The Girl Who Couldn't Feel

As soon as I entered the house, I could hear the yelling. It was coming from the kitchen. First things first. Candy. I quietly snuck up the stairs and went straight to Candy’s room. “Bunny, it’s me, Marie.” I whispered so as not to scare her, but there wasn’t a sound. That’s right. I told her to wait until I FOUND her. I looked around. When I bent down, I saw a foot under the bed. “I found you, Bunny.” I sighed.

Immediately, Candy came out from under the bed and hugged me. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m here now.” I said as I rocked her back and forth. As she stopped crying, I looked at her face. “Candy, do you have that music player? You know the one Mother gave you?” Candy nodded. “Can you bring it here? The headphones too.” She reluctantly walked out of my embrace and grabbed it. “Okay, Bunny. Now, you are going to put those headphones on, and I promise that I will fix everything. Okay?”

“O-o-okay” She nodded as she put them on, and I played one of the songs.

“Good girl.” I said as I patter her head, but she looked at me confused. She couldn’t hear me. Perfect. I gave her a thumbs-up and then I went back downstairs and towards the kitchen. They were yelling so loudly.

“Where is she – that BI…” Father started but I cut him off.

“I’m right here.” I said. “Hello Father.”

I had angered him. It was too late when I noticed the knife. He swung at me and I couldn’t dodge it completely. I felt a sharp sting on my left cheek. “WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM, HUH!” He yelled.

“N-Nothing.” I muttered. I was bit afraid. I hadn’t expected a knife.

“Don’t you dare lie to me! YOU PIECE OF…”

“Marie?” I heard a small voice come from behind me. I turned around slowly. Please don’t let it be… Candy. I felt my heart drop as I covered my cheek.

“B-Bunny.” I stuttered. “W-What are you doing…”

“So THIS WAS YOUR PLAN!” Father shouted. “Embarrass me in front of my own daughter!” He was shaking with anger. He lunged at me, and I knew if I moved, Candy would probably get hit. I pushed her further behind me and grabbed the knife with my hand. It didn’t hurt at first, probably because of all the adrenaline in my body. I saw the knife become red from my blood. Father’s grip loosened, so I held the knife harder and pulled it out of his hand. As I dropped it, I began to feel the pain. My hand was dripping, but I ignored it.

Well, I wasn’t expecting this... I mean, I had expected a fight, but not this. I had never reacted to what they did. I looked at Mother and Father. They were stunned. I turned back, towards the door. It was time for me to go. I looked at Candy. She was crying… “Don’t worry, Bunny. I’m okay… I’ll be back, alright?” I whispered to her, and she nodded a bit, and I walked to the door and left. I pulled the hood of my sweater up, hoping I would cover the cut on my face, and I put my hand in the pocket of my sweater. Where should I go? The only thing that came to mind was the park… so that was where I went. I sat down on a bench and watched the little kids running around. I saw a guy walking towards me, but I ignored him, until he sat down next to me.

“Fancy meeting you here, Marie.” He smiled. I was shocked. It was the guy who looked like Parker. What was he doing here? I made sure my hair covered my face. He did not need to get involved.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you live like 3 hours away?”

“Yeah, but my family and I are attending a banquet that’s not too far from here. I got a bit bored and I remembered this park… so I had my driver drop me off here. I didn’t expect to meet you here as well, though.” He smiled. I glanced at him and realized he was wearing a suit. “How about you?”

“I’m just taking a break… It’s nice here.” That was mostly true… I guess.

“I agree.” He was always smiling. “So, is your prince okay with you being here this late?”

“ Jaden is NOT my prince.”

“When did I say it was Jaden?” He laughed.

Well, that’s who he was referring to wasn’t he. I suddenly remembered how annoying I had found him before. “Last time you left without telling me your name.”

“Oh. That true. It’s Asher.”

“I’ve never heard that name before…” I said as I considered the name. It was a nice name. I liked it. Unique.

“Yeah. It means ‘happy’ and….” He paused. I glanced at him, curious. “Don’t you dare laugh, but I was named after my great great grandmother.” he sighed.

He didn’t have to worry about me laughing, but I did think it was funny. “Ummm… how did…”

“My parents were hoping for a girl.” He smirked. “And they wanted to name her Ashley, and her nickname would be Ash... So they kind of got my name from there. The ‘next best thing’ as they put it.”

“Thank you for all the information, Asher.” He was so similar to Parker, except he was much cockier than Parker ever was. Parker used to be like this too… always with a smile on his face. If he didn’t know me, he probably would be just as happy as Asher was.

“No problem, just don’t tell anyone.” He laughed. We sat quietly again. I didn’t know what else to say, and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes from wandering to look at him. After a couple minutes, he spoke again. “How’d it go with your friends?”

I suddenly remembered everything I had been trying to forget. “Well… the funny thing about trust is that it requires both people to have it. I think you forgot to mention that part.” I said as I glanced at my hand. It was still bleeding. Looking at it made me feel really drowsy. I wonder how much blood I lost. Then, I noticed Asher’s handkerchief. “Umm, do you mind if I used your handkerchief.”

“Sure. Should I be expecting it back?” He said as he handed it to me.

“No…Probably not.” I mumbled.

He smiled until I pulled out my bloody hand and rapped the handkerchief around it. “Woah… That’s a lot of blood.”

“Yeah… I got in a bit of a fight. Nothing to worry about. Could you tie this?” I said, holding the two sides of the handkerchief towards him.

“Ummmm, sure.” He said as he tied it together, gently.

“Thanks. That’s actually a lot better.” I sighed. “Sorry about your handkerchief.”

“It’s fine. I get the feeling you needed it much more than I did. Are you sure you’re alright?” He said, worried. Great now I was worrying people I didn’t even really know.

“I am alright. I promise. Plus, the wound’s already healing.”

“I’m pretty sure you should call someone… maybe go to the hospital. They can clean and make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

“I don’t like hospitals.” I muttered. Something about them just made me feel sick. I don’t know if it’s the smell or the nurses and doctors… Just something about it seemed off. I hated it.

He laughed nervously. “Yeah, sure, but if you start passing out on me, we are going to the hospital immediately.”

“I’ll be fine.” I sighed. “You are actually taking this better than I expected.”

“Well I have had some experience with knife wounds.” He continued to smile. Doesn’t it start hurting to smile that much? I was surprised by how calm he was, or at least pretended to be, but there were other things on my mind. I felt myself getting lost in thought again. “By the way, I would like to call a rematch.” He smiled, putting his fists up. “That last fight wasn’t completely fair.”

“I think I’ve had enough fighting for today.” I whispered. He didn’t respond. Instead he was quiet for a moment, letting me organize my thoughts. I just needed a minute to process everything that had happened today, and these past few days.

“How are you so sure they don’t trust you?” He said after a few minutes. It kind of bugged me when he knew what I was thinking. “I think you might just be quick to look at the darker sides of things.”

“And I think you’re far too quick to look at the brighter sides of things.” I muttered back.

He laughed. “Why not? Do you not find the optimism refreshing?”

“Not at all, actually.”

“Well, sometimes it’s necessary to see the brighter sides of things. Being a pessimist all the time makes for a very unhappy person.”

“I never said I was unhappy.” I responded, a bit too quickly.

“I never said you were.”

This was so annoying. “Yes, but you hinted at it. That’s the same as saying that I was. Stop trying to be so cryptic, or we really might have a rematch.” I growled at him.

“I wasn’t trying to be…” He was saying, but he sensed my anger and stopped. “Never mind… That’s a lot of anger you have pent up in you, though. Also, I refuse to have a rematch till you’re fully healed.”

“I’m not angry. I’m… frustrated.” I said, putting my head in my arms. “I honestly don’t know what I’m doing, and when I finally believe I have a hold of things, everything starts slipping again.” I muttered. “Why is this so hard for me?”

“Hey…” Asher said. I felt him scoot closer and put an arm around me. I immediately became tense, and then felt bad because I knew he would think it was his fault. Once again, it was just me. Asher took it well though. He moved his arm, and when I glanced at him, he was still smiling. “Nobody has complete control over there fate. Things happen, and the best thing we can do is adjust. Nothing more.” He whispered in my ear. Suddenly, I did feel a lot better. I felt just a little bit more in control. “And you know what? I think you are doing a GREAT job. You just think about it too much.”

“Yeah, and you think about it too little.” I responded, and he laughed. I looked at the sky and was surprised by what I saw. It was pitch dark, and the stars were shining brightly. “Wow… we’ve been out here for a while.” I sighed. Asher nodded. “I don’t think I have ever talked this much… even to Parker.”

“Parker, who?” Asher asked.

“It’s a long story, and I have to go.” I stood up but immediately sat back down when the entire world started spinning. I rubbed my head.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Asher mumbled, patting my head.

“It… It’s nothing.” I said. I hadn’t been paying attention to how dizzy I was getting. I had lost a lot more blood than I had thought. I tried to get up again, and I managed to take one step before I stumbled. WHY DID THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME. I am not weak. I took another step before I started falling. Asher caught me.

“This isn’t a common occurrence, right?” He sighed. “Or are you always like this?” he let out a shaky laugh. “I’m going to assume it’s not the latter.”

“That would be a good assumption. I just haven’t had anything to eat.” That probably was not helping the dizziness…

“I should have just taken you to see a doctor earlier…” He whispered. “I’ll drive you home.”

“No… I…” I began to say, but I saw his face and knew that I was not going to win.

“Can you walk?” He said, still holding me up. “Would you like me to carry you?”

“No, I think I can walk.” I whispered.

“Okay, then at least let me help you.” He said as he put my right arm over his shoulder and held my waist. He opened the car door, and for some reason I still bet a bit reluctant to get in.

“Marie?” I heard Jaden call from a bit behind me. “HEY! What the heck is going on here?” He yelled. He glared at Asher.

“Nothing at all.” Asher responded with a smirk, gripping my waist tighter. I had to do something, so I let go of Asher and stood between them.

“Asher didn’t do anything. He’s a friend. He was helping me get home.”

“I thought you were at Tammy’s house.” He said, confused.

“Um, yeah. That’s where I’m headed…” I mumbled, even though I knew I couldn’t go back there. She was probably really mad at me.

“Oh. But why are you over here…” Jaden asked.

“I just went to see… Candy.” I muttered. I had to force myself not to look at him. I wanted to make sure he was okay. It felt like forever since I had last gotten a chance to look at him alone. Suddenly, I had a sudden jabbing headache. The kind that only lasts about a minute but hurts like H-E-double hockey sticks.

“Marie… what’s wrong?” He whispered, worried, as he pulled me towards him. Every now and then he would look at Asher, who just stood quietly. No, what he was doing was NOT looking. It was more like glaring.

I had to think of something… How could I change the subject…“Where were you today?”

“Oh.” He said, a bit surprised. “Actually, Neil couldn’t make it to work today, so I offered to take his place.” He smiled. “I was going to go to dinner with Nate, Chris, and the gang. Would you like to come? Lexi would especially love to see you…”

I wanted to say yes. Yet, I couldn’t go with a bloody hand and a cut face. I was lucky that Jaden had yet to realize…

“I can’t… why don’t you go without me and Asher will help me get home.” Jaden looked at me confused.

“Marie…” he said, but then I saw him look at my hand. At first I didn’t get what he was looking at, until I followed his gaze. My hand was not in my pocket, and there was some dried blood covering it, which wasn’t covered by the make-shift bandage. “Wh-What happened?” He asked, grabbing my hand and turning it.

“Let go.” I said, pushing him away with my right hand. Darn it… He knew.

“You were trying to hide it from me?” He said. There wasn’t anger in his eyes. There was… Sadness?

“Umm. I think I’ll let you guys catch up.” Asher smiled. “I get the feeling Marie’s in good hands.”

Suddenly Jaden ran at Asher. “I SWEAR. If you had anything to do with this…”

“Let go Jaden!” I shouted. “Asher had absolutely NOTHING to do with this. In fact he was helping me…” The yelling had led to another round of dizziness.

“Marie!” I heard both of them shout, and then I felt smoothing grab both of my arms near my shoulders, helping me remain standing. Jaden and Asher were each holding one arm. I regained my composure and stood up again.

“Lets just get you home.” Asher said.

“It’s fine. I’ll take it from here.” Jaden said as he held me up tightly.

“Yeah but I have a car.”

“You know, I could just walk…” I grumbled.

“No, you can’t.” Both of them shouted at me. Finally Asher agreed to let us go..

“By the way, Marie.” He said as he got closer to me. “Go see her.” He said and smiled. “Okay, then, see you next time.” He waved as he got into the car, and I waved back as much as I could.

The walk home was a bit quiet, and since I had insisted on walking, Jaden held my waist and carried most of my weight, while still allowing me the dignity of walking. As we got closer to Tammy’s house, I started getting nervous. I had never felt like this. I felt like at any minute, all of my organs may just come out of my mouth. This was all my fault. I would have to make up for this somehow. The biggest question was, would she let me in? I had an awful fear that she wouldn’t. I didn’t realize that we were at her door till Jaden started knocking.

It was probably best to break it to her slowly, so I put my hand back in my pocket, which was now stained with blood… I wouldn’t be able to wear this again. That was when I felt something in my pocket. I pulled it out. It was the angel necklace, but it looked so different. The Angel was covered in dried blood. But there was something else. The tainted angel seemed to tell me something. Tammy wasn’t going to forgive me…