Authors: Mercy Amare
I stomped my other foot onto the road, turned left and started walking. The wind swept up around my face, and I tucked my head down to brace myself against it. I fell into the deeper shadows of the road, shielded from the glow of neighbors’ outdoor lights. I shivered as a breeze picked up around me.
Even as my heart continued to pound, I moved forward. Every second I envisioned my sister or my parents waking to find me gone and glancing out the window to spot me. Only I knew better. They probably wouldn’t notice until well into the afternoon that I was nowhere around. The reluctance I felt was only the whispers of my mother echoing in my head.
A slippery thudding sound started racing toward me. It was so soft at first that I thought it was my own heart. The sound drew closer. I imagined some maniac running barefoot toward me. I stared out into the dark, trying to use the light from the house further up the road to catch whatever it might be.
I should move
, I thought.
I should get out of the way.
I willed myself to turn around. A gust of wind swept into my face. My eyes watered.
A mass hurled itself at me and I fell back. My book bag slipped away from my body and I crashed onto my butt and my left arm. My hand and wrist scraped against the street. Something heavy and wet sat on top of me. A warm, salty breath filled my nose.
My wild imagination ran through every possibility. Rapist. Murderer. The instinct to scream swept through me but my throat caught and I only gasped. I was paralyzed.
A slobbering tongue licked my arm and then a soft, cold nose nuzzled it. My heart continued to beat but I finally took a breath, relieved.
“Hey,” a shout came from up the road, from the direction I had been heading. “Are you okay?”
My whole body went rigid again. The sound of footsteps came closer and I tried to angle myself out from underneath the dog, but it wouldn’t budge and instead continued to sit on my legs. It barked and then licked my arm again.
“I’m sorry,” said the voice. “Max, get off of her.” In the shadow of the street, I couldn’t tell who it was. I wasn’t that familiar with the neighbors anyway. The voice was smooth, masculine. While his tone was gentle, there was a strength hidden behind it. Since he wasn’t shouting at me or telling me he would kill me, I tried to calm my heart.
They’re not as bad as she thinks, I told myself. People aren’t all evil.
The dog was pulled away from me. The guy knelt by my side. An arm went around my shoulders, lifting me slightly. “Are you hurt?”
His touch around my shoulder sent a shiver through me that I couldn’t control. It was such a warm gesture and I wasn't used to people touching me. Through my shivering, I felt the pang at my hip where I had fallen. Pain seared through the scrapes on my arm. I coddled it to my chest. “I’m okay,” I said through my teeth. “It’s fine.”
“No, you’re not,” he said. The strength in his voice shining through more. “You scraped your arm.” He put another arm around my waist and prepped his knees. “You can stand, right?”
My cheeks flushed so hot, I could have been glowing. As much as I felt awkward, I was scared to admit that this stranger’s kind hands on me felt so reassuring. “I think so.”
He pulled me up gently with him until we were standing together. The wind whipped around us. My poncho flew like a flag behind me. He turned his body until his back was against the wind, protecting me from the worst of it. He brought his hands up to cup around my face. “I’m going to take you to my house.”
It was the first time I noticed the glasses. The light from up the road reflected in them. I still couldn’t guess his age. From what I felt of his body, he was easily a head taller than me and there was some definition to his muscles.
I blushed at the thought that I had been touching his chest.
He bent over and picked up my book bag. He grunted at first as he lifted it.
“Let me take it,” I said.
“No.” He heaved it over his shoulder. He wrapped his free arm around my shoulder and guided me up the street. “Let’s get out of this rain. We’ll assess the damage inside.”
“What about your dog?”
“He’ll follow.”
My heart pounded again as I followed him up the street. My hands shook, my knees quivered. I tried to think calmly, that this was just him being nice. My mother’s voice shot through my head, all her warnings swirled through my mind.
I could only hope I wasn’t on my way to die.
Kota
H
is house was the first one on the right after the empty lot. I remembered seeing it from my bedroom window. It was a one story, brick, ranch-style home, with a finished room over the two-car garage. The garage door was open, with one car parked inside. Another car was parked in the corner of the wide driveway toward the back. A safety light flicked on automatically as we crossed into the garage, revealing the green poncho he wore. The hood covered most of his face. If I had seen that coming toward me in the night, I would have run, screaming. I wondered if it was wise now to follow him into his house.
The dog followed us then sat by a crate which was leaning against the wall. He waited, wagging his tail. In the shadows, he looked so big, and I could smell the heady wetness of his fur, making my nose tickle.
“Not now,” the guy said, waving his hand at the dog. The dog sank to the floor, head on top of one of his paws. The guy hit the button for the garage door to close. The light went out, sinking us into complete darkness, blinding me.
“Come on,” he said. He took my uninjured arm and pulled me inside. I stumbled in behind him.
Once we entered the house, there was a short hallway with a wood floor at our feet. The house was dark and I crept along behind him, keeping close to his back, afraid of getting lost. I caught a glimpse of a dining room beyond the hallway. Before we got to it, he opened a door to the left, just before the end of the hall. It opened to a stairwell, with light blue carpeting covering the steps. A dim light shone from somewhere above.
He started up the stairs. I didn’t know if I should follow, but I didn’t want to be caught downstairs if there were other people in the house.
Imagining that we were alone in the house also scared me.
I followed him up. At the top, the bedroom above the garage was spacious. There was a door open to the left that led to a small bathroom. Another door next to it was closed and I guessed it to be a closet. There were windows facing the driveway and one looking out onto the road at the front of the house. The window toward the front had a bench seat with a couple of neatly embroidered pillows in the corners. A bed was pushed up against the wall leaving a huge amount of space in the middle. In the far left corner was a computer desk, monitor turned off. A small bookshelf sat next to it.
A brass lamp glowed on his desk. He crossed the room, touching it a couple of times and the brightness increased. He turned to me.
His black-rimmed glasses had droplets of moisture, slightly masking his eyes and almost hid his high cheekbones. His light brown hair stuck to his forehead and at the top of his ears. If I had to guess his age, he might have been a couple years older than I was, if that. He was a head taller than I was, with a medium build and his skin was fair. The way his thin brows angled at the edges made him look curious and constantly interested. His poncho had a Nike swoosh mark and his black Converse shoes looked brand new. If my older sister would have seen him, she would have told me he was a nerd right off. She may have missed the way he was standing upright, shoulders back, with a cool confidence that I could only dream to have. What etched into my mind, though, was the kind smile he had on his face. It warmed me instantly.
I blushed when I realized he was examining me under the same scrutiny. I imagined I looked like a complete wreck. My dark blond hair was tied up in a small bun in a clip, but half undone and sticking to my neck. My small nose was probably bright red from the surprising chill of the night and my green eyes were probably bloodshot or had heavy bags or both. I was probably as pale as a ghost with the dark poncho sagging around me. My jeans were sticking to my legs, my Sketcher sneakers were discolored from wear and dripping.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should probably have taken my shoes off. They’re soaked.”
“I’m not worried about the carpet right now. One thing at a time.” He dropped my book bag on the floor by his desk and then moved toward the bathroom door. “Take that poncho off and let’s look at your arm.”
The bathroom had just enough room for the tub, a toilet in the middle and a counter for a sink to the left with a wide mirror above it. The powder blue flowery wallpaper and a matching set of rugs made it feel cozy.
I followed him, pulling the poncho away and bending over a little to pull it off of me. The green t-shirt underneath stuck to my body so much I might as well not have worn it at all. It was up against my breasts, even pushed up between them, clearly outlining the details of the underwire in the bra I was wearing. The cloth sucked into my belly button.
His eyes followed where I was looking. I tried pulling the shirt away from my body but as soon as I let go, it fell back against me, attaching itself to my skin. His cheeks tinted red as he took the poncho from me and hung it on the shower curtain rod.
He reached over for my left arm lifting it gently. In the light, I could see blood had dripped over my wrist from a gash. I sucked in a breath. Now that I was focused on it, the pain in my arm burned and throbbed.
He lifted my arm closer to his face investigating the cut, using a gentle push of his forefinger to see if it was still bleeding. “My god,” he said. “I’m sorry. Really. This was my fault.”
I shook my head at him, trying to look nonchalant about the pain. “It was your dog. Not really his fault. He was excited, I guess.”
“He was excited,” he agreed. He moved away to open a drawer under the counter. He lifted out a red and white first aid kit, and reached for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “I’ve noticed the lead was getting thin in the middle for a while. When he smelled or heard you, he took off and it broke.” His eyes met mine as he tugged me gently closer by the elbow so that I would be at a better angle for the light. “He’s not usually that bad. He needed to go out but he hates this weather. So, I’m sorry about that. I should have replaced the lead before now. And I don’t know why he jumped on you. He never does that.”
His eyes were emerald green and with the light from above us, or maybe it was the way his glasses were hanging a little lower on his nose, I felt my breath escape me. I found his eyes to be gorgeous. From the depths of my mind, even while distracted, I knew I was supposed to say something, but the way he was looking at me made my heart skip and my mind went blank. I wasn’t even sure why I felt the way I did. I only knew that he was making my insides flutter. “...name.”
A brown eyebrow arched. “Hm?”
“I don’t know your name.”
The soft lips smiled at the corner, just enough. He was pleased with me. “I’m Kota.”
Kota. It was different, like mine, so I liked it.
He waited patiently for a moment and then chuckled, as if uncomfortable. “What’s yours?”
It took me a moment to guess what he meant. My head was still foggy, so following the conversation was difficult. “Uh... Sang.”
“As in, I sang a song?”
I nodded. “I know it’s weird.”
“No weirder than ‘Kota’.”
I smiled a little. “I suppose not. Weird names are nice, though.”
The crest of his high cheekbones tinted to a pink that looked nice on him. “It’s nice to meet you. And please don’t hate me.”
“For what?”
He applied a clean cloth with the peroxide to my arm. I had been so distracted by him that I hadn’t noticed he had prepared one. The sting went straight to my bones. The chill I was still feeling from the weather outside only made it that much more uncomfortable. A shutter ran through my body, wracking my bones together, causing the sting to radiate through me. I bit my lip, holding back the urge to cry out in pain.
As he cleaned my arm, I turned my head, looking out into his bedroom. Not watching him not only relieved the pain but also the awkwardness I felt. I wanted to look at his face but I was too nervous to face him, and didn’t want to get caught staring.
After the blood and dirt were washed away, he applied a large square bandage to cover the spot. “I think you’re patched up.” He gave the sides of the bandage a few more rubs to ensure they were sticking and then crumpled the plastic wrapper in his hands. “Anything else broken or bleeding?”
I shrugged and shook my head. I didn’t want to mention my hip, which felt very sore. It wasn’t bleeding, so I didn’t think it was important to mention. “I’m fine.”
He looked at me a moment, as if wondering whether I was being honest with him or not. He slowly nodded. “Okay. Well, Sang, I hope this won’t ruin your impression of me right off.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we are neighbors, right? Your family just moved in?”
My eyes widened. I guessed there was no hiding it. “Yes. No. I mean, don’t worry about it. It was just an accident.” I pursed my lips, unsure if I should say anything more.
His forefinger moved to the bridge of his glasses and he slid them up. The muscle in his forearm flexed. “So what were you doing out so late?”
I had been hoping he wouldn't ask. “Just taking a walk. I couldn’t sleep.”
“With a book bag weighing a ton on your back? In the middle of this weather?”
My face heated up and I didn’t know how to answer him. The silence stretched on between us as I struggled with words. I stalled for so long that I didn’t know if I could respond at all.
A sympathetic, but confused, smile spread over his lips. “Hey, I’m sorry. Look, it’s personal. Whatever it was, did you have to do it in the middle of the night?”
I sucked in a breath. “It felt like a good idea at the time.”
The corner of his mouth dropped slightly but he caught it and his face relaxed and became unreadable. “Okay. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to find you something dry to wear. I’m going to go downstairs to change. I’ll make some hot chocolate, too. If I come back and you’re not here, I’ll understand. If you are, you get to tell me what’s going on.” His head bowed a little until his forehead was so close to my own that I could feel his warmth from it. I had nowhere to look but into his beautiful green eyes. “I make a halfway decent friend, if you give me a chance.”