Little Red
I remember feeling so intimidated by the big buildings in New York City when I was six, and I just couldn't wait to get older so I could be just as big as them. I got older, but I stayed just as small. I've always been the awkward, skinny, little girl in class; I never looked like any of the other girls.
I've been 4'9 since the sixth grade and I'm sixteen now and still the same. I've always waited for my amazing puberty transformation to end up looking like Megan Fox, before the, you know, surgeries. But I never got hips, or taller, and prettier. I'm average, not even that. I'm me. Cat Valentine, sixteen years young, born on Long Island, New York, raised in Boca Raton, Florida. My mother got an amazing job opportunity in Los Angeles last spring, and we've been here ever since. New State, West Coast, new Cat.
I got accepted into an amazing Performing Arts School, and I honestly thought everything would change. I started to wear makeup, and I dyed my hair, but it didn't matter and it still doesn't. All the girls at my school are self absorbed and obnoxious. I try not to let their words get to me because I know, well I hope, that in the end I'll be the one that makes it far. I'll be the one who'll be bigger than all of them combined.
"Hey Little Red!" I hear a voice say from behind me as I turn around smiling. Robbie, the only person who'll even look past my red hair; my only friend.
"So where are we going on this full of possibilities Friday?" I ask, putting my arm around his waist as we walked on the sidewalk.
He smiles at me, before looking around. "The Cave?"
The Cave is our secret spot. It's an abandoned train near the old train tracks that no one ever went near. People say that it's a toxic wasteland, well I say, maybe I'll get some nuclear powers and fly myself away from this hellhole. Robbie took me there last summer when I was too upset to go home, when high school was really getting to me.
I nod, resting my head on his shoulder. If it weren't for Robbie, I don't know where I'd be right now. Depression would've taken me; I definitely wouldn't have made it this far.
I kick at the rocks on the pavement as we get closer, and I could feel my heart beating faster, my lungs lightening, almost like the air was getting lighter. The cave has always done this to me though; perhaps it really is a toxic wasteland.
Robbie opens the train door and steps inside, offering his hand to me. I take it, closing the door behind me. The Cave is old and rusty, but it's still in one piece, and it protects from the rain.
We decorated the walls with Paramore and Coldplay posters, and Robbie had even put in extra sheets and pillows. It's like a childhood fort. I feel free when I come here, away from the cold and bitter world. Nothing bad ever happens at The Cave.
"What are you thinking about?" Robbie asks me, slumping down onto the warm sheets. "You've been so distracted lately, you okay?"
"I've just been feeling uneasy, but not now. Not when I'm with you." I reply honestly. He doesn't respond, so I decide to lie to next to him. He looks at me then, his cheeks red, and his lips parted.
"I'm so glad you're here Cat." He whispers, taking my hand in his, and kissing it softly. "Everything's been better ever since you moved here."
I smile at him, my heart beating faster than before. I've never had boyfriend, or a friend that's a boy. Situations like this make me panic, but I can't move. I don't want to.
"You make me feel not so little anymore." I respond, cupping his cheek. I trace the outline of his lips with my finger, and I can feel his breath hitch.
He presses his mouth against mine in a heartbeat, and it's like my heart is soaring. Beating faster and faster as I become aware of how close we are as his lips slide over mine.
Breaking away, my eyes droopily meet his, "Promise me that whenever you feel like giving up, you'll always meet me here. At the Cave." He says, pushing my hair behind my ear.
My dad died three years ago: drunk driver. My mom's been a wreck ever since; she smokes, drinks, she has a new boyfriend every day. I don't understand though, she was furious and heartbroken when she found out the driver that hit my dad was drunk. She wanted to kill him, but she's resorting to the one thing she despised. Something that was involved in the killing of my dad.
When she's drunk, she gets mad, and that's when she scares my baby sister. I always try to calm her down, but I always get hurt. If I don't try who will though? She's going to end up killing herself, and I'm just going to end up wondering if anyone really could've saved her. How do you know when it's too late for someone? They continue to hurt themselves, and hurt you in the process, but when is it okay to give up? What if the pains become too much for you? I cannot take seeing my mother like this, she's killing me, everyday when she's passed out on the couch; she's killing me inside.
I can't imagine what my baby sister thinks, she's only six but she's not stupid. Ariana sleeps with me at night, because I'm afraid of what my mom will do to her if I'm not there.
My bedroom door creaks open, and when I hear the tiny footsteps I know it's Ariana.
"Catty I'm scared of mom." She says to me, wiping his eyes.
"Come here Ari, sleep with me right here I'll protect you." I whisper, lifting up my comforter for her.
She snuggles besides me safe and warm, and I hold her tight. "I'll never let her hurt you Ariana."
She turns to look at me, and she does for a few seconds before speaking again.
Her eyes are tired, and sad. I can tell she's been crying, crying for a long time. "You promise?"
"I promise."
"I promise."
"We should really get going before dark Cat." Robbie says to me, picking up his backpack.
"I don't ever want to leave here." I whine, fussing around on the sheet I was laying on.
"My dad's working the night shift, and my mom wants me home, come on, Cat." Robbie says to me, gesturing to the door.
"Ugh Fine." I say, whilst getting up and grabbing my bag.
"We still have tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that." Robbie says, pulling me close and kissing me again.
I smile into his lips, kissing him back. "Not too far there, you never know what'll happen tomorrow."
We start to walk, and my heart is still fluttering in my chest from all of the new contact, and I make conversation nervously. After a few minutes Robbie's phone rings again.
"Hey mom, yeah I'm on my way." Robbie says into his phone, looking around, "I'm walking Cat home first, I'll be about twenty minutes."
"Oh Rob it's okay I'll walk the rest, I only have a block left." I say, smiling at him.
"Cat it's already dark."
"Robbie, I'm not a child." I respond back warningly, "It's okay. Really. Go home, I got it. Thank you though, I'll see you." I lean up to chastely kiss him, and then I begin to walk away.
I've always admired going on walks late at night, it's always been an escape to me, sometimes to clear my head. It's dark now, and I can hear is the sound of my heels on the pavement along with the wind. I love that sound, so simple, so serene.
I hear a door slam, and I turn around quickly, my heart beginning to beat faster. I heard the car, but I don't see anyone.
When I turn around again, there's a man dressed in black in front of me and before I can scream, he has a cloth over my mouth. I can feel my consciousness slipping, my heart beating so fast I think I'm having a heart attack.
You never know what can happen tomorrow, or in a matter of minutes.
A/N: thankyou to myyy amazing beta LoveOblivious!:) This a new story I'm working on, staring ofcourse, Cat Valentine. Tell me if you like it and if I should continue! Thanks!
