anika & angus

comforting characters

no one noticed when anika snuck back into her apartment building, she placed the key back where it belonged and she hurried to her room before her surprising luck could run out. that night she barely slept a wink, her mind was racing with heavy thoughts about her existence in the world. a sixteen year old girl with no true, known purpose. maybe she was going to be the woman who improved the way of life for other african american people, or maybe she'd be the first black woman on the moon, or maybe she was just a small amount of space, that was barely living to her full potential.

"have a nice day at school, nika." her mother would mumble as she peeked inside her room to see a very asleep anika, "i love you pumpkin." this was the routine of the early mornings, anika's mother kissed her forehead and tucked her blankets up higher and placed her favorite teddy bear next to her head. the nurse and daughter had their splats and sword fights with heated words but they loved one another. her father was next to leave, at five in the morning, he'd write her a long letter addressing how pretty and grand she is and leave it under her large glasses, he'd plant a gentle kiss on her head and he'd say "i love you." every morning was the same for anika, angus's mornings weren't so positive.

sometimes his siblings would wake him up with a pillow to the head, or his stressed mother would appear at the door frame with enormous bags under her once energetic eyes. angus was the first to awake, but not by his mother or a pillow, but a loud train whistle.

he hops up without looking at the time and he begins to get dressed, instead of fully enjoying his breakfast he helps his sixth grade sister with her math problems.

"good morning, anika." he grinned as he stood next to her, she smelled like really sweet candy and her hair was wavy and everywhere. "morning angus," angus liked that anika didn't look like other girls, that made her different and unique. all the females at their school looked like each other, such as style, they lacked creativity. but anika always looked different whether it was good, bad and exciting. the sweater covering her upper body was knitted tightly, her jeans had odd patches where the pants were and a heart necklace was around her slim neck. angus always wondered if there was a reason she dressed so differently.

"angus?"

"yeah?"

"can i sit with you on the bus? sometimes sitting alone is very boring." he nods. when the bus arrived he allowed her to enter first, so anika could pick their seat.

angus focused on the objects and people passing the opposite window, anika was reading like usual, the characters in her book seemed so unreal and perfect and that irritated her due to the fact that no human person could be perfect, everyone had a flaw or major imperfection about themselves. anika figured her flaw was her horrible eyesight, or the fact that she was constantly reading that she barely noticed her surroundings, angus thought his was how his brain was slowly getting addicted to nicotine, or maybe it was that small mole underneath his left eye, or possibly he lacked intelligence. anika was probably smarter than him, he didn't care.

while anika was distracted he wrote her another note, folded it and grasped one of her many books and slid it inside tightly to the same page as before, angus figured she had noticed, but she didn't. her brain was extremely focused on the exciting details of the literature in her palms. when the bus ride was over, anika and angus walked to the school doors together, "i left you something inside of your french book, find it when you go to your locker." and he walked away, flashing her a quick grin. his hands shoved into his pockets.

anika's first class teacher didn't mind them being late, so she took her precious time trying to find angus's note, when she found it she sat onto the dirty ground,

"anika, i hope you have a good morning, i know those idiot girls are in your second class. remember that you're beautiful and they are insecure. your sweater is neat, do you know how to knit? from, angus"

angus was running late to his class and happened to be on the other side of the hallway, he watched anika read the small piece of paper he left for her in her french book. he grinned when anika's lips formed a large smile, a smile he thought was beautiful.