The cheerleading gang swarmed the hallway. I pressed against my locker, trying to avoid the hurricane of dyed-blonde hair and big, blue bows. There was no room for anyone in our small high school. Whenever the monstrous group of cheerleaders stormed up the hallway after their morning practice every day, everyone just tried to get out of their way.
I sighed as I pushed away from my locker with my backpack digging into my shoulder, hoping to get to class before the cheerleaders started to disperse into another wave of havoc--but I failed. Before I ran into trouble, I stopped. Papers exploded from the hands of Harold Parker as a cheerleader dashed past him, bumping into his thick binder. Harry groaned, and I rolled my eyes as I bent down to help him pick up his work.
“Thanks Evans,” Harry said, trying to reorganize his ripped binder. I stood, pulling him to his feet. The last social studies paper disappeared, and Harry flung his backpack onto his shoulder after safely tucking the binder into it.
We hurried down the long hallway that was now growing empty. I looked around at the few stragglers that were still hurrying from their tiny lockers, and my eye caught one in particular.
“Who’s that?” I asked, pointing at a skinny girl with light-brown hair. She was hovering by her locker, eyeing the head cheerleader--Kathy--as she high-heeled her way to computer concepts with their ancient teacher, Mr. Humm. Harry turned, pulling a granola bar from his bag. He then proceeded to take a bite so large I thought he was going to choke.
“Khayhee,” he munched, spitting food. I glared at him and he swallowed. “Katie Smith, the queen of the ILS.” Harry rolled his eyes.
“What?”
“The International Lonely Society. Duh.” Harry took another bite, this one smaller. He ripped the wrapper off and lazily threw it towards the garbage can by the water fountains. The wrapper didn’t even make it halfway before it drifted slowly to the ground. Harry grumbled.
“Harry you can’t just throw garbage on the ground.” I pulled the door to the art room open and we slipped in. “And what happened to her friends? I swore I saw her hanging out with that one red-headed chick.” Harry shrugged right as the bell rang.
“The janitor doesn’t work enough.” He murmured, not answering my question. I stopped as the whole class turned to look at me and Harry, who was licking the chocolate from his fingers. Our teacher, Ms. Hammerson, gave us a fake smile.
“You two just barely made it,” she said in her creepy-cheerful voice. “Please take a seat.” Harry groaned and I went to go find my seat next to the point guard on my basketball team, Noah. Suddenly there was a small knock on the door, and I turned around to peer through the glass. There--on the other side--was Katie. Her eyes were sad as I pushed open the door to let her in. “Katie!” The weird teacher sang. “Late again! That will be a detention tomorrow after school!” Katie nodded, then slowly made her way to her seat. I sighed, then smacked Noah on the shoulder as I threw myself into my chair.

Sammy cantered through the town square
Shimmering in the sun’s vehemence

The queen stood
Her cobalt blue and daffodil yellow cape swirling in the wind
Twisting round itself like a graceful ballerina

“Come forth, great warrior.”
Abigail dismounted, her armor clinking like thousands of glass shards
“I am here, my queen.”
Behind the towering woman was a group of blue and yellow dressed jesters
Laughing and causing havoc
Knocking over stands
Teasing anyone different
Abigail frowned
Why did the queen do nothing?

“You have been summoned to save the kingdom
Ellenor is no longer on our side
She has betrayed us
You must stop her before she destroys us all.”

The town square erupted into irate whispers
It was swiftly hushed by guards
So many had been connected to Ellenor
None more close than Abigail.

Abigail set her expression to grim determination
“I will find the traitor.”

The queen bowed her head
Acknowledging the acceptance
She lowered herself
Sitting back in her throne
Imperial as ever
Her back straighter than a broom
Her crown poised perfectly on her auburn hair.

Abigail threw herself atop Sammy
The crowd separated as easily as butter met by a warm knife
And Abigail set off
It was time to find Ellenor
Her ex-best friend

Abigail held back fiery tears
So many adventures with Ellenor
Only to be betrayed

Abigail closed her eyes
Visualizing her dragon friend
Golden and kind
Flying above her and Sammy
Flowing smoothly through the sky
Surging through feather-light clouds

Ellenor’s glorious yellow-orange scales were like mirrors
Reflecting healing sunlight upon the land
Everywhere she soared miracles occurred
The grass grew greener
The crops more luscious
The trees flourishing
Their branches blanketed by blossoms

The world rejoiced at Ellenor’s flight
Abigail basked in her glory and friendship
No crops rotted
No animals became ill
Ellenor was a blessing
Floating through the world on soft wings

Now she was a curse
That scorched the land
And caused the very grass to reject her

Abigail’s eyes opened again
They were met by the sight of a countryside
One she recognized rapidly
This was where she met up with Ellenor
This barren, craggy, knoll-filled desert had once been booming with life

Thousands of dragons lived here
All with glittering scales that kindled happiness
Countering anything that wasn’t
But because of Ellenor the dragons were gone
None were Abigail’s friends

Now it was a dismal, barren land
No tall trees to scale
No grass to reel around
No creeks to romp and splash through

Abigail tried to prevent it
But the memory of Ellenor overwhelmed her like ink in a pool

PAST

Abigail sauntered to the town square
A proud knight come back from a successful mission

Sammy walked beside her
Head held so high she felt some trepidation that it might get lost in the clouds

Abigail halted in front of the king (for it was a king at the time)
“Well done, Abigail.”
The king’s smile was luminous and filled Abigail with elation
“You are the youngest knight we have, but you have proven your worth

“We have another mission for you
It will be arduous
But you will triumph.”

Abigail stood resolute
Despite having no inkling as to the meaning of arduous,
She was confident

From behind the illustrious ruler came a lowly peasant
His back was bent with disquiet too mature for his youthful face
His brows so compacted together they looked like a single shaggy worm
“My big sisters, they are being assaulted
A dreadful monster
A fire-breathing yellow-scale death-creature has tried to kill them
It has burned our crops
Leveled our home
Please, stop it before all is lost!”

Abigail was appalled
What would harm an innocent peasant
What beast would harm his sisters?
Abigail instantly leapt onto Sammy and galloped off into the countryside
No one would  jeopardize her kingdom’s subjects
Abigail would make sure of that

She rode until the sun was at its peak
Glaring down at the world below
Causing the grass to smoke and the leaves to crackle
Abigail jumped off Sammy at a thunderous noise
It was between a dog’s growl and a cat’s hiss
It caused the world to convulse and sent a tremor through Abigail

Tethering Sammy safely to a tree, she proceeded on her own
Soon a mountain rose up in front of her
A foreboding shade of dark gray
Was this where the monster dwelt?

Abigail scaled the side of the mountain and came to rest on a vast ledge
Tentatively she edged forward toward a cave carved into the side
Wary of the perilous surroundings

Again that dog-cat sound emanated from within, and Abigail took another step
Through an immense opening into the cave she could see what looked like a playset:
A decrepit slide and rickety monkey bars
A measly Merry-go-round
Even a pitiful climbing wall carved into the side

In the middle of it all was a lone dragon
Crying bitter tears and causing the Merry-go-round to creak dangerously
Abigail was baffled
Was this the monster?
No it couldn’t be
This was a young creature
Not a fire breathing beast of doom

Abigail advanced
“Are you the dragon that has been terrorising the peasant’s sisters?”
The small golden dragon screeched
“Leave me alone!
They threw rocks at me, so I gave them what they deserved.”

Abigail was confused
“They threw rocks at you?”
The dragon was morose and turned away
“They were being mean, so I broke their playset.”

Abigail didn’t understand
“But if you wanted them to be nicer, why would you hurt them too?”
The small dragon huffed
“Nobody wants to be my friend, so why should I try if they don’t.”

Abigail took a confident step forward
“I’ll be your friend.”
The dragon swiveled and watched her with innocent and desperate eyes
“Can you prove it?”
Abigail nodded, more certain than ever
“Let’s get some more kids. We’ll all play tag together!”

The dragon’s dull scales began to shimmer as she rose
“Really?”
Abigail smiled
“Of course! We can even do this tomorrow too. From here on out, I’ll be your friend.”

The little dragon glowed
“Thank you.”
Abigail’s smile widened
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“I’m Ellenor. I go by Ella for short.”

I wandered around the lunchroom, eyeing the table I usually sat in. The basketball lunch table consisted of me: starting guard; Noah: starting point guard; Jordan: starting center, and a few others, including our other starting guard, Harry.
“Hey Harold!” Jordan yelled, throwing a grape into Harry’s mouth. “I heard mister Kevin over here is taking your place tonight in the starting five.” Jordan blew a spitball at the head of the star quarterback, Alex Helsmith. Alex turned, flicking the ball back at him, and pulled the seat out from beneath Jordan. Jordan hit the ground, cracking up. Everyone else in the lunchroom erupted in laughter. I smirked, then thought about heading over, until I saw the small table in the back. Katie was perched by the garbage cans, staring dreamily at the lights on the high ceiling while stuffing the processed chicken into her face. I sighed, staring at the girl sitting by herself, and hurried quickly in that direction.
“Hello,” I said briefly, sliding into the round seat to the left of her. She blinked, clearly coming out of a daydream. I ripped open my bag of chips and expertly slipped one into my mouth. Katie’s shocked eyes blinked, then she silently continued chowing down on chicken nuggets, her eyes more in focused, her brows furrowed.
We ate in silence, and after around fifteen minutes I stood, gathering all of trash up onto my tray and bent down to Katie, who had a pencil scribbling through a spiral notebook with her trash spilling all over her ripped paper sack.
“May I take these?” I asked, gesturing to the plastic bags that had held her chicken nuggets and her carrots. She jumped, as if I had startled her. She looked up at me with pale green eyes, then nodded slowly. Katie whispered a quiet ‘thank you’, as I scooped up her bags onto my tray. I nodded, then carried everything to the trash. The bell rang loud, and when I turned around Katie was gone.

Abigail blinked away the tears that followed the violent flashback
So many broken promises
After a year of gleeful tag games with the other peasants they went to school for the first time
School didn’t last long though
Only a week
Then it was off to knighting again

From then on it was the two of them coasting along
They made necklaces together, signifying their unending friendship

Abigail was fortunate
She had practice at being a knight
But Ellenor wasn’t so blessed
She was like a fletching bird
Never having flown before
She needed assistance with her missions
Abigail had done a few with her, and in little time they became an inseparable team

From then on it was the two of them coasting along
They even made necklaces together, signifying their unending friendship

They rescued farms
Animals
Forests
Fellow knights with laborious homework

But now Ellenor had ceased to be Abigail’s friend
It had all gone downhill so quickly
How could Ellenor have ruined everything they had together?
How could she do that?

Abigail shut her eyes and regained her composure
When she opened them, she noticed someone was hovering beside her

“Who are you?”
“I’m Evans. I didn’t like your art last year. Now I’m going to stalk you.”
Abigail was startled
“Why would you do that?”

Evans stared blankly up at her
“ ‘Cause I’m a squire. Duh.”
Abigail only became more cross and confused
“Can’t you go somewhere else? To another knight perhaps?”

Evans didn’t utter another word
“Evans?”
He was silent as the night, staring intently at the ground
“Why aren’t you looking at me?”

His eyes didn’t move from their position
Bewildered, Abigail turned and had Sammy ride off again
She looked once to see what had become of the vexing squire, but he had vanished with the wind

My foot tapped loudly against the ground like a cacophonous hammer on a drum. Harry bit off the eraser of his chewed-up pencil while we waited. We had been partners almost every spanish project we had been assigned, but now Senora Marian hustled around, giving some people sticks with English words on it, and others sticks with Spanish words. “Pair up with the person who has the match to your word!”
I groaned and looked at my stick. Blood. Great, we haven’t learned words like these yet. I glanced over at Harry, who was staring at me. I stood up and raced over to him, snatching the stick from his hand. His read piǹa. I groaned.
“Dude, unless piǹa colada means ‘blood wash’, we’re not partners.” Harry said, blowing a bubble with his gum. I sighed as a nerdy boy with a large mouthguard raced over.
“Did you s-say piǹa?” He spat, spraying saliva all over me and Harry. “I have pineapple! We’re partner’s-s!” Harry gave me a pained look as Stewart raced to go get his stuff. I laughed.
“Well, good luck Harry, now I’ve got to go find my partner.” I glanced around: everyone had already merged with their partner and and begun to work on their Spanish project, searching stuff about the latino’s house, hair, and clothes styles. My face began to sweat as I saw all of the acceptable partners had already paired up. I laughed as I saw--curled up into a ball--little Katie sitting partnerless in the  middle of the room. I raced over to her, tucking my borrowed laptop under my arm. Her eyes filled with a look of annoyance and confusion as I kindly handed her my stick. Katie hesitantly glanced at the wood, then shook her head in disbelief. She flipped her stick, and the word sangre was written in thick blue Sharpie across it. “Well miss,” I said plopping down next to her. “Looks like we are partners.” She gave a little annoyed huff, but I saw her smile at my fast-food themed background.

Abigail continued her trek across the vast land
Like a leaf blown from one catastrophe to another
She stopped to help where she could
A home on fire because of Ellenor
Crops obliterated because of Ellenor
People left to die on mountain tops because of Ellenor
She was a fiend now
A vicious monster
Whose scales had stopped healing, and they instead created sickness
Whose once love-filled eyes now bore only detestation
Whose name had brought endless joy to the land
Now left only despair

Abigail stopped once again as she came across another burning home
Memories going up in flames as the peasants scrambled out
Livelihoods blown away with the rising smoke
Mixed in with the cloud of deep gray
As foreboding as the mountain Abigail first met Ellenor weeping in
Now the only ones crying were the peasants as their homes were turned to rubble
Brought about by Ellenor’s dream-crushing vile ways

Running up to one of the peasants, Abigail asked to help
He coughed and tears streamed from his eyes
Making tiny reviens down his soot coated face
“My son,” he wheezed
“He’s still in there!”

Abigail adjusted her armor
She sprinted into the house
As if the fire was no more than trees she were avoiding in a run
She would save this peasant's son
It was just another effortless mission to add onto her crucial one

Abigail weaved between fallen beams with the dexterity of a cat meandering around bends
She could hear a wailing from farther within
Rushing forward she barely avoided a falling beam
Through the smoke and the fire she could see a small infant
Standing in the middle of it all
His small hands raised as if he were conducting the fire in its deadly song
The sound emanating from him was complete terror:
Shrill
Desparate
Horrified

Abigail threw herself at the infant
Plucking him up in a rapid swipe
A burning beam smashed into the floor he’d been standing on a split second ago
Abigail, unsettled by how close the infant had been to death, turned
And saw her way out blocked off

Squinting through all the smoke she could see the faint outline of someone in the doorway
“Sorry!”
Who was that?
Evans!

“I meant to help, but...uh…”
Abigail’s brows drew together in a glare aimed at the inadequate squire
He was going send it all into disarray

Concentrating on all the blazing beams in her way, Abigail charted a pathway
Holding the shrieking infant to her chest
She exhaled slowly and began racing for the exit
Drop under this beam
Hurtle over the next
Lunge around this one in the middle
Jump the one that just fell

Miraculously, Abigail escaped the fire, unsinged
That could not be said for Evans who was covered in soot as if he’d showered in ashes

The infant’s screaming finally relented
Now replaced by gut-wrenching sobs
Abigail diligently passed the child on to his father

She then pivoted accusingly to Evans
“Stop stalking me! I work better without people!”
Evans just sneered
“Sure. I don’t think that counts for that art you have in the castle.”

Abigail had to hold back tears at how deep the comment cut
She had spent hours
Days
On that project
And he tore her down
Saying the colors and shading were off

“Leave me alone.”
Evans crossed his arms
“We’re working together now.”
Abigail turned the only direction she could think of--
Back to the house

The fire continued devouring it
Shattering through the crevices in the roof like shards of glistening glass
Twinkling like stars
Insulting the family’s grief by merrily flowing over their home like a flood
Abigail watched in muted horror as one side sagged
No longer able to hold out on the blaze’s onslaught
The home let out one last dying groan
And it collapsed in a heap

Sparks flew away from it and rose through the sky
Joining the sun to spite the people below
Behind her Abigail could hear the father’s breath leave him
Their home
Their livelihood
Their memories
All gone up in flames

I pressed my back against the bare wall, eyeing my hole-covered socks. My toes tapped nervously on the cold hardwood floor of my clean entryway. I checked my watch; Katie still had five minutes to get here on time.
I peered out the small window. The unmowed lawn was coming close to covering the sidewalk up to my little house. What kind of house did she live in? Would she be bothered by my tiny, clean house? Naw. I thought. Katie wasn’t the most perceptive person.
A quiet, dirty-blonde rode up the overrun sidewalk on a dirt-encrusted bike. Katie hopped off, unstrapping her helmet from her head. She slunk a heavy-looking backpack over her shoulder as she stepped up to the door to knock. I whipped the squeaky door open.
“Hey Katie!” I said, seeing if my hyperness would wear off on the somber Katie. She jumped. I pulled at a loose string on my sweater. Katie blinked up at me with her pale, vacant, green eyes. She murmured a “Hey Simon,” then pushed her way into my home. Katie paused for a second to wipe her large boots on my old doormat.
“You can set your shoes off to the side,” I said, gesturing that I would take her coat for her. She pulled away from my hand.
“I will keep my coat on.” Katie said, pulling her jacket tighter around her. I nodded. My heating was bad anyway. I waved her on as I slid in my socks across the floor, almost slipping. Katie gave an impatient sigh behind me and I rolled my eyes.
“In here, Miss Katie,” I said, leading her into a large, sun-filled room that had an old, dusty table in the center. The dining table shared the room with a desk and two scratchy couches. The contents of my backpack was spilled across the clean surface. I pulled out one of the six chairs, and Katie plopped down, dropping her backpack on the table. I pulled out my spanish textbooks and a few sheets of blank paper. “I’m sorry Katie,” I said, laughing. “I didn’t really pay attention in class, what are we doing again?” Katie sighed as she pulled a bottle of water out of her pink pack. She sipped.
“We already finished our background research in class, so we chose one of the options  to go deeper into research and create a presentation on…” Katie paused. This was the most focused I’d ever seen her. She dramatically flipped through one of the smaller textbooks and stuck her finger down on the title of the chapter. “...spanish style homes.” I nodded, pulling my borrowed laptop from my bag and pushing the screen up.
“Well...I’ll pull up some pictures and you can get blueprints…” I opened up a slide show and started typing the title: Ten Ways to Designate a Spanish House From a Common Home...

We worked until I thought my fingers were going to fall off like broken sticks from weary limbs. We stopped and took a break around an hour into it, and we had already rough drafted six of our slides. I slid into my small kitchen and pulled open the fridge, taking out a pitcher of lemonade. Katie turned to the bathroom and checked her reflection in the mirror.
“Do you want some?” I asked, already pouring a glass. She had finished her water twenty minutes into our project. She nodded, checking the watch on her arm. It was a little after five, and the sun was getting lower and lower. I stuffed the cup into her hand and dropped three ice cubes into the glass.
“Thank you.” She mumbled. Katie took a sip and gestured back down the hall. “So, we should go back and continue the project, I’ve got thirty minutes before I have to go home.”

Abigail didn’t appreciate Evans being confined with her
He weighed her down
Held her back
Chastised her judgement
Ruined her plans

When trying to remove a fallen log from the forest path he’d been stupid enough to suggest burning it
After that Abigail stopped heeding to his recommendations
He would attempt to make small talk as they advanced;
However, it would rapidly degrade into him chattering about himself
Abigail still mentally rolling her eyes at every word

The worst part about Evans was that he forced her on another mission
He had found out there was a family confined at the top of a mountain
And he insisted they make the full journey to rescue them
Abigail was afraid that if he went alone he would cause an avalanche
Killing himself and eradicating the nearby town

So instead of confronting Ellenor
She was unwillingly strapped to this Evans
Forced to listen to his unintelligent conversation
That reminded her of birds screeching in her ears

After half a day traversing the countryside
They ultimately decided it was time to relax

Abigail set up a fire and sat down to rest
“Thanks for helping me.”
Abigail was alarmed
Was Evans talking to her or the voices in his head?

“I don’t really know how to do this stuff
And I know I’m probably not much help
But, thank you for sticking with me anyway.”
Abigail didn’t reply
She didn’t know how to
“I’m pretty dumb, to be honest.”

Surprising herself, Abigail responded
“No you’re not.”
Evans’ expression became confused
He was even more startled than Abigail at the response

“You may not know much yet
But you are a fast learner
After you knew that starting fire in the woods wasn’t a good idea
You suggested pushing the log

“After we realized we weren’t strong enough
You suggested getting help

“And after you realized there was none within reach
You advised cutting it with our swords and picking up the smaller pieces

“You may not be the best partner
But you are learning
And you are improving.”
Evans was silent at that
He looked to the woods
Then back to Abigail as if thinking what to say

“Good-night, I guess.”
“Good-night, Evans.”
Abigail didn’t even realize that she had just been kind to the squire
And had put a firm smile on his face as they slept

I fished through my bag, frustrated. I glanced at Harry, who made a gagging gesture behind his partner’s back. I smiled, then realized I must’ve forgotten my spanish book at home. I grunted right as Katie walked in in her faded cloths and her glossy eyes, that had been slowly becoming more focused every time I saw her. Katie rubbed her face and dropped herself into the desk next to me, then pulled her worn textbook out of her bag. I gave her a smile. She dismissed it.
“Hey Katie, I must’ve left my textbook back in my other backpack at home.” I pulled the zipper of my backpack shut and flipped open the laptop. She gave a disappointed shake of her head, but I saw her smile slightly.
“I don’t think it matters,” she said softly. “We are almost done anyway, then we don’t have to annoy each other anymore.” Katie flipped through the slides and I tilted my head, confused. This wasn’t the first time she said something rude. Anyway, I continued to grin.
“I had fun. Maybe we can be partners again,” I highlighted the spanish words and change all of them to a pale green. Katie looked at my change and shook her head.
“I don’t like that color.” Katie said, highlighting them again and switching it back to a neon green.
“Why? They match your eyes. I wish my eyes were green.” I flipped the font color and continued polishing the slides. Senora Marian strode by, her sky-high heels tapped loudly on the floor.
“Your eyes are better than mine,” she said, her face turning red. “Yours are yellow, green, and brown!” Katie hit her keys so hard on her computer I thought she was going to break her fingers. I laughed.
“My eyes look like the vegetable soup my mom makes from a can.” I made a hurling sound. “Your’s are like tree frogs. Frogs are my favorite animal.” Harry waved at me, then chucked mint flavored gum in my direction when the teacher wasn’t looking. Katie glared at her computer, frustrated. I offered her half of my gum and she ripped it out of my hand without paying attention. She threw it into her mouth and started grinding it. She gagged.
“I hate mint!” She said. She didn’t spit it out.
“Sorry!” I laughed, searching games on my computer.
We worked until my gum was stale. I sat, counting down the minutes until the bell rang. Katie stared into space, attempting to avoid eye contact. I whistled, trying to fill the awkward space.
“So,” I said, looking at Katie. She didn’t move.
“I don’t really know much about you. Do you have a dog?” Katie looked away for a moment
“I did, but Sammy got hit by a car a few months ago.”
“Do you write to your friend? Or did you and Ella completely shut each other out when she left?” I looked at her, begging for her to tell me something, but she shot up right as the bell rang. She was out and away before I could yell, “Hey!”

Evans wasn’t as much of a burden as Abigail expected
He still felt like a brick strapped to her ankle
But she had expected a whole mountain of stupidity holding her back
At least a brick could occasionally be thrown

Evans didn’t have a horse as Abigail did
And she was restricted to staying down to his level because of it
Sammy would traipse beside them as Abigail endeavored to explain everything

“So she was your best friend?”
“I’ve explained this a good hundred-fifty times, Evans. Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She left.”
Abigail stared on in contempt for all the prying Evans was doing

“So now you’re supposed to go out and fight her?”
“I’m already combating her by stopping her destruction.”
Evans was getting exasperating
Perhaps it would be best to dismiss him promptly

“So you’re hurting her back?
But didn’t you say hurting bullies back didn’t work that first time you met her?”
Abigail’s eyebrows drew together and she had to hold back a scream

“It’s not like that.”
She barely whispered the words

“But it is, isn’t it?
You’re hurting her, because she hurt you.
You know you haven’t talked to her since she left
So how do you know she’s really evil?”

Abigail stomped her foot and stopped her march forward
“She’s evil! She left me! She can’t be trusted!”

“You’re just assuming that.
She moved to a new town
It wasn’t her fault
She didn’t have a choice
Yet you cut her off from her best friend
How could you do that?”

“Leave me alone Simon!”

Katie threw him to the ground and ran
She ran away from Simon and Evans and Abigail and Ellenor and Sammy
She couldn’t keep doing this
It was all Ella’s fault

No

No, not Ella’s

It was Simon’s fault

Simon’s fault for bringing all this up
For making her rethink her decisions

She couldn’t have been wrong
So Simon was the wrong one
And he needed to go

As soon as the project was done
As soon as that brick had served his usefulness
He would have to go

I nervously chugged my water bottle as I finished stuffing the last balloon into Katie’s backpack. The large bag sure held a lot of small, helium-filled balloons with Come With Me to Homecoming? notes taped all over them. I high-fived Harry as we ditched the bag and Katie stormed around the bookshelf. “She didn’t see us,” Harry whispered, and I grinned.
Katie wasn’t in the greatest mood, but then again, she never was. This was bound to make her happy.
I half-skipped to our spanish class and pushed the door open as Harry and I slipped in. I lazily flung myself into my seat right as Katie sat crossed-arms next to me. She obviously hadn’t opened her bag, and she didn’t for half the class.
Senora Marian stood at the front teaching as Harry shot spitballs at his classmates from the back of the room. “Now!” Senora said. “Turn to your neighbor and have a quick discussion about politics.” The room buzzed and our teacher huffed and straightened her glasses. “In spanish!” Katie rolled her eyes and turned to me.
“Hello!” I spoke, laughing. Katie sighed at my simple spanish.
“See the election?” She started, not making eye contact.
“Bag is not open.” I said, sorting out my little spanish. Katie wasn’t as juvinile on the subject; she had been taking it since she was six. She sighed.
“No, election.” Katie tapped anxiously on the table. I smiled while she fumed.
“Why are you upset today?” I asked in english. Katie frowned and didn’t answer. “Is it because of that Ella person? Because she moved away?” I remembered hearing that name somewhere, but I never expected Katie to turn that green when I mentioned it earlier. She glared at me with flaming eyes. Katie’s hand shot up; she continued to glare at me.
“Yes Senorita Katie?” Our teacher said in a polite tone.
“I would like to sit somewhere else,” Katie turned back to me. “And don’t bother sitting by me at lunch. I am fine by myself.”

Abigail was pleased at first
She had made Evans leave
The squire had been no more practical than a horse with a broken leg
He made her feel like she was inaccurate
And that wasn’t good
She had saved herself

He had been a cinder block fastened to her foot
Dragging her farther underwater
Trying to drown her

But she began to wonder
She had been happy around him
Annoyed yes
But also...happy

She could watch him truly make headway as they toiled through their mission
He got better at not blundering
He even began to help her instead of hinder
The constant questions weren’t beneficial
But they had made her feel more…
Down to earth
More solid
Less noble and above everyone
Trapped where she wasn’t even human
And Evans had broken through that glass

It was disorientating
Having someone grow close to her
The same way Ellenor had

She didn’t want a new friend
Or at least, she didn’t think she wanted a new friend
She thought she worked best alone
She thought that Sammy was all she required

But Sammy was a companion that couldn’t question her
Sometimes that was what she needed
Sometimes it was inept

She could feel confident around Sammy
A perfect knight

But around Evans
She could feel acceptable making mistakes
It was still embarrassing
But she knew he would probably trip up shortly after her
And it made those accidents jokes instead of embarrassments
Amusing times to laugh back at
Not dark days to shun

Yet she had dismissed Evans
Dismissed that human element she’d cut herself off from after Ellenor

Had it truly been the accurate thing to do?
Was she really going to function better isolated from everyone?

Sure, Evans had been a brick
But what if he hadn’t been dragging her to her death?
What if he’d been helping her back down to earth?
Had she made a mistake?

Had she just eliminated the one thing that had been good since Ellenor left?

It was awkward, but Katie kept glancing at me even though I continued to do as she asked. I avoided her.
Katie though, ran into me every once in awhile. She would open her mouth, about to say something, and then she would turn and just run away. I had completely forgotten about the balloons until two days before homecoming. Sure we were only freshmen, and we would have three more of the dances before we graduated, but I was feeling pretty down, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask any other girl.
Harry though, picked up the most attractive girl, who turned out to be a sophomore. She had dark skin and thick, curly brown hair. Even though I was reluctant to go to the dance, Harry said that I could go as a third wheel. Great.
I glared as Katie glided into the art room, trying to avoid my gaze. All of the girls who hadn’t been asked to the dance smiled at me. Harry must’ve told them I didn’t have a girl. I glowered at my friend and he just smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and dozed for the rest of the class.
I was slowly walking to my next class when I saw Tom, the captain of the golf team, walk up to Katie in the hall. He had something square in his hand. Katie looked up at him with her green eyes as he tried to play it cool.
“Wanna go to the um...you know...my buddies thought it was a good idea to...um…” The blonde ‘jock’ gave her a white-toothed smile, and anger bubbled in my gut. I turned right as Katie flashed her eyes in my direction. I slammed my locker shut, then stormed to fitness.

Abigail didn’t expect what came after Evan’s dismissal
She thought he would leave
And she would never see him again
Yet somehow he’d still done just the right thing to make her feel human
He had left her something to secure her doubt
Prove that she had been wrong about him
That she was wrong about Ellenor

He left her a note
He invited her to come to the dance
Even though she was no longer useful to him
Even though she didn’t even try to like him
Well, not intentionally
She hadn’t truly realized it
But he was her friend
The first friend she’d had since Ellenor

She hadn’t truly registered how lonely she was
Sammy didn’t count
Not anymore
Not for quite a while
She couldn’t keep holding on to Sammy
But she couldn’t just leave Sammy either
Or…

Or maybe she could
Not gone
Not entirely
But Abigail did need to move on
From all of it

In that moment
A fog blanketed the world
Cutting her off from the surrounding meadow
Enveloping her in cold

Through the fog she could make out two paths
One that was familiar
One that was scarily undefined

The left
The familiar
The easy
Its end unfurled
Revealing what she had come here accomplish
It had Ellenor
Facing her
And Abigail wanted to run to her
To hurt Ellenor like she’d hurt her
But something held her back

The other side became unobscured
The fog pulling away like the curtains of a stage
Revealing the silhouettes of people
They seem to be dancing
Twirling around each other
Swirling through the smoky surroundings
Like phantoms in the night

And in the middle of it all
Was Evans
Holding out his hand
His companionship
But she had rejected him
Would he take her back?

Abigail studied Ellenor’s side
The path of vengeance
That would lead only to grief
But at least she knew where it would lead

Then Katie turned back to the right
To the uncertain
To the hopeful
To a chance at another friend
To Simon

And she took a step forward

Leaving her hate for Ellenor behind
Leaving Sammy to roam in a daisy filled field of confort
Leaving Abigail
The personality she’d created to deal with her insecurities

She walked away from it all
Toward the uncertain
To hope at a new life
And although it scared her
Katie took Simon’s hand
She didn’t know if he would accept her
She had thrown him away like a dirty tissue after all
But he made her understand she was human

She was not Abigail
She was Katie
And she was willing to hope
And risk
And ask for forgiveness
From everyone

The corner of my heavy textbook dug into my thigh as I rocked--feet on the coffee table--in the wooden rocking chair my mom had gotten from a estate sale.
My phone was sitting face up on my thigh as it blared metal music through the house. I could hear my younger sister Dawn yell at me, but I ignored her as I realized I was doing the odds and the evens, even though I was only suppose to do the odds. I groaned.
Suddenly, the music quieted down as my phone started to ring. Dawn stampeded through the house with three of her ten-year old friends. There was suddenly a yell, then a loud crash! as something broke in the other room.
“Simon!” Came a girly voice. I smiled as I answered my phone and held it to my ear. I flipped the cover of my book open and looked at my homework that could’ve been finished if I would’ve done what I was suppose to. I pulled on my jacket and hopped outside so I could get a little privacy.
“Hello?” I asked as more girls screamed “My Barbie!” inside. The phone made a static sound, then a quiet voice beeped through the end.
“Yes, is this Simon?” My stomach clenched as Katie’s soft voice echoed across the yard.
“This is Katie?” I said. “Please I still have a lot of homework so try to make it snappy.” I tried to sound sharp, but it just came out tired.
“I-I would just like to say, that if you would still like to go to the….the dance, then I could wear my dress. I know I’ve been a jerk, but--I mean, if you are already going with somebody…” She sounded really sincere, and my heart pounded in my chest.
“No, I’m not going with anybody. The store might still have a corsage I could buy--what color is your dress because I have one good suit…”
“It’s green, and I don’t need a corsage.”
“Ok, my mom can pick us up on Friday…”
“No it’s ok, I can show up to the dance and we can take pictures on Saturday if that’s ok. I’m sorry about earlier. Ella and I were best friends...so I guess I got triggered when you mentioned her name.” I smiled as she quieted.
“It’s ok, I’m glad we get to go. I guess I’ll see you then Katie.”

It was awkward
It was strange
But it worked out
I’m going with Simon to the dance
I’m moving on with my life
But I still have someone else I need ask forgiveness from

I cut off Ella
She moved to a new town
Completely alone
And I abandoned her
I couldn’t continue on being spiteful toward her
So after I said goodbye to Simon
I gathered the courage I no longer needed from Abigail
And I dialed the number I’d tried to forget
Back when I’d thought that she had been the one leaving me
But it stuck with me
Like a barnacle to a post under water

And I typed it in as if it was just any day
Any day I wanted to hang out

The phone rang a few times
And then someone picked up
Why was I doing this?
No!
No, this wasn’t right!
I needed to go!
I couldn’t do this!

I exhaled slowly, calming my jittery nerves
“Hi, this is Katie. Is this Ella’s phone?”

The phone was silent
And I could practically feel the lightning that seemed to be striking

“Katie.”

My breath hitched
Ella sounded emotionless
Was that how I sounded to Simon?

“Ella, I’m so sorry.
I-I don’t really know why I did that.
I don’t know why I cut you off
And I don’t know how I can ever express that to you.”

It was silent again
Would she hang up?
Would she hate me?

“Katie,
Why did you do that to me?”
I felt tears form in the corners of my eyes
I had hurt Ella

“I…”
I began to sob

“I thought you had abandoned me.
And I had wanted to hurt you back.”
I had to stop to catch my breath
“But I’ve just been hurting both of us
Driving a knife farther into my own heart
And I was wrong to do as much.”
I breathed hard

“But Ella,
I don’t want to lose you.
You are my best friend
And although it may be difficult to stay best friends
I still want be be your friend.
I don’t want to leave everything we had.
Please...Ella.
I’ve missed you.”

The phone was silent again
Why was I rambling?
This wasn’t going well
I should just hang up

“Katie…”
Ella’s voice broke

“I thought I’d done something wrong!
I thought that the fight we’d ended on was all my fault
And that I lost my best friend because of it.
Of course I want to see you again!”
There was a noise between a laugh and a sob
“I miss you too, Katie…”

I gave a tearful smile
“I’ll call you later to find out if I can see you.
I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Bye Katie.”

“Bye Ella.”

The once-grimy cafeteria was an explosion on silver and gold balloon, matching ribbons, shimmery lights, slowly-‘dancing’ students, shiny dresses, and sparkles. The theme this year was something along the lines of ‘sparkles in your shoes, sparkles in your hair, sparkles in your pants…’ I laughed--everything was silver and gold and even the guys wore shiny suits.
I stood in the center of all of the slow-moving people who drank from the tanks in the corner. I checked my watch and looked around. Katie still wasn’t here.
I was probably the only person in the school not sporting something sparkly. My dark green suit with a solid black bowtie that my sister had begged me to wear instead of my planned white tie. Katie said that she had borrowed her dress from someone, and that it was green too. I shook my head, I should’ve just wore a black tux.
Harry and his girl Charlotte waltzed over to me, ducking so their hair didn’t touch the hanging ribbons that made it look like it was raining gold. They kicked up the glitter and the balloons from the floor and I brushed my pants off, trying to stay as clean as possible so Katie could see my nice outfit that I had bought for my cousin’s wedding. Harry wore a cream-colored tux with a white shirt on underneath, and Charlotte looked very nice in her shiny white dress that made her look like a Hawaiian disco ball. I smiled as Harry took a large drink of his red solo cup.
“Hey man!” Harry yelled over the loud music. “The music in here stinks, you got here right after we finished the Hokey Pokey!” I laughed as an obnoxious song I’d never heard blared from the speakers above. “Is Katie here yet?” I shook my head as Harry looked at his empty cup, disappointed. Harry opened his mouth to speak again, but all of the loud voices of the mixing people hushed suddenly, and I turned towards the door. The large group parted like a shimmery Red Sea, and a girl of green unlike anything I’d ever seen waltzed in, with her dark green dress that sparkled above the waist, but was flat like my suit at the bottom. Katie had her dirty-blonde hair pulled back in a silver clip and her eyes were bright like emeralds. She stalked like she was on a catwalk in her heels and Harry laughed as I took her hand and slipped the white-flowered corsage on her wrist. Katie smiled, and looked me up and down.
“I like your color choice,” she said, pulling me towards the dance floor that had been set up by the DJ. I stepped on in my pointed dress shoes and the whole floor seemed like we owned it as it gleamed with glitter below me--an ever changing kaleidoscope of moving bodies in tight dresses, swaying like stalks in a light breeze. Katie laughed as the Chicken Dance begun to play. I groaned, but proceeded to dance as the dancers swarmed around us, pushing me and Katie closer together.
We looked up at the ceiling as buckets that were hung directly over the dance floor rained glitter down on us like gold rain. Robbins covered our hair and I smacked a balloon up, and watched arms fly as the bodies pushed them around.
The Chicken Dance ended, and a slow song came on and Katie giggled, her bright greens eyes sparkled and I searched my brain, trying to remember our dancing lessons from middle school. Katie laughed and took my hand, trying to lead me in a dance, but I stepped on her foot and almost tripped. She grinned.
“Come on, I’ll teach you.”

The sun had set by the time we made it outside. The sky above us was dark, and the lack of moon made the stars shine bright. I helped Katie make her way up the small hill on the playground of the elementary school that was connected to the high school. The dreary grey slabs that had looked dull and moldy in the daytime seemed to glow from the bright stars as we pushed up the small mountain. Katie laughed.
“I use to love this place when I was younger. Ella and I would run around with other kids and play tag.” Katie bent down and pointed out a small scar on her leg. “Some little boy tripped when we were playing and I fell onto the brick.” Katie laughed. “Though he hit his head so I’m grateful that I only hurt my leg.” I looked at her as we stood on the hill, facing the night sky that was littered with stars.
“That was me,” I said, laughing. I pushed my hair up and showed her the white scar on my forehead. Katie grinned.
“No way!” She gasped. We shared a laugh. Katie and I gazed up at the stars as people filed out of the school and towards the cars that lined the roads since most of them couldn’t drive. Katie sighed, then unzipped her bag that she had tied around her hand. She reached in and pulled out a worn book with a leather strap. “I guess I don’t need this thing anymore. Goodbye Abigail! I use to share mine and Ella’s adventures in here, but I was so caught up in the past I guess I wasn’t really paying attention to now.” She took it and strapped it closed. “I always create stories because I wanted to be someone better, but I don’t need it anymore.” I smiled, then kicked off my shoes.
“Tag!” I yelled, touching her arm and dashing away from her. Katie laughed, then slipped out of her shoes and dashed after me.

I don’t need these poems anymore

Not for everyday challenges at least
I want them to go back to the helpful
Chronological
Scheduled
Journals
That used to give my life a little more interest
Back when I would read it to my friends for fun

But after Ella left
After my dog Sammy died
After high school burst into my life
I relied on them heavily
To the point they were my real life
I lived my poems instead my real days
And I had slowly drowned in them

They were molasses
Tasting sweet
But suffocating me nonetheless
And the farther down I sank
The harder it was to see the surface

I don’t know how I’ll ever truly thank Simon
He was the hand that plunged into my gooey mess
That pulled me up despite my struggles
And although I threw his hand off
Scared to lose my prison
He pulled me far enough that I could see the light
Far enough that I could chose to shoot my hand out willingly
And I did

And now I don’t need that molasses
Perhaps I’ll take occasional sips to sweeten my dreary or burdened life
But I have no intention of ever jumping in
Because now that I’m out
It is going to take a while to scrub off the imprint of that sweet nightmare
And I’m going to need help from my friends to wash it all away

So I will leave my sweet dreams as only dreams
And use them to make fun documentations of my everyday life
But they will not be my life
My life is no longer what it was before my molasses dream
But it is a life again

Without Sammy
But with a visit to the animal shelter scheduled
Without middle-school’s innocence
But with an at least bearable homework schedule in high school
Without Ella within arms reach
But with her standing mentally behind me

And with Simon
Right next to me
And ready to help
And walk with me

So I will not be using these poems anymore
Because I have all these things
And I am not quite happy yet

But I can see the sun peeking out behind the clouds
And I can see the rain letting up
And the water pulling away
And the breeze caressing my cheek in concern
And I won’t be writing these poems anymore