It's not like it all hit me at once. No; I'd never really thought about it until I was older. See, Michael and I had always been friends. Even before I could remember, we were each other's world . Now, I'm not one to have many friends, and neither is he. Don't get me wrong, I had close friends, as did he; but we only really had each other. He loved me and I loved him; but as we grew up, it gradually changed. I didn't look at him the same way. I couldn't explain it, but I looked at him like... like my mother looked at my father. Like more than a best friend. Maybe I should start at the beginning. My name is Christine Booth, and this is the story of us.
Chapter 1: I was five, and he was seven.
When you're in kindergarten, life should be about finger painting, naps, and happiness. You should never have to be truly afraid of something. Fear should be a monster under your bed; not what we experienced.
I remember this day with great detail. It was a Wednesday, and it was sunny. I was wearing pink boots, and my hair was braided. I remember this day in such great detail, because it was the day that Michael Hodgins saved my life.
He was in first grade, a grade ahead of me, but his classroom was right across the hall from mine. We car pulled to school, and walked to class together everyday. It was what we were used to; innocence. We were ignorant to the world's cruelty until this day.
Spring had just arrived, and my teacher had left the window open. I could smell the blooming flowers, and the crisp breeze; it made me feel calm and happy; like everything in the world was right.
And then it happened.
I was thinking about what Michael and I could do after school, when I heard it. A loud boom, a crash; it was so loud, I had to hold my ears. I looked up at my teacher, and saw that her face was contorted in fear. The fire alarm went off, and everyone began screaming and running out of the classroom. I don't understand why, but I was frozen. Right there in my seat. I couldn't move.
"Christine sweetie, I need you to come with me. There's a bad man in our school, and we need to leave before he gets to us, okay honey?." the teacher informed me, but I couldn't acknowledge her. I stared at her blankly, and after a few seconds, she turned and ran out of the room.
And then it got quiet.
Dead silence. I could hear the buzzing of a fly from outside of the room. I was all alone, and I was five years old; so I did what any five year old would do. I cried. My vision became blurry, and I felt tears stain my cheeks. I was terrified, but yet I couldn't move. I was frozen. A few minutes passed by, and I suddenly heard footsteps. I began breathing heavily, and I realized that I was having a panic attack. The footsteps became louder, and soon after, I saw a man, wearing a ski mask, and holding a shotgun.
"Well what do we have here?" He murmured ominously.
I was so terrified, that I could no longer control my bladder, and let go of it. The man noticed and began laughing. "Aww, poor baby. Are you scared?" He asked me.
I nodded and said, "I want my Daddy."
"Too bad, so sad, little girl." He said, pointing the gun right at me.
My life was flashing before my eyes, but I saw movement from behind the man.
"Hey mister!" I heard Michael's voice penetrate my eardrums, and I began to have hope that I would possibly make it out of that room.
As soon at the man turned to face him, Michael, who was holding a fire extinguisher, pulled the nozzle, and released the white chemical onto the man. The man screamed as the chemical came into contact with his eyes. He fell to the ground and covered them with his hands. Michael ran over to me and grabbed my hand. Come on, Chrissy! We gotta go!"
For some reason, his words took me away from wherever I was, and brought me back into reality. I got up from my desk, and followed him out of the room. We were running down the hallway when we heard the man's voice again.
"God damn kinds!" We heard him scream.
And then I heard the noise again. I didn't plug my ears this time, I just continued running. My grip was tight on Michael's hand as we made it to the front of the building. We opened the doors and saw all of the policemen outside. I was still scared, and held Michael's hand tighter. I looked to him, and saw that his shoulder was gushing blood.
"Mickey! Your shoulder!" I said.
He looked at it and then back at me. "I'm okay." He said, becoming woozy.
And with that, I saw him fall to the ground. "Mickey!" I screamed. That was when my memory began to blur. All I can remember is the paramedics rushing over to Michael and taking him away, and my father calling out my name.
I looked over to the crowd and saw by dad elbowing his way through the police officers.
"Daddy!" I yelled, running towards him.
He picked me up quickly and I held onto him tightly. "That's my girl." He said. "That's it. Daddy's got you. You're safe now. It's okay, Baby girl. Daddy's here." He reassured me.
I cried into his shoulder, and told him what happened.
"Mickey's hurt daddy. We have to find him." I told him.
"Christine! Sweetheart." I heard my mother's voice.
"Mommy!" I said, jumping into her arms.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Chrissy. I love you, my sweet baby." She told me.
After a few hours of calling and searching, we finally found out what hospital he was at, and rushed there. When we found his room number, we knocked tentatively. My Aunt and Uncle turned to see us, and Aunt Angie ran over to me. "Oh sweetie, you're okay!" She said, wrapping her arms around me.
"Is Mickey okay?" I asked immediately.
Angie nodded and said, "He's been asking for you since he woke up."
I walked over to where he was laying in bed. He looked paler, and there were dark circles outlining his eyes, but he looked relieved.
"Chrissy, are you okay? Did the bad man come back?" He asked.
I shook my head, and climbed up onto the chair next to his bed. He scooted over and made room for me to sit down, and I did so. I looked to him and said, "You saved my life, Mickey. You were real brave. Why were you still in the school?" I asked.
"I didn't see you outside, so I went back in. You're my best friend. I wouldn't ever leave you anywhere all by yourself." He said.
Tears came out of my little eyes and I wiped them away. "You're the best best friend ever." I told him, wrapping my arms around him. He groaned slightly in pain, and I lent back.
I giggled and said, "Sorry."
He smiled. "Wanna see my stitches?" He asked, and I nodded eagerly.
After that day, Mickey was not only my best friend, but my protector. Even though we were small children, and he couldn't protect me from much, he would have given his life to save mine, and I would have done the same. This is still true today, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
A/N: So there's chapter one! I hope you liked it, and if you did, then please review!
