Somewhere I Belong
By: Alissa Matsumoto
"Bye! I'm going to school now!" I called. I ran down the steep carpeted stairs and grabbed my backpack off of the floor.
"Bye Kellie!" Megan, my younger sister, called back as she ran to the door to hug me. I ruffled her curly blond hair and started to twist the golden door knob of the perfectly white door. Nick, my brother, was getting his backpack off of the purple velvet couch in the living room. The door quietly creaked as I opened it. A burst of fresh, warm summer breeze tickled my face and streamed through my soft golden hair. As I shuffled out the door and walked down the sidewalk, Nick followed. By the time I reached the end of the block, he caught up to me and was standing next to me.
"What class do you have first?" I asked him. I was pretty tall for a junior in high school, but I still had to tilt my head up to see his face. He didn't answer. Now that I think about it, he had never really talked to me. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk to me though. Three years ago, I was a leader of a gang. I had a dark past, full of emptiness and despair. I was a true yanki at heart. What's a yanki you ask? A member of an all girls' street gang. At that time, I was miserable and full of regret. His parents took me in when they found me dying on the streets.
I looked up at his pale face. His dark eyes were gazing into the distance. We turned the corner at the end of the next block. Royal Academy came in to full view. Its magnificent white walls stood out against the vibrant green grass and the clear blue sky. As we neared the front gate, I scanned the area for my friends.
"Kellie! Hey Kellie! Over here!" called my friend, Amber. Her jet black hair was tied up in two perfect braids today.
"See you later!" I waved at Nick and rushed towards Amber. He gave a small wave and turned to meet his friend. I joined Amber's side and we walked through the elegant golden doors of Royal Academy. Students were huddled in groups, talking to their friends in the open hallway. I yawned and headed to my locker. I slipped my backpack off and set it on the hard floor beside me. Amber approached her locker next to me.
"So does your brother talk to you yet?" she asked me as her lock clicked open.
"Nope," I hung my backpack in my locker and turned to face her. Her clear blue eyes scanned me curiously.
"What?" she asked. She grabbed a few books, causing some folders to spill out of her locker. She quickly shoved them back into her locker and stood up to face me.
"I just wish I could fit in better with his family," I said, also grabbing books for my first class, "I mean, come on. I've lived with them for three years, and I still can't call that house my home. It just doesn't feel right." I sighed and turned back to my locker, grabbed a few more books, and slammed the metal door shut with a loud clang.
"She was four years old when I joined her family," I pointed out. We walked to class in complete silence.
Math class went by pretty slowly. I spent most of the time reading a book and glancing at the clock. When class finally ended, I hurried out into the hall towards my locker. Students rushed to their lockers all around me. Amber was still in class talking to the teacher about her test grade.
"Hey, isn't that Nick's sister?" somebody behind me whispered.
"Have you heard? He's been to jail two times. That's why he misses so much school," whispered another. Strike one.
"I thought he almost killed somebody or something like that," said another gossiper. Strike two. Rage started to trickle through my veins. Nick would never do anything like that, and I didn't recall him ever going to jail.
"I heard his family bribed the school with lots of money so he could make it in," another girl added. Strike three. That was it. I snapped. I let my rage take complete control over my body. I dropped my books and grabbed the collar of one of the girls.
"Don't you DARE say bad things about my brother!" I swung her hard into a locker. Her breath left her as she hit the cold, hard metal. Nearby people stopped and turned to see what was going on. The two other girls were fleeing down the hallway. My yanki instincts snapped into perspective as I curled my hand into a tight fist and wound up to punch her. My fist flew forward and hit her left cheek. Tears poured out of her terrified eyes.
"Sorr…Sorry," she whimpered through her tears. I wound up to hit her again, ignoring her pleads for mercy. As my fist started to bolt forward, a strong, sturdy hand tightly grabbed my wrist. Immediately, without thinking, I swung around to hit the person that was holding me back. They caught my other fist too. Shock filled my eyes. Not many people had caught my punches before. Well, not any normal person who wasn't used to street fighting. I had both speed and power. They would have to have lightning quick reflexes to block a rage-filled punch from by me. I tried to pull back my arms, but the sturdy hands held them firm. I slowly glanced up. Cold, dark eyes pierced straight to my heart. The hands that held me back belonged to Nick. All my strength was instantly sucked out of me. I stared at my black shoes as he cautiously released his grip.
"Um…I'm sorry," was all I could say. He did not respond. His eyes just pierced me with a gaze that was filled with disapproval and hate. A teacher from the closest classroom grabbed me and dragged me to the main office.
The next hour was filled with anger, nagging, and nodding.
I finally arrived home after I finished mopping the floors and scraping chewed up gum off of desk as a punishment. Mom was in the kitchen preparing dinner.
"Kellie, I got a call from the principal this afternoon. Care to explain?" she said with a slight hint of anger in her voice. I remained silent. It was better not to talk at all.
"I don't really know what happened, but you can't just go around hitting people!" she threw the dish towel to the floor. "I know you were a yanki and I know you love to fight, but can't you control yourself? Haven't you ever learned self-control?"
Nick silently slipped down the stairs. I glanced up at him. Our eyes locked. He shot me a venomous glance.
"It was his fault I was in trouble. I was protecting him. So why does he still look at me like that?!" I thought sourly to myself as I clenched my fists.
Suddenly, I just couldn't take it any more. I spun around and swung the door open. I bolted out the door and poured on the speed as I ran on the rocky gray pavement. As I ran, salty tears welled up in my eyes and forced their way down my cheeks. As I wiped the tears from my eyes from my sleeve, I heard light and quick footsteps chasing after me. I cranked my head around to see who it was. It was Megan. Her light fluffy curls bounce up and down and her eyes were filled with fear. I could see the tears welling up in her pure blue eyes.
"Where are you going sis'?" she screamed, out of breath. I did not answer; I just wiped more tears off of my face.
"Are you running away, sis?" she asked. She was yelling but her voice was fading. The distance between us was slowly growing bigger.
"Sis'!" she screamed with all her strength.
"Don't call me sis! It makes me sick. You won't miss me. It will be as if I never existed! I don't belong in that house! I can't take it anymore!" I snapped back at her as tears pored out of my eyes.
"I'm never coming back either! Don't you dare come looking for me!" My jaw clenched and I ran faster than I have ever run before. I closed my eyes to try and stop the flowing of tears.
As I turned the corner, my foot slipped off the edge of the sidewalk. An incredible pain shot up my right leg. I winced and fell into some bushes beside the sidewalk. Sharp thorns hacked at my arms as I fell to the ground. Blood streamed out of the cuts and ran down my arms to my hands as I tightly grabbed my ankle. I took several deep breaths and started to peel myself up off of the ground. As I put weight on my foot, more pain shot up from my ankle. I winced and took another deep breath. This was nothing compared to when I left my gang. I had countless scars to prove it. I was almost beat to death and I was left on the street to die. That was when Nick and Megan found me and brought me to their house. Their family took care of me and helped me recover. But I could never fit in with them. I was a yanki I belonged in the streets.
Back then, I picked fights for the stupidest reasons. Fighting had always made me feel better. It was a way to vent my anger. I didn't care about anything; myself or others around me. Anything or anyone that came close to me was destroyed. Seeing people begging for mercy at my feet made me feel strong and important.
As I limped towards a dark and narrow alley, it started to drizzle lightly. Under the dark clouds, the rain washed away the blood. The cool drops cleansed me. As the rain refreshed me, I sat on the cold wet ground, listening to the patter of the rain on the street, and leaned up against a rusty green dumpster. The sky grew darker and the sun seemed to disappear from the world completely. A few people walked by the alley, shielding themselves from the rain with big umbrellas. Here in the darkness of the ally, I felt comfortable. These streets were the closest thing I had to a home. I put my head in my hands. My long, soggy hair draped over my shoulders. My skirt was soaked and my shoes were covered in mud. I looked back up. Three dark figures were standing at the end of the alley. Their long, slender shadows closed in on me.
"Is that Kellie?" one asked. Her voice was high pitched.
"I don't know. Let's find out," said another, with a lower voice. As the three drew closer to me, their faces became clearer. I recognized them. It was Angel, Ember, and Lucifer; members of my former gang. A cold chill ran down my spine. They were some of the ones that gave me my scars. I stood up slowly and cracked my knuckles. I put on a ferocious glare that was filled with hate.
"Funny seeing you here. I thought you left us to live with that filthy rich family," Snarled Angel. Anger and hate flowed through my body more than ever.
"They probably dumped you here because you're a useless traitor," added Ember. She flipped her long black hair and glared at me with her cold, grey eyes.
I was out numbered, three to one, but I had hate and revenge on my side. My ankle throbbed as I prepared to attack. Without a warning, I bolted forward, as fast as lightning. I jabbed Lucifer in the ribs with the side of my hand. She stumbled back, holding her side and gasping for air. I tuned around and round-housed Ember right in the stomach. Lucifer rushed towards me and grabbed one of my arms. I used all my strength to slam her into the hard brick wall. Angel grabbed my other arm. I struggled to pull it back but she held on tightly. Angel and Lucifer pulled my arms behind my back. Ember came towards me with a smug look on her face.
"Not so tough now, are you?" she said. Her face was inches away from mine. I smirked and kicked her in the jaw. I roared in pain as my ankle hit her. She staggered backwards. She wiped blood from her mouth and scowled.
"You're going to pay for that!" she yelled. Adrenaline dumped in her veins, giving her incredible speed and power. She kicked me back in the stomach.
My breath left me in one big "whoosh". The salty taste of blood erupted in my mouth. I spit out a mixture of blood and spit onto the ground. Ember came back for round two. She jabbed me several times in the stomach. I sucked in what little breath I could find and took in the pain. Lucifer and Angel let go of my arms. I fell to the ground like a rock. My face slammed against the rocky gravel. I tried to pull myself up from the rocky ground, only to be slammed back down with Angel's shoe. Ember kicked me hard in the side with all the rage and anger she had bundled up in her. Blood flowed out of the side of my mouth. My vision went blurry and dim. The world seemed to be fading quickly as I gasped for breath.
"Get away from her," Said an icy cold voice. I looked up at the shadowy figure. My vision was too blurred to see who it was.
"I said get away from her!" Icicles topped off those words. I received a final blow in the side and everything went pitch black.
"Kellie," a concerned voice called out to me.
"Kellie," It called again. I groaned miserably and opened my eyes a slit.
"Kellie," it called a third time. I opened my eyes all the way.
"Who…" I started. But I stopped when my gaze locked with Nick's. His dark eyes were filled with concern.
"Are you alright?" He asked as he helped me up. My whole body now felt like my ankle. I looked up at Nick. He didn't look any better than I probably did. He must have taken a good beating.
"Why did you save me?" I asked, looking at his bloodied and bruised face.
"You're part of my family. We all need to look out for each other," he said. Than he looked away, "Plus, you protected me before right?" he turned back and slightly smiled. I stared deeply into his dark brown eyes. That was probably the most I had ever heard him say. I reached up and hugged him without thinking.
"I'm so glad," I said as tears welled up in my eyes. I let go and blinked back tears.
"Ow," he said blankly. He smiled a bit.
"Oops. Sorry," I said as I started to stand up. My whole body ached but I was glad I was alive. I held up my hand to help Nick up. He grabbed it and started to pull himself up.
"Ugg, I feel like I fell off a cliff" he muttered as he stood up all the way. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we staggered out of the dark alley. We turned at the corner and headed home. Our home.