Where We Stood

Chapter 1 -Noah-

Note: The story will alternate between Noah and Carmella.
Eg. Chapter 1 will be from Noah's perspective and Chapter 2 will be from Carmella's perspective

𝙉𝙤𝙖𝙝

𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 30𝘁𝗵
𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

It was morning around 5:30 a.m .I wasn't woken by the sound of my alarm but instead I was woken by the sound of my foster parents having sexual intercourse in the other room. I got up from my bed wearing nothing but my underwear,next to the bed was a framed picture of my younger sister who passed on three days before her 8th birthday.I yawned , stretching my muscles as I made my way to the bathroom.I got in the shower and not longer than 20 minutes later I got out with a towel covering my private area,making my way back to my room.Silence broke in the house not long before my father got out of the house,making his way to work.
I took a look at myself in the mirror on my bedroom wall ,my brown skin had dark spots around them from cigarette burns.My arm had lines around it ,most of the lines were recent.

" 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳…" I said to myself after a sigh .

Laying on the bed were two outfits.On the left was a black,long T-shirt ,dark stylishly torn jeans ,a black hoodie and sneakers.On the right was a grey hoodie,grey t-shirt and black baggy sweats. Given my mood I went with my usual dark themed clothes,being the outfit on the left.
I got dressed and walked down the stairs ,opened the fridge grabbing only an apple and a plate wrapped in plastic,it was yesterday's dinner.Opening the door ,I felt a chill breeze.The clouds were grey with a shade of black.It was 6:32 ,i lived in a quiet neighborhood,only ghosts roamed the streets around this time. I only had 1 hour before school started, which was enough time for me to run my daily errands while making my way to school.On my way to school I came across a homeless man in his 60's.He had dark brown skin,a grey ,messy beard wearing worn out clothes he had salvaged.He had set camp underneath a bench just outside the park fence. I sat on the bench and knocked on it three times.He crawled out and sat next to me.

"𝘈𝘩 ,𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩 ,𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 " he said with raspiness in his voice.Noah was my name,Noah Shane.

"𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨,𝘔𝘳 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳.𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵,𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵".I responded to him ,taking out the plate wrapped in plastic from my school bag and handing it over to him along with the apple.

"𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 ,𝘔𝘳. 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥 ,𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 .𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦"

"𝘌𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘔𝘳.𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 ,𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 "

Despite being homeless,Mr. Walter was the only friend I ever had, it's very unfortunate that he was in that situation. I was almost at the school gate when I encountered a group I didn't want to cross paths with. As I walked past them their leader,a white ,racist kid 2 years older than me threw a banana peel on my head ,he and his group 6 of simpletons under his ruling found it amusing.I payed no mind to them as always.I removed the banana peel from my head and threw it in the garbage disposal near the school gate.

My school day progressed as usual,I sat at the back of the class ,making sketches.It was as if I was invisible in the eyes of everyone , including my own parents.Luckily for me ,two days from today school was coming to an end for this year.
I'd finally get to go visit my aunt,she was the only person who cared for me ,unlike my parents.
The bell for school out rang.It was now 14:20 ,I put on my headphones which were connected to my phone via Bluetooth and started walking back home. Technology am I right?. On my way once again I encountered the same group from earlier this morning. I was no stranger to them ,they had been tormenting everyone at school for years now.I too was one their victims.

"𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦" .Said a feminine voice coming from the small circle the group had formed. It was no surprise they were victimizing someone.

"𝘕𝘰,𝘯𝘰.𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘵". Said the ring leader.

Usually I'd mind my own business and go about my day but I had just about had it with him. I knew I had no chance of beating him and even so ,someone had to stand up to him.
Just as they were pushing the girl around I yelled;
"𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯!"
The group turned their attention towards me.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬" said Darren. He had clear white skin,blonde short hair and black eyes,wearing nothing but a white tank top to compliment his mascular upper body.He wore grey jeans and black sneakers.As he approached me he pulled out brass knuckles from his back pocket.

"𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 ,𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦,𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰 ,𝘮𝘢𝘯" .I said , putting on a brave face.
He chuckled before taking a deep breath.
"𝘕𝘰" .He responded as he threw a fist which I dodge and lodged my fist to his face. His group ran towards me , restraining me by holding my arms and legs back. Darren  started throwing punches on my lower body.It was as if I was his own personal punching bag.They let go of me as I bent down coughing out blood.The assault resumed but this time the others joined in, stomping me.As it went on I felt closer and closer to death,part of me felt relief and wished it would all just end so I can finally be free from the poisonous world I was trapped in.Moments later ,I felt myself drifting away as the assault came to an end.I heard indistinct chatter that I couldn't quite make out.The last thing I saw before slipping into a comatose was a girl in tears.