Yours Truly

4

Walker

Every time someone opened the door my head snapped up in hopes of seeing the short brunette walk into the room with a smile from something Indie or Marie told her before they split ways.  Finally, she was the one who walked in and I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face.  She made eye contact with me for a moment before she quickly dropped her gaze to the floor, causing my smile to falter.

She always does this.  She always looks away.  She almost never talks around me.  Sometimes it makes me wonder if she's just to awkward to say she actually hates me.  I watched her as she made her way to sit by herself in the back corner table.  She's usually always by herself if Indie or Marie aren't in the same class, and she doesn't usually try to hold a conversation with me.

I stood from my table and made my way to her.  She jumped as the chair scraped against the floor as I pulled it back so I could sit next to her.  

"Hey,"  I said as I placed my elbow on the table and leaned my head against my hand.  "Hey," she said softly.  I leaned closer to her to see what she was writing in her notebook, her breath seemed to disappear.   

"Song lyrics?"  I asked, she nodded.   "Yours or just quoting?"  "Quoting,"  she said as she tried to cover the lyrics sprawled across the page.  I grabbed her wrist so I could see but she flinched and I immediately loosened my grip and turned her arm over so her palm faced the ceiling.  I looked into her scared green eyes and lifted her sleeve.

I looked downward saw the angry red lines.  I knew she's done it before, but I thought she stopped.  She tried to rip her arm away but I wouldn't release her.  

"I'm sorry,"  she said.  I froze and looked up to meet the eyes that were trying to contain the tears.  "No, don't be.  It doesn't matter.  Wait, no, it does matter, but I'm not judging you for this Kenz.  It's okay,"  I said as I brought her wrist closer to my face.  

She let a few of the tears fall until she used her free hand to wipe at her eyes.  "Is it okay if I hug you?" I asked, knowing she wasn't the biggest fan of human contact.  She nodded and I wrapped my arms around her waist as she clung to the front of my shirt.  She shook as she tried to contain the sounds of her crying.  

"Thank you, thank you so much Walker," she whispered.  I nodded as I reached my hand up to stroke the back of her hair.  In this moment I'm glad she chose to sit in the back.  

I was about to say something but the bell rang.  Kenzie shot up and raised her hands to her face to wipe away the tears that had fell.  

"See you later Walker," she whispered as she stood from her seat and gathered her things.  I just watched as she collected herself and left the room.  I stood from the table and walked to the other side of the room to grab my things and then I left.  I saw her run up behind Indie and koala hug her from behind.  Kenzie never ceases to amaze me.  She's so strong and caring.  I don't even think she's told Marie or Indie about what she's done because she doesn'nt them to worry about her.  My chest begins to hurt knowng she probably isn't feeling the happiness she's showing on the outside.