The Past Comes For a Visit"NO!" I yelled over my shoulder as I ran through the crowded street. "DON'T COME NEAR ME!" People turned to look at me as if I'd gone mad, and perhaps I had. His pace quickened as he got closer and closer, my speed slowly deteriorating. My legs felt like Jell-O. Need… to… stop… so… tired…. I stopped for what seemed to be half a second, when I heard his shallow breathing, mere inches away from where I was standing. "Why didn't you stop running?" he shouted at me. I backed away slowly. "He isn't here…," I tell myself, "This is all a nightmare…""Come on Daisy. It's been years since I chased you. I thought you would miss me, and not run away like some psycho chick running from Godzilla." He smiled that smile, the one that used to make me so happy. Now it seemed that the more I saw it, the more I wanted to scream. I had to get away from him… he broke my heart. He left me with no one, nothing. He sucked the happiness straight from my soul. The only reason I'm not dead yet is because of my best friend, Jasmine. She's the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for. She's been there for me always, even when I get all emo and act like such a downer. Truth be told, I am not always so emo, though. Occasionally, I get hyper, but most of the time my moments of peace are ruined by the memory of him. He left me without a goodbye. Literally, he made it seem as though he had died. About a week after he disappeared, he sent some creep to tell the whole town that he had been murdered! Can you believe him? The pain I felt! A small part of me always believed he was alive but… there was no proof… until see, it all started when Jazz dragged me to a concert one night. I was having another one of those days where I felt empty, tired, and, really, just straight up depressed. Jazz said it would be good for my health to have a little fun and get my mind off of things. So, I went, and in the middle of the concert, I realized that the person standing in front of me looked extremely familiar. He was tall and tan, with short brown hair that was cut just right. He wore a vertically striped green and white shirt with dark jeans. He must have felt me staring at him, because he turned to look at me almost immediately. Before he had even fully focused his eyes on my face, I knew it was him. I would have recognized those jade green eyes anywhere. Without a second thought, I bolted for the nearest exit. As I turned to look back, I saw that Jazz hadn't noticed that I was gone, because her eyes were glued on a hot guy who looked a lot like Mello from Death 's how I got where I am, cowering in the street next to him. I turn to him, "You are a monster! You think I'm just going to forget what you did to me? You think you can make it all up with that stupid smile? You made me believe you were DEAD! For years, I've believed you were DEAD! Dead! Can you even imagine how depressed I was? Can you imagine all of the friends I lost because of your lies? Do you even care that you ruined my life? Do you care that it can't be fixed? I can NEVER forgive you for doing that! You know what my own family did to me? Huh do you! Well, DO YOU?" He looked me in the eyes and said in his most serious tone, "I didn't mean to do cause you this much pain… I had to leave! You don't understand the pressure I had gone through, and I just had to get away from it all! My cousin was killing himself…" Tears began to form in his eyes. I wanted badly to hold him close to me, but I couldn't… not yet. "Daisy… he is like my hero… he lived… but back then you saw how he was… He was on fucking meth, cutting himself and becoming an alcoholic! I was living under the same roof as someone just like that!" Then, the tears escaped his eyes. Before I knew it, I was holding him. I couldn't help it. I have wanted to hold him for so long, and now that I had my chance, I took it. "Daisy… I'm sorry for causing you this pain… I didn't mean too, I swear. I would never hurt you on purpose…Never..." He held me tighter. "I missed holding you…," he said, laying his face in my hair. It wasn't long before I realized, tears were rolling down my face as well. Oh God I missed him! "I missed it too… but… I don't know if I can forgive you for what you have done… at least, not yet…" Slowly, I pulled free from his warm embrace and backed away."Daisy… you don't really mean that…..Do you?" He looked at me with the saddest eyes I'd ever seen. My mouth was dry. Yet, I managed to whisper the words "I'm sorry" before I left him there in the dark. I went back to find Jazzy. As I walked on, I could hear him calling out my name, but I didn't dare look back. I knew if I did that there would be nothing to keep me from running back into his arms. I couldn't go back, and feel the pain of his broken heart. Chapter 2It was the morning after my encounter with Mike. I woke up and laid there on the bed, staring at the ceiling, the music on my iPod blaring in my room. As I looked up at the ceiling, I couldn't help but laugh that Jazz had let me hang my posters up there. They freak her out so much, because they're all pictures of Jacob Black from see, I live with Jazzy. We've been roommates since we graduated high school. If you must know, I am now 20 years old; I'm barley 5 feet tall, I have long wavy black hair, pale skin, and big, dark brown eyes. I know, not really attractive, but whatever. I'm getting over the phase of caring about how I look. I've always wanted the perfect vampire look. You know the pale skin, dark hair, scary red or gray eyes and the gift of eternal beauty. "Daisy, get your lazy ass off the bed and come play Just Dance on the Wii with me!" Jazz shouted while banging on my bedroom door. I was immediately snapped out of my vampire fantasy. Damn! She looked scary. The dark eyeliner she was wearing matched perfectly with the angry look on her face. I looked at her with a half scared, half drowsy look on my face. "But I'm too tired…" Her eyes that had been glaring at me not two seconds ago now glistened with care. "Oh yeah. You told me something happened last night while you were gone. Well, what happened?" She sat next to me on the mattress."It's hard to explain…" "How? Just tell me as much as you can explain. Well, that's if you want to tell me..." "Duh I want to tell you! You're my best friend!" We both smiled as the words left my mouth. We've gone through so much hell together, it seemed like nothing could break our friendship. "Ok… Jazz if you must know… umm do you remember Mike?" She looked at me confused."Of course I remember him! His death practically ruined your life!" "True… Well Jazz… he's not dead… I saw him…" I said as I looked down at the floor. Anything would be better than having to witness her reaction. "Over the years, I have told a lot of people about this. That's why I'm alone. That's why I need you to believe me and not think of me like those other people did. I guess they didn't want to have to deal with a crazy person in their lives every day."Daisy… he's dead… how could you have seen him?" she said with a worried expression on her face. Well at least she hadn't given me that look like I had completely lost it. "Jazz if you think I'm crazy… I'm not! I really did see him… at the concert I saw somebody who looked so much like him right in front of me, and, well, I couldn't help but stare. Then he turned to face me and once I saw those eyes… I knew it was him. I completely freaked out and ran as far as I could… you didn't notice because you were too busy checking out some Mello look-alike guy.""Oh…..Yeah, I remember that guy. He was hot! I got his number by the way," she said smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile too. "Anyways, so you saw him?" "Yeah I did. He followed me, and then something happened after he caught up with me…" I could picture the memory so clearly in my head. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him again. Would I still feel that spark I had felt years ago? Six years ago, when I was so young and so inexperienced in love. Six years seemed like such a long time. After Mike, there had been only one other guy that I had really fallen for. That person is Mike's cousin, Jeremy. This particular cousin had been a player in the past, and was really depressed after he and Jazz broke up. That's right. He used to go out with Jazzy. Jeremy had brought so much stress onto Mike ever since our break seemed like he was the one. I thought I was in love with him and that he was with me. Still, I kept thinking about Mike and how much I missed him, but I didn't want to hurt Jeremy, so I had to break up with him… not the best thing to do, really. I heard he still has feelings for me, and the truth is I still love him. I love Jeremy, yet I still have some feelings left over from Mike. Jeremy and I still talk to each other. We tried to be friends, but just when things begin to get romantic, we both know we have to drop all communication with each other for a day, sometimes a week. He is my best guy friend, and Jazz is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without them."Hello! Earth to Daisy! What the hell happened last night with you and Mike?" "Oh. What? Oh yeah you wanted to know. Sorry I was thinking about something." And so I explained to Jazz what had happened that night, everything, even how I had to fight the urge to hold him again. I also told her how, if I hadn't chickened out at the last minute, Mike and I might have shared a kiss."Wow Daisy… just, wow…. All I can say is…" and here it came, "MIKE IS AN ASSHOLE! HE MADE YOU BELIEVE HE WAS DEAD FOR YEARS! DEAD! HE DOESN'T DESERVE YOU AT ALL! HE HAS CAUSED YOU SO MUCH PAIN AND TRIED TO MAKE IT UP WITH SELFISH EXCUSES! YOU DESERVE WAY BETTER THAN HIS CRAP! YOU CAN'T GO BACK WITH HIM! HE WILL BREAK YOUR HEART AGAIN AND I WILL NOT BE THERE TO FIX IT THIS TIME!" With that, she stormed out of my 3Damn! I forgot to bring my jacket, and it's raining! Right after Jazz stormed out of my room I left the apartment. I had to get away from her for a while. I was in such a hurry that I forgot my freakin' jacket! Now I'm out here, freezing in this pouring rain, and I have no idea where I am going. Why the hell did this stuff have to happen to me? "Whatever," I mumbled to myself, "I'll just keep walking. Maybe later when I'm feeling better I'll give Jazz a call and have her pick me up." It took me a long time to realize that I was the only person around. As I stopped to look around, I also noticed for the first time that it was almost pitch black outside. Great, isn't this just perfect? I reached for my jeans pocket, only to find that I left my cell phone at home. I sighed and started for the nearest shelter I could find.It felt like it had been hours since I started looking for shelter. Every place that I went to was closed for the freakin' holidays! Eventually, I found a place that looked warm enough and that wasn't closed for the night. As I stepped inside, I took in the comforting atmosphere of the cozy little café. Up until then, I didn't even know our town had a café. I thought I'd stay for a while and warm myself up, and then look for a phone so I could get a ride home. I sat down at the nearest table next to the window. The rain patted against the window pane, just the way I liked it. An elderly waitress in a blue and white apron walked up to me. "Hello, how may I help you?" she asked me. "Ummm… can I just get a hot chocolate please?" "Sure thing," she said in her grandmotherly voice, and she bustled away. I turned to look out the window. I wondered if Jazz was looking for me. I hoped she was not too worried right now. "Here you go miss," the waitress said, handing me my hot chocolate. I paid her and began sipping my hot chocolate savagely, not realizing how cold I really was. The warmth of the drink burned as it slid down my throat, but it was a good kind of burn. So good. When I finished the hot chocolate, I walked out and started looking for the nearest pay phone. Nothing. There wasn't a pay phone anywhere near this place. Where was I anyway? Out of nowhere I felt two cold hands covering my mouth and pulling my arms into a tight grasp. The next thing I knew, I was falling backwards into complete darkness.I fought. I tried to scream, but I couldn't. "Shhh… Shush, it's going to be alright." The words came from behind me. I tried to see my captor, but his hands had me in a tight lock. He moved his hands and began to touching me in all the wrong places. "It's going to be okay," he said again, "as long as you do exactly as I say…" I kept trying to fight the arms wrapped around me, trying to escape them. He was too strong! The person holding me turned me around to face him. His eyes were so dark, and his skin was a tan color. Even in the dark, I could see his shiny bronze skin tone. He gripped my hands and pushed me against the rolled down my face as he whispered in my ear, "I don't understand why we should ask people on dates when we can just find women as beautiful as you walking all alone." With that, he kissed me. I couldn't fight back, I didn't have the strength. But that didn't stop me. The more I tried to fight him, the more he fought back too. Already he had risen my shirt up. God! Where is everybody? Why was I so stupid to go out alone? I needed help!As though on cue someone came and pulled the dark eyed man off of me. In shock, I stood there and watched the man punch my captor, yelling out threats to him. "You leave her the fuck alone! If I ever catch you messing with her again, you're gonna wish that you were in Hell so you wouldn't have to deal with me!" "Alright, alright! I'll go!" And with that he pulled me to their owner and held me tightly. "God... Daisy I just knew you would be in trouble…" He stroked my hair. I recognize his perfect voice almost immediately."Jeremy? How did you find me?" I looked up at him, staring into his beautiful light blue eyes. The eyes I used to stare into so often. He rubbed my cheek with the back of his hand."Jazz was looking for you. She called me earlier. She sounded real worried and had no idea where you were. I wanted to help her find you… I told her I wouldn't give up looking for you…" I already knew where this was headed, but why didn't I stop him? Did a part of me want him to hold me the way he used to? To kiss me softly in the sweet way he had done once before?As I had predicted, Jeremy looked deeply into my eyes and bent his head down towards me slowly. He kissed me the way he knew I loved. So sweetly and so gently. The best kisses are the ones that are slow and sweet. I kissed him back passionately. I remembered what it felt like to be so happy with him. "Daisy… I can make you happy… you know that… Mike has been dead for years… I don't care much if you love him, because he's dead, and I just want you to be mine again," He kissed my forehead. "Please Daisy… you know I will always love you…. I will always care for you deeply…." As he said those words, guilt began to seep at of every pore in my body. "Jeremy… Mike isn't dead… He came up to me and we talked… he really is alive….. Of course, I still love you, I always will, but you see… there's something I'm not sure about and I don't know how to tell you.""Well just say it, Daisy." He looked at me with those gentle eyes. I couldn't lie to him. Not now."Jeremy, I still have feelings for Mike and for you….Chapter 4Jeremy's silence was slowly beginning to eat away at my soul. It was unbearable. Why couldn't he just say something? Anything! Anything would have been a good thing to say at this point. After what seemed like forever, he finally spoke. "Daisy… we should go… Jazz is probably still worried. We shouldn't keep her waiting for too long." He held my hand walked with me to his car. I felt a rush of tiny fireworks serge through my body at the touch of his skin, just like in the old days.I was afraid that I had hurt him… Did I not say the words correctly? When, I look back on it, I'm not sure how I would have reacted at the mention of these words. The pain at knowing that my crush was in love with someone else, the pain of hearing the words spoken to my face, I would have hated it. I hated seeing him in pain… I just wanted to hold him and tell him it would all be okay, just like I had when he heard that Mike and his brother were dead. Those were probably his worst times of all, next to Jazz breaking up with him. You'd think it would be awkward hanging around with the two of them and all, but it's not actually.I started thinking about how I thought Jazz was going to start dating Alex. (Alex is this guy we hang around with) I knew she liked him and that he liked her, but whenever I tried to tell her this, she just ignored me. I could see it in her eyes, though. I could see how she felt each time I mentioned his name. Her cheeks flushed with a hint of crimson, even though she pretended like she didn't care. Then my thoughts went back to Jeremy.I could feel a bit of awkwardness, love, and sadness in the atmosphere as Jeremy and I sat in the car, driving to see Jazz. I stayed quiet the entire way because I knew that when Jeremy wanted to talk, he would talk; that's just how he is. When we arrived, Jeremy opened the car door for me. As soon as I opened the front door, Jazzy came running up to me and caught me in a huge hug. "I'm so so so so sorry! Where were you? Are you alright?" "Wow Jazz, calm down!" I whispered to her, "I'll tell you what happened later okay?" "Umm… okay, but you still didn't answer my other question. WHERE WERE YOU?" Jeremy gave me a look that said I should just tell her the truth, but I really didn't want to get into all of that right now. "Oh, well Jeremy found me at some café here in town." Jazz looked between Jeremy and me with a confused look on her face. "Okay, I'm missing something aren't I?""Look, I'll tell you later okay?"For the next hour or two, the three of us sat around watching movies with buttered popcorn and some really good hot chocolate that Jazz made. I could never get enough of that stuff! When the movie ended, Jazz got up and said she'd be right back. While she was gone, Jeremy finally spoke to me,"Daisy… we need to talk… alone." "Umm okay, sure. Let me go tell Jazz that we're going to be outside talking so she won't get worried or anything." Before he could respond, I was gliding down the hall to Jazzy's room. I found her sitting on the floor, looking for more movies to watch. "Hey, Jazz? Jeremy and I are going to be outside talking about something, alright?" "Huh? Oh yeah, sure..."Jeremy and I walked down the rusty metal stairs, to the front of the apartment building. It had finally stopped raining! I turned to Jeremy, his hands were in his jeans pockets and he had a distraught expression on his face. "Okay, so what did you want to tell me?" I said to him as I sat down on the bottom of the stairs. He sat beside me, and stroked my hair gently. "Daisy… you know I love and care for you deeply… You know I want you to be mine again… I miss holding your hand… miss kissing you… miss, everything… I feel sparks whenever you and I touched, and I am sure you did too. I have believed for so long that you are the one for me and that I am the one for you. Now, I know you still have feelings for Mike… but honestly…do you really want to go back to somebody who hurt you so bad? You know I haven't hurt you before… and I never will… it would kill me if I did… Now, please think this through, carefully. You don't have to answer right away if you don't want to. I can wait for an answer, but I need to tell you this now, Daisy… I want you back… Would you be my girlfriend again?" I looked up at him to find him looking down at his sneakers his face was scarlet all over. I thought to myself, I really do still love him… but I don't want to hurt him again… Maybe I should be with him again. I mean, we were so happy together before, and we're happy now when we see each other. So, why not? "I do want to be with you again." I said with a smile. He looked up at me. I could tell by the shimmer in his eyes that he was happy. We both stood up and held each other closely. We stood there for a long time, just holding each other. I could feel his heart beating against my chest. It was racing like a rabbit's, just like mine was. I smiled to myself as we stood there. I didn't even notice when it started sprinkling again. Then, I got my fairy tale ending, a kiss in the rain, just like I had always wanted. Jeremy was mine again, and the night couldn't have been better. Chapter 5It was a hot summer day. I was wearing black shorts with a Hollister flow shirt. A month had gone by since Jeremy and I had gotten back together. Ever since that day, I couldn't help but smile all the time. He just knew how to keep me smiling. He knows me so well. Ever since that day, I couldn't help but wonder how I had survived a day without him. It seemed like a good day to go to the park and relax. I didn't have to worry about running into Mike, as far I knew, he had left. I couldn't help but think of him throughout the month. Where was he? How was he doing? Was he thinking about me? I got no answers of course, but I wish I had.I headed outside, and while I was walking towards the shopping center, I noticed my mom's plum caravan was parked outside of the mall. Of course, I wasn't surprised. She was just shopping as usual. My mom loved to shop, but she really only has time to go on Saturdays, her day off. I loved shopping with her. She knew how to pick out a good outfit for a great price. I thought, eh, why not? I'll go to the mall and meet up with her. I reached for my phone in my back pocket and dialed my mom's number, "Hello? Hey mom. Are you at the mall right now?" "Of course I am!" We both laughed. "Ha ha well I'll meet up with you in a bit ok?" "Okay. See you in a bit."My mom and I spent the next few hours shopping together. We had so many shopping bags! They were mainly my mom's. I couldn't help but wonder how she planned to hide them all from Dad today. We had a great time. We did not just go shopping, but we also went to the movies and saw that new, funny, yet disgusting, movie Jackass. That movie made me want to puke twice, but at the same time I found it really funny. One of the nastiest parts was when this guy drank half a glass of his own sweat. Ugh, that was so gross! I almost barfed when I saw it, but I loved it nonetheless. When we were in the car, my mom told me she wanted to stay over at the apartment with Jazzy and me that night. She didn't feel like sleeping alone. You see, Dad is starting to work late nights. He always does at this time of year. Mom is always afraid something terrible is going to happen to her if we leave her alone at night, so I agreed to let her stay over. For the whole night Jazz, my mom, and I just talked and watched T.V. It was late, so I walked toward my mom to say goodnight. We share a room whenever she stays over, and when she's here, I like to think about how much I appreciate her. She has been there for me for so long. I regret not telling her all of the things I did when I was younger, but now we are much closer, and we tell each other much more. I don't really know what I would do without her. She has done so much for us all. My mom has a great heart, one of those that loves to help people, even if leaving them alone and ignoring them is what helps them out."Mom I'm going to sleep already, goodnight." I hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Love you." After I said that, my mom gave me a worried look. "Mija, sabes que si me pase algo, quiro que te quidas mucho y que no agas nada mal, verdad?" I gave my mom a worried look. "Of course I know that Mama, but why are you saying these things? You know I get scared when you say stuff like that." "Ya se, pero quiero que agas que es major y que te cuides mucho." Both of our eyes got watery when she said this. I hugged her like it was the last chance I would ever get. I hated when she told me these things. I would always get so scared, thinking her time was up. "Mom, I promise I will try my best not to do things that will harm me on purpose." "O, y Daisy, sabes que quiero toda mi ropa para ir a ti y tus tías cuando me haya ido,verdad? Todo lo demás es para sus tías." "Ay Mama, yes I know, but please don't tell me that because I get scared…""I'm sorry mija. Now go to sleep. I know you are very tired. Goodnight, love you." The entire time before I went to bed, I thought of the conversation my mom and I had in the other room.The next day, I was coming home from work. My part time job at Forever 21 is great, because I get discounts on all the new clothes in stock. They have the best accessories! Anyways, on my way home, I picked up a box of pizza from Little Caesar's. When I was walking up the stairs to the apartment, I raised my head just in time to see Mike zooming past me in the other direction. I only saw a glimpse, but I could tell he looked scared as he pushed me out of his way and kept walking. "What the..? Mike what are you doing?" He didn't reply, but stopped long enough to turn around and mouth the word "Sorry," the glitter of metal in his hand caught my eye. I had to find out what was going on. I shot him a confused glance before heading back up to the soon as I walked inside, I could feel the tension in the air. "Mom?" Where was she? What was that smell? Blood? My eyes widened in horror and I frantically began searching the apartment yelling out my mom's name. Between sobs, I managed to yell out "NOOO! MOM, PLEASE! MOM FIGHT! FIGHT MOM! COME ON, YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME… CAN'T LEAVE ME YET!" This couldn't be happening… I found my mom lying on the floor with blood coming out of her nonstop. I screamed at the top of my lungs, "MOM!" I ran to her and tried to hold her up. She had been shot three times in the heart… I thought to myself, 'Who would do such a thing? A MONSTER IS WHO THAT IS!' My mom's eyes were flattened shut, her breathing had stopped, her skin was so cold it felt like ice, and her skin…was so pale…Suddenly it all clicked… Mike had mouthed out "Sorry:… because…. he was the monster who did this to my mom… to somebody so innocent… OH I HATED HIM! He would pay for this one day, I thought,…one sweet day I would get my revenge….There was no time for revenge now though. Right away I dialed 9-1-1 and told them between sobs what had happened, except the fact that I knew who her attacker was. I knew I couldn't get revenge on him if he was behind bars, and right now, I wanted revenge more than I wanted that son of a bitch to be locked up. The whole day passed so slowly, Jazz got home to see the ambulance, police, and the fire department here. She had Alex with her when she got home; it looked to me like they were dating now. They were holding hands when they came in. Jeremy had come right before the ambulance to calm me down; telling me it would all be alright. But I knew it wouldn't. That didn't make Jeremy's job to calm me down any easier. I shouted and tried to escape from his grasp, but he held me back, trying to get me to calm down. The ambulance were understanding enough to let me ride with my mom in the back of the van. When we got to the hospital, most of my family was already there, along with Jazz, Alex, Chanel, Zuleima, Yesenia, and Jeremy. The doctors didn't even have to tell us that my mom was dead. Deep in hearts, we already knew this day was coming. One look at her pale face and we knew. Dad was crying to himself in the corner of the hospital room. Sergio held Danny and me close to him, as though he was trying to keep us together, to keep the family from coming undone. This was the worst day of my life. I hated every moment of it. Why couldn't I have gotten home just ten minutes earlier? Why wasn't I given the chance to stop Mike from doing this to my mom? At that time, everybody suspected that a gang member came into the wrong house and thought my mom was someone from another gang trying to kill him, but I knew the truth. I knew it was Mike. That night I couldn't sleep. I twisted and turned all night, staring at the ceiling, all the while, carefully planning vendetta.
story
Daisy Perea