I took a deep breath and let the cool night air swim in my lungs, and clear my mind. I couldn’t worry about my family anymore. My parents weren’t my responsibility, and Sammy had decided she wanted to be on her own. I just hoped she’d be okay in the end.
As I ran down the sidewalk, houses and trees blurred together, becoming only shadows in the corner of my eyes. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon burned brightly overhead, creating shadows from the branches that hung above me. It was almost like daytime; I could see everything clearly, even my shadow that ran beside me. The air was hot and still, and a thin film of sweat quickly began to form on the back of neck. It cooled my body, but made me feel clammy.
The distance between each house became larger and larger, and soon all that surrounded me were trees. This small stretch of woods was all that separated my neighborhood from Simone’s. We used to play here sometimes when we were younger. We’d sneak off from our parent’s watchful eyes and hide from each other in the trees. When our parents finally found out where we went they quickly put a stop to it by telling us that the woods were where the monsters roamed and waited for little girls like us. Naturally our naïve minds believed them, and from then on we only played in the safety of each other’s homes. I missed those days when everything was so simple; when my family was still whole.
The trees weren’t that close together, but their interlocking branches were enough to block out the moon’s glow, plunging the woods into a shadowy darkness. All I could see now was the light of Simone’s neighborhood at the end of the trees. Just as the sidewalk ran out beneath my feet I broke through the darkness that surrounded me.
Without anymore sidewalk I was forced to run in the street. My feet passed through pools of light that poured down from the streetlights above me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tapped the screen. It was one o’clock, a half hour was all that had passed since I got Simone’s text—since I’d made Sammy hate me. It felt like it had been hours.
I kept running until I made it to Simone’s porch. The house was dark except for the light coming through Simone’s upstairs curtains. I rang the doorbell and waited, listening to footsteps pounding down the stairs. The porch light flipped on and the door flew open revealing Simone’s dark, tear streaked face. It was hard to see in the dim light, but it was obvious that the different colors that blended into the dark skin on her cheek formed a fresh bruise.
“Are you okay Simone?” I asked hugging her.
“Of course I’m not okay, look at me!” she yelled, running a hand through her black cropped hair.
“What happened to you? Who did this?” I asked even though I already had a sneaking suspicion.
“It was Luke,” she sobbed, wiping at her eyes and refusing to look at me. “He hit me.” I felt anger begin to boil just underneath my skin. Luke her boyfriend of a whopping three months, the jerk who thought she should be honored to go out with him, the pretty boy who wasn’t as innocent as he wanted everyone to think.
“I’m going to kill him!” I screamed, trying to come up with the best way to make it a slow and painful death. Images of rusty spoons filled my mind.
“Cleo! Please just stop,” she shushed me. “I should have listened to you, he was a loser. Isn’t that enough?”
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” I said, hugging her. “Tell me what happened.” I pushed her inside and locked the door behind us. I helped her up the stairs, her bare feet squeaking against the hard wood. While Simone collapsed onto her bed, I pulled up a chair and handed her a box of tissues.
She laid there for awhile, just staring at the ceiling before she spoke, “I don’t know where to begin Cleo. Everything was going fine, then it was just like a switch flipped inside him and we started fighting. I think I might be in shock.”
“It’ll be okay,” I said, laying my hand on her shoulder. “Just tell me what happened before the fight.”
“I was at his house today. We were curled up on the couch watching Titanic,” she paused, taking in my expression. “Yeah, yeah I know ironic isn’t it?”
“Keep going.”
“Well that was it for awhile. When the movie was over I made a comment about how it was your favorite movie, and just like that he started screaming at me!”
“But, why?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He was like ‘I can’t get through one damn day without you bringing her up!’”
“That’s ridiculous! He had no right.”
“I know! That’s what I told him. We yelled a little while longer and then just like that he fucking slaps me! I mean what kind of pansy-ass loser slaps a girl?”
“What did you do?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Nothing, for like the second it took me to figure out what the hell had just happened,” she paused. “Then I picked up the heaviest thing on the coffee table, and smashed it over his head.”
“Wow, I’m so proud of you,” I smiled.
“I don’t take shit from anyone.”
“What happened after that?”
“Nothing. I knocked him out cold, and then I hightailed it out of there. I got home, locked myself in my room, and didn’t come out until my parents went to bed. I don’t want my mom to see my face.”
“So Luke does understand that you’re done with him, right?”
“If knocking a boy out doesn’t send that message loud and clear, I don’t know what will,” she began to cry again. “Look at my face, it’s getting worse!”
“It’ll be okay Simone, let me see,” I waited while the worst of the sobbing passed. He hadn’t hit her hard enough to give her a black eye, but her cheek had puffed up into a mix of purple and yellow hues. “The swelling isn’t too bad, so if you really want to hide it we can cover it up with makeup.”
“Will foundation be enough?” she asked before blowing her nose.
“I think so,” I told her. “I’m going to go get you some ice to bring the swelling down faster, do you want anything else while I’m downstairs?” She shook her head no.
I closed the door behind me and carefully walked down the dark staircase. Quietly I rummaged through the kitchen drawers until I found a zip-lock bag, and then quickly filled it with ice. The only light in the kitchen came from the window over the sink. I walked over to it and looked out. The wind had begun to pick up, causing the trees to sway lightly back and forth. The shadows danced in the moonlight, but one stood stationary. I watched it for a moment before my eyes continued wandering. When I tried to find it again, it was gone. There was a pit in my stomach as I tried to find the shadow with no avail. I grabbed a dish towel from off the counter and wrapped the bag of ice in it before running up the steps and locking myself in Simone’s room.
