The Monster Within Me

Maya The blistering Arizona sun beat down my neck as I walked to school. I hate the heat, I'm not native to this desert wasteland so I'm still getting used to it. I'm late again and even though I should be moving quickly it's not like it'll change the fact that I'm late so I take my time. I moved here with my family 6 years ago and yes, I'm still acclimating. I love my family, but I'm the third kid of 6 so the needs of the younger kids take up a lot of the attention from my parents. I don't mind it, but I wish my older brother and sister were still around so we could hang out more. I missed them and all the fun things we'd do together. They always made sure I was looked after when my parents were occupied with the younger kids. When they left 3 years ago to move to LA together to further their dreams of being models I knew things wouldn't be the same around the house.  Because I'm so late for school, I decide to take the short cut that cuts through a forest close to my house. The path will let me out right behind my school so it will cut travel time in half. It's also the better way to go, if I walked the longer way that kept to more of the main roads I would have to stop at too many crosswalks and a park full of stay-at-home moms and daycare kids running and screaming at "too-early" o'clock in the morning. The path was a) shaded by the trees, b) full of beautiful scenery c) located in my favourite place. There really aren't many forests in Arizona, but living in the more northern part of the state did have its advantages. I always felt freer when I was inside this little forest. Like I could feel the energy of the creatures around me, I absolutely love it. Before I can get too lost in thought my phone buzzes in my pocket. Nelle: Where the heck are you? Me: Woke up late again, taking the path Nelle: Hurry! Max just tried to sit beside me :( Me: lol taking the path be there soon! Nelle (short for Janelle) has been my best friend since I moved here, she's always made me feel noticed and wanted. It can be hard being noticed in a house with as much commotion as mine. Max was the poor shmuck in love with Nelle. He's been obsessed since the 7th grade when our teacher did a dance class for gym and they were partnered up. He's cute enough, but his approach is... Well yikes. Like in the 8th grade when Nelle got her period in class and went home early, he came over to her house later when we were hanging out with flowers and a bunch of red candies. He said, and I kid you not, "sorry you got your period. The candies are all red because you know, your period." Like who wants to eat candy meant to remind you that you had blood pouring out of you? Anyway, it calmed down when we got to high school. Until Nelle finally broke down last year and decided to give him a chance. They went to a diner and a movie and Nelle had said things actually went really well and might've even given him another date, had he not ruined everything. The following Monday when we got our lockers, Nelle's was covered in post-its with Max proclaiming his love for her and saying that he was in love with her and that he'd pay for the wedding and creepy s**t like that. The dude was a total weirdo.  I was trying to think of how Nelle and I would spend our last summer together before we go away to school. I was our senior year and after graduating, Nelle would be going to the University of Phoenix and I would be attending the University of Arizona, a far enough distance between them that we wouldn't be seeing each other all the time. I was approaching the school now, coming out from the canopy of trees that had shaded the majority of my walk here. I was so caught up in thought that, when I was crossing the street, I hadn't seen or heard the car coming around the corner. I froze in fear as the driver came to a stop a distance away from me, the tires screeching from the force it had taken to slow the car down from the speed it had been going. He could have killed someone traveling that fast, this was a freaking school zone and I said as much. "Are you insane? This is a f*****g school zone d**k head, slow the hell down." As the driver exited the car, I froze. With the way they were driving I wasn't expecting someone old, but I also wasn't expecting someone who looked my age either. He leaned his arm in top of the hood of his very nice and fairly new looking Mercedes and responded. "Maybe you should pay attention to where you're going if you don't wanna find yourself in an early grave then huh?" It took me a second to take in what he said because I was busy admiring his body. He looked to be at least 6 feet tall and was lean and built for sin. I had to double-check I wasn't drooling before his words finally hit me. "The f**k did you just say to me Johnny Bravo?" He didn't actually resemble the cartoon character at all. He had dark curly hair that looked so soft I wanted to touch it, and his skin was a rich copper colour that must've also been tanned darker by the sun. But, he was dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans and he was wearing sunglasses so, I mean, close right? Well he didn't seem to like my comparison very much. He slammed the car door shut and walked towards me, his stride full of menace. When he was right in front of me, he removed his glasses and revealed the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Eyes that were staring daggers right back at my green ones. "I don't appreciate name-calling. Count yourself lucky I stopped or you would have found yourself splattered across the street. You should get to school before your mouth gets you into more trouble." He was staring at my mouth now. And I wanted to lean forward and see what he would do. Would he let me kiss him? Would he push me away? Wait the hell is going on? I pull my gaze away from his eyes and feel my common sense return. "When you become someone of importance to me, then I'll care about what you do and don't appreciate." He looked back to make eye contact with me and I felt my control slip again. He looked surprised that someone was speaking to him this way. Well, that makes two of us buddy. "Who are you? What is your name?" "M-my n-n-name is Ma-," I cut myself off. Giving my name to a stranger that almost killed me? I think not. Even if he did have gorgeous eyes that made my insides and mind turn to mush. "You know what? I don't owe you a damn thing," I said while walking away. "Next time no speeding in a school zone asshole." I started walking away leaving him standing in the middle of the road in front of his car. When I made it up the hill to my school, I turned to look back. I figured he must've been sitting in his car because I hadn't heard his engine or the car drive off yet. What I hadn't expected was that he would be standing there staring after me with a smirk on his face. When I finally made it to class, we were doing a review for our finals that were happening next week in groups of two. When I took my seat beside Nelle she was already a quarter of the way through the review booklet. "What took you so long? I almost went to the washroom to call you." "You'll never believe what just happened to me." And so I told her about my encounter with the handsome stranger. "Eyes like pools of molten gold huh? Don't you think that's a bit dramatic?" "You didn't see them Nelle, they were like nothing I'd ever seen before. Even my memories of them now don't do them any justice. But hopefully, he was just passing through and I never have to see the jerk again." Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Nelle responded, "you know that's not what you want. You're practically foaming at the mouth for the guy." She paused, thinking, " Hey, maybe we'll see him at the carnival this weekend!" "Come on Nelle, he doesn't look like the type to hang out at carnivals." "Oh but he might be there for it, you don't know that for sure. We need to go shopping for cute outfits!" "You're not gonna let this go are you?" She shook her head, "of course not. UGH alright, we'll go tomorrow after school okay?" "Yes! I knew you'd see things my way." She was always so smug. We spent the rest of the class planning out our weekend and parted ways to get to our next class. As I was walking by the windows overlooking the student parking lot, I could have sworn I saw a Mercedes with a dark and handsome driver. But when I looked back,  there was no Mercedes. Huh, must be my mind playing tricks on me.