Imperfections

As I walked home I clenched my jaw in anger. I had called and called him but he had  never answered. We had agreed to meet at the library at 7:30, but he never came. I looked jealously as I noticed a couple leave a restaurant across the dark street. Turning a corner, the hospital came in sight and fear suddenly grasped me.

“What if he didn’t forget?” I thought, terrified. “What if there was some type of accident?”

An image of Kade battered on a hospital bed horrified me and I started walking in haste towards the hospital.

A sudden buzz erupted from my pocket like a volcano and in surprise I dropped my books on the gum-covered sidewalk. I exhaled slowly and slid my phone out of my front pocket. It was Kade.

“Are you okay?” I asked urgently, bracing myself to hear the worst.

“Yeah, I’m fine what about you?” he responded in a sleazy tone.

I froze for a moment and then anger once again quenched me.

“Where were you?” I demanded incredulously.

Kade yawned on the other side. “When?”

That was all I needed to hear. I hung up without further questions and picked my books up.

Holding back tears, I walked the rest of the way home, knowing he wouldn’t care and I was just too “sensitive.”

“Toughen up Alex.” I mumbled to myself. Keeping that in mind I raised my head and walked through the dark night. The thing that killed me the most though, was that he hadn’t even called back.

* * * * *

The next day, I walked quickly down the hall to Pre-Cal, trying to avoid Kade. I hadn’t seen him yet today. Still humiliated and upset from last night, he was the last person I wanted to see. I must have jinxed myself because he cornered me as I passed an open doorway.

“Alex!” he whispered loudly, pulling me into a storage room by my wrist.

“What?” I hissed.

“I’m sorry for last night, I forgot, I didn’t feel good.” He looked me straight in the eyes and started talking in a soft voice. “I’m so sorry Alex, please forgive me.”

He knew my weakness and was using it to his advantage, and it was working. He stroked my cheek and brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes.

I swallowed and said quietly “I’m sorry too.”

He smiled and gave me a hug, cradling me in his strong arms. I reposed and excused myself to go to class.  As he released me he kissed my cheek and I felt my heart leap. I gave him a smile and walked out the door with a tornado of butterflies flying in my stomach.

* * * * *

As I passed Ellie’s Diner I turned up the radio and put one hand on the wheel. The sun was warm on my arms and I felt so relaxed as I passed the shops on main street, replaying the kiss in my mind that Kade had given me. I looked to my right and gazed at at the different shops and flowers surrounding the road. As I drove by an alley an uneasy feeling came over me. I slowed down and saw three or four guys picking on some teenage guy. Looking closer I realized one kid had the same jacket as Kade, and another guy had the same jacket as Kade’s friend... “

Oh no.

” I thought. My heart lurched and something inside of me made me pull over. Before I knew it I had jumped out of my car and was walking quickly towards the alleyway. I peeked my head around the brick building’s corner and peered down past the rotten garbage sacks and cardboard boxes that had been left out to waste. The boy groaned in pain and screamed out horrific screams as the guy with the jacket like Kade’s kicked him repeatedly in the stomach, making the boy curl up in a ball.