Shudder

6

Roman

I spoke to her today.

For the very first time in three years. I was still out of breath, still at a loss of how I really felt, even though I already knew.

After all, I had been watching her for three, long years. Three years of knowing that I wanted her, three years of knowing she was bullied, knowing she had ignored me, knowing that she suffered from awful nightmares, but never knowing what they were about...

Rori Jane Eicker had consumed my entire being and all because of a chance encounter.

She doesn't remember the encounter though, it was so obvious today in Psych and further on throughout lunch. But I remember it as clear as if it happened yesterday.

It had been halfway through Freshman year and I had been traveling to lunch as always when shouting, laughs and a pained cry caught in my ears.

**

"Dude, you need to stop now," someone had said as I turned to travel down the hallway where that heart-wrenching cry came from.

"Ha, as if. Look at her pitiful face! It's the funniest fucking thing I've ever seen!" another said and I heard a thwhap! like someone hitting something.

I entered the hallway and even from a distance I could see a loose ring of people, the shoulders of those people shaking in mirth, others seemed to be indifferent or in shock, but unable to 'do' anything. That wasn't what upset me, it could've been a group of kids hanging out, but it wasn't.

It was the girl in the very center of that circle, on her side, clutching her stomach with her face a splotchy red and covered in tears and her ashy blonde hair splayed out on the linoleum that told the difference of just a group of kids hanging out.

It was a circle of bullies and bystanders, watching and picking at the beautiful creature in the center and all I seen was red.

I walked faster and faces turned towards me, some whooped and hollered while others backed away, aware of the vicious scowl on my face.

I had almost reached them, reached her, when a boy appeared next to her and swung his foot back. I was running now, but I wasn't fast enough. I watched, red oozing all over my vision, as the boy released his foot and cracked it into the girl's back. Her back arched and she released a shriek, her face completely contorting into a mask of pain as tears flowed down her red cheeks. She whimpered, curling into herself with a pained shudder and all I saw was her and her pain, but all I heard was him.

The boy who had drove his shoe into her back without mercy was laughing uncontrollably. His own face streamed with tears, but not tears of pain. Oh, no, they were tears of laughter.

Everyone else had fallen silent, aware of the dangerous aura I radiated, but him. No one moved in case I snagged them as they tried to run and as I approached deadly calm, people shifted out of my way.

He continued laughing, oblivious to my presence, until I was right on top of him.

"Hey, man," he chuckled, wiping at his eyes. "Come to join in on the fun? Look at this freak show!"

He laughed again, pointing at the girl on the floor, who whimpered every now and then.

"No," I growled out through clenched teeth. "I've come to save the 'freak'."

He stopped laughing then, looking at me for a second and then burst out in a new round of giggles. "You're fucking crazy, man."

I snapped then, red flared to life, coating the laughing boy in what looked like blood. My hand shot forward and I slammed the boy against the wall. Gasps and a few shrieks erupted around me, but I only had eyes for the fucker who hurt the beautiful girl on the floor.