The Wood

Part 1: Livy

Livy

My life's a... special one. 

Sure. 

(That's debatable.)

At least, I wish it were a special one.

When I look at people, I see a lot of contentment or disappointment. The satisfied ones are good with having a family and their basic necessities met. They want their life to keep chugging alone, same as everyone else's. The girls covet the clothes of other girls, but why? So, everyone can look identical? And those who are discontent just crave what everyone else has. And when their own needs are met, they're satisfied.

I mean, it's fine, of course. It's all fine. I envy people who think like that, so straight forward and everything. 

But I just can't get these thoughts out of my idiot brain!

Thoughts that, if you recognize, you should shun to the depths of your soul. You might get yourself killed, cracked open like an egg. (And that's no yolk :))

Before I explain what I'm talking about, let me give you a picture so you know what to look for. 

I am quiet, mainly unnoticeable to most. I stand in the pictures even though I don't care for them, and I smile. Why? No clue. It's just average. And all the while, as I look perfectly normal on the outside, my brain creates stories and expands and I notice small things, big things, really just anything that I think could change my life. I'm smart enough to solve some basic riddles and an all A+ student. 

And the whole time, there is an underlying theme, like a small heartbeat. What if I want more? This can't be the end... Can it?

It's always the quiet ones who are pulled into the epic stories. I've been waiting for my turn. Like that'll ever happen.

So, I envy those who can just want to be average because those people get a chance to have what they want. I don't.

One deep thought for the day: Check.

As far as looks go, I'm fourteen and a freshman in high school. I was adopted, along with my brother, by a young couple named Mark and Sarah when I was too young to remember, so to me they're mom and dad. I'm Hispanic, so I'm really tan and I have pretty thick brown, wavy hair that is about shoulder-length. Usually, I'm prone to neutral colors and T-shirts, which happened to reflect my outfit today, a white V-neck and periwinkle athletic shorts. I'm not the best runner, but I'm on the track team.

I sat on the couch, reading a book when Kai walked into the room. I smiled at him as he sat beside me, crossing his arms and staring at the wall. I didn't know what he was doing, but it might make sense to someone more introverted. 

By the way, Kai is my brother. 

He usually wears black jeans and a gray T-shirt (to keep a low profile, I guess. Not really sure). He was also the captain of the middle school wrestling team last year, and one to the best on the high school team, despite only being a freshman. I have been forced to come to many of him practices, so I've picked up a few moves myself, believe it or not. He's fourteen, much like me, but he's super introverted (worse than me by a mile) and frustrated at just about everyone except me (and sometimes our parents, but it's usually time sensitive.)

For example: A few days ago, he'd realized that our parents were making payments to get him into this expensive art school/boarding school thing that he'd been interested in. Only problem: we don't have a whole lot of extra money (or any money really.) He was supposed to go in the fall, though I don't know where the money came from. He acted happy enough, but I could tell he was falling into his shell. He's not the best at making friends, and he probably feels like he's stealing from our parents. Sarah, our mom, who's super sweet and works at all these nonprofits and makes cookies all the time, got kind of angry and I think she's going to force him to go. It's because she loves him, of course, but I don't know whose side to choose currently, so I've been ignoring it for the most part.

Kai and I had begun chatting quietly in the library of the house, a small room on the second floor that was in between both of our bedrooms. We were laughing about some random inside joke that we'd had for years, when suddenly, the door bust open.

Instantly, I was filled with an uncontrollable glee. For a split second, I allowed myself to imagine that this was finally my story. Something big and terrifying and amazing was going to happen and it would be all about me.

And I was so excited.

Maybe if I had spent my life wishing for something- anything- else. Maybe then things would be different.

At last, silently, through the door walked a tall boy with tight red curls, about our age with freckles all over his face and a weird smile that was half goofy, half smirk. I felt Kai tense to my left like we were just visited by the devil.

I'd never seen this kid before. Not at school, not around town, but he acted as if we were old friends, addressing each of us by name and waving.

He walked over to a plush red chair and dragged in front of us, pivoting to take a seat. He lounged on the chair like kids do in school before their teacher yells at them to sit up. his arms were crossed over his chest and a curl of hair fell into his eye.

He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black blazer with a chain bearing a cross. His arm muscles were visible through his shirt, and he was probably really close to six feet tall. If he went to our school, I'd peg him for a basketball player and most popular guy in ninth grade. Even though I could tell he was only fourteen, the age I had turned only two weeks ago, and Kai had turned half a year before that, his eyes held a pain that I'd never experienced. It was a pain I longed to experience though; I could tell. It was the pain of being part of a huge, amazing story.

And then I realized the bandage wrapped around his arm. It was soaked through completely and looked as if it had been DIY-ed. His face held no trace of any pain that he was experiencing, but in the way his arm was stiff and shaking, I could tell that he hurt like crazy.

For a second, in the gleam of his eye, I knew that he coveted my life and Kai's, but how could anyone like him covet something so mundane and boring as this?

"Hey y'all!" He said, and all of my previous thoughts disappeared as the silence shattered. I wanted to reply, but I felt frozen.

For some odd reason, I was only now realizing that this mysterious stranger had literally just broken into our house.

I glanced precariously to my left where I knew Kai sat, tensed with his hands in fists, his face shadowed by his long shaggy hair which curled around his ears in waves.

He clearly didn't share my uncanny sense of adventure.

Slowly, Kai stood up in front of me protectively, not saying a word. Kai was one of the strongest people I knew, standing at a good 5'10.'' 

And staring at the silent face-off between him and this red-head kid, I was a little bit nervous. No one was able to beat Kai. That was just a fact in my life. If this kid tried to hurt me, he'd fail miserably. That was just how the world worked. But, for the first time, I was feeling an inner dread, like maybe what I'd once believed wasn't so true. Maybe there was someone in the world who could shatter our lives. And wasn't that exactly what I'd always asked for?

And the kid just smiled at us, as if the world hadn't just fallen apart at our feet.

Crap. That's two deep thoughts for the day. I must be a genius.

And then, despite everything, despite the evident turmoil of the situation, the kid had the nerve to talk. "Hey, my name's Andy. So, this might come as a shock," he said, pressing his hands to his knees and standing up, stretching his head from one side to the other the way wrestlers do it while facing off with their opponent in the ring. He took in our definitely shocked emotions with a grin. "No surprise there, am I right?" No one moved. "Well, you need to come with me."