What's your name?

Chapter 8

That school day was... interesting. The whole time I was at school, I was uneasy. Something felt completely off and I was scared for the first time in my life. I didn't want Cameron and Tk to leave me alone. I clung to them like a leech.

That night when we got home I needed to blow off some steam from being afraid all day. Cameron and Tk had to work their part time jobs tonight so I was alone. I messed up my hair and dressed in boys clothes. I opened the door and immediately felt like something was wrong. Whatever it is, I can handle it, right? I shook my head and locked the door behind me. I must be going crazy.

I walked along the secluded street that we lived on. I couldn't shake this feeling that I had so I decided to try running. I ran as fast and as hard as I could for as long as I could. I ended up at the shopping mall called Gurnee Mills. I heard it is quite the shoppers dream planet.

In the parking lot I stopped to catch my breath when I heard a bully's voice... It sounded all too familiar so I decided to head over and check it out. As I thought, I had taken care of this boy twice already, two years ago. I walked up to the boy and tapped him on his shoulder.

He dropped the nerd who he was beating up and whipped around swinging his big brick arm. I ducked and punched him in the stomach. He doubled over and I kneed his face. He held his face now and looked up at me. His eyes got wide and he backed off.

"Did you miss me Bruce?" I smiled. "Clearly you still haven't learned, huh? Get out of here before I really lose my temper!" Bruce seemed a little hesitant. "Now!" He turned and cowered off. I turned to face the nerd. "Are you alright?"

The boy looked up at me with broken glasses and messed up hair. I removed his glasses to see how bad... No. There is no way to repair these... I handed them back to the boy and helped him to his feet. I gasped when he stood up and looked at me. He was really good looking for a nerd.

I took his hand. "Come with me." I smiled. "We will just go get you some new glasses. My treat." I pulled him along with me until we reached the enterance door. "Where do you want to go for your glasses?" This boy looked starstruck. "Hello?"

"Oh, um... Sears Optical would be fine. But it is on the other side of the shopping mall." I thought for a second and then giggled.

"Okay! Looks like we are going to just have to walk there and have some fun, huh?" I took him through the doors and we walked into the first shop we came to. It was Rue 21. I held up the funniest t-shirt I could find and plopped on this old fashioned hat. I grabbed some dark sunglasses and shoved them onto my face. "What do you think?"

The boy just laughed and grabbed some strange clothing of his own. The oddest part was it actually looked really good on him. He posed like a model and pushed his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and looked down at me.

"Well? How do I look?" I gawked. He looked REALLY good! He was tall (probably over 6 ft just like Cam and Tk), with dark brown hair and deep green eyes. He had a thin build and a slightly awkward posture, but like this... It was like a totally different person had walked into my life.

"You... look great." That is the best I could manage now. He smiles and gives me a thumbs up. He then puts back the clothing he had taken and offers to put mine back as well. He is back to his awkward, nerdy posture once more. Strange... Who is this boy?

We walked out of Rue 21 and headed in the direction of Sears. We stopped in several more stores along the way and played some more with the clothes we found. Everytime this boy picked something up and put it on, he looked gorgeous. After that with his nerdy clothes and posture with the glasses, the effect dissapeared.

We reached Sears and went inside. We walked over to the optical section and the boy picked out some glasses. I asked him if he would like contacts instead. The boy started to consider this when a lady came out from behind a counter. She tells us that the boy gets a free box of contacts when he buys any pair of glasses.

He takes the frames over to her that he found. She gave him the box and frames with glass in them. We thank the lady and walk back out of the store and over to the exit doors to the mall. I walk over to the door and almost push it open when this guy grabs me around my middle. I freeze for a minute... what the...?

"I have a question for you." Oh boy... He is going to ask the standard famous question. "What's your name?" He seemed very interested.

"Kio. That is my name. Now please release me and have a nice day." He still held me captive around my middle. "Yes? Can I help you with anything else boy?"

"My name is Yoshi. Thank you for saving me. No one has ever done that for me before." I felt a wet drop on my shoulder. Yoshi is crying. I reach my hand up and rub his hair.

"You are welcome Yoshi. I am sorry, but I must go for now, okay? It is getting late and I have to get home." Still he didn't let me go. "Yoshi! I need to go!" He releases me. "Goodbye." I dash out the doors and run all the way home. What a strange boy... Yoshi... I have this uneasy feeling again as I get home. I wonder why... I walk inside and lock the door. I must just be crazy... If only that were the case.