by S. K. Lessly
My eyes shifted from Clint and fell to Jerry. I used to have a small crush on Jerry Glendale back in middle school. He was a cutie back in school and he still looked good. He wasn’t very tall, maybe five-ten with brown skin and a medium build. He wore his hair cut low to his scalp and had a smile on him that used to make me blush. He was super sweet to me back in middle school. He talked to me all the time, even outside of any classes we had together. We even ate lunch together at least once or twice a week. Admittedly, I never said anything to him about the crush I’d had on him, and it was a good thing too because the second we entered our freshman year of high school, things changed.
Jerry changed. He joined the football team and started hanging out with the “it” crowd—i.e. Clint and his crew—and the rest, as they say, is history. I didn’t exist in his world so he stopped talking to me. In fact, the first day of freshman year, I went up to him to say hi and he walked right past me as if I hadn’t said a word to him. I was heartbroken, crushed. But I should have expected it. The boy actually blossomed over the summer. He entered high school looking like a new person. He grew taller, grew some muscles, and looked hotter than ever. No wonder he joined the crowd he did. I just didn’t think he would be mean. And I had no clue he would join Clint and his perfect crew and torment me.
How did I get tormented? Well, I got my hair pulled constantly, glasses taken from me, books knocked out of my hand, and my lunch knocked to the floor. In gym class, I was the dodge ball dummy for most of the guys in class. I was the quiet kid, the strange anomaly that intrigued the popular kids. I wasn’t the only one who got picked on; it just always felt like I was. I was tormented all the time and it’s a wonder how I survived mentally.
Back then, I had thought a lot about asking my parents to move or switch schools, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t want them to win or have the satisfaction knowing they got to me. Plus, grass wasn’t always greener on the other side. Who was to say if I’d gone to another school it would have made things better?
Another reason I didn’t want to leave was the one person who’d kept me sane during my tormented years—a boy named Ethan. Ethan Wolf was my very best friend through most of middle school and high school.
Ethan and I met one summer when we were twelve. I had been sitting outside on my porch one day when I saw this skinny looking boy with glasses and wild, curly reddish blonde hair come out of this house across the street from mine. He didn’t do anything or go anywhere. He just took a seat on the steps of his porch and watched the traffic go by. This went on for a few days before I found enough courage to go up to him and introduce myself.
“Hi, I’m Alexis,” I had said to him, waving my hand. I stood at the bottom of his steps and looked up at him.
The boy with the crazy hair just looked at me. I smiled, dug deep for guts, and took a few steps up to get closer to him. I reached out my hand to him. He hesitated a moment but then took my hand and shook.
“Ethan.”
“Hi, Ethan. You wanna play with me?”
He hesitated again but then shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.”
“Good! You’re it.” I tagged him and cut out running down the street.
I figuratively crossed my fingers hoping he’d give chase, and when I looked back and I saw him coming after me, I smiled, happy to have a friend. I then laughed and screamed as he caught up to me rather quickly. He tagged me and said, smiling, “You’re it!”
From that moment on, he and I became instant friends. Ethan and I hung out together all the time. We didn’t go to the same middle school, which sucked, but we ended up at the same high school. I was eternally grateful for that bit of luck. He made the transition to high school bearable.
Unfortunately, being friends with Ethan didn’t stop the teasing. In fact, Ethan had his own issues with bullies. He was a quiet guy who, for the most part, kept to himself. Besides me, he had a couple of guys he hung out with in and out of school. Yet that didn’t stop him from being picked on. Because he was so quiet, he became a target for Clint and his boys.
One thing I could say about Ethan, even though he was quiet, he didn’t take getting picked on lying down. He stood up for himself as best he could, regardless of how many boys were around him. If there were too many, which happened more frequently than not, he’d get a hit in or two then cut out running, hoping he'd make it home without getting caught. Regrettably, there were more times he didn't make it home safely. All he could do was take his licks and be back at school the next day.
For the most part, I had been picked on by girls. However, there were times when guys picked on me too. Ethan hated it. If they touched me in any way, he would stand up for me. Needless to say, him coming to my aid didn’t end well for him and I hated that. I even told him to stop. That it wasn’t worth it. I wasn’t worth it.
Yeah, that was the wrong thing to say, apparently, because he narrowed his eyes on me and said, “Don’t ever say that again. You are worth it, Lexie. So worth it.”
I had no words, no comeback. I mean, what did you say to that? I was fourteen at the time so all I could do was blush and change the topic.
Anyway, this torturous behavior for the both of us went on for at least two years before things abruptly changed in a big way. I was in class, and Ethan simply walked inside, stepped up to Jerry and punched him in the face. This time he instigated the confrontation and it wasn’t pretty. Needless to say, he got suspended for fighting and the next day he was gone. Poof! He’d moved away.
School didn’t get easier for me when Ethan left, but no one picked on me as much as they had done in the past. I had been ignored for the duration of high school, sort of like what everyone had done tonight as soon as they found out who I was.
Which brings me to present day. Here I was, an idiot, sitting at this empty table, alone. Coat still on, I had been trying to talk myself into leaving for at least twenty minutes. It wouldn’t matter what I did, anyhow. It wasn’t as if I would be missed.
Finally, having enough of this place, I decided it was time to go. I rose from my seat and made my exit. The crazy thing about it, once I left the gym, I didn’t make my way to the exit and to the safety of my truck. Instead, I decided to take a stroll along the halls of hell to see if my favorite room was still on the first floor.
I strolled down the empty, dimly lit hallway looking forlorn and depressed. The school looked the same, rundown and old. I wondered how the students thrived in this dismal building. I knew if I went to this school now, I would have definitely asked my parents to switch schools, Ethan be damned.
I finally made it to the room I wanted and smiled. I placed my forehead to the cold glass, cupped the sides of my face so I could see inside the room, and smiled. The room looked as if I’d stepped back in time. This room was our science room, my sanctuary. It was decorated with some of the same posters of beakers and slides, animals, nature and, of course, the periodic table. New posters but same design. There were about ten large, rectangular tables, five on each side of the room, with stools underneath signaling this was where the kids sat during class. Same set up, just a decade apart.
I stepped back from the room and smiled, remembering the many fond memories I had in that classroom. Ethan and I were in almost every class together, including science. We always sat together in our classes. We killed it when it came to our grades, getting on the honor roll every report period. The classes we loved the most were science and computers. There wasn’t a project Ethan and I didn’t work on together. And don’t let a science fair competition come up. We won that thing every time.
I closed my eyes and allowed myself to think about the one and only friend I’d ever had. It sounded pathetic but it was the truth. Sure, I spoke to some kids in school but most stayed clear of me. I had the attention of the bullies of the school that meant others were spared. Now that I thought about it, that also sounded messed up, but again, that had been my reality.
It was pathetic to admit I only had one
true friend growing up, but I was cool with that. I had thought he was too, but I questioned it when he moved away. He promised he'd write, promised a lot of other things, but there was one promise he didn’t keep, which devastated me. I was depressed for a while before I picked myself up and moved on.
I went on to college and tried to live my life. I wasn’t sure if what I’d been doing was called living but, again, it was my reality.
I wondered what he was doing right this very minute. Did he ever think about me? Did he miss me as much as I missed him? Highly doubtful!
I sighed heavily and looked around. “What am I doing here?” I whispered into the silence.
Feeling the need to escape the emptiness left by the departure of my only friend, I turned and headed for the exit. I stepped five paces back from the door to the science room when a deep voice spoke behind me.
“You leaving so soon?”
I froze, my eyes wide as saucers. I hadn’t heard anyone come up behind me and I didn’t recognize the voice. Had Clint or one of his boys snuck up behind me? Were they here to pick up where they left off?
Shit, shit, shit. You should have left when you had the chance, Lexie.
Why had I decided to walk these dimly lit halls by myself? This was a cliché horror movie scene where the lone woman gets stabbed to death by the crazy janitor or something.
I heard the scuff of the man’s shoes on the dingy linoleum floor coming closer. I took a deep breath and turned around to see my tormentor, and my breath hitched on a gasp. Standing in the shadows of the school hallway was a tall man in a dark gray suit and white shirt. He had his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall, trying to look less intimidating but failing miserably. I couldn’t really see his face, but his presence had my heart beating a mile a minute.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, trying to think of an escape plan but also squinting to get a good look at him. Okay, not a janitor, but maybe he was an alien here to force me to mate with him in order to start a new alien race.
Gah, you’re an idiot, Lexie.
“I asked if you were leaving. The party that bad? It’s only 8:30.”
I still didn’t catch the voice nor see his face. I was sure he didn’t know who I was, or he wouldn’t be talking to me.
I answered to say something and not look like a complete idiot—I didn’t mind looking like an idiot, but a complete one? Not so much. “Oh uh… Yeah, it’s too wild for me,” I replied on an uncomfortable chuckle.
“Aww, that’s too bad. I was hoping for a dance.”
“Do I know you?” I asked, but I didn’t get an answer because the air around us suddenly went cold, the shadows in the hall went darker, and I swear I could feel rage coming off the stranger in front of me. I started to back away from him, feeling the shift in my bones, when I heard a voice behind me that made my skin crawl.
“Well, well, well fellas. What do we have here?”
I begrudgingly turned and found Clint and two of his buddies, Jerry and Steve walking up on me. I inwardly groaned and backed away, pissed I hadn’t just left. Oh no, instead I had to walk around the school as if this place held all good memories. Stupid, stupid.
“Is that little piggy?” Jerry asked, laughing. I cringed at the stupid, god-awful nickname from my past.
Yes, they used to call me piggy. In high school, I had a slight pudge around my waist. They, meaning the hate squad i.e. Clint, Amber and their crew, used to make pig noises every time they passed me in the halls or the lunch room. The pigtails didn’t help either.
They were a great bunch of assholes, stellar pillars of high school society, wouldn’t you say?
The trio walked closer to me. Clint looked me up and down and sneered. “Why, yes, it is, Jay. Hello there…” He squinted to look at my name tag, and smiled. “…Alexis. Long time no see, eh?” He took me in and feeling like I was being violated, I closed my coat around me in an effort to hide myself from his unwanted scrutiny.
He smirked at me. “My, my, have you grown.”
They surrounded me on three sides with my back up against the lockers. It was just like high school all over again. I started to shake with anger at myself. Seriously, weren’t they too old for this bull crap?
I was about to ask the very thing when the guy from the shadows spoke up. “Why don’t you three back up?”
My three tormentors turned to the voice as the man came out from the shadows. This meant I was able to get somewhat of a look at him. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place it.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, we know her. She and I are old friends.”
Clint moved to my side and put his arm around me. I tried to get out of his grasp, but he tightened his grip.
The stranger made a tsk-tsk sound and shook his head, walking closer to us. I squinted and really tried to look at him, but his face was back in the shadows.
“Oh Clint, you would think you’d have learned a few lessons in life.”
The man stopped right in front of us, his pupils flaring, his jaw tense. Sensing the hostility coming off the stranger, Jerry and Steve turned and faced the stranger too, getting into a defensive stance. I fought back an eye roll. Jerry and Steve looked to have had a well-lived life, with their slight beer bellies and bulk. But, to be honest, they didn’t hold a candle to the stranger. There was just something about him that screamed, don’t fuck with me.
I decided to really focus on the man. He seemed to have known me. It wasn’t from the words; it was the easygoing body language I picked up that had me thinking we knew each other somehow. Also, his voice was sending signals to my brain, telling me to trust him.
“Hey man, this isn’t any of your business so back off,” I heard Clint say.
“Actually, she is my business,” the stranger countered. “So why don’t you and your pussy ass friends get outta here before you get hurt.”
My eyebrows rose and I looked to the guys to see how they would respond to that obvious insult. Clint stiffened next to me before he let me go and walked up to the stranger. His cronies looked equally pissed as they took their boy’s back. Clint and the stranger were eye to eye, but the stranger was bigger, broader.
You would think, since the attention was no longer on me, I would have left at this point. The thing was, I couldn’t move. It was clash of the titans or something. I couldn’t miss this. Plus, I was fixated on this stranger, wondering what his next move would be.
“Why don’t you make me?” Clint returned, puffing out his chest.
My eyes went to Clint and I had to say, I was impressed he had the balls to talk shit. I mean, sure he had his boys with him, but as I said before, this stranger looked as if he could take all three of the ex-jocks on and not break a sweat.
Clint sized up his opponent, balling up his fists along his sides as if he was getting ready to swing. The stranger, I noticed, didn’t move a muscle. He seemed so relaxed, bored even. I stepped a little closer and finally got a good look at the man. Actually, I got a good look at his eyes and I gasped. I brought my hands to my mouth just as Clint made his move.
He backed up as if he was going to leave, then smiled slightly before he suddenly swung his arm, going for the surprise punch. The stranger quickly backed up slightly, grabbed Clint’s wrist and twisted. And…it was over before it began!
“Ahhh man, let go!” Clint bellowed, pain gripping his face.
The stranger had Clint bent over with his arm behind him and elevated. The other two tried to come closer, but the stranger raised Clint’s arm higher in the air while simultaneously bending his wrist, which made him scream out louder.
“Please, you two, come closer,” the stranger coaxed with a smirk on his beautiful face. Because goodness gracious, the man was fine as hell. “Give me a reason to break his arm.”
“No, no! Stay there!” Clint begged frantically, his eyes wide with fear. He was still bent over, whimpers quietly falling from his parted lips.
I was so in disbelief at
what was happening, I couldn’t move from my spot.
“Now Clint, listen up. You and your friends are going to go back to the party and leave her alone, understand?” Clint nodded rapidly. “Now go.”
He pushed Clint by the shoulders into his buddies and watched as they walked away, looking back once before they disappeared. The stranger, my hero, stood with his back to me for a second or two before he turned around and met my wide, shocked eyes.
Holy shit!
“You okay?” he asked me.
I shook my head, swallowed hard, and replied shakily, “Ethan?”
Chapter Two
Alexis
My hero's handsome face broke out into a sexy as hell smile and I knew at once I was right; it was him. It was his eyes. Those intense yet beautiful, piercing green eyes of his told me exactly who he was. I couldn’t forget them even if he had his face hidden. His eyes were that distinct, that remarkable yet dark, like emeralds. My face transformed into a huge smile of my own at the sight of my oldest and only friend. I didn’t waste any more time. I immediately moved to him and slammed my body into his, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to me.
“Oh my god, Ethan!” I exclaimed excitedly.
A pair of solid arms wrapped around my waist, picked me up, and swung me around. I giggled like a teenager, warmth rushing through my body like a tidal wave. When he brought me back to earth, he buried his face in my neck and whispered softly, “Hey, Lexie.”
I closed my eyes and beamed at the sound of the nickname only he called me. Ethan was here. In my arms. I couldn’t let go. It had been twelve years since I saw him last and I missed him so much.
I finally managed to release him and I stepped back, wiping my eyes. I couldn’t believe it was him. Without thinking or hesitation, I reached up and touched his face with a shaky hand. I caressed his angular cheeks, his forehead, and ran my fingers through his sun kissed, reddish blonde short-cropped hair.
