Perfection (Red Wrists 1 REWRITTEN EDITION)

Part Two

(Emma)
I closed my eyes and flinched with every sound the zipper made. I shivered more and more with fear as each small scrape grew louder in my ears, the zipper slowly reaching the bottom. I hoped he'd stop there, but my hopes were small. Even if I screamed, no one would bother to intervene. And the man seemed to know that. The man let out another deep chuckle, reaching the tips of his fingers down into my underwear when someone let out a shout. The man jumped away in surprise, and I slowly opened my eyes to see a young man.

He had ragged dark brown hair and equally brown eyes, wearing a tanned yellow jacket with cuffed shoulders and blue jeans frayed at the knees. Not torn to the point they were holes, but to the point where you were barely able to see the skin beneath. And if you looked close enough, you could see the thin strap of a drawstring bag over his shoulder. "What do you think you're doing to that girl?" the young guy asked the man, his look showing hints of anger and annoyance. The man's smirks turned into a genuine smile, and he walked up to the young guy. "Mr. T-dog," the man greeted the guy, holding his hand out for the guy to shake.

But "Mr. T-dog" didn't look any happier. "What do you think you're doing to that girl?" he asked again, looking even more angry and annoyed. The man rolled his eyes, suddenly seeming as annoyed as this Mr. T-dog guy. "I do what I do to every girl dumb enough to wander out here alone," he said simply, a hint of a rumbling growl in his tone, "and she isn't any different." He pointed a shaking finger at me, and you could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. "And unless you know this girl on a personal level, you have absolutely no right to interrupt me."

"I do know this girl, actually," Mr. T-dog said, scowling. "She goes to my school and happens to be a very close friend of mine." I stare at him, knowing his statement wasn't true but not wanting to get raped by the scary guys either. The scary man looked at me, his face wrenched into a look of pure anger. "If you know Mr. T-dog so well," he growled, this time the smoke clearly visible at is poured from his ears, "then what's his real name?" I feel my eyes widen, and I see Mr. T-dog take a gulp of air. Obviously neither of us had expected that to happen. "His name's......," I began, thinking really hard about what T-dog could represent. Tyler? Tale? Timothy? Trevon? Or was it something more exotic and random? Was I screwed?

At that moment, a memory of my childhood floated back to me. It was of when me and my only friend at that time were still very young. I was in kindergarten, he was in fourth grade. We were playing on the swing-sets, having the time of our lives. What was his name? The memory was so old; any specific details were long gone. But I did have some sort of clue. The name Timothy kept hammering into my brain, over and over like the sound of constant thunder in a bad storm. Unsure of any other name, I look the man in the eyes and whisper, "Timothy."

He stares at me for a few seconds, seeming to be confused. "Um, you got it right," he said, taking a few steps away to get me out of his reach. With one small motion of his hand, the person holding me let go, stepping away as far as the man did.

Mr. T-dog nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "See, now let us get going. We're gonna be late for class." He walked towards me and grabbed my arm harshly, making me wince as he dragged me away from the men and towards school. After we were a good distance away from the men, the guy let go of me, stopping in his tracks to scowl at me. "What were you trying to do, get yourself killed?!" he yelled at me, narrowing his eyes to slits.

I narrow my eyes back at him, growling, "Why did you get me away from them in the first place, huh? I don't know you and you don't know me!"

"You're the one that guessed my name right," he growled back, a small smile on his face. I stared at him intently, brushing my black hair out of my eyes as the wind blew it there. He chuckled and shook his head, going back to walking towards school. "Come on girl, we're going to be late if we don't get moving." I followed him cautiously, redoing my zipper with a red face and still shaking hands. "I never caught your name," he said, looking at me over his shoulder since I was walking a good three yards behind him.

I stare at him for a second, feeling a small twinge of, something, before shyly responding, "Emma May."