Fated to Love You

The time seemed to move quickly when she was alone, it wasn’t long before it was dark. Abigail looked up at the stars overhead trying to immerse herself in anything that would allow her to forget that she was alone. The rustling of the trees continually broke her concentration bringing her mind back to the present. Frightened by each sound occurring around her, she brought her knees in close to her chest and buried her face in them. When she lifted her head it was daylight once more. She was confused by the time skip, but thought it would be better not to think too much about it. She stood up and watched as the kids began to trickle in through the open gates. Not long passed before she noticed the boy heading toward her, she smiled, happy to see a familiar face.
The kid walked swiftly, his head down and his arms tightly wrapped around the few books he could not fit into his bag. His demeanor was completely opposite from when he had left the school the day before. Abigail followed him closely, she did not want to lose sight of him amongst the crowd. When they reached the hall of lockers, where Abigail had first met the boy, he singled out one locker and, before he began entering his combination, he looked around him briefly. Abigail found his caution suspicious, but she soon realized that she too was keeping a watch on his locker, she just wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to protect it from.
The locker clicked open and the boy began to unload the contents of his school bag into it. Abigail’s focus dropped from the area around her and back onto the boy. All seemed fine until they heard a loud bang from behind the door of the kid’s opened locker. A hand reached around closing the door as it came close to the boys face.
“Good Morning, Freak,” taunted an athletically built kid who seemed to tower over both Abigail and the boy. He was backed by two others, both equal in stature. “Did you bring us your daily donation?” the boy spoke sarcastically then looked back at his friends, awaiting their approving smirks. He brushed his sand colored hair back with his hand, then placing both hands in his front pockets he bent over, shortening the distance between him and his prey. “So..?,” he questioned, a cruel smile on his face. Abigail looked at the bully then back at the boy beside her who stood there emotionless. His body language could be read as calm from afar, but he was trembling as he held onto the books he had gathered for his upcoming class.
“I don’t think he has it Freddy,” said the brown haired boy who stood behind him , the smile on his face was huge revealing his crooked braced teeth.
“I think we should make sure,” Freddy turned his head to the boys behind him, then back at Abigail and the boy, “ Dave, Jackson, Grab him,” Freddy commanded with a swift flick of his wrist. The two boys drew closer. Abigail’s mind pictured the two over-sized guys hoisting the small boy up by his ankles and shaking him till his belongings fell to the floor. She shook the image from her head, returning to the real situation.
“Hey, come on now, can’t we talk about this,” Abigail said frantically as she moved in front of the boy, her arms out stretched, trying to shield him from the impending danger.
Her current condition offered no help to the boy as Dave and Jackson passed through her defense. She quickly turned around to face the boy and watched helplessly as the scene unfolded. Freddy smiled as Dave grabbed one arm and Jackson the other; the boy said nothing but his eyes stared down Freddy who lunged closer. Freddy’s large hand, open, pressed quickly against the boys cheek pushing him into the door of his locker. A loud bang resonated through the halls, but the other students acted as if nothing had happened and continued digging through their lockers and making their way to their classrooms. With his free hand Freddy searched the boys pockets looking for any with-held finances. Finding nothing, he let of a sound of disgust and signaled his group to move on leaving the boy alone to collect his things. Abigail stared in disbelief as the boys entered varying classrooms as if nothing had happened. The halls were now clear as the bell sounded signaling the start of class. She looked down at the boy, his books scattered on the tile floor. She wanted desperately to help him and to offer some comfort, but it was impossible for her. After gathering his books once again, the boy made the melancholic walk to his classroom, Abigail following close behind.
He entered the classroom discreetly, but nevertheless the teachers eyes were immediately drawn to him.
“Joshua, how nice of you to join us. Your tardiness has become expectant.” Joshua looked at him briefly then headed toward his seat. “Please make an effort to wake up earlier in the morning.” A few giggles could be heard from his peers as the homeroom teacher turned his attention back to his clipboard where he continued to take role. Abigail looked at the boy whose face was slightly flushed, Joshua, she thought to herself, happy to have learned his name. The role calling continued for a few minutes and Abigail began to daze.
“Jason McCoy,” The teacher spoke as he looked around the room. Abigail perked up as she too began to search the classroom desperately. “Absent again,” said the teacher, jotting something down on his paper. Abigail’s heart began to pound wildly as her nerves took over. He’s in Jason’s homeroom, so I’ll be able to see him again?, but he’s absent...where is he? Abigail could not control her thoughts as she began to imagine the worst. Again she took a deep breath, after gathering her negative thoughts she released them with the exhale. She remembered why she was at the school and about Joshua who was suppose to save her life. She realized she could not be distracted with thoughts of Jason and needed to focus on her present situation. She sat on the floor next to Joshua’s chair and clenching her knees with her hands she tried to listen to the lecture.