The Protector

TWO

Julian Rodriguez was assigned by my father to protect me at the beginning of the summer. Not only was he incredible at his job, but I had a hard time taking my eyes off him. Julian was an excellent visual distraction from my terrible situation. 

His smooth jet black hair was a little too long, tucked behind his ears, and his bright green eyes shone like two giant emeralds. I buried my head into the crook of his neck, closing my eyes to breathe in his minty scent. I hadn't always openly admired him in this way. In fact, it had taken some time for us to get to this point. Initially, I loathed his presence with every inch of my being. His arrogance was off putting, and I found myself detesting everything about him, including his good looks.

I was so angry - at him, at The Protection, at Ben for dying, at Beth for killing him, and at Kyler for disappearing. Oddly, Kyler's disappearance stung the most. My anger consumed me from the inside out, eating me alive like a million carnivorous worms. 

Every morning, I'd sit on the salmon colored carpet in front of the old box TV in my mother's living room, shoveling sugary cereal into my mouth, watching the news for hours. I was convinced the plethora of stories about the first death in America since the implementation of The Protection had been directed at me. The news outlets carried on, outraged, crying for The Protection to do their job. They cried for 'Justice For Ben!' with his baseball headshot plastered across the screen. 

They couldn't possibly know the man who died. They couldn't know how my ex, my first love, Ben Thomas rubbed his arm when he got nervous or how he laughed a tick too long when he found something funny. They couldn't know how it felt to love him for three years, to lose my virginity to him, to feel the stinging betrayal when I discovered Beth, my roommate and best friend, had brainwashed him during our entire relationship.

I wiped a tear from my eyelashes as Julian interlaced our fingers, sensing my ever-present sorrow. My mind flashed as he kissed the moisture away from my palm. The Portland skyline shimmered around the edges before disappearing altogether as another vision-as-movie played across my mind.

I slammed the door open into my bedroom, throwing my purse to the side.

"What does it matter if I crowd surfed? What are they going to do? Grab me? Stab me? Take me to The Resistance? I don't care! I finally felt alive inside for the first time in months," I screeched as my eyes danced around, feeling wild, awake, and energized. Julian rubbed his jaw, his Mexican accent thicker than ever, a tell that showed his annoyance.

"I don't care how it made you feeeel, I only care about keeping you safe. Why do you make this so hard on me?!" I narrowed my eyes.

"Maybe because you act like my father's little pet. Sitting there in the shadows, being a good little soldier, doing your job. You aren't a real person. You don't give a shit about me. You care about nothing but yourself and your career. You are nothing like the last Protector I had. He was incredible. He made me feel alive inside and would never chastise me for living my life." I tried to ignore the immense pain that gripped my heart every time I thought of or mentioned Brown Eyes. I still had so many questions. It was as if Kyler vanished after graduation. Poof. Gone into thin air. Without a word. I wondered many restless nights if he gave up on me, on us. Was he married to Alana or was he shipped off again, to Canada or even further?

"Yeah, we all saw how well Kyler Isaacs worked out for you," Julian mocked and my mind snapped back to him. I crossed the room and slapped him harshly across the face before he could react. He was fast, but I was no slouch, and I was only getting faster. His tanned cheek turned bright red before my eyes. I felt oddly satisfied.