Kimi's World

Sometimes a few seconds is all it takes to change your whole life.

EPILOGUE

I took a deep breath and looked down at the angry ocean, eager to consume me. Usually it brought about so much peace whenever I had the chance to see it, but this time, the sea was my gateway to freedom.

I heard a distant call of my name but I chose to ignore it because I knew just how much I would be drawn back to that voice again. The only voice that soothed my soul when I was tormented for years…

He was about ten seconds away from reaching me. Rethink your decision, Kimi! But how could I when the pain was too much to bear? No one knew what I had been through for the past seven years of my life and now that I had gotten away… I refused to believe that my destiny belonged to the claws of an underground cell.

“Kimi!” My heartbeat sped up at his nearby presence. It was too much. I closed my eyes and panted for just a little more air. In a moment of weakness, I took a small step to the front. The eager footsteps halted immediately.

“He’s not going to hurt you again.” Santiago pleaded with me in his soothing voice. I remember how I used to cling to it for so long.

“You can’t stop me. No one can.” I whispered and let myself fall. My eyes opened wide and before I could really see his face for the first time, I was already gone.

***

CHAPTER 1

You thought I was dead, huh? Come on, a good story can’t always end with death! Like seriously, people. I’m alive and well and apparently, that was the dream I had last night (Insert sigh here). And the cool thing about it is that I got my younger sister, Kelly, hooked. She was like, “What happened next? Who’s Santiago?”

So uh, I don’t know what happened next. And I have no idea who Santiago is. You can’t blame me. I’m lonely. As in, I’ve-never-had-a-boyfriend-in-my-life lonely. For an eighteen year old, that’s lame. I know. The problem with me is that I’m too... nice. I’m pretty (not that I openly admit that to everyone else), smart and apparently not so ‘date-worthy’ material. All the guys seem to think of me as that girl who they can run to whenever they’re having girl problems. It’s like there’s an invisible sign flashing over my head: ‘Kimi le Roux – Love Doctor / Permanent Friend’.

So welcome to my messed up life. You know what, let me formally introduce myself. I’m Kimi Le Roux, a first year university student at the Polytechnic of Namibia (for interest’s sake, Namibia is right on top of South Africa) and I live in Windhoek, the capital city. If I really had to describe myself physically, I’d say I’m caramel skin colored with delicious brown eyes that make you think of a chocolate waterfall and I’m kinda short so most of the time I’m the butt of those height jokes. As for my personality, you’ll have to judge me as we go along.

“Kimi! Aren’t you supposed to be writing a test?” My mother poked her head in my room. Uh oh. I quickly saved whatever I was doing and spilled a can of Coke on the keyboard in the process. No way. I’m dreaming. That didn’t happen and my whole life didn’t disappear because of a soft drink.

“There’s no time to fix that. You asked me to take you, right? I have to go as well.” My mother left me to dissolve the fact that my music, videos, pictures and documents were inaccessible for now, but there was no point dwelling over that. The Sociology test I was supposed to write carried my whole future in its hands!

Helena’s assignment is on your computer, stupid and it’s supposed to be handed in today!

Shaking that problem away for now, I rushed to take a quick shower, despite my troubles and after I was done, I dressed into a plain white t-shirt, skinny Guess jeans and a grey jacket from my messy cupboard. I packed in my student card and threw in all the books in case I forgot something. Okay, for now that’s it.

“Kimi, you’re always running late for your tests!” My mom scolded me as soon as I got into her silver Audi A4 Sedan. I rolled my eyes and strapped on the seatbelt. This car still felt new to me. We used to have a pretty white Volkswagen Polo which she sold a few weeks ago because it was ‘boring her to death’. Right, as if Mom was fun.

“When are you ever going to grow up?”

“Mom, seriously…” I muttered and sank into the seat. A quote from a friend came to mind. It’s inevitable to grow old but it’s optional to grow up. Yeah, so I still watched cartoons. I mean who didn’t? Yeah, I still sleep with two teddy bears called Twinkie and Pinky. Is that wrong?? Oh and confession, I’m still afraid of the dark. It seriously creeps me out and if I had a choice, I’d leave the sun up for longer than usual. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t… Yeah, I’m indecisive, so what?

“How many times have we had this conversation, huh?” A million and three I think but that didn’t concern me right now. I was late and pretty stressed. I wouldn’t be surprised if my whole face turned pink and exploded. Ignoring my mom, I put on my favorite radio station and nodded my head along to a new song by One Republic. Man, I loved those guys. If I could marry Ryan Tedder, I would with no hesitation AT ALL. If he serenaded me with a piano, I would just die.

“I’m worried about you.” My mom continued. Somebody save me. Just lift me out of the sky and drop me in class. Is anybody out there? Hello?

“Don’t be. I’m fine, okay? Every teenager goes through this type of phase where they’re confused about what they want and where they’re going in life. I think I’ve reached that stage and I just need to be patient with myself and take it one day at a time.” She nodded sympathetically and gave me a kiss on the forehead as soon as we parked near the front of the library.

“I understand. My poor daughter is going to die a widow.”

“What?” I turned to her completely startled out of my mind. “A widow?”

“Kimi, everyone can see that you’re lonely. You need a boyfriend and you just can’t seem to find one. Sweetheart, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You just have to be patient. Look at that cute guy over there.” She pointed at a shockingly attractive male species walking by in a serious stride. Is that a tattoo on his neck?

“You see? You’re practically drooling over the young man.”

“Let’s pretend that this conversation never happened, okay? I have to go. Love you.” I gave her a quick hug and rushed out before she could get a chance to say anything else. How embarrassing!! It was the first time that anybody openly admitted to me that I looked like a lost sheep or something. And it just had to be my mom.

No, really. Ouch! I found myself accidentally tripping over a random stone near the stairs (seriously??) and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the impact of the ground. I never got it. I opened my eyes and squinted because the sun was shining right into them but a blurry figure was smiling down on me. Santiago, is that you?