Perspectives

12. Hero

When I woke up the next day, I was sweaty and I was shaking.   I walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.  My hair was sticking to my forehead and my mascara and eyeliner from the day before was running down my cheeks.  I got in the shower and took a quick cold shower.  I brushed through my hair, changed into clothes, and re-did my makeup.  I walked out of the house and began my walk to school before my mother even woke up.  I didn't want to talk to her anyway.

The rain clouds threatened tonight's heavy storm.  Something was going to happen tonight.  i had never been more sure of it in my life.  Something was going to happen and I needed to figure out what it was.  As I got to the front of school, the bell rang and I ran to drama.  Class had begun when I finally got there and the teacher stared at me and nodded toward my seat.  Once I sat down, he started laughing.  As if he'd ever get me in trouble for being late.  

When the day was over, I walked out of school to the cold Friday afternoon.  The clouds ominously sounded their thunder.  On my walk home, I felt the cool smooth lick of the first drop of rain.  The street began to become speckled.  A darker spot of pavement here, one there.  The rain-fall became heavier and soon, it was raining heavily and I was running.  

I ran and I ran and I didn't want to look back toward where I had come.  My house grew larger and larger in my vision.  My foot slid from under me and I was on the floor.  I slid on the pavement, feeling the gravel from the street scratch my face and body.  It stung badly.  I felt the war tears begin to contrast with the cold rain-water.  I lay there, in the middle of the street for what felt, to me, like an eternity.  When I heard the racing of a car on the other side of the street, that came far to close to me, I began to feel around for the curb.  Once I had hold of it, I dragged myself toward it, hurting myself even more.  I finally had myself up onto the sidewalk and pulled myself up into a crawl.  

I crawled pitifully on one arm, the other one wrapped around my stomach.  I finally reached the door.  Please be open I begged silently.  I turned the knob and the door fell open.  My body was engulfed in thankfulness.  I crawled my way in through the front door and fell flat onto the floor.  I sat there, sobbing and bleeding into the carpet.  I was in huge trouble when my mother got home.  I was getting the rain-water and blood into the carpet.  Thankfully, she was on a business trip and she'd be gone all weekend long.  

I finally gained enough strength to pull myself into a standing position.  I walked weakly up the stairs.  The hallway seemed to be miles long when all that I wanted was to reach the end of it.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I found the end and went into my room.  I immediately went into my bathroom upon my entry.  I walked over and turned on my shower, putting my hand into the water stream to test the temperature.  While it was warming, I walked over and looked in my mirror, disappointed with what looked back at me.

My face was covered with a colorful mixture of rain, blood, tears, dirt, makeup, and mascara.  After staring at myself for a while, I slowly slid off my shirt to see the body that I wasn't always content with but was usually pretty confident about.  I could see more cuts and bruises on the rest of my body as I undressed proving that I had taken a pretty nasty fall.  I stepped into the shower instantly shocked by the temperature of the water.  It wasn't even very hot, but it was painful on my numb body.  I washed my body in the water that felt so much hotter than it was.  Washing away the blood.  Washing away the dirt.  Washing away the tears.  Washing away everything. 

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my body in a warm towel before walking into my room.  I changed into a pair of comfortable shorts and a tank-top before engulfing my small body in a huge sweatshirt.  Though tired and in pain, I did not crawl into my welcoming bed that night.  Not right away, at least.  Something was going to happen and it hadn't yet.  I sat in a chair in the corner of my room, staring at the floor. Waiting.  Waiting for it to happen.  The thunder cackled outside, lighting my dark room each time the lightning flashed.  I looked up from the floor and toward the corner of my room, directly opposite the one I was sitting in.  Lightning flashed one second and there was someone in the corner of my room.

A girl of about my age and size looked me directly in the eye as she leaned against the bare wall in the corner of my bedroom.  Frozen with fear, I didn't move from my chair.  The lights in my room slowly became lit.  I looked to the light switch which was still in the off position and I looked back at her.  She still stood, unmoving staring straight at me.  Without saying a word, I knew she was studying me from the way she moved her head slightly, as if to examine me from different angles.  i began to study her features in the yellow light.

Her skin was clear and fair.  Her creamy face showed no sign of blemish or flaw.  Her black, wet,  hair was parted so that the entire  left side of her face was not visible.  From what I could see of it, her eyes were moss green framed by thick black eyelashes.  Her lips were thin and light pink in color.  Even under her skinny jeans and large jacket, I could tell that her body was thin, but not too thin, demonstrating what was, to most people, the perfect body.  

She peeled herself from my pale wall and walked over to me so that her face was close to mine.  She stared me directly in the eyes while a pale hand lifted from her side and pulled her hair from her face.  She held it there for a short time.  It was long enough.  Long enough for me to see her tattoos.  I gasped.  There wasn't a single person in the world who didn't know what those tattoos meant.  It was her.  The girl who knew all was in my bedroom.  She moved her hand from her hair and let it fall back into her face.

Not one of us spoke.  Just looked into each other's eyes, unmoving.  After what felt like an eternity, she looked away from me.  Her mossy green eyes darted around my room and focused back on me.  I wanted to talk but I couldn't.  What would I say?  What could I say?

She broke the silence, "Hero."  My heart pounded.  My stomach churned.  My mind raced.  My bottom jaw started quivering.  Her voice was soft like a distant memory.  One that when you remembered, you cried and smiled and never wanted to let that memory go.  But it drifted back into your mind so that when it came back into perspective, you started all over again with your tears and smiles.  This girl who I had never met before had eaten her way into my heart by simply saying my name.  We hadn't met yet, but somehow I knew her and had known her for years.  

"Yes," I said.  She looked closer into my eyes, moving her face closer into mine before backing back into her corner.  Just as I began to walk toward her, the lights faded out.  Lightning flashed again and the corner of my room was empty once more.  That girl was gone.  She was gone.  I begged silently in my head for her to come back.  Please come back.  Please come back. Please come back, strange girl.  Please come back.