Paths The Middle School Years

Chapter Ten~ Starting Over Again

"What is love to you?"

Kanoa's POV

I lay there stunned by the question Lala has given me. Before I even got to say anything, Jun and Maru pin Lala to the floor, giving her the inability to move. My three brothers wrap their arms and legs around me, preventing me from moving. I begin to cry. I began to feel my arm bleed more and more. Tears fell from my face. I stayed quiet to myself, "I'm sorry. I wish I never existed. This would have never happened."

My parents came over to me and checked all my injuries. I peer over my brother's shoulder; I saw Lala crying. My tears began to run down over the dried blood on my nose and mouth. Before I knew it, my parents carried me back to the house. Tears and blood falling down my face. I look in the direction of Lala. "What am I doing? I'm just hurting her. I shouldn't have met her. I shouldn't have said yes to go to the mall. I shouldn't have... Love... You asked me what love means to me... I think love is a curse or a blessing. You get lucky, or you are unlucky. I am a fortune of unluckiness. If I try to love, I'll cause the same thing. I'm sorry, Lala. I'll distance myself from you to keep all this behind us. We will be friends living under the lie of our friends; we are brother and sister. Let's be friends, okay?" I say to myself quietly. I hope these words get to Lala. Although she isn't in front of me, I hope she can understand and take these words.

My parents carry me back to Lala's house, but I passed out due to the amount of blood loss before they knew it.

Kanoa's parents take Kanoa to the UCLA hospital.

Meanwhile, Lala is home different as she was from the beginning. She refused to talk. Her mind was filled with anger, guilt, sadness. Although she shared rooms with her brothers, she never left the bed. She needed time to recover mentally.

Darkness.

Darkness was all I saw. I couldn't see it. I felt weak. Gone. Empty. Lost. Hurt.

"Where am I? The Void? Hell? The afterlife? Peace?"

I slowly open my eyes and saw the ceiling of the house.

Lala's POV

I get out of bed. I peak at the clock and saw it was 4:00 AM. Everybody is in bed. I wiped my eyes and came up wiping the outlines of my crying of the night before. I changed out of my clothes carefully and quietly. I didn't want to wake my brothers. I put on the yoga pants that Kanoa gave me and put on a blue windbreaker with taekwondo. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote, "I'll be out catching my breath. I'll be back before Lunch. I'll have Jun's phone and my wallet. I know that there is school today, but I'm going to skip today. I need to find myself. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. ~Lala"

I put the pen I wrote with back in my bag and quietly walked outside to the front door. I place it on the door, and I carefully and quietly leave. I head down to the sidewalk, and I walk towards the direction of Kanoa's house first. I saw that no light was on. The inside and outside of the house had no light. I looked around to see if anyone was there, but there wasn't. I then walked towards the hospital. It was going to be a 15-minute walk from here to there, so it wouldn't belong.

As I walked through Carson, I took in all the details. The human-made river, the houses. The cars. The trees. I looked East and saw a rising sun. It was weak, but I knew that it would be bright when I made it to the hospital.