III

I sat on the swings in the playground. The only place I found safe when I was younger. I t was a good place to get away from my parents. It was in the middle of where my school was located and where my house was. It wasn't very far. I was out of breath, though. Running all the way here was going against my body.

"You shouldn't run." I stiffened, but didn't look up. I knew who was talking. I knew who had followed me. "Running never can solve anything. Then again, you are good at running, so it may solve most of your problems." The swing next to me was now replaced from empty air to having a solid person sitting in the seat. "You can't avoid me, though."

My hands were starting to shake. I didn't like it.

"Hey, you need to calm down." Eric grabbed one of my hands, but I pulled it away. "I'm trying to help you, if you haven't noticed."

"How-how." My voice came out pitiful. I couldn't even finish that much before Eric placed a hand on my mouth. I felt like biting it.

"How did I find out?" he questioned. I nodded my head. "Please, we were good friends when we were younger. The first time that your mother told us to go outside when your father came home, I knew that they fought. I knew that you were scared too. You still are."

I shook my head no. I felt his fingers grip my face harder. I flinched from the pressure.

"No? What do you mean that you aren't scared anymore? If I was in your place right now, I would be scared. Why aren't you scared?" Eric hissed.

In times like this, I seem to freak. If you seen what has happened with my father, twice already, and with Eric in my seat. Well, Eric just being there. I was starting to panic. I did the most logical thing I could think of.

I bit his hand.

Sounds stupid, yes, but I wanted his hand off of my mouth, and I wanted to get away from him.

As soon as his hand whipped away,- with him howling at the top of his lungs- I ran as fast as I could. Track was never the sport that I was good at. Running was something that I was never good at.

Running away from someone is different.

Being scared is something different.

Track is a for fun sport in school, and maybe even out of school. Something to keep someone active. Something for good competition. Something...that is different from school.

Running was something that you are timed on, to see how active one person is. Some don't care about this. Some do. I'm not a person who cares or doesn't care. I just want to see if I can run fast. I never can. I'm always lagging behind everyone.

I never realized it, but it was starting to rain. It was starting to rain hard. With every step I took, the rain beat down on my face painfully. Maybe it was hail, because it stung like needles, and was as cold as ice. Yes, that has to be it.

"Kim! You can't run away forever!" Eric shouted behind me. I could barely hear him with the wind whipping in my ears like roaring engines. But I knew, just by how he sounded, he was tired out.

I didn't stop running. No, I couldn't. It felt like as if my body was autopilot. I didn't know where I was going, but my body seemed to know where I was.

Before I knew it, I was standing under the flashing neon lights of "Papa Parlor", the pizza parlor that Chris works at. Why was I here? What made my body come here?

I took a few hesitant steps to the building. In around three steps, I was standing close to the door. So close, I could feel the warm heat seeping through the glass into my numb fingers. My hands rested on the knob, but I couldn't get my shaking hand to open it.

The knob started to turn under my hand, which startled me. I let go of it, but it didn't stop the person from coming out. When it opened up, I was surprised to see who it was. And the person was surprised as well.

Amber number two.

They call Amber Rollo the second one because she is always the second best. Second best with grades, second in sports, and second when it came to who would be picked to be on who's team.

The girl looked at me with great surprise in her muddy depth called eyes. "What are you doing here? And during school time too." She looked down at the wrist watch on her arm. "Yeah, it's still school time."

I tapped one of my feet on the ground. The concrete under my feet felt a little soft. Maybe I was on the "Welcome!" mat that the little parlor had placed out.

"Well, I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here, right?" Amber questioned. She placed a strand of her loose red hair behind her ear. "My father said that he would come pick me up from here before I go to the dentist. He doesn't like going to the school. Any school at that." Amber glanced behind me. "There he is now!"

It was painful to watch Amber leave. To know that she has a caring father. Instead of one that is always drunk off his rear end.

I had to take a deep breath. I was getting too worked up about all of this. I had to calm down a little bit.

Glancing around to see if Eric was anywhere's close, I saw no one in the pouring rain. Who would be out in this rain anyway?

I turned around and opened the door. The little bell rang over head. People glanced up at me, confused at what a teenage girl doing in the pouring rain during school time. I was a little embarrassed. Being in my regular jeans and jean jacket, plus with the soaking rain making it hard to see out of my glasses as well as drenching my clothing, I looked pretty stupid.

I walked over to a small, round table that had only one seat. I let out a sigh before my head hit the table. The sound was louder than what I expected. I was betting I now had everyone in here looking at me.

"Runaway?"

My head jerked upwards. I swear I felt the muscles in my neck start to burn. A girl, not much older than me, was standing there, smiling down at me. The girl looked like as if she could be a model! Her body was slim. She had on these expensive clothing. I didn't like the purple skirt, though. Her face was clear of both acne and make-up.

"You know-," The girl pulled a chair from another table and sat on it, backwards. "- I use to skip school all the time. I just couldn't take being picked on." Her? No way. "It's true, though," she added, maybe because of the look I had on my face. "My parents were always fighting, I could never bring a friend over. Both of my parents were always drunk off their butts. I was thinking about running into some bars and get drunk as well, to see what was so special about it. I changed my mind soon after. I passed school with a 97 average for all my years. Went to college for six years. Now I'm a lawyer with a great husband and a child on the way."

I felt my mouth hang up. This girl- who didn't look much older than me- was around twenty-seven, married, and having a child?

"I don't look very old, yes, and sometimes I hate that," the girl commented. "Everyone that passes by always says 'Aren't you suppose to be in school' or 'You're a lawyer?'. It gets very annoying most of the time."

"I-I-I bet," I stuttered out. The girl let out a small chuckle.

"First time talking in a long time?" she questioned. I nodded. "How long? Three, four months?"

"Two years," I muttered quietly.

"Man, I could never stay quiet that long," the girl commented, letting a low whistle come out of her mouth. I envy people who can whistle. "Oh, here, you should have your glasses cleaned." She reached over the table and pulled off my glasses.

I never realized how blind I was without my glasses. I couldn't see this girl without them on my face. I looked down at my hands. They were visible. I looked back up and the girl was all a blurry mess. It was like as if they had placed a full body mess up on her like they do on those cops show to make sure that the people on there aren't recognized.

"There." The girl placed my glasses on my face again. I was able to see right after that. "Now you look a little better." She reached over and gave me a pat on her back. "I must be going, but first, I should at least let you know where I live and all that, just in case you need some help with something." She pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling on it with a pen from her pocket. She folded it up and handed it to me. "I'll see you later." She gave me a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

I fiddled with the paper a little after she left. Chris wasn't on shift. He wasn't going to be on shift today. Not at all. I was basically going to sit here all by myself until someone comes in and takes me home.

I hope it isn't Eric.

I don't want to see that boy ever again in my life. Even if it meant not to go to school ever again.

I fiddled a little bit with the table cloth before getting up and going to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My glasses were sliding down my face again. My hair draped down, sticking to my face.

I looked at the paper in my hand that was crumpled up. The name was Sarah Hills. She is a lawyer, but she's also helps out with children who are having trouble at home. Only the children. . .

My hands were starting to shake on the edge of the sink. I wasn't starting to feel good. I felt like as if I was going to pass out.

"Please," I muttered to the mirror. "Please help me."

My hands slipped from the edge of the sink. I felt my body falling backwards. I could feel the black creeping into my consciousness. I maybe had the most weirdest last thought before all my senses disappeared.

Mirrors can't talk.

I heard beeping noises when my senses started coming back to me. I also felt small needles in my hands. To add with these two things I didn't like, there was a breathing thing on my face.

There was also a heavy weight on my right. I felt stiff on that side. It felt weird to have one side fine and then the other side stiffer than stiff.

I stirred a little. I wanted to get whoever was on me to get off.

"Kim!" My mother's voice stopped me from trying to pry the person off. Maybe it was because my mother was that person on me. "Thank God you're alright!" My mother hugged me around my neck, crying. "They say you passed out in a pizza bathroom and hit your head on the wall. They said that you were going to be in a coma."

"Th-they?" I questioned. My mother pulled back and stared at me with wide eyes.

"You're talking," she whispered. Her tear stained face split into a smile. "I haven't heard your sweet voice in two years. It's finally great to hear that silence being replaced with something."

"Mom, the-the question," I muttered.

"Oh! When I said they, I mean the doctors as well as the person who got you out of the bathroom," mother said.

"Who?" I asked, curious at who had saved me.

"A really nice boy who says that he knows you," mother answered. I stiffened. It couldn't be Eric. . . Could it?

"Ma'am,"A nurse said, knocking on the door before. "Visiting hours are almost over with. And this young man wishes to speak with her in private." My mother nodded her head and got up from her seat.

"Be a good girl while the hospital takes care of you," my mother said, kissing my forehead and walking out of the room. After she left, I looked away from the doorway. I didn't want to see who was coming in.

"I told you that you can't run away forever."

How come I seem to guess right?

Eric sat down in the chair that my mother was just in. "Your mother is very nice. Her skin is too pale, though. When does she go outside?" I shrugged, looking away from him again. He let out a small sigh. "I'm trying to help you."

I stayed silent.

"Kim, are you listening to me?" Eric demanded suddenly. His anger in his voice startled me. I looked at him with wide eyes. Eric sighed and calmed down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so angry." Eric fiddled with his fingers. His eyebrows furrowed together as he seemed to be thinking about what he was going to say next. "Kim, I know that when your mother isn't home, your father comes and beats you."

I winced. How did he know that?

"Claire is in your gym class. Well, she use to in seventh grade. She never came to you directly. She tried to speak with you sometimes, but it didn't work out. Instead, she came to me and asked questions," Eric said. He looked up at me. "Something about bruises and cuts. Did he do anything else?"

I started shaking. Eric knew too much. Claire knew too much. When did they start to learn about these things? I never noticed this. I never noticed that whenever I walked up to the two that they would stop talking. No, they always continued talking. They were always talking about teachers or other people when I walked up to them. Did they change it when I was coming close by? Did-

"Silent people talk think too much, haven't you ever heard of that?" Eric commented, a stupid grin on his face.

I nodded my head. Chris made that comment to me. He was being funny at the time, trying to get me to crack a smile or laugh. Eric was just doing the same thing. The same thing that everyone is trying to do.

"Kim, I want to help you out," Eric begged. "Is there something that I can do for you? To help you out a little bit?"

My lips trembled. I nodded my head.

"What is it then?" Eric said hopefully.

"I want you to-to-to stay away from me," I muttered.