The Turner Kids Journey
By: Karen and Aaron TurnerPROLOGUE
My name is Karen and my twin Aaron (yes she is a girl) have a huge, confusing, and hard life. So I will start out with the huge part. My family has six kids in our family. That is three girls, and three boys. So it is not all that huge just a little big.
There is Aaron and me we both have long, blond, almost white hair. We are 12 years old. We are the second youngest, the second shortest, and really skinny. You will find out why.
Then there is our older brother Jesse he also has blond hair. He is 16 years old and an aspiring musician. Dad doesn't like his music he is totally against it. Jesse has to take care of us because dad doesn't care.
Next there is Derek, the rebel. He always wears black or really dark clothes, to match his dark, black hair. He never talks. He hasn't since their mom died. He is 14, and won't listen. So he is just plain strange.
Last is Ryann. He is one year older then Aaron and I. He is super nice. And has brownish hair. Last the youngest girl is Addison. Karen calls her Addie but the rest of us call her Boo or Addi boo.
So that is my family now let me tell you about the adults
There is my mom who died of cancer. So we live with our evil dad and his new girlfriend. That is why we are so skinny. He starves the girls and locks the boys in their rooms. He loves to torture us. So the boys are bruised head to toe from beatings. And like I said me in Aaron are extremely skinny we were starved and bruised.
The Turner Kids JourneyNarrator
Karen woke up in their attic bedroom. The sunlight was the only thing able to wake them up. The dust was so heavy it was hard to get enough air. She looked over to check on Addison. Then, she heard "Get yourselves down hear NOW!" the sound off Jillian's voice calling for them. (Jillian is their dad's girlfriend.) Aaron, still asleep in her rock hard bed, was awoken by the call of evil and got up. They were like maids. They put on there old dirty clothes. Karen grabbed Addison and they ran out of the room. As they ran down the stairs, Jillian yelled again. They ran faster.
"Yes Jillian," They said in unison. Jillian ordered,
"Make me my breakfast cake." The three girls went into the kitchen. Aaron started to make the cake. Karen prepared her father's coffee. As Karen brought the coffee to her dad she passed Jesse's room. Then, she heard a song. She cracked the door. Jesse didn't know. He started to sing and play his guitar. He was playing the best song in the world. The song he wrote for their mother. Karen felt her eyes start to water. Jesse had just gotten the courage to sing, and not any song but the song they are not aloud to sing. She carefully closed the door, and walked away.
"Karen! Where are you?!" Her dad yelled. Just then she opened the door. She sat the tray down and headed for the door. Her dad called her back," Karen, were is Ryann?"
"In his room. Why?"
"Send him up."
"Yes sir."
Aaron had finished making more coffee for Jillian when Karen got down. She still had some tears in her eyes from Jesse's song. Karen got the ingredients for Jillian's cake. Aaron saw her eyes and asked, "You ok?"
"I'm fine." She said as she started to bake. She sat Addison down on a chair.
"Why are you crying?"
"Jesse is singing."
"Really"
"Yep, he is singing Mom's Song"
Aaron suddenly remembered the song. And she put together a smile. Karen picked up Addison and brought her to go give Jillian her cake
A few stories up Ryann was entering Dad's room. "Come here boy," he said in an angry voice. Ryann walked as slow as he could to the bed. As Ryann got closer the dad sat up higher. When, he got to the bed. The dad punched him for no reason. You could here him yelling in pain from downstairs. Karen plugged Addison ears.
The girls could tell that their dad would enjoy today. They would hate it.
Chapter 1- The beginning
Aaron, Addison, and Karen dipped their fingers in the icing. (It would be all they would be able to eat.) They brought Jillian her cake then went upstairs to go in their room.
On their way upstairs they heard Jesse singing again. They cracked the door and listened. It brought back memories.
There mom was nice and married to what she thought was a family man. When Karen and Aaron were 8 she was diagnosed with leukemia. Even during her sickness she still had time to be with her kids. And then when Aaron & Karen were 9 she died. They were put through this daily torture for 4 years and they thought it would never end. It could never end there was no way out.
They passed Derrick's room he was lying on his bed writing something. He was weird in that way. But, he was their brother.
They were almost to their room when Ryann came out of their dad's room. He had a bloody nose and could barely stand. Karen put Addison down and told her to go into their room. Their dad left the door wide open. Karen and Aaron bent down to help Ryann when he fell. But dad yelled, "Don't help him! Let him lay!" Then, the dad came out of the room kicked Ryann and slapped the girls. Their dad went downstairs. The girls helped Ryann up and took him to the bathroom so they could clean him up. Jesse saw them and followed.
Around lunchtime all the kids came downstairs for their daily beating. They all stood in a line as dad slapped them. (Yes even Addi gets slapped)
Then Derrick made lunch for the adults. Jesse served them. Ryann helped Jesse. Addi sat next to the grown ups. Karen and Aaron were sent to go get the food. Their only alone time was at the market.
As they walked to the market they saw families that they wished they were part of. Before they go to the market they always go to their mom's grave so they can talk with her. But today they went strait to the market and strait back.
The kids were sent strait to their rooms and were forbidden to come out. They met in Karen and Aaron's room for a meeting.
"We need to do something. We can't stay here," Aaron said in a whisper. Everyone agreed. They talked for a few hours and made a choice. They were going to escape!
* * *
They decided to let someone know they were leaving so they left a note.
Dear Dad,
We are leaving today and when you read this we will be gone. We have a few reasons why we had to leave. So here they are.
1.) You starve Aaron and Karen
2.) You beat Ryann
3.) You don't appreciate Jesse's music
4.) You made Derek silent
5.) You treat us like servants
6.) You never loved our mom
7.) Your girlfriend is terrible
8.) You abuse us
9.) You cheated on our mom
10.) We just can't stay here
We can't stand living with you. Jesse has to take care of Aaron & Karen. Derrick has agreed in his own way. Ryann will be able to help Jesse. We need to leave. We are sorry we have to go (like you would care.)
Good bye,
Jesse, Derek, Ryann,
Aaron, Karen, and Addi
* * *
The next morning they all woke up at 4:00 in the morning so no one could catch them. Jesse and Ryann packed up a small backpack for each person to carry. Karen offered to carry Addi's. Derick kept watch to make sure no one could come down and see. Aaron grabbed all the money from both of the adults. Not the card just cash. Because it would be weird with kids to have cards. In all the money was over $600. Karen packed more food and got the note.
Derick started waving his arms showing they were coming down. The adults saw the kids trying to get away. Karen put the note down. Aaron grabbed one credit card, and they ran.
They had no ride so they got a few blocks away and went into the subway. Where their dad couldn't follow them. They got on the subway and found the only empty seats avalable.
"Are you hungry girls?" jesse asked in a concerned tone.
"No" the girls answered in unison. The girls looked out the widow.
"Look!" Aaron yelled "There's the statue of liberty!"
"Good we're in New York!" Jesse said breathing out a great breathe. Addi was asleep in Karen's lap.
"Where are we going?" karen asked
"We are going to Florida" Jesse answered
"Don't we have to take two trains to get there?" Ryann asked.
"Exactly Ryann!" Jesse answered. The girls fell asleep and slept until they got to the New York Terminal. The girls were still asleep. Jesse carried them out of the train. (Jesse had Aaron and Derek had Karen Ryann caried all of the stuff and Addi.) They found a spot under the bridge and set up a bed area.
Chapter 2- Aaron
"come on everyone wake up! I'm lonely!" came the sound of Ryann's voice. I thought I was dreaming until I felt him shaking me awake.
"not now Ryann!" I said in an agrivated tone.
"Jesse will you wake her up for me?!" when you ask Jesse to wake someone up for you that isn't good!
"I'M AWAKE!" I yelled jumping up in the air only to be caught by Jesse and thrown into the lake near where we were sitting. I came up from the water. They were all laughing! "ARGGGGGGGGGGGG!" I yelled getting out of the water. Karen helped me up. Then, jesse gave me and karen 100 dollars to spend on whatever we wanted (although we had our limits). The boys went to go play miniature golf. "hey karen do you want to go to the toy store?" I asked
"no I don't want a toy I want to go to the fair!" she pointing to a sign that said : FAIR OPEN
"let's go!" Addi said jumping up and down.
We played tons of games!
"why did the turtle cross the rode?" karen asked as we were leaving the fair. Addi had some cotton candy and a teddy bear in her arms.
"to get to the other side?" I guessed.
"no to get to the shell station!" we laughed. Then, the most wonderful and terrible thing happened. Addi, Karen and I were crossing the road. A car came out of no where. Just as it was about to hit us someone saved us!
"you girls need to be more careful!" someone said
"you can open your eyes now" another voice said. I opened my eyes. I LOVED what I saw! There were three boys. Two of them had long skater boy hair. It was brown and they had brown eyes like Ryann's. one of them (the cutest one) held out his hand. I took it and he helped me up. one of the other boys helped Karen up.
"I'm micheal, this is Daniel and this is my brother Will" the cute one said
"I'm Aaron and this is my twin karen" I answered.
"hey how about we take you three out for dinner as a thanks for saving you" micheal said.
"we have to go ask our brother first" karen said spoiling the fun as uasual!
"hey why don't we take you and your brother out to eat" will said
"we have three brothers" I answered
"that's no problem the more the merrier!" Will answered. "hey what's your name?" he asked kneeling down to Addi's hieght.
"my name is Addi" she answered in her cute little baby voice.
"alright then!" I looked over and karen didn't seem to be sure about the whole idea. "come on K! they are offering it's not like we invited ourselves" I whispered to her.
"how old are you three?" she asked looking at them judgingly.
"I'm fourteen,Daniel is twelve and my brother is sixteen" micheal answered
"oh ok! Then let's go meet Jesse" I said before karen could come up with any more questions.
"oh so that's your brother's name" Micheal said lauging. He has the most beautiful laugh! I thought to myself. And look at that smile! I couldn't stop staring. He would look over and I would look away. I know that that is a game for little kids but I couldn't help it! Sometimes karen would catch me looking and elbow me. But other than that I was free to stare! Finally, we found the boys.
"hey girls!"Jesse said waving his hand in the air. I waved back.
"Jesse this is micheal, daniel and this is his brother Will. Will is your age" I said smiling and poiting to each boy as I said their name.
"so, how did you manage to find these three young men?" he asked sarcastically picking up Addi who had her hands waving in the air impatiently.
"they wanted to know if we could all go out for dinner with them. All of us…. Together…. As a group."
"oh just shut up karen!" Ryann said.
"hey you can't talk to karen that way!" I yelled jumping onto him. We started to wrestle. Until jesse pulled us apart. We fell down we were laughing so hard. "together, as a group" I said mocking karen I even did a funny gave me an angry look. So, I stopped.
"well, before we go out to eat who would like to go see a movie?" Jesse said. We all agreed and so we went to the movies.
We saw the movie I Am Legend.
"that was a great movie" micheal said.
"yea it was really good" Daniel siad. I realized that I had never heard him talk.
"hey if guys have to get back home or something you know we could always just have dinner tomorrow" Jesse said.
"well," long pause "we don't have a home. Our father beat us so we ran away." Micheal said looking down.
"us to!" karen and I said together.
I asked "what about your mom?" jesse slapped me on the arm "what?" I whispered.
"it's ok Jesse. She died of cancer" Will answered "but Daniel's parents died when he was about five and he has been living with us ever since. That's why he's like a brother to us."
"so did ours!" we said again in unison.
"hey why don't you guys come and spend the night with us? Unless you have something better to do?" ryann said sarcastically. (Micheal,daniel and ryann are best friends now) micheal laughed and started to tickle him.
"sure if it's alright with Jesse then sure we'd love to stay with you" Will answered
"it's fine with me." Jesse answered.
So, the lay out was like this. On my right side was karen, on my left was micheal (eep!), above me was Jesse and Will and below me was Ryann, next to him Addi, and below Karen,daniel. I was the second one asleep. As usual Ryann was the first one asleep.
I woke up. When I opened my eyes there was micheal right above me. I sat up quickly. "what?!"
"shh! Everyone else is sleeping!"
"what were you doing?" I whispered
"why don't we take a walk while I explain" he said reaching out his hand. I took it and we walked around the lake. By the time we had circled around the whole lake I had told him everything about me. He had told me everything about himself. He had told me that he has two more siblings. They are both younger than him. He has a little sister that's nine and a little brother that's two. They live with a neighboor. He said that he and Will had asked the neighboors to babysit and then decided that the two would be better off there. (at the time the little boy was only a few months and the girl was only 6 so they won't remember this)
"There you two are!" Will called out as we turned the corner and came towards the bridge. He came out from under the bridge and hugged Micheal. "I thought I lost you!" he said sarcastically. "Ah! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he said pretending to over react. He fell to his knees and pretended to cry on Micheal's feet.
"He does this even when Daniel and I come home from going to the grocery store" Micheal said smiling.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Will said still overreacting. I burst out laughing. I laughed and laughed and laughed! It was so funny!
"excuse me I hate to interrupt but you're going to give this poor young lady a heart attack if you don't stop your bawling" Jesse said in an English accent. That just made me laugh harder. "Alright A it's not that funny. Stop laughing or you are going to have an asthma attack." I looked over and saw that Karen was laughing just as hard. I pointed to Karen. "You too k!" he said yelling back. I finally was able to stop laughing.
"Wow Aaron I didn't know you had asthma and I also didn't know you could laugh so hard" Will said with wide eyes. He wrapped his arm around Micheal's neck and gave him a nooggy.
"Alright today where does everybody want to go?" Jesse asked
"I want to stay here" Ryann said. We all looked at him with amazement.
"Okay you can stay here, only if you are careful! Got it! Look at me!" Ryann wasn't looking at Jesse he was looking at these two hot (in his perspective) girls who were passing by. "Oh and I don't want you making out with any girls today Ryann. Someone has to be here to guard our stuff." Jesse finished. Ryann shook his head and went to lie down on the blankets. "Alright who else has something they want to do?"
I raised my hand. "Yes?" Jesse said
"I think that we should go to the water park today!" I said jumping up in the air. That got Addi started. She started jumping up and down in the air and wouldn't stop.
"Alright we can do that. But first we have to by swim suits!" Jesse said throwing his hands in the air. "Ryann are you sure that you don't want to come?" he said turning to Ryann who was walking up the hill to the campsite.
"Yes I'm sure"
"Alright let's head to Rock Your Body!" Daniel said enthusiastically. (That's the name of the bathing suit store) at the store I picked out a purple two piece. It has hearts all over it and was purple however the hearts where yellow. Karen picked out the same one only in yellow. (Those are our favorite colors) Micheal picked out a black bathing suit. (He looks amazing with no shirt on!!!) Will picked out a blue striped one it is light blue with dark blue stripes. Jesse got silver with red stripes. And of coarse Derek got black ones as well, but he got a black top to match it. Addi got a cute little one piece with Elmo on it. And Daniel got a plain red one.
We finally got to the water park. IT WAS HUGE! "Alright everybody listen up! There is a ferry ride that leaves in an hour! I want everyone on the ferry deck in an hour! Got it?!" we all nodded and took off. However all of us went to the same places. We went down some huge water slides and some we went down we had to get rafts for. Finally it was time for the ferry ride! We got on with a lot of other people. Jesse told us to put on the shirts that he had packed for us.
About fifteen minutes of being on the ferry, the whole ferry started to rock back and forth. A lady came over the intercom and said that she had spotted some storm clouds ahead so we would have to turn back "however, there is only one spot that the ferry can turn around at. So first we have to reach that place and then we can turn around until then we are asking that everyone get a life vest on. Be safe thank you"
"You heard her I will take all of you to get life jackets" Jesse said picking up Addi. So, he led us and we followed him to where the life vests are. Right when we were almost there, the ferry suddenly jolted to the side and I felt my self falling. I hit the water, stayed under for a little while and then came back up. I looked around for someone, anyone!
"Jesse!" I yelled into the darkness that had set in so fast I couldn't believe it. I looked around. I was the only one in the water! "Jesse!" I shrieked.
"Aaron, Will is coming in after you!" I heard Jesse yell. I saw a black shape moving toward me. It was Will. I thought that until he got closer.
"Will?" I whispered
"Micheal! Come back! I mean it if you don't come back right now I'm going to beat you!" I heard Will yelling from the ferry.
"Micheal! Over here!" I said waving my arms. Suddenly something pulled me under! It was seaweed. I tried to pull it off. It wouldn't come off! It started to get tighter. The tighter it got the more I struggled. I kept struggling. It kept getting tighter. My lungs were begging for air! They were screaming! Everything started to go black. All I saw was a shape. It came down and then I was in total darkness.
Chapter 3- Going Away
I woke up. everyone was above me. It was light out. I squinted in the light. I sat up. I was back at the camp sight. "You're ok! Thank god!" Karen said rapping me in a hug. When she hugged me I realized that I was dry.
I looked around. "Where's Ryann?" I asked.
There was a long uncomfortable silence. Jesse had a look on his face that stopped my heart in its tracks. "Dad came and kidnapped him" he said after the long silence.
"How do you know that?" I asked jumping to my feet. "How do you know that he didn't just go out and get some lunch as a surprise?" Jesse held a piece of paper out to me. I took it. It read:
Dear turner kids,
If you ever want to see your brother again you all have to come back home. Until then he is in my care!
Dad
I sat down and stared at the note. I started to cry. I could see no other way out. "We have to go back and live with him." I said after a long silence. Addi laid her head on my lap and looked up at me with that cute little face.
"Well, we kinda knew that you would say that so we came up with a plan." Micheal said looking at me with those beautiful brown eyes. I fell into then like I fell into the lake I got wrapped in his smile just as if it were seaweed.
"What's the plan?" I asked in an annoyed voice.
"The plan is that you and everyone except me and Derek are going to go back to save Ryann. What the rest of you are going to do, yes I know you will get mad about this part but, you guys are going to an orphanage in Denmark." Jesse finished
I stood up quickly "no! I'm not going anywhere without you!" I yelled
"Aaron you will have Daniel, Will and Micheal, Karen and Addi to go with you!" Jesse said.
"DON'T YOU CARE?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! DO YOU WANT TO BE SEPARATED OR SOMETHING!" I yelled. he stood up with the same relaxed look on his face.
"Aaron you're just going to have to trust me" he said wrapping me in a hug. I hugged him and cried at the same time.
"What time are we leaving?" I asked after I finally stopped crying.
He smiled at me and told me that we were leaving in the morning. "Who would like to go eat?" he asked. I stopped smiling. "What?" Jesse asked
"That was Ryann's line" I answered looking at the ground.
"I'm sorry A I just think that Ryann would of wanted me to say that."
"Ok." I said "but still I'm not hungry"
"Alright but you have to come to the restaurant with us" Jesse said picking up our stuff "we are going to sleep at the airport. We will catch a cab." He said answering the questioning look he was getting from Karen. Micheal let me ride on his back to the restaurant. He smelled so good that I had to try as hard as could to resist the urge of smelling him and giving myself away. Everyone ate except me, Micheal, Daniel, and Karen. We just sat there and watched everybody eat. Without Ry everything in life seems so bland. So boring, so colorless. The food even looks tasteless. I thought to myself. We walked out of the restaurant and caught a cab. The cab was air conditioned so it was really comfortable. I suddenly felt exhaustion fill my body. I laid my head on Micheal's shoulder. He smiled down at me. I smiled back. His smile was so overwhelmingly gorgeous. How could anyone resist that smile? I fell asleep before I knew it.
Chapter 4- The airport
"Aaron!" I opened my eyes. We were at the airport.
"What?" I groaned turning over. I fell and hit the ground. "Ouch what the?!" I looked around. I had fallen asleep on a chair. Karen helped me up.
"We have to get on the plane now Aaron" Karen said looking at the ground.
"I don't want to go Jesse are you sure that you haven't changed your mind?" I asked in a desperate tone.
"Aaron calm down you're wheezing. No I haven't changed my mind. Nothing will change my mind." He said I sighed.
"Well I'm still not getting on that flight" I said stubbornly.
"Fine then, I will carry you to the plane." Jesse said picking me up like a baby and walking over to the air plane. He put me down and handed the man our tickets.
"Goodbye. Take care of each other!" Jesse said waving and walking away. He turned back to watch us go. I couldn't help it, I ran over into his arms and we both broke down crying.
"I love you Jesse! Please don't make me go!" I said
"Aaron I have to." He stoked my cheek with his finger. I kissed his cheek and then went to go join the others. "I LOVE YOU AARON!" he yelled as I got on the plane. I waved good bye and then boarded the plane. I sat at the window next to me was Karen and next to her was Micheal. (They had three to a seat) then, across the row Will was sitting with Addi and some really pretty girl. I looked out the window and saw Jesse in the airport. I waved and he waved back. He made a funny face and I giggled.
"What's so funny?" Karen asked looking out the window. There was Jesse doing the soldier boy and acting like a fish. We started laughing. We couldn't stop.
"He is so funny!" I said as the plane lifted off the ground.
"Yea to bad this might be the last time we get to see him" Karen said. (She is always negative)
"Karen don't say that can't you see that upsets Aaron!" Micheal said in such a mad tone that I was too surprised to be upset. But when he looked away from her I had time to be upset. I fought back the tears that were coming. Addi came over to us and sat in Karen's lap. A teenage girl took her place.
"I'm sorry A, I don't mean to be negative I'm just like that" she said with sad eyes. She obviously really regretted saying that. I just shook my head in forgiveness because I couldn't speak.
"Hey guys!" Will whispered over to us. "Guess what! The two girls that I am sitting in between are best friends!!!!!"
"How is that good?" Karen asked obviously not knowing the secrets of how boys get girls.
"Well, since you are interested I will explain. You see when they are best friends they like to share everything. You know drinks, food, clothes, ideas, and boys. So that means that I will take turns meeting each one and then I will decide which one I like better."
"Isn't that kind of like oh I don't know CHEATING!!!" Karen said back.
"NO!!! Ok look its like if you have a video game and you play it over and over again and never play a new one. It's the same with girls you don't want the same one forever you need to have a variety to choose from." He explained.
"OH SO NOW WE'RE A VIDEO GAME?!!!!!" She yelled recklessly.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!! NEVER MIND!!!!!!!" he yelled back. They turned away from each other and there faces turned blood red.
"Hello would you like anything to eat or drink?" a lady asked curtsying in front of us. She was wearing the same uniform as the lady on the other side of the cart. It was grey with white stripes. It was a top and a skirt that I'm sure Will wished was shorter. To complete the outfit they had on leather black boots.
"Um, let's see, Aaron, Karen do want anything?" he asked looking at me.
"Yea. I would like some apple juice and what do you have to eat?" I replied.
"Well, first of all would you like that in a sports bottle? And second we have pretzels, granola bars, fruit roll ups, and chips." She answered
"Ok yes I would like a sports bottle and I would like a fruit roll up. How many are we allowed to have?" I asked. (You see fruit roll ups are my favorite food in the whole entire world and if you remember I didn't eat before the flight.)
She laughed. "You are allowed as many as you want." She said getting my drink ready.
"COOL!!!!" I yelled waking up some people.
"I would like coke and if you have a sippy cup with some orange juice please" Karen said.
"Alright here you go." The lady said giving us what we wanted.
"Would you like anything?" she asked looking at Micheal.
"No thanks" he answered smiling his killer smile.
"Micheal you have to eat something you haven't eaten in two days." Will said after the lady left.
"You can have some of my fruit rollup if you would like" I said handing out a piece to him.
"Thanks but I think that I'm just going to go to sleep" he said leaning back the chair. I took the piece back and shoved it in my mouth.
"Aaron gosh stop eating those so quickly! You're going to choke!" Karen said as I stuffed the rest of it in my mouth.
"Sorry" I said with my mouth full.
"Ewww! Aaron that is disgusting." She said
"WELL SORRY I DIDN'T KNOW THAT EVERYONE HAD TO HAVE GOOD MANNERS!" I yelled back at her. Micheal opened his eyes and looked at me. "WHAT?!" I yelled
"Could you please try to be quite you are waking other people up. Now I don't care if you wake me up but just try not to wake up the other people on the flight" Micheal said.
"Sorry" I mumbled. I turned and looked out the window.
"Wait a minute where is Addi?" I asked noticing that she wasn't sitting in Karen's lap anymore.
"She is over there with Will. One of the girls had to move back to her seat so Addi asked if she could move back over there." Karen explained.
"Ok" I answered looking back out the window.
"You may now take out all electronical items" someone said over the intercom. Karen and I took out our laptops. We went to a website and found out all about Denmark. We also found the name of our orphanage that we would be going to. It is called Peterson's. "If you will please put away all of the electronic items that you have out at this time thank you" the lady said again about thirty minutes later. Karen and I put our laptops away and looked out of the window. We were flying over a big city. Finally, we landed and got out of the plane. We stretched.
"Micheal there are a lot of restaurants here now choose one to eat at. We are not leaving until you eat something." Will said sternly to Micheal.
"I already told you that I'm not hungry" Micheal said back angrily.
"I don't care if you aren't hungry! You are eating something!" Will yelled back. Karen, Addi and I watched them fight. We followed them with our heads.
"Oh yea well I said I'm not hungry I don't care if you don't care that I'm not hungry! I'M NOT EATING!!!" Micheal so madly that I jumped. Will took in a deep breathe. He was starting to turn red with anger. "Come on Will, can't we just get to the orphanage" Micheal said breaking the silence.
"No! I meant what I said. We are not leaving until you eat."
"I'll eat with you Micheal" I said hoping to break the tension. I hated watching them fight.
"That's ok Aaron. I'm not going to eat" Micheal answered not taking his eyes off of Will.
"Why not?" I asked curiously.
"Just because" he said still not taking his eyes off of Will.
"Micheal I will do you know what to you if you don't eat something right now!" Will said glowering at Micheal.
"You wouldn't!" Micheal said gasping and backing up.
"Oh yes I would." Will said stepping forward menacingly.
"So, Aaron where was it that you were planning on eating?" Micheal said still backing up away from Will.
"How about Pizza Hut?" I answered thrilled. But, that thrill quickly turned into anger. I realized that he wasn't doing this because he wanted to be with me and eat he was doing this so that Will wouldn't do you know what (whatever you know what is). "You know what I'm tired I think that I just want to go somewhere and sleep." I answered. Micheal finally took his eyes off of Will and looked at me questionally. I looked away before his eyes could burn into mine and steal my thoughts.
"I'm tired too" Karen answered. Addi rubbed her eyes and held up her arms so that Karen would pick her up. Karen picked her up and said "Come on Aaron we should go get our luggage." Karen said. I followed her silently. I felt someone grab my wrist. I turned around. It was Micheal. He just looked at me, he didn't say anything. Will led Karen away from us.
"Why did you suddenly not want to eat?" Micheal asked his beautiful flawless face serious. He is even cuter when he is serious! I thought to my self.
"I told you why" I answered looking down so that I couldn't see his eyes and feel the guilt. I tried pulling my wrist away. But he showed no intention of letting go.
"I'm not letting go until you tell me the real reason" he said lifting my chin with his free hand. I couldn't help it I looked into his eyes.
"You will either get mad at me or think that I am stupid" I answered my eyes starting to get watery. I fought back the tears. Right now you are probably wondering why I felt tears in my eyes, well, because for that moment, I don't know why but he reminded me of Ryann. But I took in a deep breathe and the tears went away.
"No I won't" he said smiling at me. For once I didn't smile back.
"Yes you will!" I insisted stubbornly.
"Ok, here's the deal, I won't laugh at you, make fun of you or any of that stuff if you tell me" he said still smiling. This time I just had to smile back. "So it is true no one can resist my smile" he said playfully. Then, he let go of my wrist. Here is your chance! I thought to myself.
"LOOK!" I yelled pointing to where another plane was boarding. He looked and I ran. (I'm not bragging but I am an extremely fast runner.) I avoided all stairs, escalators and elevators. I kept running. Micheal was way behind me. I found a door. I pushed it open. I kept running. I ran down a ramp, cut through traffic and went back into the airport. I went into the girls' bathroom.
"Aaron I know you are in there! Come on Aaron please come out?" he said panting desperately.
"No!" I yelled back. It echoed.
"Don't make me come in there!" he threatened. My eyes grew wide in amazement.
"You wouldn't" I said
"Oh yes I would." Then, I heard footsteps coming into the bathroom. It was Micheal! "Told you I would" he said picking me up and carrying me out of the bathroom.
"Micheal!!!!!" I yelled waving my arms. I kicked, punched and screamed. He put me down and had his hands on my shoulders. I realized that I was panting now.
"Aaron I have to admit no girl has ever run away from me." He said smiling, but I didn't return the smile. "Now you have no where to run" he said looking above my head. I looked up and saw Will standing there "intimidating isn't he?" Micheal said in an amused voice. Will didn't look happy. "Now I gave you a chance to tell me before but now you have no chance." Micheal said. The smile faded from his face immediately. "You're wheezing do you want your inhaler?" he asked. I shook my head no. "Now tell me" I shook my head no again. "Fine" he said picking me up with no effort and started walking to the exit.
"WAIT!" I yelled barely being able to breathe. He stopped and put me down. "Can I whisper the reason in your ear?" I asked. "But if I do then I can I ride on your back instead?" he thought about it for a few seconds and then answered.
"Sure" I told him the reason. He didn't laugh but I knew he wanted to. "Aaron you are not like other girls that I have met" he said with wonder on his face. He turned around and Will picked me up and put me on his back.
"Hey where are Karen and Addi?" I asked looking around.
"They're waiting in the car" Will answered.
"Giddy up horsy!!" I yelled pretending to kick Micheal. He laughed and my heart almost melted. "Oh and what car?" I asked
"Well, it's a surprise. I was surprised myself" he said. We walked out of the automatic doors. It was cold! How did it get so cold? I asked my self. I started shaking. Will noticed, stopped Micheal and let me where his jacket. I would of much rather worn Micheal's but I knew that he was as cold as me he just never showed it. We got to the car. I saw someone inside of the driver's seat. It wasn't Karen or Addi because the shape was too big. Then, Ryann hopped out of the back seat and started running toward us. I jumped off of Micheal and ran to hug him. We just stood there hugging each other. He kissed me on the cheek and I started crying.
"I missed you so much!" we said in unison. We stood there hugging for a long time. Finally, he put his arm around my neck and walked me to the car. We got in and sure enough there was Jesse, Derek, Karen and Addi. We all hugged and said how much we missed each other. "How did you get here so fast?" I asked Jesse.
"That is for us to know and for you to not know" he said. We pulled out of the parking lot.
"Oh and um I have another question." I said.
"Shoot"
"Well, first what are we going to do now that we are here?" I asked
"Well, we are going to look around and have some fun" Jesse answered.
"And I have another"
"Ok" he said losing interest.
"Where are we going to live?" that caught his attention real fast.
"I thought you would ask that so I came prepared" he explained. "Well, when we rescued Ryann we called the police and had dad and Jillian arrested for child abuse. Now, getting to the point, all of you have two options. One, we can live in dad's house and go to the school there. Or two we could find our own place so that while you guys go to school, I could work during the day and then we could have our own apartment. Now there are down sides and upsides to each of these options. The first one's down side is that it may be full of memories that you will want to forget which will be very painful. The other downside to option one is that if Jillian and dad ever get out of jail then we will be back in there care. The upside is that we will have a house instead of an apartment. Now I want all of you to think of the ups and downs of the apartment and tell me which option you would rather prefer." He finished.
I thought it out. For about two seconds. "I want an apartment!" I said enthusiastically.
"Ok who else wants an apartment?" everyone raised there hand. "Ok apartment it is then." Then, I thought something I hadn't thought before.
"Does this mean that we won't get to see Micheal and Will anymore?" I asked in panic.
"Aaron relax they are going to live with us don't worry" Jesse answered. I let out a long dramatic breath.
"Drama queen" Ryann muttered.
"I am not a drama queen!" I yelled back. He just rolled his eyes. I looked out the window and saw an ally. "Hey Jesse can we go see that garden?" I asked pointing (so that he would think we were going to a garden). He looked in the rear view mirror to see where I was pointing.
"Why don't you guys go see it and I will come pick you up later" He answered. I nodded and got out of the car. I waved good bye and Micheal walked over to me.
"So..." he began. He grabbed my hand and we held hands. Two girls walked by and that was all it took. Ryann and will gave each other the look asked if their hair looked ok and then took off. Micheal stopped abruptly. It startled me.
"What?" I asked sort of frightened. He released my hand and stroked my cheek.
"You are so beautiful. I feel so unexciting when I'm with you. It's like you are a walking Sun." he said.
"Wow you really are blind" I said looking at his beauty. Everything about him was perfect. The glow of the setting sun was reflecting off of his flawless face.
"No I'm not trust me" he said chuckling. We just looked at each other. Then, he pulled me toward him and we kissed. I felt sparks the minute my mouth touched his. I forgot how to breathe. I must not have been breathing because when we pulled apart I was gasping for air. "You might want to remember to breathe this time" he said smiling. I just couldn't help it I had to smile back. We kissed again and this time I remembered to breathe.
"Whooow! Well, would you look at that! We have a pair of love birds here don't we?" an unfamiliar voice said. We let go and turned around. There were three tough looking guys. They each had on leather pants and Harley Davidson jackets. Micheal got in front of me and shielded me.
"What do you want?' he asked scowling.
"Well there's no need to be unfriendly partner we were just passing by and noticed this fiesta going on over here so we decided to drop by." The boy said.
"Aaron? Micheal? Where are you?" I heard Karen calling from the beginning of the ally. Micheal elbowed me. I couldn't find my voice. I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
"Aryan!!!" I heard Addi call. (That's how she says my name) I finally found my voice.
"We're over here" I said. I wondered if I sounded as terrified as I was.
"Oh good now we have an audience to watch you die" the guy said pulling out a knife.
"Aaron run" Micheal hissed under his breath.
"No!" I hissed back "I'm not leaving you"
Chapter 5
"Don't worry about me just do it" he said. The guys didn't hear us. They began to move closer. I wouldn't budge not now not in a million years. They still kept coming. Micheal picked me up and threw me over to Karen. I just kicked her and went right back to his side.
"Wow you have a loyal little love bird there boy" the head of the group said. They encircled us.
"You're not going to kill us both…"
"No I'm just going to kill the girl" the guy said cutting Micheal off in mid sentence. He threw Micheal over to where everyone else was. The guy grabbed me and put the knife to my throat. "Now if you ever want to see your love bird again, which of coarse you will, then come back to the ally at midnight with six hundred dollars. Alright gang let's go" the guy said pushing me into the car. I looked out the window and saw Micheal's expression. He was crying as he fell to his knees. I think he passed out.
"To the hide out Gary" the head guy said.
"Ok Paul" Gary said.
"Are you really going to give me back?" I asked worried.
"If they have the money of coarse" he said.
"We're here boss what would you like us to do with the girl?" Gary asked.
"I will deal with the girl you just keep watch. And don't turn on the TV to loud. You know what happened last time. I don't want it to happen again!" Paul said angrily.
"So you've taken girls before?" I asked
"Yes we do at least two a night" Paul answered. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me out of the car. We went inside a broken down shack. When we got inside Paul tied me to a pole. "If you even think about yelling for help I will kill you and then your boyfriend and all of your other fans won't ever be able to see you again." He laughed darkly and left the room. Gary came back in.
"Paul has ordered me to hurt you. He says that he doesn't want to return you with no marks. He likes to leave his mark on things." He said pulling out a knife. He took my arm and started cutting it. "Oh and don't scream ouch because if you do I have to give you a new tattoo every time you scream. And after a while I run out of ideas for tattoos. That's what happened to the last girl. I ran out of ideas so I had to do some of the same ones twice." He said smiling. I felt my eyes widen. He started carving a design in my skin. I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't scream. Finally, he finished the design. "You're the first one we've ever had that hasn't screamed. Imagine that. And you're the skinniest that we've ever kidnapped." He said shaking his head. He went over to a corner of the room and wiped off his knife. He folded it and put it back in his back pocket. He left the room. Then, the third guy (the only I don't know the name of) came in.
"Hello there. I heard you didn't scream. Well just yesterday Paul came up with an idea. He said that if someone doesn't scream. We get to hit them until they do scream. And so, I was appointed that honor." He said smiling a dark smile and coming toward me. "We only have thirty minutes before we have to go meet your love bird in the ally so let's make this quick" he said cracking his neck. I felt terror spill through me. I had been hit before and I didn't want it to happen again. I felt my eyes get wide again. "Oh don't worry sweet heart I'll knock you out so you won't feel a thing." He said cracking his knuckles. He came closer. I winced and got ready. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face. I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't scream. "Wow no one has ever been this far!" he said excitedly. "Usually they scream during the tattoos and we never have time for more. But you're not like other girls" he took a step back and then kicked me in the leg. I fell to the floor. He picked me up by my hair. Then, he punched me in the stomach. Just then Paul walked in.
"Alright sorry Bob but we are out of time. So get her in the car and let's go!" he said slapping Bob on the back. "Come on Gary!"
"Coming!" Gary said walking in the room. Bob untied me then retied me and dragged me to the car. He shoved me in the backseat with Paul. I was crying now. My stomach hurt so much!!! They didn't hear me crying because when we lived with my dad I learned to cry silently. We finally got to the ally. However right when we got there I threw up blood. Paul got out and came over to the other side of the car. He grabbed me and pulled me out of the car. I saw Micheal and Karen standing there.
"Do you have the money?" Paul asked. Micheal held up a wad of cash. "Ok then we will exchange on the count of three! One"
"Two" Micheal said
"Three" they all yelled in unison. I was tossed to Micheal. He hung on to me. I thought I was going to pass out. I didn't though. I stood there firmly. Micheal reached into my back pocket and got out my knife. He untied me and picked me up like a baby. I fell limp in his arms. I was still crying. Only this time I was letting myself be loud. I was getting his shirt wet, but I knew he didn't care. He put me gently in a car. I just sat there. I didn't say anything.
"Aaron are you ok?" Micheal asked. I just rolled my head toward him.
"I'm fine. Just a little shaky" I said just realizing that I was shaking. He rapped his arms around me and put me in his lap. He kissed the top of my head. I was still shaking even though I was with him. I had finally stopped crying though. We turned a corner and entered a garage. We got out of the car and Micheal put me down.
"Come on Aaron follow me and I'll show you where we are going to spend the night." Karen said picking Addi up and leading the way. I followed her through a long hallway. We entered a room that had a bunk bed and a crib for Addi. Karen got Addi in her pajamas. Then, put her in her bed. We got undressed. She stared at me.
"What?" I asked uncomfortably.
"What's that on your arm?"
"Nothing!" I said covering my tattoo up with my sleeve. I headed out the door. She grabbed my upper arm. I winced.
"Aaron what did they do to you" she asked viciously.
"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it" I said. I yanked my arm back and went down the hallway to say goodnight to Micheal. She followed behind me to say goodnight to Daniel. We met then halfway down the hallway. Right before we reached them, Karen turned and stopped in front of me. I slammed into her.
"Aaron I'm not letting you pass until you tell me what happened to you! What did they do to you?!" Karen said glaring at me. The boys came over and stood next to Karen. I don't think she noticed. I didn't say anything. "Darn it Aaron! Tell me!" Karen yelled. I flinched.
"No not with Micheal here" I said looking at the floor.
"And why can't I here it?!" he asked me his temper rising.
"I'm doing this for your safety" I said looking up at him. He pushed Karen out of the way. He took my head in his hands. I felt the tears running down my face. I quickly pushed them away and looked away from Micheal. He took my head and turned it to him. I couldn't help falling into his eyes again. "Micheal! Stop doing that dammit!" I yelled.
"Stop Doing what caring for you?!!!" he yelled back getting even more mad.
"No! Doing that thing with your eyes! You're trying to make me tell you! You have a dirty rotten trick!" I screamed at him.
"What are you talking about??!!!" he yelled even more loudly. Getting madder.
"You know perfectly well what the hell I'm talking about!" I yelled back.
"Aaron so help me I have been known for my violence! If you don't tell me what they did to you then I might just hit you or something! I won't mean to but it will happen!" he said with tears in his eyes.
"I just don't want you to go after them and steak them out! I couldn't live if I lost you" I said crying again.
"That's it?! That's why you won't tell me what happened to you?!" He started breaking out laughing. I glared at him. I couldn't believe he could take that and make it funny. I pushed him away from and stormed off toward our room. He held me back by grabbing my hips. "I'm sorry Aaron. I just can't believe you think that I would be dumb enough to do a thing like that!" he said
"Ok if you promise not to do that I will tell you what they did to me" I said. He nodded so I continued. "They tied me to a pole and a man put this tattoo in my arm." I held out my arm to show him. "He said that every time I screamed he would give another tattoo" I told him every thing. He leaned against a wall and closed his eyes. He fought to keep control of his anger. He shook with fury. He took a deep breathe and looked back at me.
"You're right maybe I shouldn't have let you tell me that. All I can think about is revenge" he said his eyes hard his body stiff. I grabbed his arm.
"Micheal I don't care how hard you want to take revenge I won't let you!" I said madly. He kissed me on the lips and headed for his room. I didn't let go.
"Aaron right now isn't a good time to make me more upset" he said gritting his teeth. Daniel came over and pulled me off of Micheal. He held my hands together. I tried to break free of his grasp but I couldn't.
"MICHEAL! MICHEAL LISTEN TO ME!!!!! DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME! MICHEALL!!!!!! I screamed after him. Micheal stopped for a second and then kept going. I tried desperately to break free of Daniel's grasp. He covered my mouth with his hand. I bit him but he didn't even notice. I still squirmed. Daniel motioned (with his head) for Karen to follow us. He dragged me to the room. I fought him all the way. When we got there, he finally let go of me. He went over to the door. Karen and Daniel kissed each other goodnight. He gave me a meaningful look and left. Karen went to go check on Addi. She was sound asleep.
"Let's get some rest we had a pretty big day." Karen said yawning and got into the bottom bunk. We said goodnight and I waited for her to go to sleep. I climbed out of bed. I wasn't going to let Micheal get away with his temper that easily! I walked down the dark and abandoned hallway. I opened the door to Micheal's room as quietly as I could. I went over to his bed. I looked around and noticed that Will wasn't there.
"Micheal?" I whispered. He opened his eyes and pulled me on top of him.
"Yes?" he answered in my ear.
"Where's Will?"
"What?" he asked sitting up so suddenly that if he hadn't been holding me I would have fallen off the bed. "What do you mean he's not here?" he asked looking at me with wide eyes. Micheal got up and set me on the bed. I got up and stood next to him. "Go back to your room. Don't come out until morning. I mean it don't come back here in this room!" he said looking at the door. I didn't move. He turned around and looked at me. He kissed me quickly on the cheek. He started toward the door. I grabbed his arm. He turned around.
"Where are you going?" I asked
"Don't worry I'll be back in the morning." I could feel the sadness on my face. It hurt him. I saw the hurt in his eyes. I quickly turned and walked in front of him. I opened the door and left him behind. He followed me.
"What?" I asked stopping and turning around. He just looked at me. I tried to read his expression but I couldn't. "What?!" I asked getting madder.
"I'm going to put you to bed." he said with an innocent look on his face. I smiled and kept walking. He put his arm around my waist. I suddenly realized why he was putting me to bed. He wanted to make sure I didn't follow him when he left. I stopped. "What's wrong?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
"I was just thinking of Ryann and Jesse. Where are they?" I asked.
"I'll bring you to them" he answered guiding me by hips. We turned and went down a long hallway. He stopped and held open the door for me. I walked in and saw my Ryann (that's what I call him sometimes. He calls me his Aaron) and Jesse sleeping on the bed. I couldn't help it I ran and jumped on the bed. I hugged Ryann. He sat up in shock. He broke out in a smile. He and Jesse both started crying and hugging me at the same time.
"I missed you so much!" Ryann said. I looked over at the door and Micheal was gone, but I was too happy to be worried.
"Why don't you come and sleep with us….. There's something we need to tell you" he said with a look on his face that I didn't like. "Aaron you know… I mean…. what I'm trying to say is……ok I'm just going to come right out and say it. You have another brother. His name is Alex" Jesse said waiting for my reaction. My mouth hung there wide open. "He's here that's why you didn't know about him. He looks like Ryann only he has blonde hair and it is curly" he said. Ryann smiled.
"Can we go see him?" I asked "how old is he? Does he know us? How did he get here?" Jesse put his hand up to stop me.
"We will go see him tomorrow. Right now I think we all need to sleep. You look exhausted are you sure you're ok?" Jesse asked feeling my forehead. I smiled and he put his hand down. I got under the covers and fell asleep to the soft snoring of my Ryann.
Chapter 6
I woke up screaming. I was the only one in the room. I sat up and looked around. I got out of bed and saw that I was back in my room. Only I was in Karen's bunk. I saw a plaid jumper on a chair in the corner. I ignored that, found my suitcase and got out a purple shirt, a zippered huddy, and my purple and black Etnies. I also put on my fish net glove on my left hand. I walked out of the room. I heard voices coming from down the hall. They were coming from Micheal's room. I lifted my hand to knock on the door but froze. "WILL HOW COULD YOU?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! THEY KIDNAPPED AARON AND BEAT HER! DON'T YOU CARE?!" I heard Micheal yell.
"I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE GOING TO KIDNAP AARON! HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW THAT?!" Will yelled back. Suddenly the door opened. Will pushed past me. I felt tears run down my cheeks. Micheal was facing the window he didn't see me. I turned and ran. I ran to the door and left the building. I ran down the street, past all the little stores and houses of people with there families that were still asleep. I kept running. I ran until I saw a sign. It said:
FREE FERRY RIDES
I ran to the dock. "Two more people! We need two more people!" I ran up. "Welcome aboard" he said. I got on and headed for the railing. I was glad that I brought my hoody. It was really cold. I zipped it up and went to the front of the ferry.
"Hold it stop the ferry!" I heard someone yell. I knew the voice, it was Micheal's! "Yes I'm looking for a girl" he began then he saw me. "Sorry, she ran away you see I'm her brother" he lied.
"Oh well have a nice day" the guy who let me on the ferry said. Micheal dragged me off the ferry. I was still crying.
"What do you think you were doing running away like that?!" he yelled so suddenly it made me jump. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me toward the orphanage. I found a pole and held onto it. "Aaron let go!" I shook my head no. "Alright you asked for it." He said. He let go of my arm and lifted up his fingers. I knew he was going to tickle me. I braced myself. He started tickling me. I laughed so hard I fell on the ground. Wow he was good! "Ok now that you have let go of the pole I will carry you back"
"NO!" I yelled reaching for the pole again.
"Why don't you want to go back?" he asked in disbelief.
"Tell me how Will could be part of a gang!" I demanded. He closed his eyes took a deep breathe and put me down.
"So, you heard our little fight this morning?" he said embarrassed.
"Little?" I said back "I just don't want to deal with all of this! Will's in a gang, you left last night with out an explanation; I found out that I have another brother! I can't do it!" I yelled. He hugged me and hugged him back. He smelled good.
"I will help you get through this and you will help me we'll be fine." He whispered in an angelic voice. "Oh and could you stop sniffing me?" he said laughing.
"Oh, sorry" I whispered back. He closed his eyes like he was admiring the sun or something. "What are you doing?" I asked in a regular tone. He opened his eyes and I stopped hugging him.
"I love you" he said.
"I love you too!" I said throwing myself back on him. He just laughed. We walked back to the center holding hands. "How did you know I was on the ferry?" I asked
"I saw your reflection in the window and then I just followed you" he answered. He opened the gate and I walked in. we entered the cafeteria. "I'm not hungry I'll just save a seat for you" he said. He kissed me on the cheek and then left.
"Ohhhhhh!" I heard Ryann say behind me. "Hi A!" he said cheerfully when I turned around to give him a dirty look. I smiled. I had missed him so much! "Hey would you like to meet Alex?!" he asked with even more enthusiasm. I nodded and we left. I followed him around a corner, past the girls' bathroom. He stopped suddenly and knocked on a door.
"Yes?" I heard from behind the door.
"It's Ryann"
"Oh hey Ryann I've been waiting for you to come back come on in!" Ryann opened the door and peeked in. he motioned for me to stay right where I was. I stayed right where I was. Ryann closed the door and I heard them talking. He opened the door back up and motioned for me to come in. I came in and saw a young boy sitting on the bed in the corner of the room.
"Aaron this is Alex. Alex this is Aaron." Ryann introduced us. Alex looked just like Ryann.
"You look just like Ryann only blonde!" I said in disbelief.
"I know he's my mini me!" Ryann said hugging Alex proudly. Alex just smiled.
"I hate to bale on you guys like this but I better get back to breakfast before Micheal comes looking for me" I said
"That's her boyfriend. She says he's adorable!" Ryann said laughing.
"Shut up!" I said laughing. I waved goodbye and then left to go to breakfast. I walked into the cafeteria. I saw Micheal sitting next to a guy named Jake. I walked over. "Hey guys!" I said sitting down in front of Micheal.
"Hey A. do you want me to go up there and get you something to eat?" Micheal asked.
"No thanks I'm not hungry. However have you eaten?" I said looking at him with suspicion.
He laughed his gorgeous laugh and "yes I ate"
"Oh really then what did you have?" I said judgingly.
"I had a sausage, biscuit, gravy, an apple, and juice"
"What kind of juice?" I asked just as judgingly.
He laughed again. "You are unbelievable!" he said still laughing and rolling his eyes.
"Answer the question." I said gently so that I wouldn't make him in a bad mood.
"Orange juice. Is that ok with you?" he said still smiling.
"Well I prefer apple but that's ok" I said sarcastically. That made him really laugh.
"Bye guys I've got to go see my girlfriend." Jake said getting up.
"Bye Jake" I said laughing. Micheal was laughing so hard that he could only wave goodbye. Finally, about three minutes later he stopped laughing. His face was all red. I just sat there looking out the window.
"Aaron?" he said. I noticed that I had been spacing out.
"Yea?"
"Are you feeling ok?"
"Yea why?" I asked confused. He put the back of his hand on my forehead and then touched my cheeks.
"You have a fever" he said with a strange look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked
"Nothing" he said still looking out into no where. I turned around. He touched my arm and I turned around.
"Aaron, look I'm sorry about last night and how I got really mad at you and everything" he said still not looking quite right. "And I just want you to know that whatever happens I am here for you" he said taking his hand back.
"What do you mean? Micheal are you sure you're ok? Micheal you're starting to scare me" I said panic rising in my stomach. I realized I was wheezing. Darn wheezing!
"Aaron calm down.-'' He said
"I know I'm wheezing! Now tell me what is wrong or I'm leaving!" I said standing up.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you what's wrong" he said looking down as if in defeat. I went over and sat next to him. I took his head in my hands.
"Micheal you can tell me anything! You can even tell that I'm fat or ugly or… whatever! It won't matter. The important thing is that you would have told me the truth!" I said.
"Not this time Aaron. This time is different" he said. I saw the tears that were building up in his eyes. He looked away from me.
"Micheal. If you can't tell me anything then I'm afraid that I can't be with you" I said. Did I just say that?! I thought to myself. He didn't say anything so I got up and left. Once I was out of the cafeteria I ran like I was born to run. I didn't see any reason to live anymore. I just pushed away the most amazing and wonderful part of my life. I ran until I was out of breath. I sat down on a rock underneath a tree.
"Aaron?" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Will standing there. I got up and ran. I knew that there was a cliff on a beach not to far from here. I ran and I could here him running after me. After about two minutes of running I saw the cliff. I ran up it and stopped on the very edge. "Aaron what are you doing?" he asked gasping for air.
"I'm jumping off a cliff uh duh!" I said out of breath my self.
"Why?"
"Because there is no point in living anymore" I said looking down at the waves crashing on the rocks below.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" he asked angrily.
"You wouldn't understand" I looked down. Suddenly, I felt off balance. I realized that I leaned too far. I fell down, down, down.
"AARON!!!!!!!!!!!" I finally hit the water. It felt like one hundred knives piercing my body. I fell numb. I felt my lungs burning. I was drowning! I was actually drowning! Will came over and put his arm around my waist. I fought against him. My lungs screamed for air! I started choking. I threw up all over. But, I continued to fight. I lost however because Will is much stronger than me. He pulled me up to the surface. I didn't breathe. Even thought we were up where I could get air. He started to tickle me. I laughed.
"Darn you!" I said gasping for air and spitting out water. We reached land and he put me down on the ground.
"What happened is she ok?!" I heard. I knew that voice. It was Micheal. He sat down on the sand next to me. I looked up weakly. I suddenly felt the exhaustion hit me. "What happened??!!" Micheal repeated angrily.
"I think you should ask her that" Will said looking at me. I could hardly keep my eyes open. Finally, my heavy eyelids won and they shut. I was wrapped in total darkness.
"I'll ask her when she wakes up" I heard Micheal say more calmly to Will.
CHAPTER 7
"She's awake!" I heard Ryann yell as I opened my eyes. I sat up and he immediately rapped me in a hug. I hugged him back and looked around.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You are in the nursing room" He answered. I noticed that he was the only other person here.
"Where is everybody?"
"They went to go get lunch." He answered. When he smiled I realized how sick he really looked.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"About two days" he answered. I saw the big black circles under his eyes.
"And how much have you eaten since I've been asleep? Also have you slept at all since I've been knocked out?" I asked
"You sure are full of questions!" he said obviously avoiding the questions.
"Just answer the questions" I said. The smile faded from his face.
"I haven't…… eaten…….or……..slept….. Since you've been asleep" he said looking at the floor. I took his chin in my hand.
"What have you done to yourself Ryann Turner?" I asked. He looked just about how he looked when we lived with our dad.
"Aaron don't worry I'm fine" he said taking my hand off of his chin.
"No you're not. I'm going to get Jesse" I said getting up.
"No! Please don't! He hasn't seen me like this! Please I don't want to see the hurt in his eyes like I saw in yours!" that made me stop dead in my tracks. "Just please don't" he said ignoring my questioning look. I still got out of bed.
"I have to go to the bathroom" I said suddenly having to pee so badly that I thought I was going to go right then and there.
"Here let me help you" he said putting his arm around my waist.
"Ahhh! Your hands are freezing!" I yelled.
"Sorry" He answered removing his hand for a second and then putting it back. I could feel the cold through my clothes. We got to the bathroom and he waited outside. When I came out he was on the floor sitting against the wall asleep. I smiled and sat down next to him.
"Aaron?"
"I'm over here. Shhhh! Ryann's sleeping" I whispered back. Micheal walked over to us. He had a Sonic bag in his hand.
"Hold this" he said handing me the bag. He picked up Ryann with no effort at all. He looked at Ryann as if he was his brother. I walked behind him as he placed Ryann on a cot next to mine. "That's for you" he said pointing to the bag. He covered Ryann up and then sat down on the bottom of my cot. I sat down next to him.
"Thanks" I said opening the bag. I just looked at it.
"Don't worry I brought one for Ryann for when he wakes up" Micheal said chuckling and pointing to the nightstand next to the cot. I smiled and took the food out of the bag. I was in the middle of opening the cheese burger when Micheal grabbed my face in his hands. He pressed his lips on mine and we kissed. When he let go my mind was reeling. "You didn't mean it when you said it was over did you?" he asked. I didn't answer. "Aaron I can't tell you what is worrying me because it isn't your burden to bear"
"But I am bearing aren't I? I just don't know what it is" I answered, taking a bite of the cheese burger. He let out a long breath.
"I will tell you if you promise not to tell anyone" he said. He grabbed my head in his hands again so that I would look him in the eye.
"I promise that I won't even tell Ryann……. Or his mini me" I said. Micheal laughed, but then his face fell dead serious.
"They weren't after you. I put you in danger. Intentionally. I was supposed to bring you to the ally so that they could get you and then they would pay me and Will and we would be free to go" he answered putting his head in his hands. I hugged him and then asked:
"But then why did you tell then not to take me instead to take you?" I asked. I put the burger back in the bag and pulled out some french-fries. Micheal looked up, took some french-fries and then answered.
"Because I realized how much I really loved you" he said. Just then the door swung open and Will came in quietly as if he knew that Ryann was asleep. He came over and sat on the bed in front of us. When he sat down I looked back at Micheal.
"We will talk about this later" I hissed back to him. He just nodded and looked up at Will.
"So what's new?" Will asked breaking the silence. I held out the thing of french-fries. He took some. "Thanks" I nodded. I looked over at Ryann. I climbed over Micheal who helped me over him. I walked over and got up on Ryann's cot. I lay down next to him. He opened his eyes, turned over, rapped me in a hug, and fell back asleep. He was warm now. I hugged him back. His hair fell over his face. I moved it out of his face.
"I love you" he whispered in my ear.
"I love you too" suddenly I found my self falling asleep. Only this time I didn't fight my eyelids. I felt Micheal kiss me on the forehead and then leave.
"He loves you more than you know" Will whispered in my ear. I knew exactly who he was talking about. (Clue: he wasn't talking about Ryann)
I woke up to the sun in my face. I turned over. I didn't feel Ryann. I sat up so quickly that it made me dizzy. I looked around. "Ryann?!!" I yelled freaking out. He came running in the room with no pants on.
"What?" he asked with a look of panic on his face. He realized how I only panicked because I couldn't find him. "Aaron! Don't do that! Hold on let me go get my pants. I'll be right back. I promise" he left and returned immediately. He came over to the bed and sat next to me. He put on his pants and then hugged me. "You know one day I'm not going to be here and you can't freak out like that!" he said. I looked away.
"You're annoyed by me aren't you? You would rather spend time with Alex" I got up from the bed. He grabbed my wrist.
"Aaron," sigh "it's not that I'm annoyed it's just that you have to learn to let go" he said "stop holding on so tightly to other people and look to yourself for the answers. And suicide isn't an answer to anything!" he smiled. I didn't return the smile. I curaty chopped his wrist and he let go. "Ouch!" I walked out of the room. "Oh sure that's real mature!" he yelled after me. "Maybe I will just hang out with Alex and not you!" I stopped. I turned around and looked at him. I felt tears in my eyes. "Aaron I didn't mean that. I was looking for something that would make you come back"
"Yea well that didn't work now did it? You know what, you're right it's time I let go…. OF YOU!" I yelled and then ran out the door. I could hear him yelling my name behind me. I ran out to the garden and stopped at the first bench I saw. I wasn't crying. I told myself not to cry I demanded myself not to cry, I had to be strong.
"I see you're feeling better" I turned around and there was Micheal smiling at me. I didn't smile back. (For the first time may I mention) I just looked straight ahead.
"Aaron! There you are. I'm sorry Aaron I didn't mean what I said! Come on Aaron you know I could never not want you!" Ryann said panting. I didn't say anything I just looked ahead still. "Uhhh!" Ryann grunted in frustration. Micheal sat down on the bench next to me.
"What is this all about?" he said. He stared at me and when he realized that I wasn't going to answer he looked at Ryann and waited for an answer. No one said anything. "Ok it looks like I'm going to have to use persuasion" he said looking over at me with his big brown eyes.
"What do you mean?" I asked. He took my head in his hands and pressed his lips against mine.
"Ewww!" Ryann said looking away. I felt Micheal smile.
"Now tell me what this is about" he said looking into my eyes. I got wrapped into his beautiful brown eyes again.
"Ryann and I were arguing about ….." I told him the rest of it.
"He didn't mean what he said and you know it! He just didn't want you to walk out on him. But he's right you have to let go. He's also right about how suicide isn't the answer to anything. He's a smarter boy than you give him credit for. Now go over there, apologize, and then we can out for lunch ok?" I nodded and headed over to Ryann.
"I'm sorry Ryann. I didn't mean what I said. I know that you love to hang out with me but, I like it when you're happy. I know that I am annoying at times and you know it but I still want you to be my Ryann ok? Now go hang out with your mini me" I said punching him playfully in the arm.
"You are the coolest sister I have ever had!" he said hugging me. He let go and looked over at Micheal "by the way how do you persuade her like that? Do you brainwash her?" he asked dead serious. Micheal and I bust out laughing. "Anyway I'll catch you guys later! Bye!" he said running off to go join with the other guys who were playing basketball. I went back over to Micheal and sat down. He put his arm around my shoulder. Suddenly, Karen and Daniel came around the corner holding hands. They stopped and suddenly Daniel kissed Karen. They wouldn't stop kissing!
"Um hello? We can see you, you know!" I yelled and then Micheal covered my mouth with his hand and stood up. He took his hand off of my mouth.
"So, where do you want to go for lunch?" he asked.
"I'm not that hungry" I said.
"Wow I've never heard that one from you before" he said looking at me in disbelief.
"Instead can we go to the beach?" I asked.
"Why?" he asked narrowing his eyes.
"Never mind. Let's just walk around the orphanage" I said starting to walk.
"Aaron, what's really bothering you?" he grabbed my elbow.
"Don't you ever think I can change my mind without having something bothering me?!" I yelled angrily. He just kept staring at me. I wasn't going to tell him what was wrong. I hope that Karen isn't mad at me. I totally interrupted her kiss. I haven't spent any time with her at all. In fact I haven't even talked to her since the ally thing. I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself if she didn't want to talk to me anymore!
"Aaron?" Micheal asked snapping me back into reality. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Seriously, what's bothering you?"
"Forget it. Hey why don't we go to Chick-Fil-a for lunch? Unless you have something better in mind?" I said. I tried to smile but I knew he wasn't buying it.
"Aaron do I have to use persuasion on you again?" he asked doing my favorite smile where he shows only half of his beautifully gorgeous teeth.
"Yes, but even if you do use persuasion I'm still not going to tell you" I said. So, he used persuasion and guess what! I didn't give in! So, this is the bad news, he tickled me until I talked. I told him everything.
"So that's what's really bothering you. Don't worry about it Aaron she has Daniel, so she doesn't need you to be with her every moment of every day!" he said hugging me.
"Ok, but can we go to lunch now? I'm starving!" he laughed and nodded.
"So where did you want to go?"
"Chick-Fil-a!" I yelled. I blushed. He laughed again and put his arm around my waist. We walked to Chick-Fil-A.
"Hello, may I take your order?" The guy at the order station asked us. Micheal looked at me. I ordered the 6 chicken nugget kids meal, fries, and a chocolate milk shake. Micheal ordered a chicken sandwich, a milk shake, and French fries. We got our orders and sat down at a table. After a few minutes, I started staring at him, watching him flip his hair out of his face, chewing on his sandwich, drinking his soda. How could anyone be so perfect? I sighed unintentionally.
"What? Are you not hungry anymore?" he asked looking at my untouched food. I couldn't answer I could only stare. I once again got lost in his eyes. I forgot where I was, who I was, what we were talking about. It was like there was nothing but his eyes. He suddenly looked away and I jerked back into reality. "I was doing the eye thing again wasn't I?" he asked looking kind of embarrassed. I could only nod. He sighed. "I'm sorry"
"Don't be" I said eating a chicken nugget. He suddenly burst out laughing. "What?!" I asked.
"Nothing" he said still laughing quietly. I knew that he wasn't going to tell what he was laughing about so I just dropped it. We ate in silence and then walked out with his arm around my waist.
"Hey Micheal? Never mind" I said.
"What?" he asked stopping in his tracks.
"Nothing" he just kept staring at me. "FINE! YOU WIN AGAIN! I was wondering…… well…….."
"Yes?" he said pushing.
"This will sound stupid but, do you get lost in my eyes the way I get lost in yours?" I asked. I suddenly realized how stupid the question was. "Ahhh! Never mind just don't answer that!" I said throwing my hands in the air, walking off and blushing.
"The answer is yes" he said standing in the same spot. He hadn't moved. I stopped dead in my tracks.
"What?..... Why?...... huh?...." I asked "How can you even stand to look at my eyes?"
He walked over to me and put his hands on either side of my face.
"You don't realize how gorgeous you really are!" he said. "In fact when I saw you I thought…… well I thought that you wouldn't even notice me….. So….. I kinda…. Well I got one of my brother's friends to pretend to run you over so that I could pretend to rescue you so that you would notice me." I laughed. I hugged him and we walked back to the orphanage hand in hand. And I knew that everything was going to work out just fine!