The two small, juvenile girls, no older than ten years old, ran past me side by side, knocking my books out of my hands and causing me to stumble to the ground harshly. As I hit the ground a large, blaring bang fanned across the trivial park that I spent most of my free time in.
I am bewildered for a moment, but I can hear the slight pitter patter of the girls' little feet coming back to me. I lift my head up to look at a blonde girl whose hand is stretched out towards me. I take her outstretched hand and use it to pull myself off the wretched ground. I focus my eyes on the blonde girl.
She wasn't more than about four feet tall and was very thin. Her skin was nicely tanned since it was summer and she wore her hair in two messy dutch braids. The small dress that she wore was a pale purple that made her green eyes pop more than usual. They stared up at me with an intense look that beckoned me to keep quiet.
The other little girl was a brunette about the same height as the blonde and had the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen. She was much paler than the other girl which made her appear a bit more dull and lifeless. Her head wore a magenta headband to match her satin magenta dress that sculpted her tiny body effortlessly.
The blonde girl spoke first, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
"Oh don't worry about it, I'll be fine," I proclaimed with a bit of uncertainty.
The brown haired girl looked as if she was going to speak, but the blonde girl looked at her and it was almost as if her eyes were controlling her because with one look the brown haired girl snapped her head towards the ground and kept quiet.
"Your head is bleeding," The blonde girl spoke in a quiet tone as she pointed at my sweat-drenched forehead.
I reached up and grazed my hand over my forehead carefully. I brought my hand down to where I could view it and saw that it was indeed covered in blood. I stared at my hand for a moment so that I could fully process what had just happened and then transferred my gaze to the two little girls. The blonde girl was patiently awaiting my response to her obvious statement.
"Like I said, I'll be alright," I assured her.
"Lucille! Annette!" I heard a voice call from across the park. The brunette girl looked at the blonde and her face was red as a rose.
"Lucy I think we should go back, we don't want to make Athen mad," The brown haired girl, who I assumed to be Annette, finally mumbled.
"Anne we will be fine, stop worrying about everything," Lucy snapped.
"I think your friend is right, Lucy. You two should probably head back, it's getting dark," I spoke in a quiet tone not wanting to feel the wrath of the small blonde girl. Although she looked innocent, her eyes told a different story. Her eyes could make the happiest man on earth kill himself, or the nicest man on earth kill everyone.
She seemed for a moment as if she was going to yell at me, but instead she just grabbed Annette's hand and ran off to where the voice had bellowed their names earlier. I watched them run off simultaneously, almost as if they were the same person. I turned around and bent down to pick up my book that I had dropped, only to find that it was missing. I swung around to face where the two girls were running and I saw Annette carrying my favorite book away.
What a devious pair, I thought to myself. They probably ran around town stealing everyone's things with their little routine. I pondered chasing after them, but realized that they probably needed that book more than I did, plus I've already read it five times.
I began my dreaded walk to my house that wasn't much of a home. I lived in a small town outside of New York City called Whitestone. Since it is summer, the average temperature is 90 degrees and most people spend their days by the pool or at the local water park. I on the other hand prefer to spend my time at the park, as far away from my family as possible.
I come from a broken family. I have one younger brother and one younger sister. We all live in a three bedroom house with my mom. Since we have have such limited space and money, there is almost never a moment where an argument isn't brewing.
My younger sister, Tessa, is eleven years old. Her hair is cut to her shoulders and is a strawberry blonde color. Green eyes compliment her hair along with tiny freckles all over her face. She was very petite and wore only dresses, despite me and my mom's tireless efforts to get her into jeans. Tessa was the most quiet of us all, especially the past five years. Her unbreakable bond with our father was shattered by his untimely death; therefore her fragile and somber demeanor only increased when he passed away. She was the only one of us to really have a connection with him and he was the only one of us who could break her out of her shell. Every time I try to communicate with her she's off in her land of imaginary beings, talking to her stuffed animals, or trying to talk to our dad.
My brother on the other hand was the exact opposite, he had absolutely no problem speaking his mind, which unfortunately caused problems with me. My brother, Evan, was very calamitous and deprecating. He had absolutely no respect for anyone but himself. Even my mom was afraid of him. He was thirteen years old and was a bit on the chubbier side of the scale. He had a more dirty blonde color hair and didn't have freckles, although he did have green eyes like my sister. He was very persuasive and was always able to entice my mom so that he could get his way. I tried to stay away from him as much as possible, which was hard since he always wanted to pick a fight with someone.
The walk to my house was a dimly lit path that carried along about 3 blocks. In the winter the path was covered entirely by snow and was hard to get through, but in the summer it was empty. As the sun began to go down, the path got darker and darker, which began to scare me. I hurried my pace from a slow trudge to a fast walking. Ever since I was little my mom has stressed to me the dangers of being out alone at night. Since we are so close to New York City, she is afraid that we are at danger of being mugged or kidnapped at any moment, which has always frightened me.
I run up to my door and I can already hear the anticipated yelling coming from inside our house. I brace myself before I open the door by throwing my hair into a ponytail. I slowly peek in the door and I can see my atrocity of a brother throwing a chair across the room. I quickly throw myself through the door to catch the chair before it hits Tessa.
"Evan!" I shout as I can feel the steam coming out of my ears. My mom wasn't doing anything to help and was sitting there manifestly. He gives me a quick but intense glare and storms off into his room. I turn around and walk up to Tessa, but she ignores me and just rushes off to our room as usual. I sigh and return my gaze to my mother who won't make eye contact with me. My mind tells me to yell at her, but my heart tells me to just leave it be.
The single bathroom in our house is a dusty yellow that has faded to a light brown from all the dirt that has accumulated over the years. The mirror is somewhat clean which is surprising considering it hasn't been washed in over three months. I look in the mirror. I take the hair tie and set it on the counter. My hair is in its natural curls and is a natural blonde color. I am so thin that it is almost unnatural and my doctor has told me that I should start eating more. My skin is tan from my days that are often spent at the park. I am wearing a blue t-shirt and jean shorts along with my tattered pair of white converse.
I walk back out into the room and my family is arguing again. I step in front of my brother and he throws the chair once again. I am unable to stop it this time and it hits me in the head, causing it to start bleeding again. I scream my lungs out at him for a moment, using some language that isn't exactly appropriate for children, which causes my mom to start to lecture and scream at me for yelling at them. After a while they are all screaming at each other frantically, and like a mouse, I scurry out of the house.
I run down the street and don't look back. I managed to grab my mom's credit card out of her bag before I left, and use it when I make a few stops as I'm out. By the time I finish going to the stores I need to go to it is already eight o'clock. I knew if I went home I would just get yelled at, so instead I decide to walk back to the park.
I solemnly walk to the old, beaten down tree that was almost a second home to me and stare at it. It was a small willow tree that was bound to shrivel up at any given moment, but I loved it. This little willow tree gave me hope for the world. I know it seems crazy, but the fact that this tiny tree is able to withstand all the things that nature, and the human race throws at it, gives me a tiny spark of optimism that I can handle any and all things that life may throw at me. Because if this poor little tree that is rooted to the ground and will never be able to move can survive, then I, who can walk and talk, can survive and do whatever I want.
I look down to where my ambitious little tree meets the grass that fans across the whole park like an ocean of green. My gaze moves from there to the little pink and white flowers that dot the grass and fill the park with an endless amount of joy and color. I look to the park where the two girls who swindled me ran off to play and spread the joy even more. This park, although it was nothing compared to other gorgeous views in the world, was a moment of happiness for all who stopped by.
I look at where there is an imprint of my butt planted into the grass and see my book that the two little girls had stolen earlier along with a small note inside. The book wasn't very long, so I could see how they could read it that fast, but it was such a good book that I had no idea why they'd give it back. The book follows a girl who has been kept from the outside world her whole life by her parents, but on her eighteenth birthday she tries to escape. Now most novels would tell you the lies about the girl escaping, but the truth is there is no escape. In the end of the book is reality, she is trapped inside the home forever never knowing what the outside could've been holding for her.
The note on the inside reads, 'I'm sorry we stole your book, but we wanted to read it. This is a good book, but I wish that the girl could've seen the world because it is a great place,'. Sometimes I too wished the book ended that way, but then I would get my hopes up about how the world can be a great place and how dreams do come true.
I shut the book carefully and sit down by the tree. From the corner of my eye, I am able to notice a light turning on at a house nearby. I jerk my head towards the light as it startles me. It is on the upstairs floor of a delightful little house that is only a small distance from the park. I look into the lit up window and I see a guy walking shirtless through his room, but not just any guy, Tyler Williams.
Tyler Williams was one of my best friends throughout junior year, but as soon as summer started we sorta just stopped talking. He was one of the few people that I felt I could really let loose around. He was 5'11 and was in my choir class. He may seem like a nerd, but he was surprisingly one of the most popular guys at school. It was hard to believe that he and I would ever be friends. He had brown hair and green eyes that were almost the same color as mine.
I stare at his shirtless body through his window and decide to go and talk to him. I stand up briskly and walk over to the house. I grab a few pebbles from off the ground and start to throw them at his window. I see his now fully clothed figure move to the window and begin to unlatch the hinges. He lifts it up and looks down at me.
"Brianna? Is that you?" He shouts to me from the window. I laugh and nod.
"It's me!"
"What are you doing here?" He whisper shouts.
"I don't know I was sitting by that tree and I saw you through your window and thought why not come over!" I shout to him. He laughs and so do I.
"Give me a minute and I'll be down," He says as he closes the window. I wait patiently for him to go down his stairs, through the living room, and out the door. I only knew this information from him telling me many times how far his room is from the front door and explaining to me why it took him so long to get outside whenever we hung out.
He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I giggle and hug him back. He kept his arms around me for a moment and then we walked to the tree and sat down. He anxiously pointed to the book in my hand.
"Let me guess, Locked Away?" he asked. I only talked about this book all the time with him. I nod.
"That's how I've felt this whole summer, except instead of a basement, I've been locked inside this town," I explain to him.
"Really? Why didn't you go anywhere?" He asks me.
"I wanted to, but my family was always in need of something. And now school starts back up tomorrow and I didn't get to go any of the places I wanted to go," I sigh.
He looks at me for a moment and all of the sudden his facial expression changes to one of concern, "Your head is bleeding Brianna, are you okay?"
"Oh, that's nothing, just a little scrape from falling earlier," I shrug it off.
"I still think that you should clean it off, and maybe put a bandage on it," He suggests standing up and extending his hand out to help me up. I take his hand and get up.
"Well would your parents mind if I came inside for a bit?" I ask.
"My parents aren't home, they rarely ever are," He tells me as we start walking towards his house with our fingers interlocking. We walk inside and it is the most magnificent place I have ever seen.
The walls are a bouncy and bright green that is very welcoming and pleasing to the eye. In the living room there is a black leather couch that can fit ten, along with a big flat screen TV on a glass table. The wood floors give a nice touch to the room along with the beautiful, white, silk drapes hanging from the gorgeous stain glass window. Through the living room is a spiral staircase that leads to the second floor, but we don't go up them. He takes me into a petite bathroom in a hallway next to the living room. The bathroom has a resemblance to mine, except much cleaner and a lot bigger.
He grabs a first aid kit from under the sink and sets it on the counter. He pulls out some hydrogen peroxide and a cotton swab. He dips the cotton swab into the hydrogen peroxide gently and dabs the wound with it. He repeats this process about five times to properly clean it. After he finishes, he grabs a bandage and puts it on my head.
"You're all set," he smiles.
"Thank you," I stutter as I walk out the door. He nods and starts to walk towards the door with me. I stand in the door frame and look at him intently. I sigh as I begin to walk out the door.
"Brianna! Wait!" He calls after me.
"What is it Tyler?" I jerk around so that way I am facing him.
"What if you could do the things you wanted to do this summer?" He grabs his car keys and closes the door behind him, "I mean I have a car with gas in it and money."
"Tyler you're crazy, we have school in the morning," I roll my eyes and cross my arms.
"And? It's only 9:00, and school doesn't start until 9:30 tomorrow morning, we've got twelve hours to do whatever you want," He says getting excited.
"Tyler that's in-"
"Is it? Because I think that would be one hell of a story to tell," He says waving the keys in front of my face, "Come on Bri, treat yourself for once."
"I can't!" I shout getting frustrated.
"Don't be the girl in the book, Brianna," He tells me which catches my interest, "I know you think that reality is that you never get what you want, but here I am giving you what you want so take it!" He pleads with me. I ponder it for a moment and then realize that maybe he could be right.
"Alright," I say.
"Wait really?" He asks as his eyes light up like a kids' when they see candy.
"Why not, I've got nothing to lose," I laugh. He unlocks the car and holds the door open for me as I get in. He scurries to the drivers side and gets in. I fasten my seat belt and he puts the key into the ignition. He turns the key and our journey begins.
YOU ARE READING
One Last Night
Romance"Come on, don't be a sis," He splashed me with the freezing ocean water as I covered myself. "It's too cold!" I shout. He grabs me by the arm swinging me into the water to face him. This was the closest we had been all night, and his lips just look...
