Masked love

Chapter 7

Nikita stood at the starting line. She knew she could beat Stella, no she had to. "You're going down sicki Niki." Stella whispered to Nikita. Nikita zoned her out, this was her time to shine. The whistle sounded and they took off. They ran neck to neck, jumping over the hurdles. Arriving at the rock wall, they got their harnesses on and began climbing. Nikita climbed quickly, knowing the path well. Stella tried to keep up with her, but she was always one step behind Nikita. Nikita made it to the top, and instantly jumped off the other side. Stella jumped off after her, and met her at the bottom as Nikita finished taking off her harnessed. Nikita ran for the tunnels, crawling through them, and heading for the tightrope. Stella was keeping up with her and getting close to passing her. They got on the tightrope. Nikita stepped onto the rope with her arms outstretched. Stella came after her, stepping onto the tightrope in the same fashion. Stella's arms could reach Nikita's. They took each step carefully. Nikita was in the lead. Halfway through the rope, Stella began to reach toward Nikita.  She wanted to tip her balance. Stella leaned over ready to hit Nikita's arm. Nikita saw this and dropped her arms, keeping her balance at her center.        Stella was the one who lost her balance, and plummeted into the mud. Stella was covered in mud, and even ate some. Nikita kept moving, barely hiding her smile. She climbed up the ladder and slid to the finish the line. She had won! That was the hardest she had tried in a while.
People were applauding. Nikita saw Joseph stand up and ran over to her. "I knew you could do it," He said cheerily. Stella stood up and ran for Nikita, with her hands balled up in fists.   She swung her fist at the back of Nikita's head. Joseph was standing in front of Nikita. She was smiling. Suddenly, her arm was grabbed and she was spun around. She stumbled into Joseph's chest, as she saw him holding up his right arm in a strong block. Stella's punch was only able to make contact with his arm. "Whoever thought you would be such a sore loser?" He said with slight anger.
Nikita saw Zeak run past her to Stella. She took her other fist, stepping forward and threw it at Nikita. Zeak grabbed her arm and pushed her back, just as the gym teachers came running over. One of the teachers restrained Stella, who was now kicking and struggling. "She just wants to embarrass me. I can't let her. I can't let her take it away," she yelled with tears running down her face. The other teacher led the students inside. With his hand holding hers, Nikita stayed close to Joseph's side.
Once inside the gym the other students were sent away, as Joseph, Nikita, and Zeak sat on the bleachers. The gym teacher got statements from each of them, and left them alone to file the report. Nikita got up. Joseph looked at her, "where are you going?"
"I need to ask Zeak something. I'll be okay on my own," Nikita said with some confidence. Joseph nodded. She turned and walked to Zeak. He was sitting still with his head in his arms. She tentatively touched his shoulder, as she sat down beside him.
Zeak looked at her, "are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I guess. What was Stella talking about? I never wanted to embarrass her." Nikita said.
"You remember how back in our elementary years, when we were like the three musketeers? You were the tweeting social bird, Stella was the quiet mouse, and I-"
"You were a teddy bear." She said sadly. "Yeah I remember back when we all got along and were best friends."
Zeak nodded. "Stella didn't always see it that way though. In fifth grade, she began to get jealous of how you always had me and several other friends by your side. She felt left out, alone even. My nickname for her, mouse became an insult. People started to tease her about how quiet she was. I always tried to stood up for her when I saw it." He said.
"I never knew. She never said anything." Nikita said, thinking back to those times.
"People made sure not to do it around you. She thought that you had been gossiping behind her back and that you wanted her to be teased-"
"I n-"
"I know. I tried to convince her that you were our friend and that you would never do such a thing. She was convinced that I was just trying to take your side. I didn't want her to push me away so I stopped. She wanted everything you had. Beauty, popularity, me, and even your perfect family. That summer, when you got sick and her mom and dad got divorced, she decided that things were going to change. I felt so bad that she wouldn't come see you in the hospital, especially with what happened with your mom." He took a breath to calm himself. Nikita was shocked. She never knew Stella thought so poorly of her.
"I understood that she was going through problems of her own, so I didn't mind." Nikita said thinking back to her empty hospital room. Zeak was the only one from school, who came to visit her.
The teacher came back and dismissed them to class. After changing in the locker rooms, Nikita walked with Joseph out to the commons. "So what class do you have next?" Joseph asked as they walked up the stairs to the third floor.
"Honors Art V, you?" Nikita said.
"Wow, that's a grade above ours... Don't laugh, okay?" Joseph said. Nikita nodded in response. "I've got Chorus IV next." He finished tentatively.
"That's cool. Why would I laugh at that?" She asked.
"Well, it's not very manly to be in chorus class. I enjoy the class though." He answered as they stopped at the ninth hall.
"It's better to be in a class you enjoy then to worry about what other people think." She said looking up at him with a smile. He smiled back at her. "I guess we should go our separate ways here." She began to walk away from him towards the tenth hall. She took five steps, then felt a gentle grasp around her wrist stopping her. She looked behind her at Joseph. His hand was holding her wrist.
"I'll walk you to class, then head to my own." He said walking towards her.
Nikita shook her head. "I wouldn't want you to be too late for class. I can make it to class on my own," she said.
"I want to walk with you and we already have passes, so it won't matter how late we are." He said, trying to convince her. She gave him a half smile.
"If you say so," she said, letting him hold her hand. They walked to the tenth hall. Nikita lead him down the hall to her class. By the door many of the artworks, that had won awards, were hanging on the wall. Many of them were Nikita's works from that year. They glanced at them as they stopped at the door.
"You made all of these, they're pretty good." Joseph said, looking at all of them. Nikita tilted her head to the side.
"Really? These are only in-state awards, I don't think my works could ever compete nationally. Truthfully I've always thought anyone could win the awards that I do." She said with modestly. Joseph shook his head doubtfully.
"I'll meet you here after class," He said. She nodded. She waved goodbye to him, as she walked into the classroom.
She gave the teacher her pass, as many of the students eyed her carefully. "You just missed the announcements for this year's National Art Award for this grade level. You won second place for your work, A Face in the Rain. Congratulations." The teacher said handing her a plaque. She stared at it in astonishment. She touched it to make sure it was real. "They really liked your creative take on a self portrait. They were so used to getting detailed faces with almost no background that they really enjoyed seeing such a detailed background along with such a good portrait."
Nikita smiled at her teacher, "Thank you." However, when she looked back at the class, her smile quickly diminished. They envied her with evil eyes. She quickly took her seat in the back, and hid her face behind the art stand. She put the plaque in her backpack and pulled out her  cd player with some earbuds. She had a mixed cd with all her favorite bands. She put in her earbuds and took a look at her list of assignments. The class was mostly self-directed. They had a list of assignments, and it was their choice which one they turned in by the end of two weeks. Her music drowned out the classroom, as she began to draw in bliss.
Most of her works consisted of her kitten, her family before the hospital, rain and shades of blue and purple. Drawing was her escape. When she drew, she would zone out and forget where she was.
+++
The Bell ranged loud through her music, bringing her back to reality. She turned off her music and packed up her bag. She looked back at her work and signed her name the bottom. The work was mostly finished, all it needed was color. She looked at the figures she had drawn. Tears filled in her eyes. The figures brought back memories from happier times. Her life was happier then. She title the work anniversary day.
She had drawn three kids in outfits to celebrate their anniversary of becoming friends. The boy stood in the center, behind the two girls with his arms wrapped around them. He was wearing normal clothes and a headband with teddy bear ears attached. He was a younger version of Zeak. The girl to his left was wearing a silver princess dress. Her hair was in pigtails with mouse ears attached. She was a younger version of Stella. The girl to the boy's right was a younger version of Nikita. Her hair was nicely braided, and she was wearing a feathered shawl around her shoulders. They were happy despite the gloomy background behind them. It was raining. A flash of lightning had struck just behind the boy. Nikita had remembered that day well, but it wasn't raining that day.
Nikita took a deep breath and wiped away the tears. She looked around the empty classroom and wondered if Joseph was coming. Then he walked into the classroom. "There you are. I got a little worried when I didn't see you out in the hall," he said, walking over to her.
"I didn't want to be out in the crowded hallway." She said. Joseph nodded and looked at her drawing.
"Wow, that's really good. Wait, is that Zeak, Stella, and you when you guys were younger?" He asked, slightly surprised
Nikita nodded, "This is a memory drawing of our one year anniversary day back when we were best friends." She stood up and covered the drawing. She picked it up and placed it with the other unfinished works. "We should get going." She said, with her voice hinting that she didn't want to talk about it. They walked out of the empty classroom into the crowded hallways. Holding hands, they stayed close together as they navigated through the crowds to the doors of the bus loop. Walking outside, Nikita heard Zeak's voice off in the distance.
"I told you Stella I'm done with hurting Nikita. We went too far, and she was once our best friend. Go ahead and do what you want to me, I'm done being the bad guy and I wish you would be too." He said to Stella. Nikita could see them underneath the shade of a tree.
"I've been humiliated Zeak and you think I'm just going to stop and start being the quiet little pathetic mouse who used to follow you guys around. No, I'm going to get my revenge. She deserves to know how I felt. I guess you'll be living on the streets from now. Good luck with that!" She shouted storming off. Nikita stopped and looked at Zeak. What had she just heard? Zeak was staring in Stella's direction, and then chased after her. Nikita shrugged her shoulders and continued walking towards the bus. She was worried about what she had heard, but there was nothing she could do about it.
When they got on the bus, Nikita and Joseph quickly took their seats across from each  other. "So I got some good news. I can get you a job at the library where I work and you'll be working the same shift as me. I'll text you all the details as soon as my boss sends me everything." Joseph announced happily.
Nikita smiled although it was partially forced. "That's cool." She said, trying to sound happy. Joseph looked at her, reading her face. Nikita quickly looked out the window, since she couldn't take his gaze.
"You know you don't have to pretend around me. What's wrong? If you don't want to work at the library we can figure something else out." Joseph said with concern. He looked at her, waiting for a response.
She let out a sigh. "It's not that. Some old memories are surfacing. I'm just trying to figure out when did it all go wrong, and if I could have fixed things before they got this bad." She said, finally meeting his gaze.
Joseph thought for a moment before saying something. "If it's in the past then you shouldn't worry about it, since you can't change it. Instead try and figure out if you can still fix it and how. It's not good to linger in the past with the what could have beens." Nikita heard what he was saying. She felt that he understood her and that he was speaking from experience. She smiled but looked away again thinking about Zeak and Stella. Curiosity got the better of Joseph. "So what's the story between you, Zeak, and Stella?" He asked with slight regret.
Nikita looked at him, debating on whether or not to tell him. Finally she decided, "We met in kindergarten. I was first friends with Stella. Back then she was very quiet and very independent, but I didn't like the sight of her being alone. I could easily talk to people and trust them back then. We met Zeak one day during recess. I was clumsy sometimes, but I loved to walk close to the nature on the outskirts of the playground. Unfortunately there was this ditch separating the playground from a forested area, and I lost my footing and fell into the ditch. Stella went and got help, she brought Zeak and a teacher. Zeak was very athletic and strong for his age. He climbed down the ditch and helped me get back up to the teacher. After that the three of us would hangout more and soon we became best friends." She paused for a moment, letting Joseph take in her story. He nodded hinting for her to keep going. She thought for a moment and then continued. "After awhile I had a lot of friends, but the three of us always stayed together. I thought we were happy. Stella wasn't. A distance was growing between us and she started to get left out of the group. I thought that was her choice, now I don't think it was. Then during the summer I ended up in the hospital and I lost my mom." Nikita looked away as tears weld up in her eyes. She didn't like to talk about that. She took a deep breath and continued, "That was when I learned that those who'd I called 'friends' didn't really care about me. That's basically the story. When I came back to this school after awhile everything had changed and it seemed like I was just waiting for the end." She finished. Joseph had more questions, but he figured the answers would come in the end. There was no rush.
"It doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong," Joseph said.
Nikita nodded, "yea I guess not." She was still uncertain though. The bus slowed to a stop and she waved goodbye as she got off the bus.

Her father's car was in the driveway. She walked into her unlocked house, "I'm home father." Nikita took off her shoes at the door and walked to the living room.
He was sitting on the couch. "Welcome home, Niki." He said calmly, when he saw her. "How was school?" She took seat a chair and set down her backpack in front of her.
"It was fine, I guess. A friend of mine said he could get me a job at the library." She answered. Her father seemed to be in a good mood.
"Hm that sounds good. How do you expect to get to and from work though?" He said and took a sip out of a dark brown bottle.
"He said he would drive me, since we would be working the same hours." She quickly answered. Her father raised an eyebrow at her quick tone. She quickly looked at the ground.
"He seems like an interesting fellow. I'll have to meet him, if you two are going to be spending so much time together." Nikita's heart began to race. "What is your relationship with this 'friend'? How close are you two?" He asked.
"We're just friends," she answered quickly and nervously. Her father's expression changed, as he eyed her carefully. She kept her attention on the ground trying to calm herself. Why was she so nervous? He wouldn't hurt anyone else, would he?
"You're not hiding anything from me, are you Niki?" He asked. The tension was rising. Nikita shook her head, she was getting scared. "You know I don't like liars, Nikita." He was now holding a pocket knife in his hand.
"I'm not lying." She said calmly, but quietly.
Her father clenched his knife. "What was that?" He was getting angry. He walked over to her and pulled her to her feet. "You look so much like your mother. Why couldn't I stop her?" Nikita looked at him surprised. "Your mother wouldn't want me to raise a liar." He grabbed her wrist tightly and dragged her into the basement. His grip was bruising her wrist. He threw her down on to the bloodstain floor. She sat there with her back to him. There was nothing she could do and she knew it. He took his knife and sliced through the blue fabric of her shirt. She held in screams of pain, as tears streamed down her face. "It's your fault she's dead! She did that because of you." he shouted the truth to her over and over again. She tried not to listen him. She did not want to fall down that path again. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, as the slashes of pain came, until she finally she passed out.