Save me

Richie Holden

I didn't want to school today. Monday's were usually the worst. My friends always asked what I do during the weekends. I almost always had to lie to them. Sometimes we hang out of course, but just like this weekend I was in bed all day. I didn't feel like the world wanted me there and so I didn't do anything. Dealing with the way I felt was hard and I was too scared to talk about it. My friends didn't know, no one knew. I had to deal with this on my own. Even my parents didn't know how to deal with it so they usually were working.

During the lessons at school I always act like everything is okay. I act the same as before the accident I had two years ago. But I'm not the same anymore. I lost him. My best friend died.

During lunch I have my other friends to entertain. I am the captain of the baseball team after all. I have build a high maintenance status. Baseball was a popular sport around here and at Soren High, you either do baseball, swim or go cheerleading. If you make the baseball team you have all these worshipers in town, people recognizing you at the mall. Some even let you skip the queue at the checkout. That still amazes me the most. If we win it's been celebrated big and if we loose everyone is sad about it. So we do our best to win all the time. And we do. We are champions three years in a row. This is going to be the fourth.

My ex-girlfriend Amanda is a cheerleader. I broke it off with her after the accident. She doesn't understand how it is to loose your best friend. She tried to help me grieve, but she gave up because it was dragging her status down. She stayed with me during the weekends and didn't spend time with her friends anymore. I dumped her when she told me. I don't think she was even sad about it, because she was dating someone else a week later.

But now I was at school. We had three classes left, but I couldn't wait to be home. I had my pasta and some apple sauce this time during lunch. There was also pizza, but I have been living of pizza this whole weekend. If I wanted to change my life, that could be a start, eating healthier.

'Hey Rich.' Aron yelled. 'Are you coming this weekend to the rally with us? I heard there is going to be beer and lots of hot girls.'

'Sorry, I can't this weekend. It's my mom's birthday and we are going to celebrate it somewhere in a cabin or something. But if I could come I would.' I lied. Yes, it was my mom's birthday but she was going to celebrate it with her friends in a cabin by the ocean. Me and my father would stay home during this event. I think it's going to be probably just be me alone again, not that I cared. My father has his own company and works all the time.

After lunch we had classes. I did my best, tried to study when I'm home and made my homework when I felt like it. Studying wasn't for me though. I liked sports more. Baseball is my life, my only purpose.

So when the principal called everyone to the gym, I didn't think something was about to happen. Just another speech from the principal.

I was with Aaron and a few other boys sitting in the back of the bleachers like always when everything started. Of course my big mouth got me to volunteer for something I didn't want to be a part of, but hey it's me, I always have a big mouth to authority.

'Okay than. Just stand over here and Richie is going to softly attack you, okay.' Lance said to the girl in front of me.

I thought her name was Nina or something. I think she is new at school or maybe she isn't and changed her hair or something. It's not like I have been looking at girls for the last two years.

Lance took a step back so I could attack the girl. I simply did the first thing that came to mind and pushed her softly. I never could have thought that she would fall to the back and started screaming in pain. She was holding on to her wrist like it was broken or something. I was staring at her in a trance, until Lance and the principal carried her away, out of the gym. I panicked and ran after them.

'I swear on my life I didn't even push her that hard.' I said with a trembling voice when I walked into the room. Tears were trying to leave my eyes, but I don't cry. I haven't cried since the accident. I cried enough back then.

'I know Richie. We were all there.' Lance said. It calmed me down a little. I watched as they gave the girl something to relax. It worked perfectly because she stopped screaming from the pain.

Lance and the nurse started to examine the girls wrist. They removed the tree bracelets she was wearing and the glove without fingertips she was wearing. It made her whole outfit look like she was a skateboarder. She had a wide t-shirt on and a pair of jeans that had wholes at both knees. The Jordan's she was wearing were old and dirty. But the thing that I couldn't stop looking at were her eyes. Her big blue eyes. They looked so sad. They looked the same as when I look at myself in the mirror. It was like I was looking at me.

'What the hell is this?' Lance asked. He sounded angry and with disgust. He looked from the girl to the principal, to the nurse and me. I looked away from her, from her eyes, when Lance said something about cuff marks. 'How do you have cuff marks?' He asked her.

The red circles round her wrist were bright red, like they were hurting really bad. It looked like they had been bleeding but weren't anymore. Whatever happened to the girl, she must have suffered for a long time.

'My name is Mena.' the girl said. She looked right at me before her eyes eyes turned around and her eyes closed. She passed out right in front of me.

'What the f**k do we do now?' Lance asked.

'This is bad, this is really bad.' The nurse said.

'We need to call the police.' I managed to say. They were all looking at me now. 'What?' I asked. 'She looks like she is been tortured, doesn't she? What if it were those men you were trying to teach us about? What if they had locked her up or something?'

'Richie has a point.' Lance said. Finally someone agreed with me. 'What if she is one of the girls that got attacked by those men? What if she is too afraid to say so.'

'Let's call an ambulance first.' The nurse said. 'She needs to be seen by an expert and fast. Maybe she has even more wounds than we know of.'

'I will call her parents.' Lance offered. 'What is Nina's last name?'

'No.' I said. 'Her name is Mena.' I now fully know who she was. She was the girl I stole a backpack from once. She doesn't know it yet, but I still have it in my closet, because I didn't want to throw it in the dumpster. It's a dark blue backpack with golden letters on it. It spells: MENA. I looked for the girl in the canteen after that, but I never found her. Now I did. Somehow I felt protective of her. Whatever is going to happen, I will be there to protect her.