I will be doing a lotof point of view switching in this chapter. Some of their POVs will be sort and others longer. I felt like it just had to be done. Shit needed to be explained about Harold, Kate, Humphrey, and Garth. They will all be in this chapter. Anyways, enjoy and be sure to comment. I don't care what you do actually. It is your life after all. :)
Chapter 3: An enemy a friend. A brother an enemy. A friend a lover.
Harold's POV
Nothing but the sound of crickets could be heard this night. I'm glad that is the case because it would be complicated and challenging for me to sneak out. I lay in my bed fully encased by my covers, dressed for my little adventure. Now I was just waiting for the right time to leave. I glanced over at my alarm clock at the side of my bed. It read 11:00 p.m. I sighed, it was a better time than any. I slipped out of bed very silently, opened my window, snuck out of it, and quietly closed it behind me. I was crotched on the roof looking out into the sullen night. The moon was shining with little to no cloud coverage. I admired the beauty of it all. Soon I ran along the edge of the roof and jumped down. Rolling into an almost perfect landing. I had done it enough times to not break anything. I glanced up from my kneeling position, scanning my surroundings as I did so.
My immediate area seemed to be clear of any threats to my hidden in tensions. I set out to do what I wanted to do. While I was running I felt the tears coming and pushed through them as much as I could. I hoped that nobody could hear me as I sprinted down the side of the street.
Humphrey's POV
I woke to the sound of a thud. It wasn't a loud thud, but it was clear enough to be a defiant sound. I threw my covers off me and sat up in bed. It appeared to be sometime in the night but not in the morning. I glared out my window to make sure. The moon was up near the top of it's nightly course. I couldn't go to sleep now I had to do something that could occupy me for at least an hour. I turned my head ,followed by my body, to examine my room for anything to do. My eyes rested on three things. My phone on my desk, my running blocks sitting neatly on my shelf above my keyboard, and finally my keyboard. I felt like I was thinking what my priorities were at this moment. I narrowed it down to my keyboard and blocks. I felt like I needed to practice them both. I started to pace back and forth in my room. I realized that I could do both. Blocks don't take that long to set up and practice with. While my keyboard is already set up but does take noticeably longer to practice. So I made up my mind. I grabbed my blocks, headed out my window, and finished landing on my feet in the back yard.
The world was dark except for the bright luminescence of the moon. This wasn't the first time that I had snuck out. It brought back a memory. I saw a spirit of some kind floating in front of me smiling evilly nodding his head in the process. I snapped back to reality hearing the droning chirp of the crickets, it had felt all too real. My blocks were once again apparent in my hands. I Walked over to an open area in my backyard. As I set them down I realized that I couldn't practice doing a proper run out. So, I settled on just practicing my footing. I adjusted them to what I had them last year, I set both my feet on the appropriate spot, and I got into my 'ready' position. I tested this stance over and over until I settled that I needed to move both of the blocks back to pegs. When I had concluded that I could do no more for the night I changed course to go back into my room. Getting out of the window and off the roof was the easy part, now I had to climb up and into the window. I did manage to finish my task of getting back into my room, but at a costly price. While I was climbing up my blocks slipped out of my hand and when I went to grap it. I didn't get out without a puncture in my right ankle.
I was almost too tired to play my keyboard but I wanted to practice. I plugged my headset into the keyboard, sat down, and proceeded my tradition of playing everyday or every other day. I smiled as I played. The music brought back memories, both good and bad. I soon stopped realizing that I had wasted more than enough time. I checked my watch beside my bed to make sure. I could barely make out the time but I believe it says 2:02 a.m. "Shit." I hissed to myself. "I need to go to sleep." I undressed from my clothes except my boxers, climbed into my bed, and drifted off to sleep until sunrise. While I was sleeping a single thought or sentence came to mind. You will never be with Kate, unless you want to ruin her perfect life.
Kate's POV
I was continually drifting in and out of conciseness. Until I heard a thump outside. I got up and moved over to my window facing the (Insert last name here)household. I stalked when I reached the window while also rubbing my half asleep eyes. When I opened my eyes, I got a mighty fine surprise. Standing in his backyard, was Humphrey. He was doing something with what looked like runners blocks. I found it intriguing what he was doing at this late in the night. I stared out my window watching him as he worked with the blocks. It only seemed like a couple of seconds when Humphrey picked up his blocks and climbed back up into his window. After he was no longer visible I found myself sweating. I also felt a new feeling tingle through my body. I enjoyed the short but interesting feeling. "I wonder how I got this feeling?" I asked myself. Wherever it had come from I knew it had to do with Humphrey. A new topic popped into my head; did I have feelings for Humphrey? "Of course I do." I told myself, "As a friend." But I could feel that there was much more to it than that. I yawned, shaking myself into reality. I went back to bed shortly after wondering: "In what way do I like him?"
Garth's POV
I was walking down the street in the dark, alone. I had just got into a fight with my dad about me fighting a new kid at the school. I tried to explain to him what had happened but he wouldn't listen. I sighed, thinking back to those memories. I walked along for maybe another couple of blocks when I saw a built up figure run around a corner just in front of me. My curiosity was at it's apex. I took off as fast as I could to try and catch whoever this was. When I rounded the corner I saw that the person who I was chasing wasn't even more than 50 yards in front of me. I quickly closed the distance and tackled the figure, ending the pursuit. The character cursed a couple of times but didn't struggle. Very cautiously I turned over whoever this wolf was. When I did I was shocked. It was Harold Humphrey's brother. I should be mad at him but he seemed to have been terrified of something and crying a little as well.
"Get away from me!" He yelled, yet he still didn't struggle. 'I don't understand what happened to him.' I thought, 'I wonder if he needs help.' I quickly composed myself and responded with. "Do you need any help? You don't seem to be okay." "I don't need any h-help." He sniffled. "Just please leav-leave me alone." I knew something was seriously wrong at this point. Considering he wasn't struggling, he didn't try to hide his tears, and he every now and then mumbled something under his breath. "I know you aren't okay. What do you need help with? I'm here for you." I could still feel my anger surge through my as I said that. "You-you wouldn't understan-understand." He cried. "Why would you want to help me any way after what I did to you?" He wiped his eyes out of his tears and stared into my eyes. His eyes were unlike Humphrey's, they were a darker almost sinister color. "That was in the past. Now you need help. Will you let me help you?" His eyes started to water along with his lower lip, and then he started to cry. While he was crying I got off him and hugged him. He accepted the hug and cried into my shoulder. After awhile of his bawling he quieted back down and spoke.
"Thanks. No one else has ever done this for me." I nodded in response, but I had a question in the back of my mind. "Why were you running and crying? And why did you look terrified?" Harold sat up and seemed to think about his answer. "Promise not to tell anyone." He stated rather harshly. "I promise." He was content enough with my answer to continue on. "It all started back when my dad died. It was only a year ago and I was still considered a child. We had just got back from dad's funeral. I wasn't as sad as Humphrey because he was really close to dad, but I was still in tears. Humphrey and I cried ours eyes out for hours. It came to end when our mom had just come down the stairs. She hadn't said anything since the funeral, and her face was still emotional. I didn't think it was a big deal but Humphrey could see otherwise. He got up from the couch and stopped crying. He walked over and hugged mom. I thought it was only nothing that Humphrey did this. But ever since then Humphrey has always been mom's favorite little spoiled brat." He ended his story on an angry note. I got an idea in my mind.
"That story was very emotional for you to tell. I'm sorry for everything that happened." I blankly said, meaning the truth through and through. "Thank you for be here for me." He replied hugging me. "If there's anything I can do to repay you let me know." "Actually." I started. "Can I ask you a big favor now?" He motioned for me to go on. I did questioning. "Can you make sure Humphrey stays away from Kate." Harold's emotions changed in an instant from sad to relieved to angry. "What do you have against him?" He asked threateningly. I noticed that his body language became like that of a rock, solid and unmoving. My plan though had already formed deep within my brain. "I thought you said Humphrey was a spoiled brat. Wouldn't you not want him to get what he wants this time." Harold's features returned to a normal state of neutral as he thought about my rebuttal. A couple of times he would lift his to respond, but would sadly lower it back down. It felt like hours before he responded. He coughed to gain my attention. His body was unreadable. "I have decided to…"
No one's POV
Harold told Garth his answer. It didn't surprise Garth to hear him say what he said. They both ended their meeting and went their separate ways. Meanwhile Kate is still confused about her feelings for Humphrey. Now she thinks that she is betraying her boyfriend, Garth, as well. On the other hand she has felt more happiness looking at Humphrey than being with Garth. Her struggle continues on throughout the night and she feels the impact in the morning. Also it seems that Humphrey is getting ready for track at his high school, but he knows trials aren't until Friday. He hopes to get in. He also feels very strongly towards Kate. Different from Kate though is that he doesn't deny or think too much about his feelings for her. Soon though Harold will get into Humphrey's way with Kate. However, much to Garth's consent, he is the one who splits Kate and him up. We resume with Humphrey in the morning just before he gets on the bus to go to his second day of school.
It is a gloomy Tuesday morning in March, Humphrey is just stepping on the first step of the school bus. He pauses for a moment preparing himself for his second day at Jasper Jr./Sr. High.
Humphrey's POV
I paused for a moment on the steps. I exhaled slowly as I walked up into the bus. A couple of people yelled "hey." While others just completely ignored me. I glanced around and saw Kate gesturing for me to sit next to her. As I walked over to her I looked around for any familiar faces from yesterday. I didn't recognize anyone immediately so I gave up and sat next to Kate.I was getting myself situated into my seat when Kate started speaking to me. "Hi. How are you this morning?" "I'm fine thank you. How's your's?" I replied right back. "As good as ever." She finished her sentence but not her staring at me concernedly. "Humphrey, can I ask you something?" She asked in a serious tone. I smiled at her and responded. "You just did but go ahead anyway." She giggled at my response and for a second lost her serious note. "It's about sports." She paused, waiting to see if I would reply with anything. When I didn't she continued. "It's more about an individual sport minding you." I raised an eyebrow at her, intrigued about what she was saying. Before she could proceed with her talking I intercepted her by saying. "This is about track isn't it. How did you know I did track? I never told anyone outside of my family. And don't tell me that my brother told you." I stared furiously into Kate's eyes. Her eyes were an amber, but laced with fear. She responded with a shaky voice saying. "I-I-I ss-saw yo-you last night. You we-were prac-prac-practicing with your b-b-blocks." She looked absolutely terrified.
I hugged her tightly, changing my voice and general body tone to more friendly. "Kate I'm not mad at you." Kate turned to look up to me. "Really?" She asked with a sniffle. "Yeah. I mean we are neighbors after all. If you didn't see what I did than I would have been surprised." I smiled at her again and hugged her tighter. I swear I heard her sigh in pleasure. For the rest of bus ride we didn't say anything. We were too embraced in our hug to matter. I dreaded when the bus got to school. I didn't want this moment to end, but like always all good things must come to an end.
The bus finally came to a halt beside the school. When I went to get up I found I could no longer move. There was something weighing me down. I turned my head to look at what was prohibiting my movement. It was Kate, fast asleep on my arm. She was one of the most beautiful sites in the world, watching her sleep. I had to wake her up though. I hated doing this. I reached over with my unrestricted arm and patted her gently on her shoulder saying. "Kate it's time to wake up. We're at hell now. Shit I mean school." I always got those two words mixed up. Kate started to stir giving way to a yawn. I had to laugh when she yawned. "What's so funny?" She asked stretching, but not yet getting off my arm. "Your yawning." I simply replied "And Kate." She looked at me with sleepy eyes. "Could you please get off my arm?" Kate obliged and apologized for not doing so earlier. While we were getting off the bus Kate whispered in my ear from behind me. "You are very comfortable." I turned my head around only to get it playfully turned back by Kate. Both of us were out of the bus and now walking towards the school entrance. When we approached closer, we were met with a startling encounter.
I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I bent over clutching my stomach. Before I could recover I felt someone shove me to the ground and heard my attacker say. "Stay down dip shit. Never flirt with my girlfriend again." I opened my eyes to see Garth standing over me about to hit me again, but while he was about to hit me someone caught his punch in mid strike and bent his arm around his back and he screamed in pain or shock.
"Garth what's the first rule that I explained to you this year." My savior questioned firmly holding Garth's arm behind his back.
"You're the king." Garth replied with tears in his eyes. I stood up to get a closer look at my savior, but he pushed me back down.
"Well yes. You are correct. What's rule number two than?"
"Never beat up a new kid without your permission." Garth was basically reduced to a helpless pup. The stranger threw Garth on the ground. He spat at him and told him to Garth was gone he turned to face me. I was still on the ground. Now that I got a closer look at him I noticed one big thing about him. He had a metal prosthetic hand. Once he was close enough he offered me his hand. I accepted it and he pulled me up and brought me into a hand shake.
"Thanks for saving me." I said returning his hand shake.
"Don't mention it. Garth's an ass anyway. But who am I to judge, names Johnny." He said back.
"Nice name. Mines Humphrey." I said. He seemed to think about it and finally shook his head in approval.
"Humphrey, I like it." Johnny then asked. "You are new here aren't you? I didn't just throw Garth off you for no reason. It was my turn to shake my head. "Well than nice to meet you." He took my hand and shook it again.
"Can ask you a question?" I asked curious to know the answer.
"You just did but go ahead." He motioned for me to continue.
"Why did you save me back there. Pardon me saying but you don't look like the friendly saving type." I said holding my hand hoping he knew what I meant. He exhaled slowly, but before he could continue Kate came up to me in ugentsy yelling.
"Humphrey oh my god are you okay? What happened? I didn't notice you fell behind I'm sorry…" Before she finished Johnny put his hand up in front of Kate stopping her questions.
"He'll explain latter Kate." Johnny told her with a serious look. "Right now I need to talk to him so just give us a sec." Kate didn't heed his advice and I dreaded what was about to happen. "Now didn't I just say to give us a sec." Johnny said approaching Kate int a threatening way. "Give us a sec would you. Go gossip with your friends or whatever girls do these days."
"What are you gonna do about it?" Kate asked getting up into his face causing Johnny to recoil back in surprise. 'This must not happen often for Johnny.' I thought.
"What do you want me to do sweetheart." She cringed when he said sweetheart.
"Say that word one more time and I'm going to be the one throwing your torn up carcass in the water when I'm done with you." Kate yelled in anger. Though I sensed that it was only building the deeper Johnny dug.
"Come on, give us privacy…"
Kate stopped him mid sentence with a warning. "Don't say it." But he continued on with it.
"Sweetheart." He mocked. Kate eyes started to twitch and she started to jerk her head sideways. And before she snapped she said a single phrase:"I warned you."
WARNING this is a fight scene. It will have blood involved and fighting between Kate and Johnny. If you don't want to read it, don't. But it may have some important information in it. ;)
She quickly jabbed him in the face but stopped after the first hit. Johnny stumbled backwards with blood oozing from his nose. He used his finger on his real hand to check. When he looked back up his eyes were full of fire and rage. He screamed a war cry and charged for Kate but Kate just sidestepped out of the way causing Johnny to stumble a little. Kate still hadn't gone on the offensive yet. Johnny soon recovered himself and swung a deadly left hook towards her. Which she deflected spinning around smacking him in the face with the back of her hand. Johnny was dazed for a few seconds but managed to recover rather quickly. When he did he threw a fake right, witch Kate fell for, and did a quick jab to her face. It seemed though that Kate had actually facked him. While she looked like she was going to catch the fake she hit his side with a jab of her own. Her jab did enough damage to force Johnny to back up. Johnny put his hand up and bent over seeming like he had summited. This lowered Kate's defences for just long enough for him to try one last trick. He reached out with his metal hand and grabbed Kate's throat lifting her up in the process.
Kate was gasping for air. But again, this was only a trick. While he was focusing on holding her throat and listening to her gasps he failed to notice her boot come up and smack him in his jewels. There was a crunching sound as her boot connected that made the crowd that had gathered around gasp. Johnny immediately let go of Kate and fell to the ground crying and sulking the pain. Everyone including me thought that kate would press her advantage for what he did, but she surprised everyone by walking towards me. I was shocked that she did that as I had my mouth a gape. Kate walked by shutting my jaw and grabbing me by the hand. She lead me to a secluded area with a bench and we sat down.
"Wow!" I exclaimed she looked at me like she had just stolen a cookie but didn't want to admit it.
"Anyway forget what happened back there." Kate said pointing back the way we had just come. "What happened that you were on the ground?"
Wow was all I could say. Kate looked me with a "really" face I just responded with wow again.
"Obviously we are getting nowhere with this conversation. If you want to talk later come find me after school." With that Kate kissed my cheek and patted my shoulder.
"Wow." I said but this time a lot quieter and to myself. "I need to know how she did that." I heard the bell ring signaling that school had started. I got up and walked into the school with a blank expression on my face that would last throughout the day.
Kate's POV
I left Humphrey sitting on the bench looking bewildered by my earlier actions. I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into someone. I quickly apologized and continued to walk towards my friends. "Hey." Hallie said as she waved to me. "Hey." I replied. I said hey to all the others (Tiffany, Jennet, and Meliana). They all replied back and we soon started to talk about the things we usually talk about. Until we got to the topic of me getting into a fight with a boy and winning.
"How did you do it?" Jennet asked with shock visible beneath all her makeup. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell them. I changed my mind when they all started to stare and me. "Are all going to stare at me until I tell you?" I chuckled. They all shook their heads in unision. "Fffff. Fine. It all started when…" I proceeded to tell them about what had happened. Every now and then one of them would ask a question or gasp. "...And then I walked away, grabbed Humphrey, and tried to talk to him. He was too shocked to answer reasonably." They all had their mouths open when I finished except for Hallie who looked shocked. "God. Not you guys too." None of them answered as I glanced at each of them for a response. They all just stared off into space.
"Damn." I thought to myself. "This is going to be a long ass day. I hope that I don't get into trouble." As if right on cue I saw the assistant principal walk around the corner with an angry beat red face.
That's the end of this one. I wonder how Kate is so good at fighting. "I know. I know." Shut up. No you don't. Live, laugh, and love a little more each day. Who knows you might change someone's or everyone's life. And god bless those that were killed earlier this week in the Orlando shooting (50). Please help the world out and pick a person back up, don't kick them back down or beat them. Help them get back together. Jade out.
