I awoke early next morning to find someone trying to loot my stuff that I had so casually dropped underneath the bench.
"Hey!", I shouted as I jumped to my feet and shoved the person onto their back, "What the heck are you doing?"
As the person stumbled onto their back, I noticed that it was a girl and it wasn't just any girl.
"Really jerkface? You're going to just shove me over when I just want to pick up my hair tie," Erica said as she reached next to my backpack and picked up her hair tie.
"Oh my gosh", I stuttered as I held out my hand to help her up, "I didn't realize it was you."
Sighing she took my hand and I helped her back onto her feet.
"Here", I said as I brushed a little dirt off her face, "I'm really sorry."
"Yeah… okay…", she sighed, "I guess you didn't intentionally do it. I mean if I ran away from school and spent the night on a bench, I would be a little on edge too."
"Can we please not bring that up?", I said rolling my eyes.
"Whatever. It's your life", she shot back as she ran her hands through her hair and began pulling it back.
"Would you mind doing me a favor and hold this", she asked pleadingly as she held out her hair tie, "I'm afraid I might get punched if I set it down next to your bag."
"You're hilarious", I said sarcastically, taking the hair tie.
As she ran her hands threw her bright blonde hair, I could help but stand in awe. Here I was standing in front of this amazing girl. Any guy seeing me standing next to her with her light blue tank top and skirt would have been jealous. The thing I still didn't understand was why she always talked to me and not the sport jock guys. But hey, I'm not complaining. She's beautiful.
After she had gotten her hair pulled back to where she wanted it, I handed back her hair tie so she could finish tying it up.
We stood there for a couple of seconds staring at each other before I tried to break the silence, "So are you heading to school right now?"
"No", she smiled as she wrinkled her nose.
"You're skipping?", I said surprised.
"No", she sighed, "It's like four o'clock. School's over."
"Really?", I said looking at my watch in amazement, "I didn't realize…"
"Guys are so naïve."
I held my tongue. I wasn't about to argue with her.
"So do you want to go to the park?"
Surprised, I managed to stutter, "Park… with… you… us… together?"
"Yep, just the two of us. Unless you don't think you can handle that."
"No, I just thought you wouldn't want to be seen with me."
"Well, I can cancel."
"Oh, I don't mean that", I said quickly as I tried to make absolutely certain that I was in to her.
"Good", she said, "I'll see you at six".
"Okay", I said trying to think of something nice to say to her.
She somehow figured out my dilemma and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"See you later!", she smiled, "And don't disappoint me."
"Er… yeah… er… um…", I managed as I tried to get over the fact that she had just kissed me.
As she turned the corner, I gave a little jump for joy.
I had just got a date with the hottest girl in school!
-------------------
I looked down at my watch, and to my horror it read 5:37. The worst part was that I was still five minutes away from getting home and I had about twenty minutes before I had to meet Erica at the park.
As I sprinted the last few blocks, I wondered how I lost all my time. But I don't have to wonder too much because I know exactly why. It was between 5th Street and Santa Fe Lane where I got lost in the amazing ninety two inch, plasma, high definition tv. And if that wasn't captivating enough there was the final minutes of the Men's College Basketball Championship being played between Kansas St. and Kentucky. Between the tv and the game, I think I stood there for at least an hour before I realized how much time I had wasted. Now I was paying the price.
"Great", I muttered as I turned onto my street, "I get a date with Erica and her first impression of me is how late I am."
As I arrived at my house, I ran toward the side and hopped the fence into my backyard. I would enter the front door but my mom freaks out and thinks we're being robbed. So to make her comfortable, I enter through the back.
I looked down at my watch again, 5:43. At least my mom won't be home, I'm sure she's not particularly happy that I didn't come home again.
I slid the glass door open and stepped inside.
The dining room table was flipped, the couch had holes ripped in it, and shattered glass littered the floor where I stepped. Any normal kid would have been frightened for their life if they saw this, but for me it's normal. I'm just glad I wasn't here when it happened.
See, my mom has had these "episodes" ever since I can remember. Almost every month she goes off into these rants. It's not like a normal rant, it's more of a trance that she doesn't snap out of until morning. Some nights she's more aggressive; she flips tables, rips holes in walls, and does just about everything that would scare any home buyer away from ever buying our house. I think I may have figured out when her "episodes" happen. Usually it occurs with the…
I heard a distant rumble, as a familiar squeal of my mom's car turned onto our road.
I had to get what I needed and get out. The more I can avoid my mom the better. It also saves me the long and boring talk that would occur because of me not coming home.
I bounded up the stairs to my room as I heard the car pull into the driveway. Quickly, I threw open my door and frantically looked for a change of clothes. Throwing off my shirt and pants, I found a fresh set in my closet.
Spraying myself down with deodorant, I heard the car door slam. I had only about two minutes left until I had to go, unless she got the key stuck. Then I have five minutes.
I did a quick rinse with mouth wash before I ran and stomped on my shoes.
"Jake", my mom's voice wafted up, "Are you home?"
I guess I have to use my escape route out of the house. Quietly, I turned around to head to my window. As I turned all the way around, I almost let out a scream.
Laying on my bed and soaking my sheets with blood was the hair legged kid, the satyr, that had been killed trying to save me.
"Where did that come from?", I whispered loudly to myself.
"Jake", my mom called as I heard her walking around the house, "Are you home?"
I was completely stiff with fear from the dead thing laying on my bed.
"Jake?", my mom called again as I heard her walk through the kitchen.
I cautiously walked over to the body and flipped it over. Even more to my horror, I found that the satyr didn't have a face. It was like it had been ripped off and smoothed over with a layer of skin.
Something clicked to the floor as I shifted the body onto my chair next to my bed.
Reaching down, I found that it was nothing more than an average pocket knife. I flipped it open and examined the blade. It's blade was about two inches long and was filled with a lot of strange markings that looked like nothing I had ever seen before. But I didn't have time to continue looking at it because I could hear my mom starting to climb the stairs.
Quickly, I slipped the pocket knife into my pocket, and threw open my window.
"Jake are you in there?", my mom asked as she knocked on the door.
I took one last glance around my room and noticed a message written in the blood of my bed. Quickly reading it, it said, "We are watching."
The door started to creak open, and I dropped into the bush below.
Looking at my watch it read, 6:00. And with that I ran toward the park.