Espala
I look over my shoulder at the boy that just walked past. He was with his friends, but he carried an air . . . one that said they weren’t really his friends, just people he tolerated being around him. Maye cronies, I don’t know. But he was so . . . intriguing.
Making a quick decision I turn on my heel, and start walking after him. Then I pause. What am I doing? I can’t talk to him! I can’t even look him in his eyes! He might notice the offness that happens when I wear colored contacts and glasses.
I hate the contacts, they make my eyes itch. And the glasses make my vision all fuzzy. But it’s for the best, if I was able to focus on things people might notice the way my eyes blink around, almost appearing to glitch into multiple sets. The glitching has its upsides though. If it ever stops I’ll know something is wrong, and my abilities are gone.
“Hey girlie!” Someone behind me is yelling, I hear a shriek and turn around to see a guy pulling a girl no older than me into an alley. Two other men are waiting in the shadows. I don’t like where this is going. The girl is struggling, but the guy has a strong grip on her. “L-let me go!” She cries out. The two men behind her snicker and leer. I really don’t like where this is going.
I take a hesitant step towards them. But what can I do? How could I even help? I’m a nobody. A side character in the game of life. I’ve never done anything remarkable.
Another girl comes walking up, with three guys behind her. “Tracy!” She exclaims, “There you are! Come one, Alina is waiting for us!” The man holding her looks mad, then let’s go, and Tracy runs to her friends. I breathe a sigh of relief, I didn’t have to step in.
Then the man looks up at me. He looks at his friends, then nods in my direction. His friends grin, and gesture for him to "go ahead", saying something I can't make out. I get a bad feeling in my stomach. I turn on my heel and walk in the direction the strange boy went. Hoping to find someone who looks friendly enough to pretend we're friends.
Ian, Michael, and Zest walk into a restuarant that's advertising "Best Shamrock Moonshine" and "Pot 'O Gold Soup" Everyone is going crazy today, talking about "Luck" and "Fate". just because it's a holiday centered around magical creatures doesn't mean we all have to go cuckoo.
The waitress shows us to a table, and a few minutes later the whole staff comes out with green and yellow balloons. They hand us a coupon for an endless supply of their "Shamrock Moonshine"
"Con-grad-u- lations! You're our One-Hundredth customers! Your whole meal tonight if F-R-E-E! Free!" I smile stiffly, "Thank you." I say trying not to grimace. Ian snatches the coupon from my hand. "You don't mind if I take this do you?" He asks, already tucking it into his pocket.
"Whatever." I say, wanting to roll my eyes. "Your meal is free now, I'm leaving." I stand up and start walking away. No one tells me to "Stop" or "Come back". Whatever. I don't need friends.
I'm outside now, walking down the boardwalk, when I hear a girl cry out. Up ahead of me a man is yanking on her arm trying to drag her into an alleyway, where two of his friends are waiting. I look around, no one is here, no one can help her. I'm about to walk past when I get a closer look. It's the girl from earlier.
"Hey! Stop!" I call out. The man glares at me. "This your girl?" He asks me. "Not exactly." I reply. "Then stay out of it!" He snaps. I lunge foward, reaching out to punch him on the eye. He curses and drops the girls arm. I shove her behind me, and hit him again, this time on the nose. I hear a sharp crunch! And the mans eyes start to water. "What was that for?!" He's mad now. "Don't prey on people who can't fight back." I'm also starting to get mad.
"YO! Aaron!" One of his friends is stepping in. "Let's just go. There are lots of other girls." I look him in his eyes, and glare. "Don't ever try to pick on a kid again." I feel a tightening in my gut, and my heart pumps faster, my breathing becoming labored. His eyes glaze over and he repeats, "I won't ever pick on a kid again." I stop, surprised, then turn to the other guy waiting in the shadows. "Never prey on another person." The tightening gets worse, but the guy nods, his eyes glazed. "Never again."
Finally I turn to the last guy, the one whose nose I broke. "If you ever do something like this again, you will wan't to kill yourself, and you might just succeed." My stomach feels like it's going to burst. The man looks frightened, he turns and starts running away. His friends following.
Once they are gone I turn to the girl. "I'm Kess," I say holding out my hand. She takes it, "Thank you for saving me, I'm Espy." Her voice is small, meek. "No problem, next time don't walk out here alone, or something like this could happen again." She nods, looking sheepish. "W-would you like to get some food with me?" She asks, "I'll pay, I want to thank you." I'm a bit surprised, but not in a bad way. "Sure." I say. "Where do you want to go?" If she turns out to just want my money, at least I can say we aren't friends and end it there, and if she doesn't care that I'm rich, maybe I'll get a new friend.
"Anywhere is fine, where would you like to go?" She asks. I grab her wrist, and lead her toward an open front place, that sells carnival food. We sit down and she asks me what I would like. We order and she asks me about my life as wait. "I have three siblings - I'm the oldest - so I have a lot of responsibility, it annoys me sometimes so I generally hang out with my friends . . . I'm boring you aren't I?" She shakes her head, "I'm an only child, so hearing about your siblings is very interesting," Does this girl really think I'm interesting?
"Well OK then," I say, "I'll continue." We talk for a couple of hours until she says she has to go. She gets up, hands me a piece of paper, and walks off. I unfold the paper, on it she has writen:
I smile, maybe this day really is lucky.
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