Basic. Everyone is basic. They all have their secrets that they keep. Even parents. Mostly parents. They have financial problems, have an affair, or embezzle money, but they still come home every day claiming they love you. I think most of the time they dream about restarting and doing it all over. That was what make humans so interesting. But at this point, isn’t that everyone? So, they’re all basic.

I wasn’t always so critical. When I was born I was a normal kid doing normal kid things. When I got to age five I started hating everything. Once while my parents were yelling at each other, I broke a vase, took one of the shattered pieces and threw it at our dog. He’s since passed. I suppose it was my brain’s way of telling me I needed to feel something. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. My parents too poor to take me to get an evaluation. But that’s life.

Everything sucked. The beginning of the school year sucked too. All the kids running around with snotty noses and their drool drying up on their faces. It kept getting worse and worse. By age ten I think my parents stopped caring about my mental issues. They had their own problems that were more important than me I guess.

Halfway through middle school was when the worst of my problems started. Sebastian Michealson. The popular kid with the rich parents. He came up with this thing where every Friday after school he and his friends find me, rub Vaseline over my hands and feet, and shove me in the showers and turn on the water. They usually tie my shoe laces together and weave them in between the fence wires closest to the exit.

No body calls me by my first name. Because no one knows it. It’s always been Wilder. No one really cares to know either. Which has its perks because I’m not sure my parents were sober when they named me. But since I’m a senior now, at Mariad High,  nothing has changed. I still have the same feelings about everything and still every Friday Sebastian and his friends find me.

“Hush and sit down!” She glared at us from her desk. “There’s a new student coming in today. Please, show hospitality when she gets here,” she mumbled, “At least, give her a chance.”

The new girl stumbled in the doorway, her hair draping over her eyes and back into a low ponytail. She had black satchel with lavender painted on the sides. Each stem perfectly placed to cover the satchel in the right spots.

“Alright students, this is Bella Calis. You can have a seat in any of the available chairs and welcome to Mariad.”
And that was it. She was it. She was the cliché girl that would fix the cliché boy who had a broken everything. She was the solution to my problems. Just being in the same classroom could make me feel a sense of closure. She seemed like me, an outsider. The only problem was, who was I suppose to meet her? I tried looking for her in between classes and at lunch but I never saw her for more than a few seconds. I hoped to confront her in class but it ended up being me standing beside her desk with my hands clutched, wanting to say something, but looking as if I’m angry, then walking away.

After school on Friday, I walked along the fence, looking out at the grass, making my way towards the football field, where I usually met Sebastian and his so called gang. And there she was. In the middle of the field, laying on the grass and looking to the sky. I walked to her until I was a few feet away.

“Hey.”

“Hello.” She sat up and turned her head to look at me.

“I’m Wilder.” There was a long silence.”You’re the new girl, Bella, right?”

“B.”

“Mind if I sit.”

“No.”

As I sat down, I see Sebastian open the gate and walk towards me.

“You need to leave. Right now.”

“What?”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

“Leave, now.”

“No.”

I let go of her arm, seeing she had already made up her mind. It was too late anyways. They were right on time.

“Hey there, Wilder,” he took a step towards Bell and whispered,” You might want to leave.”

“What makes you think that?” She took a step towards him.

He scoffed,” Alright. Grab him.”

As one of his friends reached for my wrist, she stepped halfway in front of me, blocking his had. Sebastian told his friend to back off.

“You gonna leave or what?”

“No.”

“Alright. Don’t think this is going to stop us from getting you, Wilder.”

And he left. Just like that.

“Thanks. So, uh, is this where you go during lunch and breaks?”

“One of the places. Now my turn. Are you a stalker or something?” She picked up her satchel that had papers sticking out like wings.

“No, no, I’m not. You just seemed like someone who isn’t a complete jerk.”

“I try not to be.”

“Do you like art.”

“Yup.”

“Particularly lavender.”

“I love it.”

“Is it the smell or?”

“It’s the fact that it’s the only flower

“Um, I should go now. Could we finish this talk on Monday?”

“Possibly.”

“Ok. See you.”

“Yeah.”

On Monday I tried to be more presentable. I didn’t slouch and I brushed my hair to the side. She didn’t really seem to notice. Matter of fact, she didn’t even say anything to me until lunch. I was sitting at a table by myself when she finally said something to me.

She slapped her hands down and said,” Wanna see the other secret place?”

I got up and we left the lunch room. She took me back into the hallways and opened the door to the janitor’s closet. She had her own key. How did she have her own key? I didn’t say anything about it. Thankfully she brought it up herself.

“This is it. My other hiding spot. I like to look through that window.” She pointed to the short, narrow window parallel to the wall we sat against.” I didn’t steal the janitor’s keys. We made a deal. And I got to copy of his key. Neither of us say a word about it and he is a really nice person.”

“What deal did you make?”

“I have to keep some of my secrets, you know.”

“Ok. But what is it with you and looking at the sky.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s because I never liked anyone. They always make me upset and looking at the sky makes me feel better. Calmer. My parents make me the most upset. They’re nice and all but I’m the only child. All of their focus is on me. What about you? I’ve been talking about myself too much.”

“I don’t know. For one my parents are nothing like yours. They could care less what happens to me or what I do. So, consider yourself lucky.”

“We might as well switch lives then, huh?”

“We should probably go.”

“Oh, um, ok.”

We left the room and headed to our classes. I could tell she was confused. I’m so awkward around her. I was normal around her, if that’s possible, but now I’m not. I don’t know what to say sometimes. She’s so different. Am I suppose to feel normal around her? I suppose to feel the heart beat of my chest increase till it seems as if it practically ripped through my skin? Or should I eliminate all of the confusion? It’s emotional stress verses, what, normal? Stress or normal? I couldn’t help being even more awkward with each day. Each conversation shorter and quieter.

Me and B were our on the field and, interrupting our silence, there was Sebastian. I had completely forgotten it was Friday.

“Hey, Wilder and friend of Wilder. Today, I’m not gonna leave. So ask your little girlfriend to leave, because if she doesn’t then she’ll watch. Take him. You hold the girl.”

She stepped in front of me again hoping to stop them. One of them took her hands and held them behind her back. The other one shoved me in the direction of the bathrooms.

B screamed,”No!” and jerked her hands out of his hold and ran for Sebastian.

I couldn’t see or hear what was happening. Then his goon let go of me. They left. Like that. Every time Sebastian has come for me, since I met B, they leave. She came towards me with a prepared hug. I didn’t know what to do.

“Uh. What did you say to them?”

“I made a deal.”

“What was it?”

“I’ve told you this already. I have to keep some of my secrets.”

“Alright.”

As we walked out of the gate she asked me,”Wanna see another place I like to go?”

I nodded and we left. She was in a rush. It must be a very special place. We went down several streets of buildings to a street surrounded by fences and grass. We went over one of the broken parts of the fence onto the grass. We laid down, not knowing what to say. At lest I didn’t know what to say.

“If agreed to do all of his homework for the rest of the year.”

“Huh?”

“Sebastian,” she said in a British accent.

“What? Why would you do that.”

“To save you from another, whatever they do to you. I’ll do what I can to prevent you from getting hurt and I hope you’d do the same.”

“ I would.”

“Tell me something that you swore not to tell, since I told you what deal I made with Sebastian.”

“I’ve never really made a promise before.”

“Excuse me.”

“You’re the first real friend I’ve had.”

“I have to tell you something.” She got a little uncomfortable.

“Shoot.”

“I haven’t had many friends either. And I don’t know this is because of the lack of experience I’ve had with people, but I like you.”

I said nothing and looked down at the grass.

“So.”

“I gotta go.”

That was it. I had reached my max of uncomfortableness. I didn’t like the feeling. I didn’t really know the feeling. I did understand the feeling of stress, and I hated it. So I left.

“Wilder, wait. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

I could hear her voice crack and I knew she was crying. I didn’t know what to do. I just kept walking. What was I suppose to do? I haven’t ever dealt with they before so why should I have to now. When I got home, I felt horrible, for the first time. I wanted to go to Bella and apologize for hours. I felt so bad I started stress eating in my room. I was a mess and I couldn’t go to her for condolences.

Monday morning I didn’t go to school. I layer in my bed for hours, staring at the wall. When I left my room to get something to eat my dad was sitting, on his phone. While I was looking through the cabinet he noticed me.
“What are you still doing here.”

I looked at him and thought I was mistaken for think not he was talking to me.

“When your father talks to you, you listen. Ya hear. Now, why are you still here. You have school.”

“I know.’

“Then get there.”

“No.”

“No? Did you just tell me no.”

“Yes.”

“You get out of this house within the next minute or I’m kicking you out myself and not metaphorically.”
I did mistake him talking to me but I didn’t mistake nonexistence of love in his eyes. I still did what he said. I just didn’t get ready. If I had ruined the only real relationship I had, why would I try anymore?
I staggered through the empty halls to my locker. When I opened it there was a piece of paper that read “We need to talk” and an address below. Assuming it was B, I went through the day contemplating whether I would go. I already had made my mind up but I couldn’t think of anything else. I was feeling something horrible but also something that forced a smile. It went back and forth. Bad then good. I’m the end I knew I would go.
As I was walking to her door I saw it open. Who leaves their door open? My family doesn’t even do that. When I walked in a I saw her on the floor drowning in a puddle of blood. There was a small knife dug into her side. I went to flip her over and she was alive, but holding another knife.

I felt a pain in my stomach. It wasn’t a cramp. It was my heart throbbing again, but I’m my stomach. I was red too. I was covered in blood. We were both covered in blood except I was laying on the floor and she was standing.

  “You didn’t expect that, did you?” We were both gasping for air and trying to stop the bleeding with our hands.”Do you by chance remember a little girl from when you were young. Her name was Kay.” She took a deep breath.”Ugh, it really, really doesn’t matter because I’m going to tell you about her anyways. She was a child. Say five. When she was ripped from her family and her twin brother. All because of a little disorder called Compulsive, uh, no, Obssesive… Ugh, I don’t care.” She laughed.” But because of that little flaw she lost it all.” She bent down to talk to me face to face.” Now, that girl could’ve blamed her parents for being to weak and short minded.” She barely got and up slowly walked to the door.” But she also blamed her brother. Ya wanna know why? Ok. Because he was the representation of what she wasn’t. Of what she wanted. And if she couldn’t have it he wasn’t going to have it. So she took it. It’s still in the slow process but it’s almost finished. So who do you think that girl was, huh?”

“You.”

“Correct.” She clapped.” And who was the boy.”

“Me.”

“Correct again. Aren’t you so, so smart,” She said sarcastically.

She became lightheaded and slammed against the wall. She slid with her back against the wall to sit. There was a rainbow of blood painted on the wall.

“When we were little, you promised me something. I guess it was your only promise. You told me that we would be together forever. You’re only promise you couldn’t even keep. You know I made a promise to myself. I would find you and take what wasn’t fair. If that means taking your life and mine with it, so be it.”

I laid on the floor still barely conscious. She was against the wall, coughing blood, and wheezing.

“You should’ve said we were going to die together. That would’ve been the truth.”

She fell over and dropped the knife. Her eyes were wide open. Overwhelmed, I pulled myself as close to her as possible.

“I’m sorry.” I reached for her hand and shed a tear.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and fell into an enigmatic darkness.