in the back, aiming to get away from Andy, but the bus driver stopped me.
�Seating charts were made yesterday. The seat you chose then is the seat you�re in from now on.�
I stared at her in disbelief and stomped to my seat, and she stopped me again.
�Don�t give me that attitude, girl, or I�ll have you off my bus in an instant.�
I slumped into my seat and sighed. It was going to be a long, miserable bus ride to school from then on. I could feel Andy�s light breathing blowing my hair into my face. He moved closer and I held my breath as he kissed the back of my neck. He pulled my head backwards so I was staring up at his horrible grin. All I could do was hope for another one of my moments. If I asked the bus driver for help, she�d think I was trying to mess with her. Andy is an angel to teachers. They believe every bit of his nonsense. Their Andy and my Andy were totally different. And if I told the bus driver the truth she wouldn�t believe me and I�d walk to school for the rest of the year.
CLUNK. The bus driver drove over a large pothole at a great speed. It made me fall to one side and it made Andy hit his head hard on the window. That stopped him and I let out a sigh of relief. The nightmare was over. For a little while, anyway.
For the first half of the day, classes just flew by. It didn�t even feel like I was there; it was more like I had day dreamed going to class rather than really being there. Then lunchtime came, and I was back on Earth again. I had no appetite for what was being served, so I just found a table and sat down alone. I expected Gina to come up and sit by me, but I had heard she was in the counseling office, mourning about how she lost her beloved Andy. There were words flying through the cafeteria about what happened to Andy and I the night before. Andy had obviously made up lies about it, and I was happy at all.
�Did you hear? Andy broke up with Gina to date her best friend!�
�Oh my god! How could Kyri do that!�
�Andy is one skilled man. A hot new chick every day.�
�Never talk to that girl. She�ll steal your boyfriend!�
It was like they thought I couldn�t hear. But I could hear, without an attempt to eavesdrop at all. My eyes started to get teary. Did anyone have a heart?
�Hey, are you alright?� The voice was beautiful and it made my heart sing. It was familiar, but I couldn�t match the voice with a person. Even when I looked up, I didn�t know who it was. That was an unordinary thing, I knew everyone else in my year, even the newer kids. His dark brown hair was wavy, messy, and desperately needed a trim, but I like it that way. It suited him, same with his light skin, and his ocean blue eyes that could lose me forever. I had forgotten about his question and just stared into his eyes.
�Are you alright?� He repeated.
�Yeah�just fine.� I must not have been very convincing, because he sat down across from me; also staring into my eyes. We just sat there, him staring into my blue gray eyes, and me staring into his ocean blue gems.
�What�s your name?� I shouted out and quickly brought my hand to my mouth because I thought it sounded rude. He shook his head and smiled at me. Wow, what a beautiful smile.
�It�s okay.� He said, smiling larger. �I�m Dion. You?�
�Kyri.�
�Hey.�
�Hello.�
Again, we got lost into each other�s eyes. And I believe we could have stared at each other forever, if an angry girl hadn�t run in and pushed me to the floor.
�How dare you!� Gina cried, and wiped the angry tears off of her face. �You little witch!� She cursed at me and I pulled myself up and watched her, stunned. �You said you didn�t like him! You said you thought he was a creep!� She sat down and cried even more. �But I should�ve known! You�ve always wanted him! You�ve planned it all the time I�ve been with him! You envious little witch!�
Gina jumped up off of the bench and leaped at me like a wild cat. But Dion grabbed her by the shoulders before she could get any hits in.
�GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? MOLEST ME?� She screamed and kicked, but Dion kept a tight hold.
And I just stood there, watching.
�Calm down!� He yelled, and let her go. She turned around and smacked him hard across the face. I could tell by the frustrated look on his face he regretted letting her go. Finally, the counselor came to save our lives.
�Gina! Gina! It�s alright, child. Come on, we�ll go back to my office. You too, Kyri.�
I pointed to myself as if there were another Kyri around and the counselor nodded. I started walking away and turned to look back at Dion. He just half smiled and waved. I smiled back and followed Gina and the counselor down to the counseling office.
I hated the counseling office, and the entire south side of the building. It was just so gloomy. I remembered going there when a kid I knew died a couple years before then. The hall wasn�t just full of memories, but it was also full of those posters that are supposed to give you encouragement and discipline, but they only made me even more depressed. They showed that there was something wrong in that hall, how there were so many of them. It was like
�Okay Gina.� The counselor, Ms. Moreno, said. �What�s going on?�
Between sobs, Gina replied, �Kyri�she had sex with my boyfriend!�
I shook my head. It all just seemed so ridiculous, so childish to me. How could she believe any of the rumors? What, was she that much of a blazing idiot?
�Kyri,� Ms. Moreno said softly. �Is this true?�
I didn�t hesitate or even stutter like I always did. I was dying to let the truth out. �No! I didn�t do anything! He invited himself into my home and-� I paused and stared at the ceiling. Did I really want to let them know exactly what happened? They wouldn�t believe me, would they? No. Not a single word. So what could I have done? I lied.
�And he was just so� charming. I couldn�t resist, I-�
�So you did do it! You dirty little whore!� Gina sobbed like a maniac into her tissue. �How could you!�
�Gina, there�s no need for cruel words.� Ms. Moreno muttered, and put her hand on Gina�s shoulder. Gina stood up abruptly and shook her head. She pointed at me and cursed loudly, and hastily ran out the door, still cursing. Obviously she was in no mood to talk to anyone, let alone the one person that was making her angry. I had never seen such a disaster from Gina. I just bowed my head and tried to retain myself from letting the truth out.
�I suggest you go back to class, Kyri.� Ms. Moreno said as she rushed out after Gina.
Gina would never trust me again. I didn�t know this then, but I know now. She was so gullible, and the first thing she heard was always the truth. For some reason, I think I�m better off without her. Gina was hopeless and foolish and never really was such a good friend. Now I realize that I really disliked her; in fact, I hated absolutely everything about her. The only reason that I remained as friends with her for all those years was because we had been good friends for a long time.
That, from my perception, is where I made my mistake.
I hopped onto the bus just as it started to move. The bus driver gave me a dirty look as I climbed the steps. �Sorry,� I whispered, and she continued driving.
I turned around to find all of the seats full with selfish teens who wanted a full seat for themselves. I looked around helplessly as the bus started to move. Andy patted the empty seat next to him and winked. God did I hate him. I walked further to the back and found Dion sitting alone, drumming his fingers on the window while listening to a rock CD. Once he saw me he jumped up and ripped his headphones off of his ears.
�Sorry.� He said, smiling. �Go on, sit.�
I sat down gratefully and replied, �No, it�s fine, I love that song.�
Honestly, I had no clue what song it was. But I wasn�t fully lying, I loved the genre at least, if it counted for anything.
�Really?� He grinned and looked around at everyone else on the bus. �Stingy, aren�t they? I was lucky to get this seat. I had to beat a freshman with a stick for it.�
For some reason that was the funniest thing in the world. I laughed for the longest time until I realized that I looked like a fool. I turned away; too embarrassed to look at him, not knowing then that he didn�t care.
The rest of the bus ride was silent between him and me, but I liked it better that way. I knew if we had actually sparked a conversation I would have shouted out something that he didn�t really need to know. No, he just put the headphones around his neck and turned up the song so we could both hear it. For some odd reason, it was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me.
The ride ended too soon. I was dropped off at my home before he was and it made me depressed. He whispered �Bye,� lightly in my ear before I sat up to leave. It filled be with a longing warmness that wouldn�t wear out for days. Surprisingly, Andy didn�t dare touch me on my way down the aisle. He didn�t even say anything to make me tense and it surprised me. It wasn�t Andy at all. I couldn�t help but to be suspicious. At that point I wondered why Andy took the bus. He was supposed to be a clever, rich jock. But then I realized he probably was too immature to pass the driving test. And there was also the other option: that he was insanely obsessed with me and joined my bus just to say crude things in my ear, but I didn�t want to think that, of course. It was just too much of a scary thought to think�but then of course Andy had already proven himself to be scarier than any teenager I knew, so it didn�t affect me much.
DION�S POINT OF VIEW
I jumped out of bed as my alarm clock rang. Once again, I had another sleepless night, lost in thought. I cursed and threw my fist to the wall. Can�t live like this�I seriously need some sleep.
I guess the stress was just getting to me, I mean, I was only eighteen years old and I worked for the government. My job was to protect teenage girls that were supposedly �important to our country�s future.� I was never allowed to know why the girls were so important; I was only given enough information to protect them. It gave me a heavy salary, that was true, but it was just miserable. I was young; I should�ve been out partying with friends, maybe even getting into some kind of relationship with a girl. But I didn�t worry about that then; my only worries were staying alive and protecting the girl.
Right as I was about to walk out the door, my cell phone rang. I let it ring twice before I snapped it open. �Speak,� I said professionally.
�You told her your real name?� A low voice said angrily.
I sighed. I knew it was coming. It was my father, and he was the one that had hired me for the job. It seemed to be like a family business to be working for the government as some kind of agent. Somehow my father always knew what was going on, and I was taught not to ask how. �Yes, sir.�
�Dion, you have no clue what I�ve been through to keep you with this damn job, and I�m done with it. One more mistake and you�re fired.� He said before hanging up.
I slammed my phone shut in anger. My job was everything to me, and I was a fool for it. But I wouldn�t let anything get in the way of this task, or so I thought.
�Dion!�
Shit. She spotted me.
My plan was to hide behind a corner as the girl walked down the hallway and sneak behind her on the way to lunch, but she saw me right away as I carelessly turned the corner to peek. I threw a cheesy grin on my face and greeted her.
�Hi Dion. Want to sit with me at lunch again?� She asked; a sparkle in her eye.
I should�ve said no and walked away. In order to be a good agent, you were supposed to have little contact with the person you�re protecting. But she interested me, and she was extremely attractive; yet all of the girls in the past I had to protect were good looking too. I started to wonder if these girls were only important because they were future super models.
�Okay, sure.� I said with a wider grin. �What was your name again?� Of course I already knew. But I didn�t want her to think that I liked her like she liked me.
She looked hurt and it made me feel horrible. I never thought someone could do that to me, but she did it with just an ugly frown and watery eyes. �It�s Kyri.� She said softly.
�Yeah, sorry. I�ll try to remember that.� It was silent as we walked down the hall. It seemed as if there was nothing to say, but I know she had many wonders about me that she was begging to get answered. It was the same with all of the girls.
We sat down at a table far away from everyone else. She and I both knew that the other teens weren�t fond of her at all because of that stupid rumor Andy Marshall had started. I knew it wasn�t true. That�s why I couldn�t help but to sit next to her. Seeing how cruel high school could be kind of made me glad that I worked for the government.
That girl didn�t have sex with
The girl looked up at me and half-smiled. �I�m turning eighteen this weekend.�
�Awesome.� I replied.
�Yeah�� She didn�t sound so sure. �Well, I don�t really have anything special planned so I was hoping you could come over to my house and we�d just, I dunno, hang out?�
I waited before I replied to pretend to ponder on it. Of course I wasn�t going. �I�ll see if I have time.�
�Well if you do go, could you invite some more people? It�d be better if I could make it into a little party I guess��
�Uh-huh. Sure.� Hah, no.
Nothing more was said after that. I could tell she was shy, and it really got to me. I don�t know why. It was strange.
I was glad to go through a day without anything major happening to the girl. She tripped once, and I was there in a flash to catch her, as if she could hurt anything anyway. But that kind of protection was included in my job, so I was required to do it. The next day was the same way, no trouble at all. I was starting to think the girl didn�t need my help at all. But then on Friday, a flyer that got handed to me by
Andy�s �Trash the Whore� Party!
What: You heard it! Another party to trash a whore�s house!
Who: Kyri Fisher
When: Saturday at 6:30 PM
Where: The Fisher House
How to get in: Show up and open the door. Simple as that.
I tore up the flyer and threw it in the trash. Fuck. Now I had to go to her house, and be at that party.