The Boy In The Beanie (Fetus Harry Styles)

Beaten Down and Beautiful

It starts to get cooler but I continue going to the pond everyday because it doesn't get too cold here, in LA. February comes along faster than ever, I get a pleasant surprise for valentines day, a letter from a secret admirer.

Sad to say I don't think I've ever had a secret admirer, it feels nice. Every year our first period teacher collects valentines cards from students and passes them out on valentines day I usually get one from a teacher or my friends but not secret admirers.

Aria always gets more than me but she gives me the usual candy that comes with the cards or chocolate or whatever.

It's Friday and I'm heading to the pond happier than usual, wondering who my secret admirer could be, I don't really want to know though, I want it to forever be a mystery.

I walk home from school, I've started to do that on the days that Aria doesn't come with me, it's fun to just walk and look and listen. On Fridays I always take the long way home so I end up at the pond later that usual.

The sun is setting and I really shouldn't be in the woods after dark so I figure that if I'm quick enough I could get a picture of the pond at sunset and be home before the sun completely disappears for the night.

As I'm walking through the woods I smell something burning, it smells like it's coming from my right. I leave my trail to see what it is. It's a fire. Wait, it's a campfire, I see people around it, young people. As I get closer I can see and hear them better, they're boys, five of them, all older than me it seems, not by much maybe two years or so.

Trying to be as quiet as possible I get a bit closer to see what they're doing out here at this time. Then, I see it. They're smoking. Weed, to be exact. I know I should get out of here as soon as possible so as I turn away to make a quick and stealthy flee from the woods I trip over a tree branch.

My heart stops.

"Hey what was that?" Asks one of the boys, standing up.

"It came from over here." says the other, pointing a glass bottle in my general direction.

I get up as fast as possible and run.

"Hey come back here!"

They've spotted me.

"It's a girl." I hear one say.

They're clearly all drunk, high, or both. I'm being chased further into the now dark woods. The deeper I go the darker it gets and the more tired I become. They're relentless, by what they're screaming while chasing me frightens me as to what they'll do when they catch me.

At first I thought they were chasing me so I wouldn't go tell what I saw them doing in the woods but I now realize that there's more to it than that.

I reach the pond, unable to breathe, I frantically look from side to side, desperately searching for a place to hide until I get my breath back but it's hopeless. I'm trapped.

The boys pop out from the woods immediately making eye contact with me, they look like animals, red eyed, licking their lips, breathing heavily, and laughing their cruel laughs. I scream as loud as I can and run, I don't know where I plan to run but I just run. They instantly catch me grabbing hold of my arm and yanking me back.

I scream and scream. I try to fight my way out from their grip but I'm being held by both arms and legs. One of them stands laughing in front of me, he whispers in my ear,

"Hush no one can hear you, babe."

I continue to scream I even spit in his face that's all I can do at this point. He just wipes it away and laughs.

"You want to go?" he asks.

"I can't let you go so easily after what you've seen."

"I didn't see anything!" I hiss.

"If someone comes through those woods by the time I get to one you can go but if not, you're spending the night with us."

I scream and kick with all my might, trying to free myself but it's no use.

"Five"

"Four"

"Three"

"Two-"

I suddenly feel the boy holding my left arm release and fall to the ground just as the one holding my right does the same. They get up and yell punching a boy behind me in the face, but he doesn't fall.

"RUN!" he demands.

I stand frozen at the sight of Harry fighting off the boys.

"RUN!" he yells.

I turn and run as fast as I can through the woods, by the time I reach the outside my lungs feel like they've exploded but I don't stop, I run til' I get to Harry's house. I don't bother to ring the doorbell or knock I just run straight in, I see Gemma and her mom sitting in the living room even though I can't breathe I find a way to spit out a few words.

"HARRY! THE WOODS-! HARRY IN THE WOODS!" I yell.

"What?" Asks Gemma.

"HARRY'S IN TROUBLE!"

Gemma calls the police as her mom runs out the door I try to stop her but she jerks my arm away, I let her go because I know that there's no way I can stop a mother from going to defend her child.

The cops arrive instantly multiple cars arrive with a few ambulances, the whole neighborhood is watching from their windows as the police drag out a boy on conscious, three handcuffed, one over their shoulder, and carry mine out.

He's bleeding from the lip and nose, his eye seems swollen, but he's ok. They carry him out, in their arms lies my little star, beaten down but not completely broken, not his brightest moment but still with a faint glow.

Beaten down and beautiful.

I'm too weak to run to him. Instead I whisper,

"I missed you."

And pass out in Gemma's arms.