by Tara Chau
“No, it’s terrifying. That’s why we will help you. So, you don’t have to go through this alone. Di, you are my friend. I help my friends.”
“Ty won’t help me. He thinks I’m a monster, so does Dyla.” I say regretfully.
“Ty thinks you’re stubborn but not a monster. Dyla is just dramatic.”
“Hmm,” I don’t think so. I look back at the sky, which is turning dark already.
“Come on, Di, I’ll walk you home.”
“Okay.” We get up, and Anne gives me my bag.
Walking silently down the path, Anne holding her phone with the flashlight on, I steady my breathing as the fear settles again. We walk for a few more minutes in silence, then, desperate for conversation, I say.
“So, why haven’t you and Gabe gotten together yet? You two are so cute to watch.”
“What? No, Gabe and I are like brother and sister. He’s annoying and slightly obnoxious. Sure, he’s good looking, I can admit that, but no. Just… no.”
“Good looking? The dudes hot!” I say, adding a bit of a fan girl voice to match the sentence I just blurted out. We both start laughing so hard that I’m starting to tear up, the space between us relaxing. It’s another five minutes till we get back to my place.
“Now, you and Gabe. That’s something.” Anne laughs.
“Are you kidding? The guy barely sees me. He only notices me when we’re together, or I’m having a mental breakdown. Which, in my opinion, is completely embarrassing.” I say shyly.
“My god, how clueless are you? Gabe is so into you. Which I salute you for, by the way. So many girls have asked him out this month. He rejected all of them! I thought he was gay at one point. I asked him, and he said that he just hadn’t found the right girl yet. I mean, he flirts with all girls, and he’s good at it too. But with you, let me just say he never shows his sensitive side to anyone.”
“Not even you?” I attempt.
“Well, yes, me, but that’s because we have known each other for nearly our whole lives. As I said, we’re like siblings. Plus, Ty, of cause. But Gabe, he’s complicated. He has a temper, he’s protective, strong, he can easily hide things, but he’s also sensitive. He is kind and generous and funny but also a sarcastic ass. He is like a big brother. He thinks that he must carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He trains and trains and studies, though he also messes around and gets into trouble with the Counsel.” I can tell from the way that she talks about him that she truly cares and worries for him. “With Gabe, he is good until things require him to be bad. Sometimes it’s like he has a…split personality.”
Hinting the worry and concern in Anne’s expression, I smile at her softly. “Anne, he’s a smart guy. I’m sure he is okay.” But the thought of Gabe like this rattles me.
“Yeah, I know not to worry about him. He can take care of himself, but… you know.”
“Yes, I know.” We turn into my street, and I realise that Anne knows exactly where to go.
“Anne, how do you know where I live?”
“Your neighbours with Ty, I go to his house so much I may as well live there.” She says casually.
“Hey, where do you live?”
“Oh, only three streets down. It’s about a ten-minute walk. I normally walk here before school and hitch a ride with Ty and his mum. Accept when my dad works from home and can take me instead. That’s only once or twice a week.” Anne grins at me, lifting her eyebrow.
“If you were wondering, Gabe sleeps in the dorms during the week. He goes home on the weekends. His parents work hard during the week, but his dad takes Saturday off, and his mum takes Sunday. Occasionally, they can’t help if they need to stay in Maline. That’s the home city of the Protectors, by the way, so Ty and I go and stay with him at the Sanctuary.”
“Oh. That must suck to not see your parents too often.” I say.
“It’s okay. He’s used to it. It’s been like that for the past four years. Gabe and his parents have a strong bond. If he needs them for emergencies, they will be there within the next portal. Literally.”
“Well, that’s good,” I say, feeling a little better.
“You two would be good for each other.” She says slyly.
“Shut up,” I grumble, shoving her slightly. “Hey, could I have your number?”
“Absolutely. How else are we going to schedule a shopping spree?” She says chirpily.
I laugh while pulling out my phone and give it to her. She hands me her phone, and we both swap numbers.
“There you go.” She hands me back my phone.
Cool. We stop in front of my house, and I take a quick look at Ty’s window.
“You should talk to him,” Anne suggests.
“I don’t think I’m ready. If I talk to him now, I’ll just end up screaming. Again.” I admit.
“Okay, will you do it soon? I know that Ty’s starting to crack. The guy puts up a good act, but he’s just a normal teen boy. You’re my friend but Ty’s like family. I don’t want either of you hurt.”
“Alright,” I say.
“Night Di, I think that soon we will be as close as friends can get.” She winks at me and strolls back down the street.
* * *
Friday. That means it’s the weekend tomorrow. And it also means that I am going to do martial arts tonight with Gabe. We had scheduled it earlier this week, as I was apparently, ‘Un-naturally keen’.
This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. I still haven’t apologized to Ty, and I’m still confused about Helena. The classes themselves are fine. It’s just all the emotional stuff that’s stressing me. I can’t wait to go and do some fighting, get it all out of my system. I feel sorry for whoever is going to be my partner.
Anne and I organised our ‘shopping spree’ for Saturday, and my dad was so happy that I made friends, he gave me some money to spend how I pleased. Sunday, I’m planning on going back to the willow tree and attempt to draw or paint it. I haven’t drawn since mum died.
I’m ready to go to school early, so I decide to walk instead of spending another awkward car trip with Ty. I pull on my backpack and head out the door. When I see who is making their way up Ty’s driveway, I freeze. Helena sees me and stops where she is, tilting her head. “Dianna!” she calls. Would it be rude if I went back inside? Yeah, it probably would. No, no, no, no, no, she’s walking towards me. I’m starting to reconsider running inside.
“Hi,” I respond softly as she approaches.
“Look, I know you are mad at Ty. I don’t know why but he really is sorry. I know it. I’ve known him a long time, and we’re close, but he won’t tell me what’s wrong. Please sort it out for him. I want to be friends with you, Dianna. I know what you’re thinking. Ty doesn’t want you and I hanging out, but I don’t have many friends that are girls. Only Ty.” Her cheeks begin to turn a beautiful, flushed pink as she continues to ramble.
“You said you wanted to be friends with me earlier this week. Sorry I didn’t come talk to you sooner. I was confused, and I didn’t want Ty thinking I was going behind his back. Then I realised if I want to have you as a friend, who is he to stop me? I know that he will not like this, as I stated earlier, but….”
I suddenly feel bad for this girl standing in front of me. And if I let a boy come between a possibly rewarding friendship, then I am less smart than I want to be. She honestly looks worried, like I was going to instantly turn her down. Is that how I have been portraying myself?
“Screw Ty,” I say with a wide smile.
Helena grins, “Watch it. He is still my boyfriend.” But she laughs along with me.
“Is it alright If I call you Helen?” I ask.
“That’s fine. Where are you going?”
“School, I usually hitch a ride with Ty and his mum, but frankly, it’s just awkward now. Are you going to school with him?”
“No-no-no, don’t change the subject. Come, you and Ty are going to make up right now.” She
grabs hold of my arm and starts yanking me to his front door.
“No, let go, Helen-how the hell are you so strong? Let go, let go, let go.” I beg.
We are now at his front door. This is my last chance to escape… Helen knocks and waltzes right through the front door, dragging me behind. Too late.
“Helen. You can’t just bring me in here! I’ve not been invited. I haven’t even seen the inside of his house before.” I whisper, “If I leave now, it won’t be a problem.”
“No, you and Ty are going to be friends.” And with that, she pushes me into another room.
Ty’s room. He is asleep on his bed, covers thrown across the floor and both arms behind his head. Oh-my-god! He’s topless. I give a little squeal and make to get out of the room. Helen once again grabs onto my wrist and sits me down on the desk chair. Then she goes around to the curtains and draws them back.
“Tytus, get up!” Helen bellows as she dumps all the sheets and pillows on top of him. Ty jumps up off his bed and pounces onto Helen pulling her in a head lock. What the hell? I jump up, and the chair falls back. What is he doing?
“Honestly, Ty, why are you always so dramatic?” she huffs.
“Helen? Dear Dyla, I could have killed you. I told you not to do that!” Ty says as he releases her.
“I told you I would be over at eight exactly! You slept in…again.” She says impatiently.
“Well, I’m sorry, but I was on patrol last night and got in late….” Ty looks over to me and jumps back onto the bed.
“Shrap!” he pulls the covers over and around his shoulders, trying to hide his upper body. “What the hell are you doing here? Helen?” I stifle a laugh at his response. For a guy who seems so confident, he is embarrassed much too easily.
“It’s nice to see you to Ty. Did you have a good sleep?” I say, not at all sounding like myself, civil, guarded.
“Umm…could you turn around for a second, please?” He asks bashfully.
Helen gives a short sigh and nods at me as if to say he won’t do anything till you do. I turn.
“Thanks.” I can hear him jump off the bed and walk over to my right.
“You can turn around now.” I hear Helen say.
When I do, I notice that Ty is standing next to her and now has his signature white shirt on.
Helena looks between the two of us, placing her hands on her hips with pursed lips. “You and Dianna are going to sit in here until you sort out whatever is wrong with you two. I don’t care if you miss school, even lunch and dinner. You’re not coming out until you’ve figured this out.” With that, she saunters out and closes the door behind her.
Something bangs against the other side of Ty’s door, a slight sizzling sound crackles as some kind of smoking smell wafts through the cracks.
“Helena? My door!” Ty runs to the door and starts pounding on it. “Helen, I swear if you did what I think you did, I will….”
“You’ll what? You’re locked in until I come and let you out.” her voice calls from the other end of the door. “Bye, guys! Make good choices! I’ll be back after schools out!” I could hear her footsteps receding as her voice fades. Damn!
“Ty, can I have Helen’s phone number?”
“It’s on a piece of paper in the top draw.” He says without looking at me.
“Yep.” I pull open the draw and input Helen’s number into my phone, then type:
D: I thought we were friends! :(
H: We are. This is what friends do. We help each other.
H: I can’t have my friend and my boyfriend despising each other.
Not that he does.
D: This is not helping! This is called kidnapping!
H: Nope, now go before I block you!
D: Damn you, Helen!
D: Helen?
D: Helen?
D: omg, you totally just turned your phone off, didn’t you?
D: Helen!
“You can’t pretend to text forever,” Ty says as he walks over to sit on his bed. Damn, this guy is good.
I put my phone down on the desk and take a proper look around. The feature wall is a dark royal blue. He has bookshelves that reach to the roof, all of them full. This place is twice as big as my old room, that’s saying something. He has a double bed with white sheets and a bedside table. The room smells of cologne and…blood? When the sheets are off the ground, it is surprisingly neat in here.
“You should open a window. It smells like blood in here.” I say dryly.
“Can’t. Helen locked up the whole room.”
“Shame.”
“Di…?”
“Save it. I don’t really want to hear you or be here right now. I need to be gone by five-thirty. I’m meeting up with Gabe at six.” I say mercilessly.
“Why?” he asks cautiously.
“I’m not sure that it’s any of your business, but I’m going to learn to fight. So, I can protect myself.”
“Are you joking?” he says with a nervous laugh. I look him in the eye, showing him how serious I really am.
“Di, you can’t,” he protests.
“Why? Because if I go rouge, it will mean you have to fight a girl?” I tease.
“No, because…you’re you! You’re smart and innocent and pure.”
“Stop.” I’m already yelling new record. “Stop making me feel like a child. I am either going to save the world or end it. And Ty, guess what, you can’t stop it. It’s written in the stars or some shit! I am not some fragile little girl anymore. I will learn to fight, and I will be good at it. Ty, I like you, like really like you. But stop. Please.” I whisper the last word, so it sounds more like I’m pleading with him. I look at him with wide eyes. Willing him with my mind to accept it, to accept me. His eyes are screaming at me. They’re a brilliant blue that matches the wall.
“I can’t…” he says as he closes his eyes.
Anger wells up inside me, and I take a shaky step towards him. I know what I’m going to do. I want to, and he deserves it. He’s earned it. I’ve wanted to do this since the day I met him, but the difference is, I now know how.
Gathering all my emotion, anger, sadness, longing, fear, hatred and love, I use it to fuel the most precise and painful punch I can. I hit him hard in the stomach, right under his heart. Using my body to drive the attack. Pain so overwhelming shoots through my hand and up my arm, making me yelp and flinch back. But as I look at Ty, I remember, however much it hurt me, it hurt him ten times more.
Ty sinks to the floor, first on his knees, then sprawls out. With no more anger fuelling me, I collapse to the floor next to him, curling into a ball holding my throbbing hand. I punched him. I punched Ty. Crap. I can hear him coughing, and I lift my head slightly to see Ty kneeling over the bin spitting and coughing up blood. Blood!
“Ty?” I say weakly.
More coughing. Great now I feel bad. Maybe I really am the villain of this story. Maybe Dyla was right after all.
“Holy Moly, you can really throw a punch, Reeds,” Ty says as he crawls over to sit next to me. “Sit up, Di.” He orders. I slowly uncurl and scramble to sit up next to him.
“That punch could have knocked me out if I hadn’t seen it first.”
“Well, at that point, I think that was the objective. Told you I would be good.” I say dryly. My phone dings, indicating that I have a new text. I go to check it. It’s Helen.
H: Say happy birthday to Ty. He turned 17 this morning.
D: I punched your boyfriend in the stomach. He was coughing up blood.
H: Good job! Tell him to get up and stop milking it!
D: Will do. Can we come out now?
H: Have you to sorted it out yet?
D: Yes?
H: No.
D: You are a terrible friend.
H: Bye Di, go!
“Your girlfriend told me to tell you to stop milking it. Oh, and happy birthday.” I say, putting a bit of sarcastic enthusiasm into my vo
ice.
“Thank you. My girlfriend is amazing but slightly harsh at times.” We both sit here looking up at the roof for a long time, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing and the occasional passing sound of a car.
“You like me? Like really like me?” Ty states suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“When you were screaming at me, you said you really liked me. I thought you hated me. I was trying to give you some space to decide if you still liked me or not.”
“I hated you because I liked you,” I say shyly.
“Di, I-I don’t really know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything,” I explain. “I am going to be part of your world whether you like it or not. I can’t help that, but what I can help is how ready I will be when the time comes. I want you, Anne and Gabe by my side. So please hear me, Ty. I am going to learn to fight. I will spend all my free time learning about your ways. I will work to my breaking point and then work harder. I am going to help save this world. I will not do it alone. But understand this: I am no Angel. I’m just a girl who was put in a bad position and is now trying to make it better. I have no powers, nothing special. I have lived my whole life as just being me, just ordinary. You, Anne and Gabe, have known about this your whole lives. Lived it, loved it, learned it. But me, I learned it, hated it, and I am scared to hell of it. What can you say to a girl who is meant to save a whole other world when she never knew there was one?”
“I would tell her the truth.” He says softly.
“And what might that be?”
“When you’re ready, you won’t need to ask. You’ll do.” He says confidently. I smile at him, and he returns it by giving a light tug of my hair.
“What time is it?” I say curiously.
“Um…eight fifty-three.” What? It’s been less than an hour. Why does it feel like a lifetime?
“Ahhhgg…great, what are we going to do till she gets back?”
“I could call Gabe, see if he will get us out.” He suggests.
“YES. That’s a great idea. Okay, call him now. Wait, can I use your phone to call him? Please?” I beg.
“Wow, eager, I see. Okay, that’s fine. Here.” Ty gives me his phone, which is already unlocked and on Gabe’s details.