The Unextraordinary Life of Alexandra Jane (Editing)

Chapter Seven: Monkey Bars

I remove my hand from my knee and force myself to look down at the damage done. Sure enough there's a hole in my tights the size of a base ball and the crimson spewing from my knee has already begun to stain the white fabric.

"Hey" A demanding voice startled me "Your knee is bleeding"

I look up to find a boy, around my age, standing over me. He had straight blond hair that was cut to look like a hemisphere over his head, his bangs came down and stopped slightly above his eyebrows. When I meet his eyes I notice they are big and blue with a hint of green in them. His bow shaped lips look like they have bright pink lipstick on them. His features were so perfect he looked like those scary dolls that Chinese people make from glass.

"Wow really? I didn't know that" I say as sarcastically as I can. I stand up from my crouched position, wiping my hands on my dress as I smooth it down. I look over and instantly notice him looking up at me.

"You're short" I say looking down at the small boy wearing a red and blue "Goofy" pajama top, Jeans and rain boots. Classic combination.

"And you're still bleeding" he remarks once again

"Yeah so?" I say as I begin to climb up the stairs leading up to the monkey bars.

He stays silent as he watches me make my way to the highest monkey bar set on the massive playground.

I inhale and exhale twice wiping my hands free of sweat on my dress. I look over to see my audience of one staring back at me. No sign of taunt nor awe on his face. I decide to ignore the nosy boy and focus back to the challenge before me. In one swift movement I jump as far as I can without losing grip of the metal bar. My feet dangle almost 3 feet above the ground.

"I can do this" I think to myself

I shift my body so it begins to swing back and forth and reach for the next bar, instantly feeling the burn from the scorching metal. My heart begins to race as gravity begins to pull my weight down making my arms ache. I swing and reach for the next bar and then the next and then the next. I do this until I'm two thirds done. I take in the burning sun, making sweat drip from either sides of my face, for a second and reach for the next bar but the weight on my arms is too much, and I fall.

I keep my legs straight and put my hands out to try to break my fall. When I land I hear a crack and instantly cry out in pain. I sit back on the hot pebbles bringing my knees to my chest while cradling my wrist. I begin to let the tears fall when shadow shields me from the sun.

The nosy boy has appeared at my side once again. I turn my back not letting him see me cry.

He walks over to face me, I expect him to taunt or laugh at me but instead he kneels down holding out a brightly colored slip of paper. I take a better look and notice it's a Ninja Turtles band aid. I look up to find him staring at me, a thougtful smile exposing his craters for dimples.

I smile and begin to take the band aid letting out another pain filled cry.

My wrist is definitely broken

Without a word he removes the band aid from its cover and places it over the cut on my knee. Not pressing hard enough to hurt me but making sure it stayed.

"Thanks" I said smiling at him "Ninja Turtles are awesome"

He nods flashing a grin

"Are you gonna try again?" He asks offering me his hand which I don't take

"Umm I don't think so" I raise my wrist in the hair explaining why I won't be able to "try agian" for a while

After rejection sinks in he takes a seat next me. We sit on the hot pebbles in silence for a while until my butt can't handle the heat any more and I begin to get up

"I don't like your dress" He points out as I smooth it down

"Me neither" I agree "My mom made me wear it"

"I like you" He smiles up at me. The top of his head barely reaching my nose

"Ewwww" I say taking a step back

"As a friend, you're not like a girl" He says casually

"Oh" Was all I could think of saying

Another cheeky smile

I hear my mom call my name off in the distance signaling it's time to go. I begin to walk away

"What's your name?" he asks

"Alexandra Jane Murray" I answer confidence in my voice over the fact that I know my my full name.

"I'm Harry, want to be friends?"

"Okay" I smiled. We had a quick thumb war, which I won, before I ran off too my mother who awaited patiently before rushing me off to the hospital to get a blue cast. Two days later Harry was the first to sign it.