My Life as a Legend

Escape The News

Aaron

The reporters swarm me, shoving microphones in my face, all of them trying to shout over each other, their words slurred and inaudible. I glance over the shoulders of a short woman in a tweed jacket, scanning the crowd for Angel, an Asian reporter stands in front of a camera crew, her sharp voice announcing this "strange weather phenomenon" to the entire world. My heart tumbles out of my chest and into my stomach, regret sinking into every crevice and cranny of my being.

Angle struggles past a throng of news people and bystanders, taking me by the wrist. Her voice rings in my head, but her lips don't move.

Don't answer any of their questions.

Her face softens as she looks the reporters in the face, an eerie happiness gleaming in her sea-blue eyes. "Excuse me, my brother won't be answering any questions right now."

"And why is that?" a woman speaks up, her greasy black hair pulled up tight and slick against her skull in a bun.

"Because I'm not going to let you nosy bitches exploit my little brother on TV!" she snaps back, her eyes quickly shifting from happy to ice cold within seconds. Angel is a sweet person, but not one to make angry. "Maybe you should just pack up your cameras and get out of here, because frankly, this is our home and we would like to sort out our afternoon IN PEACE without you shit bags running around and sticking mics in our faces!"

I'm utterly shocked, and the reporters are too as she drags me up the walkway, over the porch and through the door, slamming it behind us and clicking the locks shut. I sit down slowly on the couch while she darts around the house, slamming windows shut and closing curtains, locking everything up and shrouding our house in darkness. She stomps back into the front room hurriedly, seething with rage. "Can you believe them?!" She snaps, plopping down on the sofa next to me. "They tried to interview Levi! He told them everything! Now they're arresting Jake and sugar coating his injuries on TV to make it seem like he's not a mangled up hospital patient who goes to jail directly after recovery!" She sighs and lies down, dragging her arm over her eyes to hide her face. "And now since they know the history they think it was us who did it so we could have some revenge... Which is the truth. But there's no telling what happens to us when this gets out... It's so much worse than a broken chin..." She speaks quietly now, as if she's sympathetic towards the one person who put her through more pain than any seventeen year old girl should ever have to go through.

"What exactly did I do to him?" I whisper softly, tugging at my sleeves as anxiety seeped down into my core, chilling me to the bone. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to so bad. But I won't be able to live with myself if he dies. It was only for a fleeting moment, but my body ached to see him mangled and lifeless. Just for one moment, and that singular urge is now going to be my downfall.

"Well..." she sighs, running her finger through her curly hair. "He's got dead nerves from the hips down. He'll be lucky if he ever walks again." My heart lurches forward.

"I... I did that to someone?!"

"He lost his memory... Doesn't even know his own name..."

"Angel..."

"Sorry," she murmurs, sitting up and draping an arm over my shoulder comfortingly, the fragrance of sugar enveloping me. Angel works at a bakery, so she always smells sweet and happy. It's helpful to smell like desserts when you're trying to console somebody.