Just A Girl Named River

It Chooses me

Grabbing my backpack, I wait for my turn to get off the bus. I climb down the stairs and look around to see what is in sights. I see a McDonald's and another little restaurant, but that parking lot looks full as I am watching cars pull in and then leave again looking for a place to park. So I decide McDonald's it is. I start to walk towards it, thinking I will go into the gas station when I get back and grab a few things such a water and maybe a few snacks just in case. Looking down and what I am wearing know I have some shorts and a t shirt in my bag. I will change when I am done hitting. Lost in my own thoughts I totally forgot where I was for a brief moment or what had just happened with the demigod on the bus. When out of the blue I feel someone grab my arm. I instinctively jump and throw a punch, connecting with the arm of the person grabbing me.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

Suddenly snapping back to reality and recognizing the voice coming from the person. Noah.

"I'm so sorry, are you ok? Didn't your mom ever teach you not to sneak up on someone?" Unsure of what to do everything runs through my head quickly.

"I didn't sneak up on you. Didn't you hear me yelling for you."

Ummm, he was yelling for me and I totally didn't hear him yelling. "You never once yelled for me." I say kind of blushing. Had you really yelled for me.

He starts laughing. "Yeah I did. Where did you learn to do that? I mean you didn't even look you just swung and you hit pretty hard.... I mean for a girl that is," he says smirking.

Oh no he didn't. Did he really just say for a girl.

"I will have you know I hit hard regardless of my gender. And if you choice to classify me as for a girl we will no longer need to talk. Girls are better than boys!!" I practically yell at him. I turn and storm off, leaving him standing there dumb founded.

"Ok, ok, I didn't mean it like it kind of sounded. I meant most girls can't hit and you can. But you still didn't tell me why you were so zoned out, and why you just hauled off and hit me."

I keep walking. "I'm sorry I was thinking about what all I needed to do in the now, 40 minutes we have." I didn't go on because the painful memories start to flood my brain.

I learned to defend myself because I had no choice. One flash back comes to mind was when I was about 14 and my mom was passed out from whatever drug she had decided to take. I got home after practice to find a strange very scary looking guy in my living room. I see he was chopping up what I assumed a line of coke, or maybe meth and turned to go to my room. I typically stayed there till her boyfriend's left after do what they wanted with my mom. As I was walking down the hall to my room he calls out to me but I ignore him. As I learned it was better that way. He ended up grabbing me tell me my had a debt with him. I told me that was her problem not mine. As he continued to pin to the wall near a shelf of Knick knacks I could see he wanted more then what my mom had to offer. I reached over to this huge hummingbird rock thingy my mom had. I kneed him the nuts and hit him over the head with this thing. I must have hit him harder then I intended and he fell to the ground. I took off running and didn't come back till the next day. I stayed at grandmas that night. The next day he was gone. Now anytime someone sneaks up on me and grabs me, I hit first and ask questions later.

But I didn't want to share that much information with this guy, I mean what kind of freak would I be. My mom druggie boyfriends would attack me so I naturally attack first. Yeah, what a great way to start a friendship, if this is friendship.

I could tell by the way he was still walking with me he wanted to know about, but not wanting to push me.

"You know we have a long ride still ahead of us, do you mind if I still sit next you?" he said breaking the silence.