My Guardian Angel

#9

#9

It was our second month at our new home. Eve Town was beautiful. Everybody knew each other and it was more like a one big family. The feeling was nice. I missed Liza a lot but we skyped once in a while which helped the distance. Ron was doing well at work and he even started dating his colleague, Jennifer. She was wonderful and we were soon good friends. Ron loved her and I knew I was looking at my new family whenever I saw them. I felt beyond happy with the realization that we are slowly building our own life now.

Ron, as expected, was very protective about me for the first few weeks here. He insisted on dropping me at school and he didn't let me come back home alone either. Though I totally understood why he would be like that, it annoyed me at times too. Fortunately Jennifer stepped into his life at the right time and saved us both. She reasoned with him on how should be allowed to have my own life and he gradually, gave into it. She was the only one in this town who knew about my accident and our broken family. Jen, as we call her, was the best thing that happened to us in a very long time.

Speaking of which, I had made new friends at school. It was hard, trying to make up my studies. That's when I met Irene. She was petite and the genius of our class. She helped me with my school work from the moment I received a C grade on my Maths paper. She was my neighbour and we were soon close friends. It would be hard for anybody to not be friends with her. With her came my two other new friends in school, Sophia and Vivian. Sophia and Vivian were exact opposites.

Vivian was smart and very ambitious while Sophia had no clue what she should be doing the next second. They had one thing in common though; they were both very good friends. They were the type to listen intently when someone talked, which was refreshing. Four of us were soon close friends and the only ones Ron trusted me with. They knew about the accident and were very supportive.

About me, I was happily moving on with my life yet the feeling of emptiness always lingered around. There was a hole in my heart and I didn't even know why. I had nightmares almost every night but I learned to live with it. I wanted a new beginning, a new happy life. So I decided to keep all the bad things in my life to myself and not worry others. I didn't want to be dull and moody and so I put on a bright face all the time.

It was a Saturday morning and my friends and I had planned to go to the movies. It was ten, and I was waiting for the others at our usual spot at the local café.

"Hi."

The voice was familiar but new at the same time. I had picked up the habit of noticing everybody's voice, which was weird.

I looked up from the book I was reading into the face of a boy. He had a slight smile on his face but I wasn't sure he was talking to me, so I resumed to my book reading.

"Umm, hi?"

Okay, he was greeting me.

"Hi." I didn't really talk to strangers, but on a second glance, he looked very familiar. Like I said, it was a small town, we probably have met before.

"Arena, right?" he started talking, taking the seat next to mine. "I'm Kevin."

"Have we met before?" I asked genuinely confused at his easy conversation start.

"Not exactly. I've seen you at my cousin's party."

"You're Jen's cousin?" It wasn't hard to remember since the only party I've been to in this town yet, was hers. No wonder he looked familiar. I remembered him almost immediately. He was a very hyperactive guy. I had noticed him there because of his outgoing nature. He was even getting along with my brother. We hadn't met directly but I sure did know him.

"Yeh. I was just waiting for my friend here when I saw you." He said, smiling. Boy, he looked very handsome. Why hadn't I noticed that before?

"Right."

"You're in Eve high school yeh?"

I nodded. "And you?"

"I'm in my first year of college now."

"Nice."

"So what are you doing here alone?"

"Waiting for my friends. And there they are." I pointed ahead when I saw them walk in. They looked at me first and then Kevin and whispered among themselves before giggling. I blushed at the embarrassment because he had seen it too.

"Hey, Kev!" Sophia hugged him as he stood up to greet them.

I was a little surprised at their acquaintance but realized soon after that after all they all did grow up here. The other two hugged him as well. I was soon staring at a mini reunion.

I used the time productively by paying my bill and getting ready to leave with them once they were done. Hopefully, few minutes later they did realize I wasn't in the conversation and they pulled me in.

"Ari, Kevin's my neighbour." Sophia said, introducing us again. "We grew up together. Literally."

Kevin laughed. "Ask me if you want to know any secrets about her." he said, winking at me. "Actually, about any of them."

"Sure." I said, smiling a little to not make myself look dull.

"We should get going." Vivian exclaimed when she looked at her watch. "We have a movie to catch in fifteen minutes."

We nodded in agreement.

"Bye, Kev. See ya around." They waved their arms vigorously while making our way out of the cafe.

"Bye." I mouthed softly and turned away but not before I noticed Kevin mouth 'See ya' with a genuine smile on his face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------