Shattered Glass And Frames

Have you ever wished that you could be a character in a book? Just to escape the reality of life and jump into a land of make believe? I have. My name is Liberty Smith, and this is my life.

I start my morning just like any other, jump out of bed, slip on my snuggie, and go brush my tangled mess of hair. Nobody would be able to tell that I had cried last night, I’m too good at hiding it. My life is full of ups and downs, the only good parts is when I’m alone, or out with a couple of my best friends.

It’s a weekend and my parents aren’t home, but that’s normal. My brother is out with his girlfriend and I have the house to myself. I grab a bowl from the cabinets and pour out some cereal. To me, there isn’t anything better than watching the Saturday morning cartoons and devouring a couple bowls of sugary cereal, thank God for my fast metabolism.

I don’t usually make plans on the weekends, my friends are usually out at the mall or hanging out in the spring weather. I like being shaded in the confines of my home. Only a couple minutes of silence passed before my cell phone started vibrating. Decius was calling.

“What do you want Decius?” I ask. I don’t like being bothered on my Saturday mornings.

“Wow, bitter much this morning? Must have had a rough night.” He laughs shallowly.

“Yeah, you should know, since you’re the one who caused it.” I roll my eyes and hang up the phone. Decius has been my off again, on again boyfriend since Freshman year, right now it’s leaning more towards off again. I planned on enjoying my morning and staying out of everyone’s way, but it doesn’t seem like that is going to happen. I throw my phone onto the table and start to get ready to take a shower. All of the sudden the house alarm starts going off. I dart into the living room where I see Sebastian and Rose sitting on the couch.

“How did you guys get in?!” They look at me, smile, and then point to the window, which is now shattered into a million pieces. I almost faint at the sight. “I cannot believe you guys broke into my house.” I run over and shut off the alarm.

Sebastian spoke up first. “Well, what do you expect us to do?” He laughs and rests his feet on the coffee table.

“Oh, well, let's see. You could have knocked on the door!” I go over, kick his legs off the table and start straightening things up around the house while the forty pound cat struggles to make his way across the living room.

“Oh no! She’s actually cleaning! Something’s wrong!” Rose always has a way with sarcastic sayings, but today it’s true. I never clean, only when I’m aggravated. I sigh and fall onto the laps of my friends. Rose and Sebastian are twins, and they’re alike in almost every way. Both tall and skinny, but not the sickly kind. They both have long blond hair, icy blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Sebastian comes over and wrapps his arms around my shoulders while Rose puts my uneaten cereal in the sink and starts to cook up something more exquisite. Then my phone starts ringing again.

I groan and look down again. It seems that Decius just never gives up. Sebastian walks over, picks it up, and answers.

“Hello? This is Sebastian speaking. How can I help you today?” I can’t help but smile, even when I know that the response from the other end of the phone won’t be good.

“Sebastian? You’re that one guy she’s always hanging out with? Well listen here, you better stay away from her. She doesn’t need people like you. You’ll corrupt her.” Sebastian smiles and leans against the back of the couch.

“Who? Me? I think you have me confused with someone else. Now please, let her enjoy the weekend.” Right before he hangs up, I can hear Decius’s response, loud and clear.

“You just wait! You haven’t a clue what I can do!”

I roll my eyes and turn off my phone. Rose is in the kitchen still, singing under her breath, and Sebastian returns to place his arms around me. He sighs and lays his head on the top of mine.
“Why doesn’t he just leave you alone? I mean, doesn’t he scare you at times?” I shrug my shoulders and weasel my way out of his arms.

“Sometimes, but it’s just a bunch of empty threats, he won’t do anything.”

Rose comes in and sits a platter of pancakes on the coffee table, retreating back to the kitchen without saying anything. Sebastian follows after her, returning with a couple of plates and silverware and starts laying them out. I sit down, feeling useless, and wait for them to finish. Rose places a pot of coffee down and fills up our cups. We all take a cup and a plate and separate onto different furniture in the living room. We all eat silently, and I'm content, keeping my eyes trained on the food in front of me. After a few minutes Sebastian throws his pancake at me.

“Stop acting all depressed! We didn’t come down here to watch you mope! Get happy!”

Rose laughs and sits beside me. “He’s right you know, you need to get out today, we can hit the library and study for the upcoming exams and then go to the park or something.”

I smile a little and look up at my friends. They're right. I get up, pick up all the plates, and place them in the sink. I go over to Sebastian and Rose and hug them both. After I shower and get dressed, we head out. The library isn’t far from my house, and it only takes a couple of minutes to get there. We pick some books and went to the big oak tree beside the swings at the park to lay them down.

The day goes from bad to good in just a short amount of time. Last night’s dilemma doesn’t even seem that bad. Rose and I quiz each other for our upcoming Spanish exam and Sebastian lays against my back, reading one of his books. Suddenly, the sound of something snapping fills the air. We all look up to see some of the leaves fall from the tree, followed by a person a couple seconds later.

We all stand up and look at him in shock. He's around our age, but I’ve never seen him before. I can’t tell much about his features, seeing as he's laying on his stomach, and why am I just standing here? I laugh silently to myself and walk over, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Hey! You okay? C’mon get up!” He mumbles a bit, but doesn’t move. Rose laughs and stands up.

“Hey! I’m trained in first aid, can I help you?” He groans, but doesn’t move. Rose picks him up and sits him against the base of the tree. He has shaggy black hair, a squared jaw line, and his nose fits his face. Rose sits in front of him and pinches the bridge of his nose. His eyes flash open, and he pushes Rose back.

Sebastian stands on his feet and catches Rose before she hits the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?! She was just trying to help you!” Sebastian’s face is red, and he's shaking. I walk over to him and place my hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down Sebastian, he didn’t know, she probably scared him.” They both sit down and look at the boy in front of us. He looks at all three of us, confusion plain on his face. I get up and sit in front of him. “Hey, I’m Liberty. those are my friends Sebastian and Rose. Are you okay?” His shoulders relax, and he smiles.

“I’m fine, never thought I would fall out of that tree. I’m Roland.” He holds his hand out to me. Sebastian walks over and drags me back. Roland stands up and brushes his clothes off, then offers his hand to Sebastian. “Sorry for knocking her down, I really wasn’t thinking. It hurt.” He gingerly touches his nose and winces. Sebastian rolls his eyes and shakes his hand.

“It’s okay, I guess. Why were you in that tree anyways?” Roland stretches his arms behind his head and shrugs.

“Would it be weird to say that I like to sleep in trees? I find it very comforting, but I heard you guys talking and shifted the branch the wrong way and it broke.” Sebastian takes this as good reasoning and goes to sit beside his sister. Rose is quiet, which is unlike her, and she avoids eye contact with Roland. He walks up and crouches in front of her. “Sorry for pushing you over, I should have known that you were trying to help, forgive me?” She looks up at him and smiles.

“Sure, but while we're all asking useless questions, let's ask more reasonable ones. We know you’re name, but that’s just about it. You new here?” He takes his seat at the base of the tree and nods.

“Yeah, I just moved here a few days ago with my mom. I’ll start school tomorrow.” We all talk about how things go on at high school, and soon after that, Rose and I start having a conversation in Spanish and laugh at the attempts the boys make to understand what we're saying. We sit in the park for hours, just talking, and again, it seems like the day can’t get any better. But our fun is soon disrupted.

All of a sudden, Roland yells at us to all duck, and as we do, a rock hits the tree. I look behind us to see Decius with anger washing over his face, and his speed picks up when he sees Roland. Sebastian and Rose stand up and block Roland and me from Decius's view.

It's only a matter of seconds before Decius reaches us. “Move out of my way, you freaks of nature.” His voice shakes with every word, but my friends stand their ground. Sebastian gets up in his face and speaks.

“Do not call my sister and me freaks of nature. Leave now. We don’t want you here.”

Decius laughs and rears his fist back. I stand up and move in between him and Sebastian. Roland makes a move towards me, but Rose touches his arm and shakes her head.

“What do you want, Decius? I thought I made it clear I didn’t want to talk to you when I hung up AND ignored your calls.” He snorts and moves a little closer.

“I had to see why. You know I didn’t do anything wrong.” He moves his hand to my face, and I smack it away.

“Leave, Decius. Nobody wants you around here.” He laughs and looks at Roland, completely ignoring what I just said.

“Who’s this? Someone you’ve been seeing behind my back?” My face gets red, and everyone shifts at that moment. Rose lunges at Sebastian to hold him back, and Roland darts forward and slams his fist into Decius’s face. Decius falls to the ground and laughs.

“I’ve got to admit, Liberty, the boy can pack a punch.” Roland moves forward, but I catch him by the arm.

“Leave now, Decius. Before even more trouble gets started.” Roland stays silent and moves back behind me. Decius stands up, brushes his clothes off, and walks toward me again

“He’ll pay for that, you know. You guys are lucky I didn’t catch her alone.” He leaves, and his words send chills through my body. Rose and Sebastian start gathering up our books while Roland leans against the tree with his head down. I tell Rose to meet me back at the house. When they leave, I turn to Roland.

“You didn’t need to do that, you know. He would have left anyways.” Roland peeks up at me through his bangs and sighs.

“Sorry. I don’t know why I did that. I don’t even know who he is. He just doesn’t seem like a good person to me.” I laugh and pull at his arm.

“He’s not, trust me. C’mon, you can come over. Rose is an amazing cook, and she’ll have something made by the time we get there.”