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I woke up the next morning- or was it the afternoon? - to a dim light. I felt dizzy and confused. Then suddenly there was another light, much brighter than the first. I blinked and groaned until the light left and it was dim again.
As I let my eyes adjust, a face came into view. It was a girl's, about my age, with pale skin, hazel eyes, and chin length straight blond hair. She was so close to me, it was suffocating. I didn't like her smell either; it wasn't really gross, just annoying.
I tried to get up, but boney hands pushed me back down. When I felt her skin, I realized I wasn't wearing my sweatshirt anymore. I looked down at myself and saw I was in my white tank top, which was under my sweatshirt and my green pajama pants were rolled up to the top of my thighs. I felt very vulnerable looking like this with a stranger next to me.
"Oh, no you don't," the girl said, still struggling with me.
"You lost a lot of blood, and you need to heal," she told me.
Finally, deciding that I really didn't have the energy, I gave up. The girl smiled when I did and I grimaced back at her. She laughed at me. I looked at her, surprised. This girl was insane. Frustrated, I looked around trying to figure out where I was.
I expected to be in a hospital, since she said I lost of blood. But I definitely wasn't. I saw that I was in a small bedroom. The dim light was coming from the lamp on the nightstand on the left of the bed. The head of the bed I was on was against a wall. It had two white pillows and a red comforter. My feet pointed to a white door with black trim. On the floor were my bags, and my purse. Next to the door was a black coat rack. The walls were white and the curtains on the one window to my right were black and now closed, letting no light in.
"Are you thirsty?" the girl asked, interrupting my observations.
I thought about it, and nodded my head. I was actually very thirsty, my throat dry and my mouth tasting like dirt.
She smiled again and gently propped my head up. I realized the back of my head was throbbing. With a bottle of water in her hand, she poured it down my throat. It felt wonderful. I moaned in pleasure as the ache in my throat started to disappear. She giggled and the bottle was gone. My eyes shot open and saw her pick up another full water bottle. I sighed in relief as she brought it to my lips. I don't know why I was so thirsty, but I really didn't care right now. I just needed liquids inside me.
By the time I finished the second bottle, my throat, tongue, and lips were perfectly moist. I looked at the girl and she was smiling brightly. It kind of creeped me out, like she wanted to grab my attention from a group of people, kissing up to me, it was pretty weird.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Better," I mumbled.
"My name is Christy, by the way. Do you remember yours?" Her voice was very bubbly, her name fitting very well.
"Yes," I responded, not really wanting to tell her it.
She waited patiently for me to continue, but I could tell from her eyes that she felt awkward. I don't know why, but making people awkward always made me feel guilty. I waited a couple of seconds, kind of hoping she would let it go. She kept looking at me, expectantly. I sighed in defeat.
"Daniela," I said clearer than before. She sighed in relief.
"Okay, that's good. Do you remember what happened last night?"
Of course I remember. I will forever remember what remember what happened last night. I noticed she was looking at my bandaged head so I knew she was wondering how I got hurt… physically. I thought back to last night, after leaving. She didn't need to know about before.
"I was running away, trying to find that shelter for kids. Not the cheap one, the one that sends you to school. But I wasn't paying attention and fell on the sidewalk. That's all I remember." The shelter was called "Midnight Help". Not many people know about it so I didn't say its name. It's a weird name, but who cares? It's a shelter for runaways or teenage orphans, run by some multi-millionaire.
"Perfect! Tim will love this!" She seemed very excited which was confusing and almost scary.
"Who's Tim?" I asked, very innocent.
"You're in Midnight Help. Welcome to your new home," she greeted me. I actually smiled at this, though I did notice how she had avoided my question. It made me curious and up for the challenge. I could deal with about anything at this point.
"If you need anything, there is a phone on the nightstand and the number to my room is next to it. Though, I would really like for you to rest. You had a bad fall, and the bags under your eyes look like you haven't slept in days. Well, I got to go do homework," she got up from the bed and walked toward the door. She stopped at the door and turned back to look at me, no more smile. Her face looked like she could kill someone in a dark and creepy way.
"And by the way, stay away from the Nightingale's. That family will bring nothing but trouble." It sounded very much like a threat but I could tell it was a warning.
I waited after she shut the door for the sound of her footsteps to fade away. Once they did, I got up off the bed and looked around. I spotted another door on the right wall. Assuming it was a bathroom, I ran into it and discovered I was right. I flipped the switch that was next to the door and was stunned. It was beautiful. The linoleum floor was white, and the walls were white with black, lacey patterns on it. The tub had lion claws and was surrounded by purple candles, so I assumed they were lavender. Pretty fancy, especially for a teenage homeless shelter. But then I found what I was looking for, a mirror.
I ran over to it, examining the damage. It wasn't red on the front, so I turned my head around to see if it was on the side of my head, it wasn't. I pulled it off my head, feeling relief when the pressure of the bandage was gone. I was pretty happy when I was the blood on the back of the bandage. At least the scar wouldn't be visible. I felt the back of my head and looked at my hand. There was no blood so I must have been out cold for a while. I wondered how much a while was, and decided that I really didn't care.
Deciding the scar won't be a problem, I looked at my face. I had a small bruise on the far right side of my forehead and a small cut on my lip but other than that I just looked tired, like Christy said.
I didn't really feel tired, so I went to get my makeup. I thought about moving my bags onto the bed and unpack, but I really didn't feel like it. I grabbed my toiletry bag, my eyeliner, my clear extra glossy lip-gloss, my black bellbottom jeans, my black tank top, clean underwear, my toothbrush, toothpaste, and my hairbrush. I went back into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and took about a forty minute shower, cleansing myself of dirt and blood, making sure I smelled like roses. I got out and got dressed, feeling refreshed. I put my eyeliner on thick, but only on my top eyelid. I applied my lip-gloss, making my lips shine and the cut a little less noticeable. I grabbed my hairbrush, sat on the bed, and started to brush out my mess of hair piece by piece.
When I was done, I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand and realized I have brushed my hair for over an hour. It wasn't unusual but I was surprised. It didn't feel that long at all. I was pretty tired so I walked over to my bags to put my brush away and grab a hair tie. I don't like to put my hair up but I feel more comfortable with one around my wrist. I bent over to unzip my bag when the door opened straight into my hip. The blow made me fall over, almost hitting my head again. Maybe I was more tired than I thought I was.
"Oh shit! Are you okay?" asked the jerk at the door. I meant to grimace at him but I was in too much shock, having no doubt that it showed on my face. His long, glistening black hair reached his chin and covered one eye. His lips were perfect and full, - but not as full as mine- a soft pink, like flower petals. But it was his eyes that kept me staring in shock; they were black but with a hint of another color that I couldn't put my finger on, and they were deep. Do very deep I feel like I could see his soul, and it was beautiful.
His laugh made me realize he noticed my stare. I shook my head and tried harder to grimace, it was very pitiful though. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my waist, holding me up as if I weighed nothing- and I most certainly didn't. He was a bit scrawny, though I definitely felt a six-pack under his shirt and felt muscles on his arm around me.
"Hey, I'm Ian. And you?" His voice made my heart skip a beat.
"Ian," I whispered to myself. He was holding back a smile, but other than that he was waiting patiently.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, still in a daze.
He laughed a bit at my response. I must look absolutely nuts to him.
Just then, another guy was at my door. He was out of breath and his face was red. He bent over and put his hands on his knees. Once he caught his breath and his face went back to its regular color, he looked me up and down and smiled in approval. Then his eyes froze on Ian's arm around my waist. He groaned in annoyance.
"Oh man. Really, dude? You couldn't let me have this one?"
I looked at him confused. He was bulkier than Ian, short blond hair, spiked down the middle to look like a Mohawk. His eyes were gray and angry. I looked back at Ian, trying to find an explanation. He shook his head at me as if to say "Don't worry about it."
"Sorry Ricky-"
"Don't call me that!" I was shocked at the kid's outrage. He looked pretty pissed off and it scared me a bit. Surprising everyone, I cringed into Ian. "Ricky" or whatever his real name was, realized my fear and looked at me apologetically. Out of the corner out my eye I could see Ian was still shocked. I also realized that Ian was a whole head taller than me. It wasn't a big deal but it was something I noticed. After a couple more seconds, Ian recovered and looked back at "Ricky" with hard eyes.
"Alright, well, sorry then Rick. I am so sorry that I introduced myself to the new girl before you had the chance to scare her. So sorry," he said in a hard mocking voice.
"Hey man, you know I just wanted to be the first to meet her. I didn't mean to scare her." Rick was backing up with his hands up, innocently.
Ian chuckled darkly.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's all you wanted to do. Why don't you tell her? Tell her what you and everyone else does to the new kid. Go on, tell her. I'm sure she'll be flattered."
Rick glared at Ian, though Ian's glare was much more powerful. Rick looked at me apologetically, but then I noticed he also had a look of desire in eyes. I don't think the desire was lust, but he did want me for something. Rick glared at Ian one last time and he growled back, gripping my waist tighter, making Rick leave. Immediately Ian let go of me and slammed my door shut. He still looked furious, so I waited for him to calm down. I stood still waiting a few moments, watching him. He had one hand stretched out to lean against the door and the other pinching the bridge of his nose. Suddenly he looked at me as if recalling my presence five inches from him. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled at me embarrassed.
"Sorry about that."
"It's okay," I squeaked, barely a whisper.
He looked at me confused, and then apologetically, as if this was his entire fault, when, actually, I think it was mine. If I hadn't cringed into him, no one would have known that Rick frightened me.
"No, it's not. Are you okay? Rick can be a bit insensitive."
I didn't know what he meant but I nodded, not saying anything. Ian wrapped his arms around me. His touch gave me chills and put me on fire at the same time. I gasped in shock and amazement by the feeling. He must have felt the fire and ice as well, because he let go of me, eyes wide. Suddenly, they were gone, both the fire and ice, which disappointed me. I liked the feeling, took pleasure in it. Just for comfort and the feeling, I wrapped my arms around him and stuffed my face into his shoulder. He was frozen for a second, but then he held me closer to him as I let my tears fall harder and harder into his t-shirt. I wasn't crying because of Rick, I was crying because of last night. It had finally hit me and I couldn't stand it. We stood like that for a second but must have been much longer because my sobs finally ended. I collapsed right into Ian, struggling now to keep my eyes open. Seeing my exhaustion, he picked me up bridal style, and laid me down on the bed. I didn't want to sleep. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. Please don't be calling Christy. Please.
"Hey, it's me. Can you come over please? She passed out and it will be way too hot for her to sleep in jeans." There was a short pause. "Thanks. I'll give you details later." He hung up.
I tried even harder to keep my eyes open. He laughed at my struggle and I felt his presence very close to me now.
"What's your name?" he whispered in my ear. I smirked at him.
"Anonymous," I whispered back. He chuckled in my ear.
"Goodnight, anonymous," he whispered even more quietly.
And I couldn't fight it any longer. I fell asleep.
