The Guardian

What a September. So excited for everything.

There’s never a time I’ve had so much excitement. The feeling’s so intense. Too intense, even. Well, I can’t help it. There’s just too much on my mind.

There’s this mix of all kinds of emotions, brought by this one September. It’s like the September of all Septembers. Something, or someone, put all my schedules in a box, and dumped it all over September. Actually, all IN September.

Well, there’s the start of classes. That’s new. Then, there’s this dream. That’s new. Then there’s my grandfather dying. That’s perfectly new. Let’s expand them all.

A few years back, an old stranger held me by the shoulder, and took me in with open arms when my parents died in an accident. Was it really an accident? He only told me I could stay with him. That I was the only one left for him. That he loved me very much. And that he would take care of me. There was no choice. My parents’ deathbed won’t feed and shelter me. It won’t comfort me, it won’t lull me to sleep. I had no choice. I wanted to survive. I was a kid. 9 years old, to be exact.

He actually made me study. He paid for everything. Great food, great clothes, good school, everything. I was living it. That life of freedom, of coolness. Then, he passed away. That very same person who made me into this, left me all alone with everything he has. He left me so suddenly.

I sank into deep thought, into deep sadness. Where was I to go? What was I to do? His insurance policy only covers me for a few months. Am I to continue living, or do I stop here? I’m pretty sure he won’t like that. Now what?

Only now did I go back to that fateful day he took me in his arms, and asked why. Why did he take me in? I’m sure as hell I didn’t know him then, but he knew me. And to look back, that’s a mystery I have virtually lived on all my life.

All I do is stare into the room, wondering. Every single day never passed without me not thinking of that event in my life. A short moment that turned me around. Who was I to blame? I loved my grandfather. I loved him so much.

Anyway, there was this dream. A girl. I can’t recognize her face. But I know she was the centerpiece. She was in a hall, flooded with lights and shadows altogether. Yes, ALL TO GET HER. She was struck, beaten. I wanted to help her, but chance never permits such things. My dream restricted me to seeing her in a haze, a blurry atmosphere suggesting her importance. Deep inside me, I shiver at the thought of it. I really do, but it’s not manly to shiver. Why show it when you can hide it right?

Off to school. As usual, no school bus for me. I hate school buses. If you’re late, you don’t have even the slightest chance of getting to school on time. It’s best for me to commute. School’s not far, anyway. Besides, it’s so much easier.

I arrived at school, just in time as usual, and it’s just discussion the whole day. Like THE WHOLE DAY. Recess and lunch breaks are my only shining grace in these times of need. And yes, I made new friends. But there was one friend I was intrigued about.

She’s Lea. Lea Ira Carreon. Yep, it’s not a really common name. And that’s cool.

I saw her alone, in the café, with no one to talk to, just eating alone. She’s beautiful, that’s a plain fact. That’s illogical; I don’t know why she’s not miss popular. Well, at least in my eyes, she’s definitely beautiful.

She’s the coolest. Ever. All I wanted to do was to be with her the whole day. PLUS, she’s my classmate. TOTALLY SWEET.

There’s something about her that just blows me away. And for some reason, I just think of her all the time. It’s like that “crush” thing, only deeper. Deeper than I could understand. :D

In the classroom, all I do is think of her. And talk to her. All the time. That’s all we did the whole day. Nothing else. But I have no feelings for her, I’m quite sure. Quite sure.

At night all I can think of is her smile, the way she talks and laughs, and everything good about her. Her eyes that give that stare, that sweet awesome stare. I would die to get that stare.

I dreamt of her, in the moonlight. Or sunlight? Maybe. The atmosphere was thick, but that face, I knew it was her. She was the girl I was dreaming of in the past. I recognized the halls, the shadows, the perfect symmetry underneath the spotlight of the moon. How graceful, how silent, how innocent.

I ran to her this time, I held her close, and I kissed her. I don’t know why, but I kissed her. I kissed her like I loved her. For once, a dream felt right.

Here was a dream no guy like me could understand. I’m not confident about it, either. But there’s something definitely right about it.

The next day I saw her. I felt happy.

“Hey! Lea!”

“Hey, Drew...”
“Would you eat with me again sometime?”

“I was just about to ask you that. This lunch would be great.”

“Great. See you in class then.” Then she was going to dart away, but my heart got the best of me.

“Lea, wait! I wanted to tell you something.”

"What is it?” She answered.

My heart ALMOST got the best of me.

“I just wanted to… ask why you wanted to eat with me. Why?”

“As you can see, you’re my only new friend, so I would like to spend some time with you. Please?”

“Sure, anything.” Then I quirked out a smile. She smiled back, then darted away, as planned.

Whew, I thought to myself. That was almost out of control.

I darted towards class just to see her.

“Leaving your only friend doesn’t really match up.” Then I give out a slight laugh. She replied with a short burst.

“So, how was your 1st dismissal? A long wait down?”

“Tell me about it. I spent like 20 minutes to get down a short flight of stairs. Seriously.”

“You mean the one there at LA?”

“Exactly! Some psychic, huh?”

“It’s a wild guess. Shortest flight of stairs in the whole campus.”

“Logically true. How about your 1st dismissal?”

"I took the clean way out. Through the back.”

She looked surprised. “What ‘back’? I didn’t know HSB had a back door.”

“You need a few friends to get past. But it’s doable. I’ll show you next time.”

“Is that a promise?”

“A promise.”

“True?”

“True.”

I looked in her eyes. I saw the most beautiful vision. A girl, so beautiful. I realized it was Lea. That stopped me. That was no dream. It was reality. It was she. I wasn’t in a dream anymore.

She was adorable. And at that point I felt a connection. A tight bond, something a thousand lifetimes in the making. A feeling I can’t explain. I pressed hard on my seat, and I found it bending, twisting. That surprised me.

I blinked, then checked my seat again. It didn’t bend at all. It was straight. Firm. Maybe just a trick of the mind, I thought. But I swear I saw that armrest move.

The teacher came in. Late, as usual. A pretty bad image for your second day in class, if you ask me.

“Good morning class, sorry I’m late.”

“Good morning, Miss Milton.”

“Everybody take their seats.”

“Thank you, Miss Milton.”

I took my seat. Unfortunately, I fell to the floor. That just felt totally wrong. I was holding the chair as I sat down, then the next thing I know, BANG. Straight down to the floor.

Everyone laughed, of course.

“What happened?” Lea was surprised, and was laughing along with everyone.

“I don’t know.”

“There, you finally have your chance at stardom. Your first major fall. In class. Congratulations!” Then she smiled and laughed like it was the last day to laugh. Her face made me laugh as well, like something was connecting her to me, and whatever she does I am influenced by.

I remembered in the hallway. I didn’t really mean to follow her. But something, or someone, took me to her. My feet moved by themselves. Magical, isn’t it?

After minutes of reminiscing I realized that Lea was calling me.

“Drew!”

“Huh?”

“You do realize you’re still sitting awkwardly on the floor, right?” Then everyone laughed.

And I still was sitting on the floor. I guess I never really moved on.

That day was full of other weird things going on around me. Tables moving by themselves, chairs moving to the right, that kind of stuff. But I never really proved them all to be true. It’s just my weird imagination.

Lunch break was a blast. Except for the “the-tray-moved!” thing earlier.

“Did the tray really move?”

“I TOLD YOU it moved! It really moved!”

“How could the tray move by itself?”

“I don’t know! How would I know?”

I saw her laughing again. She must think I’m crazy or something. But I swear! I saw that tray move.

Of course, we had more talk than eat. She seems to be a person full of stories. Not really fit for a silent guy like me.

I saw her face again. Glowing? Weird. But it was slightly glowing.

“Yo, wanna come with, Drew?”

“Where?”

“Upstairs. Just need to get something.”

“Sure!”

Of course I had no choice. She was like controlling me or something like that. My feet moved against my will. I was always following her, always behind her. Weird, but true.

We went up the stairs in LA. The small one. It was like 6 steps. She jumped it. And failed.

Miserably.

Her sleeve caught the rail. She tripped on those six steps. And of course, being very short, the steps led her to the floor.

I ran to her as she was holding her knee.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just a minor trip.”

“I see blood.”

“It’s my knee.”

"Can you walk?”

“Of course. C’mon, let’s go get that book.”

I started running after her again. I was seeing her limp slightly. I didn’t laugh, it wasn’t a custom.

Then I felt something hot course through my knee. Then it became hotter. I stopped for a while to look at my knee. It was bleeding, big time. I didn’t get hurt much, I was used to these kinds of things.

But it was bleeding profusely. I stopped and wondered, because I saw that shape of wound before. It was Lea’s. The one she just had, only bigger. But it was all exact. The place, the shape. Everything. Pretty creepy, huh?

That was most of the day.

We went to the back door during dismissal. As usual, the guard was there. He stopped us.

“I need to see some I.D. to show you this exit.”

“There is no finer day than today, gat us past here and we’ll get away…” I looked at Lea, and she looked at me in a very awkward way. Like she was thinking “what’s going on?”

The guard continued. “Very good, Drew. You actually read everything?”

“Everything. I memorized every single line.”

“Excellent. You may pass.”

Lea whispered to me. “What’s going on?”

I knew she’d say that.

“He’s a friend. He wrote that script. I was the only one who read it. Fantastic, huh?”

“Whatever.” Then she laughed. I laughed too, as expected.

Then we ran outside, up the fence, and out.

Anything that happened that day I never forgot for two weeks.

THAT was September.