Sometimes you can't take a hit.
Joy found herself stuck in a war. A war she couldn't fight.
The blond had everything. Everything she ever wanted. Joy had a mum, no dad. Her brother was stillborn. But he was the most precious thing she ever held.
She missed having something to care about.
It seemed like everything she ever did was wrong. She knew most of thing she did she shouldn't have, she understands. But does the princess have to make her feel like a barefoot peasant with no life?
Sometimes she thought it was true.
Sometimes she felt as if he deserved everything, that everything she ever did was crap and useless. She felt the hit and took the pain.
But sometimes it was too much.
She wanted to be loved. She wanted to love someone.
So she created a paradise when she closed her eyes. Beautiful life with a full family, the precious boy she had lost the dad that never left and the sober mum who always had a smile.
She'd be loved.
She'd get kisses from a boy… though she never saw his face. Hugs and smiles from best friends. Even Nina would give her the friendly smile she wanted back.
She'd have a beautiful life…a simple one.
But the paradise was gone when sunlight shone too bright in her eyes.
Beautiful Christmas lights shone on the streets.
She blew the bangs from her forehead and wrapped the coat around her tighter. She bit her lips and looked at the Classic Christmas items in the shop next to her. She leaned down and looked at a snowman in a gingerbread house. She lifted her eyes to look into a girl's brown eyes.
The girl had perfectly tanned skin, chocolate brown eyes and black and brown hair. She waved at her smiling a white smile. Joy smiled and waved at her.
Joy blinked…she was gone.
Joy stood up, the smile gone and her stone cold face was replaced. Her bangs flew into her eyes again, she didn't bother.
The streets were empty, all lights were off. Soon all the shop lights went out and managers and employees walked out, locking doors and chatting the night away. Joy watched their smiles; she listened closely to the clicking of their shoes, the rustles of the bags and the chimes of laughter.
Oh how she missed that.
She closes her eyes.
Silence.
She opened her eyes again, everybody was gone.
She was too used to it.
She walked down the empty streets, the lights still shining on her face. She hummed the melody of a song, skipping down the streets and in the snow.
"One track mind like a gold fish…" She sang. She skipped over a mountain of snow. He breathed in the evening air and continued walking. She sang, the first time in months. Her voice rang throughout the lit town. It looked like a show with her as the one and only star.
"I got dark only to shine!" She carried out the words, her voice going deeper. She circled the spot she was in and smiled while she sang.
She didn't notice one of the shop lights turn on.
"Oh it's a reasonable sacrifice!" She sang to all the demons. Even though they weren't there, she was singing to the princess who hurt her, her mum, the boys who used her…the monsters that killed her inside and out.
"Burn, Burn, Burn…bright." She didn't sing the last note. She stood frozen in the street staring at the sky with the bright stars. She wondered if there was a paradise up there…
"Beautiful." A voice said behind her. Joy jumped and turned around. Her were cheeks already red, she knew it. She saw Mick and felt her insides twist. She faked smiled.
Come here to yell at me?
Joy shook the thoughts out.
"I never knew my housemate hid her voice so well." He said. Joy laughed.
The only blond she knew that would wear shorts in freezing weather.
"Mick?" She asked.
"Yeah it's me." He said.
"I didn't know you worked around here." Joy said walking up to him. "It's nice to see you."
"Thanks." Micks said as if he couldn't believe it. Joy looked at him curiously.
"So," Mick said interrupting her curiosity. "Has anything interesting happened while I was gone?" Mick asked.
"Nothing really." She said with a fake smile.
"Too bad, everything's boring with my life now." Mick said. Joy smiled, this time it was real. She slipped her hand into his.
"Well, let's go have an adventure!" she said her voice high and perky. For a moment she sounded like herself, alive and spontaneous Joy.
But she had it only for a moment.
Monster
Monster
MONSTER
That word rang throughout his ears.
Australia was hell.
He didn't know snow would feel so nice.
He stood at the counter playing with the snow globes his gran had brought in. The lights were off and the dark seemed to comfort him. He took his football and played with it in his hands. He looked at the snow white ice on the streets and got lost in his dark thoughts.
Was he really such a monster?
Was he such a monster that his mum left because of him? Was he monster because he was a blond and a football player and seemed light a boy with no brain? Was he deserved to be cheated on?
Yes
Mick shooed the demon voice out of his head. He looked down at the ball in his hands. It popped. He took out his fingernails and through the airless ball into the back. He put his head in his hands and listened to the wind whistling.
Then an angel's voice came.
He thought it was. It had the years of practice surging through the song, though the singer had a slightly raspy voice from months of not singing at all. He wondered why?
He turned on the light and walked out from behind the counter. The wind coming over him sending goose bumps up and down his arms. He opened the door and looked out.
"Oh it's a reasonable sacrifice!"
He smiled. The only joy he had left in his tiny dark reality.
He watched as she pranced around the street singing with a smile. He missed it so much and didn't deny the thought.
"Burn, Burn, Burn…bright." She stopped. He smiled.
"Beautiful." He said. She jumped around shocked…until the smile crept upon her face.
It was fake.
Joy hummed the song again. She tramped through the mud and snow. She didn't let go of his hand as they walked through the small town. He felt himself smiling at her and the bangs that lay on top of her forehead. She thought she was beautiful.
Slow down Mick!
Joy took out her bunnie printed keys and walked up to a blue house. She unlocked the door and led Mick into the house. She let go of his head and the warm sensation he had felt left him. She turned on the lights.
"Wow." Mick commented.
"What? It's not much, you know." Joy said walking into the common room. Mick looked at her curiously.
It was green painted and had pictures of Joy and her family all over the walls with pictures someone drew. He tugged at one picture of a girl in the Anubis uniform staring at the Christmas lights piled up all over the house. He smiled and looked back at her.
"It's nicer than any house here." Mick said walking into the common room with her. Joy flopped herself onto the couch and patted the seat next to her. Mick smiled and sat next to her.
"Did you draw all of these?" Mick asked. Joy looked at the pictures on the wall and sighed.
"These are just the one from January." Joy muttered.
"What?" Mick asked. Joy flushed and set her legs on top of Micks. Mick shifted under her legs while Joy snuggled into the mountain of pillows.
"Where are your mum and dad?" Mick asked. Joy froze, her eyes still closed. Joy's smiled faded and she cleared her throat.
"Well, Mick you see-"Joy was interrupted by the door slamming open. Joy jumped up, tripping over Mick's legs. She stumbled over to the door when a dirty blond woman came tumbling in, flinging a half-filled bottle Beer around. Joy stumbled back and fell on her back.
Not tonight mum!
"Joy?" Her mum asked leaning against the green walls. She flicked her hair back wiped the rest of the smudged lipstick off her face.
"Mum." Joy said sternly as she rose off the floor. Her mum glanced at Mick and laughed.
"So, you're bringing boys home now are you?" her mum said letting a hand fall on Joy's cheek. Joy pushed it away.
"He's a friend." Joy said.
"Hmm, not from I can see. Getting him all cozy upped and all-" Her mum said. Joy grabbed the bottle and started shoving her mum out the house.
"Joylin Mercer!" her mum yelled. Joy threw the bottle out the door and shoved her mum out. She slammed the door and locked it. Joy turned her back to the door and slid down. She put her head in her hands and cried all the tears she had been holding in for the past 10 years.
"Joy?" Mick asked softly. She lifted her head and looked at him. He had tears coming out of his own eyes as he grabbed her hand to lift her off the ground.
"No, no! Don't cry for me." Joy said wiping away his tears with her sweater and tried to laugh it off. Mick grabbed her arm and she squeaked.
"What's going on? The last time I saw you were when your dad was here, your mum was doing your hair and you had a baby brother on the way." Mick asked confused. Joy sighed and took her hand back.
"Mum's a drunk, dad's gone, my brother's dead. He didn't live; mum didn't…carry him right." Joy said thinking out the last sentence.
"Why didn't you tell me all about this?" Mick asked.
"I don't want pity and I don't want help, I can handle this by myself." Joy said sternly. She fixed her sweater and crossed her arms like a child.
"Sometimes you can't always take the hit. Someone's gotta be there for you! Patricia, Fabian, Nina-"Mick stopped and stared at Joy who was staring off into space with tears in her eyes.
"Mick," She started wiping away her tears. "Why am I a horrible person?" Joy asked the tears no longer falling.
"You're not!" Mick exclaimed with a smile. He remembered it would only to take a smile to make Joy play with him in the 5th grade when he still played with mud. But Joy's face stayed cold, and tear-stained. Her eyes were slightly glassy and clouded over.
"You really think that?" Mick asked serious. Joy shook her head and groaned.
"It's true! Everything I've ever done in the past year has caused everything to come crumbling down on me! And I deserve it!" Joy yelled. Mick winced at the last sentence.
"I'm a monster." Joy sighed. Mick looked up and crossed his arms.
"You think it's bad? I've been called monster all my life! I thought England was bad but Australia is hell! Every night I had to go bed with words in my replaying my mind. Every single person I know thinks I'm a good person when I'm really a monster!" Mick said clutching her arm again. Joy felt tears brimming her eyes and she ripped Mick's hand off her, not daring to look at what must been the giant red hand print on her arm, instead she looked at the floor.
Then there was laughter.
"What?!" Mick yelled at the small brunette.
"I know it sounds horrible, let's be monsters together, you're the only person who can I understand…I guess." Joy said. Mick stepped back, his cheeks still red from anger.
"I'm Sorry." Mick said sitting on the stairs. "My reasons were pretty ridiculous." Mick laughed shaking his head.
"I guess my reasons were pretty bad too." Joy said sitting next to him. Mick shook his head.
"Okay, let's just say they weren't bad but…bad." Joy said putting her hand on her chin. Mick laughed.
"Why is this so funny?" Joy asked leaning back on the stairs. Mick shrugged.
"I guess it's been a long time since we've seen light." Mick said. Joy gasped and smiled a white grin.
"Where's that from?" Joy asked.
"It's not a quote from a famous book or anything…I used to write stories with you…remember?" Mick asked.
"Oh yes! You're talking about the one about Sally and Johnny?" Joy said remembering the stories she wrote.
For a good three hours they talked about the stories they wrote. Sally and Johnny the Bear King and Queen, Tierra the girl who discovered the magic of the forest, Carlos who discovered America, and Joylin and Mick,
"The outcasts." Joy thought.
"That was when we just entered middle school." Mick told her. Joy nodded and took her coca mug and drank what was left of it.
"I wasn't a football player yet and-"
"I was still a nobody." Joy said placing the mug back on the table.
"You weren't-"
"Yes, I was." Joy said. Mick sighed and leaned back into the mountains of pillows on the couch.
"We were crazy." Joy thought and laughed.
"Each chapter we wrote we would act out. We got lost in the forest once just trying to find dinosaurs and woodland fairies." Mick laughed at the memories of him and Joy trying to find things that probably never existed. They both laughed until silence fell. Only the sound of the cracking fire could be heard, mick smiled and flushed. Joy looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh no!" Joy said burying her head in her hands. Mick started laughing again as Joy mumbled something about someone to come save her from the mess.
"You were a horrible kisser!" Mick said.
"Oh yeah, make me feel better!" Joy said trying to be sarcastic, but she knew she wasn't…good. They were only 12, so the ended getting spit into each other's mouths.
Joy gagged at the thought of it.
"Ew!" She yelled. She made a few gagging noises which made Mick only laugh harder and make his cheeks redder.
"Well, I think I'm a much better kisser now." Joy said aloud. She didn't mean to.
"Oh really?" Mick asked. Joy's eyes widened and she jumped from her seat. Mick followed, chasing her into the dark halls.
"Don't you dare Mick Campbell!" Joy giggled despite the situation she was in. She ran down another hall and looked behind her. Mick was nowhere in sight. She sighed and exited out the back doorway that led to the snow-filled backyard. She smiled, feeling victorious.
"First mistake of the new year!" Mick yelled grabbing her waist. She squealed, her smile brighter by the colorful lights that filled her backyard.
"Mick-?" She was interrupted by his lips. Banana and chocolate connected with hers and she smiled. The light kiss was stopped and she bit her lip.
"You are a much better kisser than I remember." Mick commented. Joy slapped his arm playfully and laughed. She looked in his eyes, why was he called a monster. She doesn't want to find out but the childish glint in his eyes changed everything dark from the hours earlier.
"Merry Christmas, my kiss-stealing-monster." Joy said.
"You too my singing angel." Mick said mindlessly. Joy felt shock come over her, though it didn't stop the smile on her face.
"Mick…have you ever wanted to just….runaway?"
The house searched everywhere.
It was already March. Mick and Joy hadn't showed up the first day not a lot of people noticed until the last day of January. Everybody put up missing posters after learning Mr. Campbell and Ms. Mercer had no knowledge of their children missing, they were told they had left for the school early this year.
They never did find Joy and Mick, until one day, two years later a letter came in a red and green envelope for Patricia.
Eddie put his head on Patricia's shoulder and read with Patricia, occasionally, he glanced at the pretty white engagement ring on her finger and smiled. Patricia played with her red, now slightly black, hair. She bit her lip and prepared for Joy had to say.
"-it's been two years since I've last seen you guys. I know you've been searching all over Liverpool but I'm fine-we're fine. Mick and I are somewhere in the world right now, we've gotten our education and well, I guess all I can say is, I'll be a married woman soon! And c'mon, don't tell me Eddie doesn't have a ring on ya!
Anyways, I hope one day we'll be able to see each other again. Not today thought and not tomorrow. Someday! I promise.
I don't break promises.
With love,
Joylin Campbell"
Ehhh…don't like the ending, the beginning...*sigh*
I'm Sorry KlarizaClaytonFan, I wanted to make it bubbly and happy and Christmassy!
Why, why, why!
I'm sorry but *sigh* this is the worst Christmas present ever.
I hope you enjoyed it just slightly.
Bye!