The Sheenite

Why; you watched someone you love get hurt√

A little blonde girl ran to a man lieing on a hospital bed. She jumped into the bed as she embraced him.

" Uncle JoJo, how are you doing today?"

"I'm fine Sapphire. How was school?" He asked as he rubbed her hair.

"I don't know, all I know was that I thought of you all day. I wanted school to be over so I could come meet you."

"Awwwn! My angel missed me. I'm so lucky to hear you say that." He said and coughed seriously.

"Uncle JoJo..." She called as she released herself off his embrace "should I call the doctor?"

"No sweetie, I'm fine." He answered.

"Sapphire, I wanna tell you something."

"What is it?"

"You have to promise me, that you'll be strong and be a strong fighter, whether your uncle JoJo is there to protect you or not, you have to protect yourself. Never stop singing and be that perfect rockstar we've always dreamt about you becoming. Promise me."

"Why do you sound like you want to leave me? Don't leave me uncle JoJo!" She cried.

"Hey! I won't leave you..." He said as he wiped her tears. "I will never leave you. I will always be here." He said and touched her chest. "In your heart, for whenever you need me. So promise me." He said as he stuck out his little finger.

"Pinky promise." She said and intertwined her little finger with his.

"I love you little angel."

Just then the door opened. Brenda and Davis walked in.

"Hey! Jonathan, how are you feeling.?" Davis asked.

"Good bro." He answered and coughed hard again.

"Um... Sapphire. Can you please go get me a bottle of water?" He requested in a cracked voice.

"Sure." She got down from the bed and left the room.

"Davis, please, make sure Sapphire doesn't see me like this." He said panting as the machine besides him kept beeping continuously.

"Jonathan, Jonathan!!" He yelled as he held his brother who was gasping seriously for air.

"Brenda, call the doctor!"

Immediately she pressed the emergency button in the room and the doctors began trooping in but it was too late. He was already gone.

"Jonathan, Jonathan..." He called as he shook his brother. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Jonathan no!! Jonathan open your eyes Jonathan!!!" He cried holding his brother's body tightly.

"Please your brother is here! Open your eyes!"

"Mr Davis you have to calm down." The doctors said as they all tried to release the body from his grip.

Brenda leaned against the wall, covering her mouth with her palms. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Just then Sapphire came in. Everyone came to a pause on seeing the little kid.

"Uncle JoJo." She called as the bottled water fell off her hand.

Davis let go of Jonathan's body and laid him on the bed.

"Uncle JoJo!!!!" She screamed and ran towards him.

"Sapphire no!" Davis shouted as he held Sapphire around her waist stopping her from reaching his body.

"Uncle JoJo!! Uncle JoJo!! I'm here with your water!! Uncle JoJo open your eyes!!! Open your eyes Uncle JoJo. Uncle JoJo!!!!" She screamed trying to loose herself off her dad's grip as she watched the doctors cover him with a white cloth.

"Uncle JoJo!!!!!!!!"

Little Sapphire screamed.

"Uncle JoJo!!!!" Sapphire screamed as she woke up panting and sweating.

"Uncle JoJo! Uncle JoJo!" She cried as she held her head tightly placing it in between her knees.

Immediately her door banged open as her parents rushed into her room.

Her dad immediately pulled her into his embrace with her head on his chest.

"Shhh! I'm here. That's enough. Daddy is here. That's enough sweetie." He said as he rubbed her hair with his chin on her head. Sapphire kept muttering Uncle JoJo until she slept off.

Brenda sobbed. She stood up from the bed holding her head.

"Why is this messing with our daughter's head, why?" She asked what was obviously a rhetorical question.

"Hey, hey. Don't do that please. You know Sapphire needs you right now, I need you. Come here." He said and stretched out his right hand and pulled her into his embrace. He placed a peck on her hair.

"We have to stay strong for her right now, okay?" He asked and she nodded sniffing.

"That's enough, that's enough."

••••••••

Edville High 7:00am.

Sapphire and Vanessa sat in class as they both stared at their phones.

"This is impossible, Matilda James takes drugs? Unbelievable!" Vanessa said as she looked at Sapphire.

"I don't know why I find this hard to believe. I clearly remember, yesterday at the dinning hall, this news headline popped up in my phone. There was a photo attached to it though I didn't see the face clearly, I'm sure this wasn't the photo I saw." Sapphire said.

"How do you mean?"

"I'm sure in the photo, the girl was 164cm in height. But now, this girl here is 176cm in height. It doesn't connect."

"How did you know the exact height of a person just through a photo?" Vanessa asked.

"Mathematics." Sapphire answered. It was a lie, she couldn't tell Vanessa she used extra ordinary means to know that.

"So you are saying Matilda isn't the culprit here, but someone is trying to frame her. And that person was the first person in the photo?"

"Exactly!"

"But how is it that it was only you who saw that news and no one else?!"

"Well, whoever that person is, was smart enough to replace her photo with Matilda's and wiped hers out immediately. Money can do anything." Sapphire answered.

"But who would want to frame Matilda?"

"Lots of people. Especially now her dad is running for Mayor. He has been a top politician who always helped others get the seat but never ran for the seat. Obviously now he wants to finally run for a position so small, someone is scared of him, definitely a rival and is trying to stain his image through his daughter."

"You are so good, how come I've never thought about this. This is the only thing that connects. This is capable of putting her dad's hard work in ruins. We need to protect her, i mean that is the duty of the Justice department. We know the truth Sapphire."

"I know but we can't force ourselves on her. We'll only request to help her, but if she refuses, we can't do anything."

"You are right. By the way..." Vanessa said searching her bag, "I made this letter." She said and brought out a letter In an A4 paper. "It will be called the freedom letter and will be given to anyone with a successfully closed case." She said and handed the letter to Sapphire who read through.

"Wow! This is amazing!"

"Thanks. So I would need your signature here." She said and pointed to the spot needed to be signed and handed her a pen. Sapphire signed.

"Good. You'll also need to sign on the freedom card." Vanessa said and brought out a tiny paper. "Look, I've already signed mine." She said and Sapphire signed.

"Now I can make the real copy of the card."

"Freedom card and letter. I love it."

"Stop praising me to much." Vanessa said and put them back into her bag while Sapphire smiled.

"Matilda isn't in school yet." Sapphire said.

"I doubt she'd come today. I mean the news spread too fast and its the top news on every headline."

"That's because someone is firing it up to cover herself up."

Oh! Poor Matilda." Vanessa said.

Evan entered his class. Jeffrey, Aiden, Stacy, Tatiana and Zoey were already chatting.

"Hey dude! How you doing?" Aiden asked with his head on Tiana's thigh.

"Good." He answered, threw his bag to a chair and sat down. He was putting on a jacket as he was hurt on his left arm. Though he covered that one, he couldn't cover the one on his lips.

"Hey." Zoey said as she went and sat beside him.

"What happened to you?" She asked and bent his face observing the wounds.

"I slipped and fell." He answered taking his face.

"You slipped and fell?" Jeffrey asked as he rubbed Stacy's hair who has been laying on his chest.

"Yeah, accidents happen."

Immediately, the bell rang.

"Time for class." Evan said, took his bag and left.

"I'm worried about him." Zoey said as they all got up.

"Don't worry.." Jeffrey said and tapped her shoulder "I'll talk to him."

They all left the class.

Our history teacher was in class when Matilda walked in with her face down. Murmurs rose in the class room. She sat on her seat.

"The drug Queen is here." Stacy said.

"Quiet!! No noise in my class!" Mr McDowell said with his potbelly dancing and the class fell silent.

Sapphire wrote in a tiny sheet and passed it to Matilda. Matilda opened the paper and read the write up.

"Meet us at the Justice department immediately after class."

Matilda squeezed the paper and threw it under her seat.

The bell rang. Everyone left the class. The students stared at Matilda as she walked into the Justice department. Sapphire sat on a chair while Vanessa stood by her.

"What do you want?" Matilda asked as she stood by the door.

"We know you didn't do it." Vanessa answered.

"But everyone thinks i did it."

"We know, that's why we wanna help you." Sapphire finally spoke.

And Matilda laughed.

"How? What can you two possibly do? I mean even my lawyer, the investigators, haven't come up with an evidence to help me yet and I have my first case today."

"Your first case? So fast?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, I confronted Regina, she was the only one that came to my mind that could do this to me. So I filed a case against her."

"That's the only thing that makes sense. Regina's dad is also running for Mayor." Sapphire said as she stood up from her chair.

"You need our help Matilda, let us help you." Vanessa said.

"I only have today to prove my innocence to my dad that I wasn't the one in that photo. Otherwise, I don't know what he might do next. So rather than staying here discussing petty things with the both of you, I'll rather get out of here. I have a case to fight." Matilda said and left the door.

"Oh my goodness, why is she so stubborn." Vanessa said and sat down.

"Don't worry, she'll come back to us. It's natural to run to the person you least expect when everyone has given up on you."

"I hope so."

"We need to follow the case up that's why we must watch the live stream, see how today's case turn out, then, we'll know what to do. Just in case she comes for our help."

"You are right. That reminds me!"

"What?"

"I snuck Valerie to school today!"

"Really? Where is she?" Sapphire asked excited.

"Follow me." Vanessa said and pulled Sapphire by hand out of their department.

They both walked to the rooftop where they saw a punctured carton. Vanessa opened it and carried her white shiwawa dog into her arms.

"Hey Valerie!" Sapphire yelled as she rubbed her hair.

"I've missed you a lot. I know it's Vanessa that does this to us. She should sneak you to school more often!" Sapphire said while Vanessa chuckled.

"I'll stay here with Valerie to watch the live stream." Vanessa said.

"I will too." Sapphire added as she took Valerie from Vanessa.

"No..." Vanessa took Valerie back.

"Someone has to be downstairs to know what is happening inside school just in case, you know, to be on the watch. And you are the one."

"That's what you always do all the time you've always been with Valerie, but now I have the chance to be with her, you send me away." Sapphire said grudgingly.

"That's not what I mean! Okay, you stay with Valerie while I stay downstairs." Vanessa said handing Valerie to Sapphire when Sapphire burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!"

"Gosh! You are so easy to blackmail." Sapphire said amidst laughter.

"You!..." Vanessa yelled as she dropped Valerie and began chasing Sapphire who kept on laughing. Sapphire had no option than to run out while Vanessa giggled.

Sapphire sat by the school's balcony. She plugged in her earphone to her phone when she noticed some movement besides her. She turned to see what it was.

"Evan? Why is he seating on the floor?" She thought as she looked sternly at his face to confirm if he was asleep.

"What? Did you just realise how good looking I am?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

"No!!" She yelled.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"You, what are you doing here?" She answered with a question.

"What? have you gone nuts Sapphire? When did you have the nerve to ask one of the three demons such a question? Be ready to put your head inside the toilet seat." Sapphire thought.

"I come here whenever I want to be away from the crowd, alone, get some fresh air to clear my head. You?"

"OMG! Did he just answer me!" Sapphire thought.

"Well..." She cleared her throat. "I come here when I want to clear my head too. I mean this is the second place asides the rooftop." She answered while he giggled. He tried to adjust as he was applying so much pressure on his injury and Sapphire noticed.

"You are hurt."

"Yes, this..." He answered touching his lips. "I slipped and fell."

"No not there, your left arm."

Evan stared at her in shock wondering how she saw through his jacket.

"I mean you were avoiding applying pressure to that particular arm, I noticed." She answered seeing his facial expression. Silence fell.

"How do you feel when you see someone you love getting hurt and you can't do anything about it but watch." He asked breaking the silence.

"Horrible, stupid, foolish, I can't really get the words to describe the pain." Sapphire answered not just ordinarily, but out of experience.

"Why? You watched someone you love get hurt and you couldn't do anything about it?"

"Hmmm."

"I'm sorry, I mean, I know how it feels. Having experienced such before, I can relate."

"What did you experience?"

"I never talk about it." She answered and he nodded. Just then a paper flew to her face. She removed it and read the write ups. It was a song with the tittle

"I Feel Like A Fool Again."

"Wow! Did you write this?"

"Yeah."

"This is so good."

"You think so?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Thanks. I mean that never come by. My friends don't even get to listen or get to see my songs."

"That's bad. Friends are supposed to support each other."

"They support me, but they don't really meet up to expectations sometimes. But I still love them, they are my friends."

"Yeah, they are still your friends. You know what, you are not like the other demons." When Sapphire realized what she had said she covered her mouth with her palms.

"Demons? You call us demons?"

Sapphire shook her head.

"Well, that's a good name from someone who was forced to lick shoes." He said and Sapphire laughed. He laughed too.

"That was a horrible experience."

"Now, I heard it's Justice department, you both better do something good this time, to shut the mouth of your mockers."

"Yeah we will. Atleast now someone has faith in us." She said as she played with her fingers.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For your company. I really had a whole lot of s**t in my head. It was nice to talk to talk to someone. Thanks."

"No, it's nothing."

"No it's something I really appreciate."

Sapphire saw Evans jacket was stained with blood.

"You are bleeding." She pointed to his arm.

"Oh s**t!" He said and slowly took off his jacket revealing his white T-shirt. Sapphire stood up, took a few steps towards him and bent down.

"Look how badly you are hurt." Sapphire said as she brought out a white handkerchief and placed it on the injury.

"No, it's okay, don't bother, I can take care of it." He protested and tried to take his hand. But for some reason, he couldn't.

"Stay still." She ordered as she tied his injury with the handkerchief. Evan didn't take his eyes off her until she was done.

"Thanks."

"You need to be careful next time, so you don't get to hide inside a jacket, or lie to your friends." She said and stood up.

"It was nice meeting you. I'll leave first." She said and left.

Evan watched her leave, after she left, he just stared at an empty space. He looked at his arm and smiled to himself. It was the first time he had a heart to heart conversation with someone. He felt so light as though Sapphire left with all the burdens in his head and wished he could rewind the time. He placed his head against the wall with his left leg stretched and right knees up placing his uninjured arm on his knee and shut his eyes again.

* * *