So here is a paper "Eli" writes for English.
Elijah Goldsworthy
Mrs. Dawes
October 19, 2010
What Made Me, Me.
From Prodigy To Me
I haven't always been the creepy, emo/goth kid that I am today. Everyone turns bad somewhere, right? Everyone has that life changing person or event, I think. Maybe that's just me. I was quite the prodigy child, I really was. Perfect grades through grade school and middle school, up until high school. It wasn't even school that was my down fall, nope.
I was just like my father, my sister the spitting image of our mother. I had the bubble lawn mower, I would follow him all around our yard until I thought the grass was cut. Dinner time though, was by far one of my favorites. I had my little grill, I stood proud next to my father mocking his every movement. I had everything a little boy could want. I loved pretending to build with him, he was my idol. Sophia, just a year and a half older than me had the typical girl side of our room; baby doll, kitchen set, laundry set, all the "typical" tools to preach to children what their gender roles are, it's horrible.
I was on the varsity basketball team from sixth grade to half way into freshman year. Freshman year. I can't say I will ever forget it. Night by night the memories engulf me with horror. It's my fault, why did she have to try and protect me? I had always been bullied for being scrawny, but her telling them off just made things start to get serious.
Flashback
Mark shoves my sore body against a painted blue pole connected to the monkey bars. My head bounces off quickly. Justin's fist soars towards my face, I close my eyes tight, that's when I hear the scream.
'You let him go, right now. Right now!" She demands. Is she really doing this right now? I ask my self over and over again.
"Here comes big sister right now, too bad she has it coming to her, too." Mark spits in my face. I shake my head viciously, first to Mark and then to Sophia.
"Go home, I'm fine," I scream, my voice hoarse and not helping my case.
"And let them treat you like this, I'm not scared of them," she stomps a small, size six and a half foot down hard.
"Should have never had your big sister stick up for you, she's going to pay." Justin leans in spitting a mist of saliva in a veil over my face.
"Let her be," I say through clenched teeth. "She didn't do anything to you, Sophia, go!" I yell trying to convince her. The bar hits my head again, or should I say my head is bashed against the bar again. I can taste the metallic twinge to the blood in my mouth, as I feel more dripping from my chin. My knees are weakened and my legs shake.
"Hey stupid," Sophia yells to Justin, who looks. She bursts out laughing. "Even your attachment didn't look, and I thought he was the stupid one." She continues laughing, until Mark takes to her, running the few yards separating them, she tries to run but he tackles her to the ground. I fight against Justin, who is now pushing me tight to the pole.
"She fucking bit me," Mark yells, causing Justin to drop me to the ground, he joins his partner and grabs her arms, pinning her to the ground. She yelps, I try to pull myself up using the pole. I walk as quickly as I can to get to her and save her, as I near her Justin lets her arms free. Mark is furiously tugging at her clothes, her shirt nearly off her. She fights back with her freed arms. He doesn't take a liking to the rapid pounding on his back. He lays a forearm across her throat.
"Hit me again and I will kill you," he growls. Justin stands between my sister and myself.
"Let me go," she screeches as his hand is working quick at tearing her belt off.
"Shut up bitch," she screams in her face. She turns her face towards me, her left side of her face swollen and lightly coated in blood. He keeps an arm at her throat, his other starting to yank her jeans from her waist. In a final attempt she brings a knee to the side of his face, her face is struck with terror when she looks away from him.
"I love you," she says as he applies more pressure to her neck, her face starts turning more and more red.
"No," I scream, trying desperately to get around Justin, who grabs me, forcing my arms to stay at my side. He faces me toward her, she will die if he doesn't let her go with in the next few seconds. "I love you too, Sophia." I say, tears flooding my eyes, streaming down my face. Her eyes, they scream panic, until they shut.
End Flashback.
I shake myself from the day dream, my day-mare I guess. The vision is so clear it hurts just like is happening again. That's when my grades started to slip, after that went I was kicked off basketball, then everything went downhill. Julia broke up with me after I was kicked off basketball.
Flashback.
"Eli, can we talk for a little bit?" she whispers in my ear as I am sitting in against my locker, reading a comic book.
"Uhm, sure," I say standing up. She takes my hand and leads me out into the court yard of Westfield high. She pulls me down, next to her on a bench. School had just let out a little bit before hand, leaving most of the school empty.
"Eli, I don't think things are working out between us." she pauses, reading my look. Confusion rises in the pit of my stomach. I open my mouth to ask why, she places a pale, thin, index finger on my lips. "Don't make this harder than it already is for me, Eli. I love you, you know that, but you just don't care about anything anymore, Elijah. I know Sophia's death needed grieving time, but it's January, she died in September. I just can't be with someone who doesn't care. I'm sorry," she stands up choking on her last words to me, she rushes out. I assume to the front of the school, to get her bike to go home. I walk back to my locker, alone in the empty hallway.
I get my things from my locker, and head out to my dads car, where he is waiting to pick me up. Throwing my bag in the back, I slide into the front seat of his small Ford car. He asks about my day, I lie and say it went fine, when I am dying on the inside. I desperately just want to be in my room, alone.
When we finally make it home the phone is ringing, I answer.
"Hello?" I say lightly into the phone.
"Eli, its Julia's dad, Joseph." he says sounding possible angry, great. She made me look like the bad guy in this, the dumped, that must be a first. "It's about Julia, actually," he sniffs. "Eli there was a car accident, Julia has passed away." he says, I hang the phone up instantly and walk to my room.
End Flashback.
I used to wonder why I torture myself like this, by thinking about this over and over again, but now I just don't wonder about much of anything. Shortly after Julia passed away, my mother and father moved us here, hoping the new scene could fix me. New people, new shrink, new school, new house, new everything, they were wrong. There isn't anything to make me happy here, or so I though until this morning.
Flashback.
I pull slowly into the school lot, and two girls are fighting over something as I drive by. I hear a crunch and a pale girl with reddish brown hair has a face that that crunch was caused by me. I open the door and look under my hearse and see a flattened pair of glasses. I feel guilty, as I pick them up.
"I think they're dead," I say handing them to her.
"It's ok, I uh- I don't need them anymore. I got laser surgery," she stutters nervously. Her words draw my attention to the eyes we are speaking of, they're a brilliant blue.
"You have pretty eyes," I say before I realize. She smiles.
"Thanks," she pauses. "I'll uh- see you around?" she says questioningly. I smirk.
"Guess you will," I say getting back in and driving away. The first few classes went by a little quicker than they normally have been since I started here about a month ago. I walk into English and you make us writing partners for the semester, she hates is. Secretly, I love that she hates it.. You say my writing is "wordy." How am I to help her get over that, not exactly my area of expertise.
"We have a great partnership in the workings, like Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath," you exclaim excitedly.
"Sylvia Plath killed herself," Clare says, short and serious, I let a scoff a short laugh.
End Flashback.
Now, I look forward to going to school each day, knowing that she can't stand me, makes my game more difficult. So what make me, me? My loved ones, Sophia and Julia, and now Clare.
So, what did you think?