Sarah
James was a good kid. He really was. I wish I could be like him, far too often, I do.
Well anyways, that doesn’t matter.
James was walking home one day, after school on a regular Wednesday. He was with a good friend of his. Me.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go visit your family!”
I gave him a big grin and looked directly in his eye when I said that.
“But... I didn’t even ask!”
“But you know you wanted me to!”
He laughed. I loved his laugh. I haven’t talked to his family in a while. I loved his little sisters, they were such good kids. Just being around them cheered you up.
When we got to his house, we saw his little sister, Penny, run up to us and gave us huge hugs. She always did that. You woulda loved her. Everyone loved her. Great kid.
“Hey! You’re home! And you brought Sarah, too!”
“Yep. D’you have a good day at school?”
“Yeah! We learned about multiplication and stuff today. It was kinda hard, but I had fun with my friends during lunch and recess!”
She always had such a pretty smile on her face.
His mom was in the kitchen, making lunch. Sandwiches.
“Oh my, I didn’t know you’d be coming over, Sarah!”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about me, I’m not hungry!”
I always said things in a bit of a nervous chuckle when I talked to his parents. I always felt like they wouldn’t accept me or something. My dad knew his when they were in school. Dunno when they met, but I’ve known James since we were just little kids.
“Oh, don’t say that, I couldn’t possibly make food for everyone except you! I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
She had a smile on. Everyone in this family was always so happy, I hope I have a family like them.
“Thanks,”
I looked down a little and smiled. I could never really look his parents in the eye. I’m not sure why, it’s just like... like they would see right into me and see all of my flaws.
“Don’t mention it! They’re comin’ right up!”
We walked back into James’ room and closed the door behind us. Whenever we were in his room, my heart pounded. I sat down on his bed. He had a pretty big room. He just kinda stood there and looked at me.
I didn’t know what to say, but before I could start, he speaks.
“So.... what d’you wanna do?”
“Ummm..... I dunno.”
“Hmmm....”
He seemed so lost in thought so often. I wondered often what he was thinking of, what was in that head of his.
“So, where’s Sam?”
Samantha was his other sister. Younger than him, but older then Penny. Me and him were sophomores. Sam was in the 7th grade, and Penny was in 4th.
“She just got into some new after school program thing about astronomy or something. I always liked astronomy and stuff, but I would never be an astronomer.
Too much math. Well, I wouldn’t be a lotta things ‘cause of math. Can’t stand math. When the hell am I gonna use the quadratic equation in life?”
I giggled. He always went on rants about how much he hated math. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who hated math quite so much. He frowned and then laughed.
“Sorry, I just really don’t like math.”
“I can’t really blame you, math can be pretty irritating.”
His mom called James, for those sandwiches.
“That’s the sandwiches, I guess. Be right back.”
“Kay~”
I sat there, lost in my thoughts.
There was a light knock at the door. James had left the door open, but I guess it was to be polite. It was his dad.
“Oh, hey there Mr. Hawk.”
“Please, Sarah, just John. I’ve known you and your father for years. I think it’s well beyond time for you to call me by my first name.”
I kinda frowned and looked down a little. I felt like I’d insulted him or something.
“Hahaha, it’s no big deal, relax! I did want to ask you something really quick, though, while James is out.”
I looked at him kind of oddly. He closed the door and sat down in a chair by James’ desk and computer. My heart started beating a little faster.
“Okay... I want you to be fully, completely honest with me. I won’t tell James, I’ll leave that up to you, but I want to know... How do you feel about him?”
“...What do you mean? I mean, he’s a great boy and stuff, if that’s what you mean. I mean, he’s my best friend.”
“But how do you feel about him?”
“I...”
“I’ve seen the way you look at him. I’ve seen the way you laugh when you’re with him.”
My eyes darted around the room. No one had ever simply asked how I felt about him before. To be honest, even I didn’t know.
“You don’t have to tell me straight, I think I know already. You should think about it, though. You seem awfully confused.”
“I just...”
“Heyyyyy! The door’s closed! Hands kinda full here!”James was back.
His dad got up, put the chair back and opened the door.
James had drinks and a plate with sandwiches cut up into little triangles.
“Oh, hey Dad! ....Were you talking to Sarah?”
“Yeah, wanted to know how her father’s been doin’. Did you thank your mother for the sandwiches?”
“Yeah, of course.”
He had put the drinks and food on his desk and sat down in the same chair his dad was in.
“So what’d my dad want?”
“Oh, nothing... just wanted to know how my dad’s been doing.”
“Hmm...”
I think he knew I was lying. I’m a horrible liar.
“You gonna eat?”
He’d already started eating his sandwich.
“Yeah, in a sec.”
He’d swallowed his bite and washed it down with some 7-Up.
“Aw, shit.”
“Huh, what’s wrong?”
“Ahh, nothing, just that I have to go pick up Sam. I always pick her up after school now. She gets off at 3:30, ‘cause that after-school program thing. I don’t mind pickin’ her up, just that I’d forgotten and it’s like 3:20 already.”
“Ohh... well, I’ll go with you. My dad doesn’t really care when I get home, as long as it’s before like 6.”
He was grinning. I got up and we went on our merry way.
On the way, we didn’t really talk about anything really important, just how our day at school went and what happened. We didn’t really rush to the school.
We reached the school at around 3:40.
Just as we got to the front gate, we saw Sam leaving.
“Hey!”
“You’re waaay late. Why doesn’t Mom let me walk home alone anyways? It’s like, 10 minutes away. Besides, it’s not like we live in Detroit or something, I’m not gonna get shot. Oh, and hey there, Sarah.”
“I dunno, you know Mom. Anyways, let’s head back.”
We took our time heading back. Sam explained her day at school. We got back at about 4:15. The sun was sort of beginning to set, but it was getting cloudy.
When we got back, his had mother kinda scolded him, or us I guess, on being late to pick up Sam, but she didn’t make too big a deal of it.
We went back to James’ room, but as soon as we got there, he left. I sat down on the bed.
“Be right back, totally forgot something.”
Sam walked into the room right after he left and closed the door.
“Okay, I know we haven’t got much time to talk, but there’s something I want to know.”
I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I knew what she was going to ask.
“What’s up?”
“Do you like James?”
“Yeah, of course. I mean, he’s like, my best friend.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Sarah. I know you like him, I do.”
I figured another girl would understand me more than his dad, so I spoke up a little.
“I dunno... I mean, I love being around him, I think of him a lot, and my heart always starts beating faster when I’m around him... I mean, I’ve never really felt this way before... Anyways, you probably don’t really get what I mean.”
She gasped and had a huge smile on her face.
“You’re in love with him!”
I sighed, and put my hands on my face.
“Love isn’t something that can just be decided. I mean, I’ve never been in love, so how can someone just say they know that they’re in love?”
“You shouldn’t push away your feelings! Besides, I think you guys would be such a cute couple~”
I blushed, and hid my face.
“Heeeey! Why does everyone seem to close my door without me even in the room? Jeez.”Sam opened the door for him.
“Thanks.”
“Well, I have some math homework, sooooo... later~”
She left the room and closed the door behind her.
“Hey, d’you wanna go outside to the backyard and watch the sun set? You always get such a pretty view from your backyard. I’ll probably have to leave afterwards.”
His backyard was huge. It always got a pretty view of the sun setting in the mountains. His backyard also had a very large tree. It was such a beautiful tree, large and magnificent. We sat on a bench, near all the gardening and landscaping tools.
It had a lawnmower, hatchets, a chainsaw, a few machetes, some hoes, a couple shovels. Sometimes I looked at it and wondered if he was preparing for a zombie invasion or something.
His dad even had a couple of guns. My dad had guns, too. They both stocked up on ammo because they were afraid of gun laws passing that would stop them from getting more.
We sat on the bench and watched as the sun set. I looked over at him as he looked peacefully into the distance. He looked so calm, so serene. I don’t know how long I sat there, watching him.
It felt like forever.
I don’t know when he noticed.
“How long’re you just gonna sit there and look at me?”
“Huh!? Oh, Ummm.... I dunno... haha... sorry.”
I couldn’t believe how nervous I was.
He looked over at me and gave me a piercing gaze right into my eyes. It wasn’t hard, or... angry. It was so... calm, so content.
“It’s okay. I like looking at you, too.”
We neared closer and closer. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.
“Hey, you two!”
I must have jumped ten feet out of the bench. I thought my heart was going to explode. It was Penny.
“Oh, dear God, Penny. Don’t do that, you scared the living hell out of me!”
She started running around the backyard, dancing and doing cartwheels and the like. She was rather acrobatic.
She was such a great kid. You woulda loved her. Everyone loved her.
There was a slight rumble. The ground by the tree began to shake and rise up. Penny was nearest, and began walking by to see what was happening.
“What is it, Penny?”
“I dunno, I can’t see.”
My heart began to beat faster. This wasn’t normal. The only thing I can think of that burrows out of the ground is a groundhog, but those don’t come out until after the sun goes down.
Then I heard it. It’s a noise I will never forget. It was a loud, horrifying shrieking scream that pierced the air.
“Penny! Don’t get closer!”It was too late. She turned around to run away, but it jumped out and bit onto her shoulder to latch on and impaled her with its lance-like stinger. She fell onto the grass and began convulsing. It stabbed her three more times, all through the back and in the abdominal area. There was no time for words. James reacted faster than I did.
He grabbed one of the hatchets that was nearby, ran over to her and kicked that damned thing off before it could get in another stab.
He cut the head off, right in between its exoskeleton armor plating.
I had ran over to Penny as he did this. She was shaking incessantly. The ant must have had venom. I’d collapsed next to her, in shock. James turned her over slowly. She was still alive. Blood was coming out of her mouth, and her wounds were bleeding profusely.
She stopped moving. Her eyes never closed. They lost their life as she stared blankly into James’ eyes.
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Topic: So far, Untitled. (Read 123 times)