Anthony sighed as he reached for his cream-colored blouse, which was neatly placed in his closet. It was finally midnight, and everybody in his house was fast asleep. It had been an eventful day, especially for him and his father. He was glad that he had escaped his father's wrath. He knew that if he kept on arguing with him, he would've been beaten down to a pulp. But he wasn't surprised by this. He knew of his father's strength, both inside and out, but too much of a man's strength can even cause problems.
Dinner was unusual, with his father giving him suspicious looks and his mother talking to Anthony as if nothing happened. Amie, however, was chatting away about her day. Anthony reached the conclusion that if he were not to say anything, just nod and agree, that he could successfully live through this dinner. And live he did, for he agreed and pretended that he cared whenever his father would talk to him. When Anthony agreed to go back to school, his father smiled slyly, knowing that he had won. But Amie eyed him suspiciously, and knew that he was up to something. His father, however, mistook the look in his eyes as strength. But no, he was determined. He was determined to get away.
Anthony looked around his room, once again, making sure that he had taken what he had needed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but with this, he could start over. He could build a new life without his past, only reflecting upon the future. He glanced at the books on his desk, that he was previously reading and remembered his situation. He shrugged off his thoughts, swung his bag around his arm, and headed for the door.
Then, unexpectedly, a small voice within his head began to ask if what he was doing was well worth it. Throwing all of this opportunity away for that argument he had with his father. But he fought it, and he was determined. He looked around to see that the hallway was empty and there was not a shred of light anywhere. He turned towards the stairs, but stopped as he saw Amie's door. He couldn't leave her like this.
Anthony shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he headed for Amie's room. He slowly turned the knob, making sure not to wake anyone, and entered her room. Her room was entirely different from Anthony's. It was an array of blues, her favorite color, wherever he looked. He glanced at the shelf, which was full of books. Although Amie was the easygoing and talkative sort of person, Amie didn't strike Anthony as the type of person who would read. Then, his eyes moved her dresser, on top of it were various sorts of dolls, from the old and used to gorgeous and beautifully built. He chuckled to himself as he saw a small brown teddy bear, with its missing eye and torn ribbon, sitting peacefully between her huge dolls. He remembered that he had given it to her as a gift on her fifth birthday. She liked it so much that she carried it around with her.
Finally, his eyes reached Amie, who was peacefully sleeping on her bed. Her eyes were closed and a lock of blonde hair covered half of her face. She was sleeping sideways, with her arm over her blanket, clutching a small white pillow. Anthony carefully sat at the edge of her bed and looked at her with care. He pushed her hair out of her face, and thought of all the memories he had with her.
"Amie…" he whispered. But all Amie did was groan and bury her face into her pillow.
Anthony rolled his eyes and called her by her nickname. "Nugget… wake up… come on, Nugget… It's me, Anthony!" he said as he leaned forward so that she could hear him better.
"Whaaaaatttttt????" she answered groggily as she rubbed her eyes and looked up at Anthony. As soon as her eyes had focused, she found Anthony looking at her, with a bag slung over his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" she said worriedly as she sat up from bed and faced him.
"Nugget, you know that I love you and this family, but its just… there are some things that I need to do," he replied seriously. He looked back at her blue eyes, the ones that she had inherited from her father, from his dark brown eyes. But there was something different about hers. Her eyes were filled with care and loving.
"Its father, isn't it?" questioned Amie. "What he did was wrong… forcing you on things like that," her voice grew stern and her emotion was replaced with anger.
Anthony nodded. "But I'll be fine… I hope you can understand, Nugget. This is just so hard for me. I'm going to be… I'll be…" his voice faltered as he tried to find the words to say.
Amie's eyes looked at Anthony worriedly. She knew what was coming and she didn't want it to happen, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her brother could do anything he wants. "…gone?" her voice came out as a whisper as her eyes began to water.
Anthony's heart sank as he saw Amie's expression on her face. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he needed to talk to her. "Yes… gone…" he said as he leaned forward and gave her a tight hug, which she gave back. "I'll miss you, Nugget," he whispered. "Don't ever change."
Amie nodded as her tears spilled down her cheeks. She loved her brother, but this was something he needed to do. They finally pulled apart, both with sadness on their face. Anthony stood up, gave Amie a smile and a nod, and headed for the door.
"Wait," quivered Amie's voice. He was already opening the door, ready to walk out, but he turned to look at Amie, who was unclasping something that was around her neck. "Take this," she said as she walked up to him. He looked at her hand, in it was a necklace, with a cross dangling from it. When Amie saw that all he did was stare, she put the necklace around his neck and gave him a last hug.
***
The air was chilly and darkness surrounded him. His only source of light was the moon and stars above as his feet touched the stone pavement as he walked. He looked around him as he realized that he was standing on a bridge, overlooking the river. Anthony couldn't believe he had gotten this far, but he had. He walked as far as he could from the rich mansions that he once knew. Now, he was standing on an old bridge, with part of its railings broken and gone.
Anthony took one last look, but his attention moved to a different source. He heard footsteps, and was unable to reason where it came from. He doubled back as he felt an impact on his face. Somebody had hit him.
"You shouldn't be here, rich boy," the voice growled. Anthony looked up at his opponent, a boy at least two years older than him, with black hair and dark brown eyes. Relief flooded throughout Anthony; at least it wasn't his father.
"Are you just going to stand there? GO BACK!" he shouted. But Anthony shook his head; his body and emotions couldn't take it anymore. He was going to go through with this.
The older boy shook his head with pity as he looked at Anthony. "You'll never live out there. But if you say so…" he moved towards him and pushed Anthony off the bridge.
Anthony was thrown off, his attention wasn't focused and his body flailed as he hit the water. Water swirled around him as he tried to breathe, filling his lungs with water. His head was throbbing pain and vision became blurry as he slowly closed his eyes. His body became limp, as he slowly descended down the water, with his bag still slung over his shoulder.
Suddenly, he felt a tug from up a above. Somebody was pulling him up. He was unconscious, leaving the rest of his body limp. His hair was strewn all about and the color in his cheeks were gone, leaving the bruise that the older boy had given. Anthony thought it was all over.
~*~
I know what you're thinking! This isn't the end! *i just love keeping you guys in suspense!* lol, i'm gonna write more! I'll be having a lot of time on my hands this weekend since we have a homework free weekend this time *YAY!* so i might have the next chapter up soon.
Shout-outs
Sapphy: lmao, sapphy's having a moment! *gasps sarcastically* haha, i'm glad that you were touched!
Sagey: hey girl! so glad to see you read this! hahah, and since you bugged me SO MUCH to get the next chapter up, i started on it right after you went offline! don't you feel special? *wink* but sagey, you gotta write more for YOUR ff!!! i can't wait to see more!
tysangel14: haha, thanks! aren't you glad that i moved from writing mush stories to race stories?
Loner: thanks! i'm glad you liked it! ^^
strider: hahah ^^ i hope i didn't make it too soap opera-like! lmao!
Mousie: :D thankies! be happy that i have enough time on my hands this weekend that i'll be posting the next chap soon!