Jenny
Nick rocks the baby in his arms. “It’s okay. It was just a bad dream.” He whispers to the child. “Shhhh go to sleep, Lilly.” He coos as the baby cries. She looks up at Nick with her big blue eyes that are the same color as Jenny’s. “Mommy?” she asks her voice light and happy. “No. Mommy’s not here right now.” He explains. For a moment he feels contempt toward her. That bitch is always at work. She tries her best to take care of them though. She’s been trying since she was Nick’s age. Finally Lilly’s cries turn into soft whimpers. “You here Nicky.” She mumbles wearily. “Nicky’s here. Don’t worry.” His voice is soft and gentle. Lilly smiles as Nick carefully sets her down in the crib. Her eyes close peacefully and her breathing slows. He thinks to himself about the cost of keeping this child alive. So be it if he has to kill Jenny. It’s the only way. “I can’t let them hurt her.” Nick whispers to himself. He looks at the peaceful baby. Still pure and untouched by the world’s cruelty. “You’re all I got kid.”
I don’t cry very much over Katy. When I found out she died I just lost all emotion. I cry a little night but not in front of people. Hunter’s the one who deserves the sympathy. Katy was his girlfriend. His first one too. I don’t know what I would do if I lost Drew. I think about this on the way to the school. It’s closed and it has been for a while but I want visit the building anyway. I want to visit the places me and Katy would run around. I walk down the pathways outside. I remember giving her piggyback rides over the puddle. I trudge around the building. I’d go inside but it may set off an alarm or something. So I walk around outside. I look at a small skinny tree. I remember there was always a big pile of snow next to the tree the day after a snow day. I remember me, Katy and all our other friends climbed to the top and had a snowball fight. Now, the snow is melted and Katy is dead.
I’m too strong to cry. Hunter deserves the sympathy, I think to myself as I walk around the school’s baseball field. It had been raining a lot so it’s really muddy. The mud sinks under my boots and when I lift it, mud swirls around in my footprint. I leave a trail of watery, muddy footprint and tears sting in my eyes. I wish I hadn’t been goofing off with Drew kissing beneath the tree while lives were being taken. It’s my job in Super Six to protect people and I failed. Just like I do at everything else. Katy is just another reason to be depressed. I already get bullied. Super Six are my only real friends. After Katy died I lost contact with the friends we shared. At school I have no one. Her death is the last straw. I feel dizzy and take a deep breath. I reach into my pocket where I have a bottle of Advil. My head has been hurting a lot since the shooting. I open up the bottle and dump as many pills as I can into my hand. Overdose time. As I’m about to shove the pills into my mouth, a portal opens up. Nick walks out grinning cruelly. “Hey bitch!”
I throw my pills onto the ground leaving into little mud puddles. “Go away!” I snap. “Isn’t it enough you guys killed my best friend? Why do you need to kick me when I’m already down?” I whisper choking on tears. My voice is thick with emotion. Nick says nothing and looks down at me. I transform and make fists. He pulls out his knife. I don’t want to fight, I want to hide. I start running. The mud splatters everywhere. Slowly, it gets harder and harder to lift the next foot. I slam my boot into the mud and lift it up. It doesn’t move. I step forward with my other foot and it sinks into the dirt. Mud oozes and bubbles around it. I try to yank my feet out of the mud but it’s like my boots are cemented to the ground. “Sugar!” I shout angrily. Nick flies in front of me. He hovers above the snow. He sees my feet ankle-deep into the mud and laughs in my face.
“Ha! You got stuck in mud.” He mocks. I shift my feet again trying to free them or even loosen them up but the mud just sinks into my boots. My feet feel cold and wet. “This should be easy now.” He taunts pulling out his orange dagger. I look at him terrified. “Remember what I said about kicking me when I’m already down?” I ask pleadingly. He snickers and brings the knife up to my neck. I stand frozen with my hands at my side in fists. He hesitates. So what if I can’t move? He’s just finishing the task I started earlier. “Well?” I ask irritated. “What do you mean ‘well’?” Nick raises an eyebrow. “Well are you gonna kill me or leave me to live sulking in a puddle?” I ask annoyed. “Well I would kill you now,” he looks around nervously. “But not yet. I want to see you cry and plead for mercy.” He announces loudly as if talking to someone else.
I wonder if Rob and Scotch are watching him. Is he trying to spare me in an attempt to stall? “Um . . . okay. I can try to cry.” I mumble closing my eyes. How was I so I close to crying before? I don’t feel sad anymore I just feel numb. “Aw fudge it.” I groan. “So where are Rob and Scotch? Are they watching you now?” I ask curiously. “What? No!” Nick says quickly. “You sound pretty nervous.” I say while I look at his eyes shifting back and forth. Nick rolls his eyes. I bite my lip. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with.” I mutter under my breath. He raises an eyebrow. “Are you okay?” Nick asks puzzled. “I’m fine. What about you. You were just forced to kill seven people. So I doubt you’re a happy camper.”
Nick sighs a little. “If you must know, the guilt is ripping me apart. Happy?” he asks annoyed. “As happy as a sunflower in the darkness.” I reply arrogantly. “So I take it you’re sad?” he asks. “Sad is an understatement.” I inform him. “Well do you think I like having to be the bad guy? The one who’s forced to tear you away from your boyfriend or dangle you from a tree!” he cries. “This isn’t a fucking choice for me. I have a baby sister I need to take care of. And if I don’t do this shit Rob and Scotch will kill her ass.” I blink a few times. I’ve considered Nick’s part in this whole situation. It doesn’t seem any better than my own. But I never knew he had a little sister. “It sucks losing people you care about doesn’t it!” I blurt out. Nick looks down. “There’s a reason I don’t fight you. And that I’m a pacifist. You have your life and I have mine. We’re not that different really so I’d hate to hurt you.” Nick gets bullied just as much as I do which is a lot. But we took two different paths. I chose to hide my pain and block out the biscuits while he decided to be mean to impress them. But now I see there’s more to Nick than that.
He looks at me and flies behind me. He lands in the mud and his hands wrap around me. “What are you-” I begin but he starts trying to pull me out of the mud. “That’s not gonna work.” I insist skeptically. “I’m stronger than you.” he points out. I shrug. My legs begin to throb. I yelp. “You’re destroying my legs!” I shriek. “I’ve got an idea.” He says flying in front of me. He leans over and throws me over his shoulder. My feet are still stuck in the mud. He flies up trying to pull me out of the mud. I feel my feet begin to slide a little. “It’s working!” I cry joyfully. He pulls a little more and my feet pop out of the mud. The sudden freedom jolts us both up to the sky. I almost fall but he stops me and flies to the risers on the field. He sets me down on the top riser and hovers next to me.
“Don’t think that anything has changed. I still hate you and you hate me.” Nick says firmly. “I don’t hate you.” I insist. I don’t hate anyone. His eyes widen a little. “Whatever. I only helped you this one time because I pity you and I don’t like having to kick you when you’re already down.” he mumbles. I raise one eyebrow. Maybe he doesn’t really hate me as much I think. “Are you sure? Maybe you don’t hate me.” I remark. “No! I hate you bitch!” he yells quickly. He teleports away leaving me staring at the portal he left through. I frown but I know I don’t believe that. I guess he’ll always act like a tough guy but I know he has some feelings. I begin to think about my feelings. I feel a lot better. Maybe visiting the school helped or maybe just seeing that even Nick who wants to kill me would help me if I needed it enough. I think I can move past Katy now. I know I’m strong enough.
