(Gabe)
I had been going to my new school for almost a week and I already had a lot of friends. What can I say? I am awesome. I was already on the football team as a fullback. The team guys were pretty cool. The school hierarchy was quite stereotypical. The cheerleaders ruled the school along with us, the football guys. Though the most popular, hands down was our quarterback, Cole Ryder. Not surprisingly, he had his pick of girls, but according to rumors he never slept around. He went on a few dates and kissed a lot of girls but he didn’t sleep with them. This made me very curious but I didn’t ask. Didn’t want to pry.
I woke up to my phone ringing. The caller id said it was Cole. Why would he call me at 10 on a Sunday morning?
“Hello?”
“Gabe, are you busy today? Around 11:30?”
“Well, good morning to you to. And no, I’m not busy. Why?”
“Sorry,” he said, sounding sheepish. “I need a favour man.”
“What?”
“I’ll be there in half an hour. Be ready.”
Half an hour later, I had showered dressed and was in the process of eating breakfast when Cole came in.
“Hey man. Thanks for doing this. I owe you one.”
“Yeah yeah. What’s up?”
“You know where the Grantley Park is, right?”
“Yeah. Just tell me what I gotta do. The suspense is killing me.”
“Okay, so around 11:30, I need you to go there and give this to a girl and tell her that it’s on tonight at the usual time.” He said, handing me a brown package.
“Are you going to tell me her name? And what is in this? And what the message means?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. Her name’s Kiara. She has black hair and she’ll probably be writing something. Or reading. It could be either. And she’ll know what the message means. Don’t worry about it. Oh, and don’t try talking to her, she’s not a morning person and doesn’t really like new people.” He shrugged, dismissing it. But my curiosity just grew. Who is this mystery girl that Cole very obviously cared for? I mean, it was practically written on his face.
“So, who is she? And why can’t you go?”
“She’s my best friend.” He said, smiling softly. “and I have to go out, family stuff you know. Anyway, I need to leave. Thanks for this.”
“No problem.”
An hour later, I was standing in the park. It was pretty crowded. But one girl stood out. She was wearing khaki short shorts, a black tank top and a red plaid shirt left open. She was beautiful. I couldn’t see all of her but that I could tell. She was sitting cross-legged on a bench a little away from everybody else. She was all alone and she was writing in her notebook or diary, I don’t know. I figured that had to be ‘her’.
“Kiara!” I shouted.
Her head snapped up and I was momentarily stunned. She had thick straight black hair to her shoulders, with a fringe covering half of her forehead. Soft, pink, full, pouty lips were turned downwards in a confused expression. She had a strong toned body, and legs that went on for miles. She had beautiful naturally tanned skin. Although my brain was not working, my legs had kept walking towards her. I could see wasn’t skinny like other girls. She had a curvy body with full breasts and wide hips. She was stunning. I smiled when I saw her check me out. I was pretty hot too.
Suddenly, her eyes went flat. The curiosity was gone, along with everything else. She gave me a cold, flat look and went back to her writing. She was all dark. Dark hair, dark eyes, and an icy beauty. She looked like an angel of destruction.
I stood beside her, a little shocked, waiting for her to speak. She didn’t. So I asked her, “You’re Kiara right?”
She looked up at me and I finally saw her eyes. They were dark brown, almost black. And cold.
“Yes. How can I help you?” she was being polite but there was an undercurrent of annoyance. I ignored that, and introduced myself. I told her the message and gave her the package. Then I sat myself down beside her and waited for her to open it. When she just looked at me, I asked her if she was going to open it.
She sighed but opened it. Inside was a silver chain. It was pretty but the locket wasn’t a heart, like I was expecting. I had figured she was Cole’s on-off girlfriend. No wonder he didn’t sleep around. And the dates he went on must have been during their off times. The locket, was a skull. She smiled when she looked at it. The small smile, which I don’t think she even noticed, transformed her face. Gone was the ice and a warm beauty overcame her which was even more stunning. I whistled.
““That’s a nice piece of jewelry. But a skull? Seriously? I didn’t know that’s what guys gave their girlfriends nowadays.” I said, a little jealous. I mean, come on! The guy is popular, rules the school, has a girl fan club and I am secure enough in my masculinity to say, pretty good looking. Does he have to have this radiant beauty for a girlfriend?
“Cole’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend.” My hopes lifted and I was a little, okay a lot, excited when I heard her say that.
“Sweetheart, guys don’t give girls jewelry unless they are their girlfriends or someone they like. So if Cole is not your boyfriend then he sure wants to be.” I told her, trying to be nonchalant.
When she looked at me, I literally stopped breathing. Her eyes looked dead. No emotion, no feeling just two empty, dark orbs that seemed to be looking into my soul without revealing anything of their own.
“When you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t make assumptions.” She said.
Gone was the warmth. Even the ice wasn’t there anymore. In its place was something deadly, and terrible. Beautiful, but terrible. This girl had gone through some shit. And I wanted to know what. I was angry. How could anyone hurt such a girl? I tried to continue the conversation. She gave curt replies but her irritation was coming through loud and clear now. I tried asking her about the message again, and she must have reached her limits because she snapped.
“Listen Gabe, this stuff is personal so please refrain from asking about it. And, as you can see, I’m busy, so please, for fucks sake, lift your ass off the bench and go do whatever you do.” I was a little hurt. She must have known I was new to school and yet she already seemed to hate me for some reason.
“Way to make the new kid feel welcome. Cole told me not to talk to you because you’re not a morning person but seriously? I was trying to be friendly.” I told her. I wanted to make her feel a little guilty, so I stood up.
“That’s the thing Gabe,” she sighed, looking tired. “I don’t want to make you feel welcome or unwelcome. Nor do I want you to be friendly towards me.”
“Yeah? Whatever.” I said and walked away. I was trying to make her feel bad so that she would call me back to apologize or explain. It didn’t work.
I went home, waiting for tomorrow. Going to school never seemed as appealing as it did that day.
YOU ARE READING
Healing
Teen FictionKiara has always been different. Quick to anger, sarcastic and rude. She believes she doesn't need anyone. That life is meant to be gone through alone. She likes being alone. That way, she never has to remember what happened that night. That one nig...
