Under The Blossom Tree

Chapter Uno

You know that feeling when you have a certain connection with an item. Well it was a tree for me. It was that day that changed my life forever. I was sitting there, the petals falling from the tree, memorizing me in their pastel glow. I was 6 then and I never knew that tree could change my life forever.
                      
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"Nova!!!" my mom called,  "Get up here!! HELP!"
I jumped of the bench under the tree and went through the back door.
" what mom??!!" I recognized the terror in her voice.  I stopped at the end of the stairs recalling the time in the hospital when my mom was diagnosed with Cancer.. Suddenly I turned red and jolted up the stairs. "Mom?" My mom was lying on the floor clutching her stomach. " MOM!!"
" Its okay, just call ... 911." She struggled on the last word. I ran for the phone and typed in 911. Next thing I know. I'm sitting in the waiting room of the hospital all by myself thinking about possibly everything that could go wrong.
   
    Since I had all the time in the world, I started thinking about the way I appear to everyone. Green eyes, brown hair, love of archery and singing. Then I looked around at my surroundings. First I noticed a boy. He looks like someone I knew.  All of a sudden he looked up from whatever he was reading and caught my eye.  I felt my face burn up and  looked down at my lap. I heard a little shuffle and felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hi, im Coda Woods!" I looked back up and stared. "Im, Nova - Nova Macrae."  "Nice to meet you Nova!" He acted really happy but I could tell he was covering up something with his voice.  His eyes looked like they were filled with sorrow. I noticed that he had must have had a reason to be in a hospital, then i looked at his hands and traced my eyes down to his arms. They were bandaged. Welp my question has been answered.
Right after that embarrassing encounter I shuffled a little closer to him. I don't know exactly why, but I kinda needed someone to comfort me. I'm pretty sure he noticed because he whispered " why are you at the hospital?" I could tell that his eyes started to tear up and I quickly held his hand, again another instinct. He looked down at my hand and held it tighter. A few seconds later he started to sob. I looked him square in the face and told him, " I know I just met you but I really think you need this." Gently I got up with Coda and hugged him. I felt him start to cry less right away. He looks up at me, and I wipe a tear off his face. Someone walks out of a room and says " Coda, could you please come over here for a minute?" He quickly slips a piece of paper in my hands and runs over to the woman standing in the doorway.
        I look at the paper in my hands. I don't know when, or how he could have written it.
  
I don't know if you remember me but i remember you. You are the one who stood up for me in fourth grade. You punched that guy in the nose and then you took a hit in the jaw. Thank you.
510-200-6810

I suddenly remember. It was a windy day. It smelled of burnt wood. I was walking by myself in a field at our school when I came across two fifth graders beating up one of my classmates . I knew what it was like to be bullied and it's NOT fun. I don't know how or why, but I felt a rush of adrenaline surge through me. I ran over to the boy, and blocked him from a punch. I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder, but I grabbed the bully's leg and tripped him as the other one ran away. Once I got up on my feet again I punched the bully hard in the nose. When the bully regained his balance,  I took a hit in the jaw and fell next to the boy, holding my wound on the side of my jaw. I looked at my hand but there was no blood. The boy was crying and was trying to sit up. I scooted a little closer to the boy then helped him up. I asked him if he was okay, and he replied with a yes. I helped him up and walked him over to the office, trying to ignore the stares of the other children around me. I explained what happened to the principal and I got sent home early with a notice to be signed by my mom.

Coda. Coda woods. The boy I stood up for in fourth grade.