The Knight

Six

Lying on the sand, the wind blowing through her hair and the smell of the sea wafting through her nose, Pandora couldn't be more content.

"What was your mom like?" Oliver, the boy lying next to her asked.

The two had taken a short walk down to the water an hour earlier to let the cold sea water drift over their toes.

Now, they were lying on the cold sand looking up at the stars.

Pandora picked up a small pile of sand and let it fall back through her fingers to return to its rightful place.

Taking a deep breath, she told him as much as she could remember.

"I was three when she disappeared, so I don't remember a whole lot, but I remember she smelled like the ocean and roses."

She closed her eyes, and it was almost like she could smell her mom again as the wind blew stronger for a moment.

"I remember her hair was the color of pure snow. My dad likes to say her hair was so bright because the moon goddess blessed her with a touch of her power."

As the words flowed out of her mouth, Pandora couldn't stop herself from looking up into the night sky and finding the moon.

Shaking off the sudden sadness developing in her chest, she turned to look at Oliver, but was shocked to find him already looking at her.

"I'm sorry about your mom." He whispered into the night air. He moved his hand over the sand until it latched with hers.

The sounds of laughter and the crackle of fire from behind suddenly disappeared as Pandora's lips parted slightly and Oliver leaned in.

But, when their lips brushed each other's, a loud shout echoed from behind them. A shout Pandora knew very well. It was Topper's voice.

"Dirty Pouges."

"Oh shit." Pandora muttered as she tore herself away from the ground and away from Oliver. "I'm so sorry, but I should probably go make sure my friends are okay."

Shaking his head, Oliver said, "Go. If it's your friends, I understand."

He truly did understand. If one of his friends were in trouble he would be by their side in an instant.

Before running off, wanting to just a little brave tonight, Pandora leant upwards and pressed her lips to his cheek. The touch was feather light, but it sent shock waves up both of their spines.

And then Pandora was rushing into the middle of the crowd that had formed. When she got to the front of the large crowd, she immediately spotted JJ and ran to his side.

"JJ, what the hell?"

She couldn't take her eyes off of John B, who was in front of them with Topper.

JJ didn't respond because Topper did it first.

"Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?"

Pandora felt herself go into a panic as she watched Topper shove John B down to the ground. Even if she 'hated' him, she couldn't bare to see him hurt. But she didn't think about intervening until suddenly his head was being held under the water by Topper.

She couldn't think. Her heart was going too fast, and she thought it was going to fly right out of her chest. 'Think, think, think' she thought to herself. It was so hard though, with all of the kids surrounding her screaming "Fight, fight, fight" into the night sky.

Then, she got it. In her backpack she had a knife.

The backpack she left sitting on the sand all the way behind the growing crowd of teenagers.