It was a picture of a pink-haired woman laughing in a field. Her blue eyes were sparkling, and her pink hair was long and flowing behind her. Rei smiled at it. "What should I call you?" He asked. The girl just smiled happily. Rei smiled softly again, brushing his hand gently against the dry paint. "Leia," he whispered. "Leia." He put his forehead against the canvas. "My beautiful Leia." He murmured against it. Kissing the portrait, Rei stroked it. "Leia, Leia, Leia, Leia..." He chanted it over and over, like a spell. Soon he fell asleep.
"Hey look, it's that loser Rei!"
Chuckles.
"What an idiot!"
Nods of agreement.
"Geek."
Shoves.
"Fag."
Guffaws.
"Ugly."
Sadistic smiles.
"Piece of shit."
Laughter.
"Go back to hell!"
More laughter.
Rei ducked his head and tried to ignore the insults. Every day, he had to put up with this both at home and school. He didn't have any friends, he lived alone with his mom and sister, his mother always critisized him and his sister was a drug addict, and his teachers thought he was a stupid nobody who just spent his time drawing. Even the art teacher didn't want to teach him. The only one who talked to him had been Luka.
Luka...
Rei shuddered as he remembered her death.
She had hung herself after a horrible session of bullying by a few of the girls.
The body had been on top of the flagpole, displayed for all to see.
Someone knocked his textbooks out of his hand. Rei dropped on all fours and scooped them up.
The bell rang.
Rei sighed and hurried to class.
At lunch, Rei had a table all to himself.
It wasn't that there were too many tables for everyone, just that no one wanted to sit with him. He was the geek, the nerd, the weirdo. No one wanted to be seen with him.
He didn't have any friends.
Except for Leia.
Yes, Leia...
Rei smiled dreamily as he thought of her. His beautiful painting. His friend.
His own Luka.
Rei smiled again, forgetting all about lunch.
"Rei!" A girl with pink hair ran to him. Rei laughed and hugged her. "Leia!" He said happily.
Leia smiled and kissed his cheek. "I missed you Rei," she whispered breathlessly. Rei smirked. "Me too."
He sat down on the ground, motioning for her to do the same.
They talked about nothing and everything. Luka, school, bullies, art, music, even sandwiches. Rei smiled and kissed Leia's head.
He drew her close. "I wish time would stop," he sighed. Leia smiled sadly. "
Me too. I hate this world. It's cruel. I wish life was always like this..." Rei nodded. "Yeah... Hey, Leia, I love..."
Then he woke up.
For months he had the same dream over and over again, night after night. He was never able to finish his sentence.
Soon he didn't even go to school; he just stayed home with Leia. His mom never noticed until she came home, which was at 12:00 PM.
Soon all he could think of was Leia.
Day after day, he thought, I want to hear Leia's voice. I want to hug her. I want to tell her I love her. I want to feel her temperature rise and fall. I want to hear her breathe. I want to hear her sing. I want her to live!
This wish eventually consumed Rei.
Soon, that wish became, I want her to hear me. I want her to be with me. I want her to touch me. I want her to hold me...
Soon he thought, If she can't hear me, I want her to kill me...
Well, why not? He thought. He didn't have a reason to live. No one cared.
So he should die.
Gathering some money, Rei ran to the nearest gas station and bought two gallons of gasoline. He poured it all over the house and the hallways of his apartment.
Gathering some paper, Rei got a box of matches and lit them. Concentrating, he threw them everywhere.
Soon, the house was on fire.
Rei gripped the canvas. "Leia," he murmured. "We're going to be together. Together, forever." He closed his eyes, smiling.
"I love you."
Yesterday a fourteen year old boy named Rei Kagene lit the apartment acomplex he lived in on fire. The firemen managed to get there before the fire had spread very far. Rei was miraculously still alive. When he was asked as to who lit the apartment on fire, he admitted it was him. They questioned why he had did it. "I... wanted to be with Leia," he had whispered hoarsely. He refused to answer any more questions.
When his relatives and classmates were asked who Leia was, they said it was a painting that Rei had made.
"It's a picture of a girl with pink hair, smiling," his mother said. "He became obsessed with it around six months ago. He stopped attending school and just stared at it all day. He wanted to meet with her, and if he couldn't, he said he would die trying. Well, I guess he got his wish," his mother coldly shrugged.
Less than an hour later, Rei Kagene died in Crypton Hospital. His last words were, "Leia. I'm going to Leia..."