Playground

Cezille07

Let's shift into Elena's point of view, for a reason you will soon understand. And we'll see how an accident can change five lives....

Chapter 5. Five Lives.

She was crossing the street for the ice cream stand at the other side, but halfway, someone bumped into her and pushed her into the sidewalk.

She felt the fall earn her hands and knees a few scratches. She got up and turned. Why would anyone just—

There was a little boy, collapsed in the middle of the street where just seconds ago she stood. She saw the struggle in his eyes as he tried to breathe but could not. Around him, people had gathered and were talking in high voices over whose fault it was.

Their bus driver alighted from his vehicle. "Oh my God!" he said, but appeared that he couldn't say anything more. She looked at him and noticed that his bus was merely inches from the boy's face.

"Elena!" Those were her parents' voices, coming from among the crowd. Finally her mother emerged and pulled her into a choking embrace. "Elena! Are you alright, honey? Where were you? I'm so glad you're okay!" Then it was her father's turn. It was the same embrace. The same quickly-fired questions. The same "Thank God!" lines that she was unhurt.

But the little boy. He was—

Gone. They must have taken him to the nearest hospital, or the school clinic.

"Lucky that little boy saved you. You could have been...you could have been killed, Elena," her dad remarked quietly, still hugging her. "I want to tell you something, because things like this happen all the time and we never know if we'll survive. I love you Elena," he said. He kissed her thrice on her head, and reached for his wife. "I love you Julie." He kissed her too.

Elena wriggled free from his grasp and breathed deeply. She had almost died. She had almost been squashed into a paper-thin substance. And this boy, himself struggling, had saved her life.

She must find him. She must.

"Harvey, why don't we cancel the rest of the tour and go home? We all need to rest," Julie suggested. Her husband shook his head, "But we've paid for everything, small fry! We could stay in a hotel for the rest of the day, and, you know, maybe continue tomorrow. By then we'll have forgotten what happened."

Elena exhaled slowly. She recognized the looks on their faces. But she had to stay here, at least to see him again. "Can we stay here for a few more minutes?"

Her parents exchanged confused looks, but nodded.

They will get their things and call a cab. It'll take a while. She had time. She had to find him.

So she ran for the large gate without knowing where it led. No one realized she wasn't a student, and let her enter the premises. Now what? Where was the clinic?

Alright. She found the place. Why couldn't she enter? She thought of waiting outside. Maybe think about why again she wanted to see her savior. Or about why she even bothered.

Well, because not counting her parents, in her entire life, no one had pretty much cared.

Even if it was an accident that made him look like a hero, she felt indebted.

Protective.

Holy spit, she didn't even know that word existed before, it only felt right.

She sighed.

She found one of the benches and waited for any familiar character from the scene of the crime.

It was then she spotted a familiar mushroom-head character. She had ignored him the first time; she was busy wandering around, and he was picking a fight—she remembered now, it was with that boy. Now, he appeared devoid of all happiness in the world. He was shrouded in this air of misery, looking down at his feet, shuffling forward and back and forward and back, as he made his way out of the main building.

Elena blocked his path. "You."

The boy grudgingly looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"What's your problem?"

He must have thought she was asking out of concern. "None of your business. Get out of my way."

"Oh yeah? And if I don't want to?"

The mushroom-head boy twisted his face. "I don't fight with girls. Just move."

"Want to start?"

The boy half-smiled, but shook his head. "No. I would love to, someday."

"Listen up, I never fight, but if there's any good time to start it's now!"

His face had contorted into a mere funny expression, one in between throwing tantrums and laughing, but he didn't show any more sign of aggression. "Whatever," he said, and bumped her as he went on his way.

It was a delightful feeling. She wasn't like this. But it felt good. Fighting for someone....

"Wait!" she called, recalling a background yell she heard from a voice that sounded like his. The mushroom-head boy craned his neck to peek at her. Elena said, "You have something that doesn't belong to you."

The boy shuddered, but not in fear. "It's not yours either."

"I know."

He threw it at her, and she caught it. He looked about to say something, but dismissed it. He sat with her on the bench in total resign.

And she realized two shadows blocked her sunlight. Two girls, 'twins', occupied the rest of the bench.

"Hi David," one of them greeted in a by-the-way manner.

"Patty, I know a way we can help new people," the dark-haired one told her companion, who said nothing. She went on, "Have you ever heard of a blacklist?"

The girl named Patty looked up at her friend. "There's only going to be one name there, Mattie."

"Then we agree!" Mattie exclaimed. She placed her backpack on the ground and reached inside for a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote a single word at the top left corner.

Elena saw what they were writing. "Who's Zick?"

"The boy earlier. Too bad the accident didn't kill him," Patty remarked.

"'Too bad'? It wasn't even the accident that hurt him, it was—" and suddenly Elena realized how these girls knew. They were part of the accident.

"It was no one's fault," Mattie finished the sentence for her. "He's just a complete nutcase no one should care about. Get this, he was talking to a mud puddle, and claiming some creature was eating his shoes—"

"Didn't you see it?" asked Elena. And right then, a light bulb of an idea turned on in her head. She grinned as the 'twins' exchanged horrified looks. "Well, didn't you?"

Patty hesitated. "See what?"

Elena stood up. "The monster! It was big and red! It had a short tail, a big mouth, and an even bigger stomach! He's a shoe-eating monster! His hands were small, but fast enough to grab anyone's shoes! And the scariest part is, he's got two demon eyes! One big yellow eye, one big white eye!"

"Stop! That's scary!" yelled David. They all looked at him. "I don't like...scary stuff. I don't like monsters," he whispered, bowing his head.

"What's your name?" demanded Mattie. Elena felt her stomach upturn, and didn't respond. Mattie collected her things and quietly said, "Let's go Patty."

They left, noses high in the air. They once glanced at each other, and Elena understood that to mean, "That girl is next on our blacklist."

"That isn't true, right? What you told them?" the boy called David probed, tapping her shoulder.

"Of course it is," Elena retorted. "I saw it too!"

"Y-you d-did?" he asked, backing away from her.

"Demon eyes! The monster's going to get you with his demon eyes!" she yelled. And David suddenly ran away, wailing loudly.

She was alone again. She took her seat at the bench and sighed. Maybe she won't find her savior. But what would it matter? Should it matter? She sighed again. Her parents were making their way to her. She had to leave. She had to leave forever.

"Hey," someone called.

She turned around, and saw Zick. "You're okay!" she exclaimed. Funny, she didn't even know why she was suddenly happy.

He looked hesitant, but he said, "I saw what you did."

They both blushed.

"Thanks for saving me," she said in a little voice.

Zick looked at his feet. "I should thank you too," he answered meekly.

"Oh, wait...." Elena felt her pocket and remembered something. "Your inhaler," she said tentatively while she took it out. She handed it to him. "Here."

"Thanks. I thought it was lost."

"Uh."

"Yeah."

"Well...."

They stood there, waiting for Elena's parents. They looked at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. Just as Julie picked up Elena, a car stopped in front of the school gates and out rushed a blonde woman that picked up Zick and covered him in kisses.

"Bye," she mouthed. They were being carried away in different directions. This was the last time they'd meet. She stared at him as long as she could, and so did he. He waved goodbye, and so did she.

"Bye Elena!" he called out, smiling.

How did he know her name? Ah who cared? Her eyes brimmed with tears the moment he was out of her view.