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Protected (Chapter 3)
Saturday, September 25, 2010



Chapter 3 by Fathiah Zarafi

"Hey, girl in purple! Wait up!"

I stopped scrubbing my eyes long enough to see a boy running up to me. I had just gotten out of the restroom after realizing I had skipped three periods holding up in that cubicle. The boy halted his steps once he was near me and threw out a hand to me.

"You left your homework when you dashed out of class on first period," he panted. Indeed in his hand were the worksheets Mr. Charles had handed out. I took it from him gratefully and stuffed it into my backpack.

"Thank you," I spoke, turning around to walk away but his hand on my shoulder prevented me to do so. My whole body froze, anticipating what he was about to do.

"Were you crying?" he inquired, his brown eyes squinted in worry. I felt my face reddened at his question as I ducked my head to avoid his gaze.

"No, I wasn't," I lied hastily, "and I need to go now."

I escaped from his grasp and made a beeline for my next class; gym. I changed quickly into my gym attire—blue shorts and grey shirt—before hurrying over to where the students were already gathering. That little interaction with curly headed boy made me late.

"State your name, miss," the coach barked once she spotted me scuttling over. I studied her appearance for a while. Her short, spiky hair, round face and bulging muscles told me she was not the one to be played with.

"Aly—Adele Deheart, ma'am," I answered quickly.


Her black eyes were narrowed as she took a step towards me before proceeding to circle and gawk at me like a vulture tracing its prey. I shuddered involuntary at the analogy. The coach rubbed her round chin as she circled me twice more before finally stopping in front of me.

"Scrawny shoulders, too thin. You're not fit for my class," she sneered.

I immediately blushed when the girls began giggling at the coach's statement. But beneath the flushed skin, I was fuming. If she saw her family hacked to death in front of her eyes, she wouldn't be eating so much either.

The coach stood in front me rigidly, her eyes boring into mine. "As for now, you will be addressing me as Coach Hudson. You will arrive at my gym before I do and complete all the training I have told you to. Understood?"

"Ye—yes, ma'am," I stuttered. A group of girls were snickering behind their hands as I joined to students in the middle of the basketball court. We had to warm up before running laps around the court. It wasn't long before I was tired and out of breath so I slumped on the metal bleachers, gasping for oxygen that I was deprived of.

"Think Coach Hudson is a pain in the ass yet?"

I nearly shrieked at the sudden voice next to me. My head snapped around only to find the kid that got me in trouble, sitting casually beside me. He too was in his gym attire and was lounging on the bench with a smile on his face.

"Wha—are you stalking me?" I blurted out in surprise. To add to my horror, he threw his head back and laughed at my question.

"No need to flatter yourself, really. We just coincidentally have the same gym period together," he chuckled.

My face once again turned beet red as I averted my gaze from him to cover my humiliation. Stalking? Really? I made myself sound as if I was a diva. I heard the kid guffawed again at my obvious embarrassment and I felt like punching the daylight out of him. That must've been written all over my face when he stopped abruptly and leaned closer to me.

"My name's Chayton. It's Native American for falcon," he grinned, flashing me those pearly whites.

"Adele and I have no idea what it means," I exclaimed without thinking. My face quickly turned scarlet when Chayton guffawed out loud. When he saw my mortified look, his laughter died down to quiet chuckles as he regain his composure, much to my pleasure.

"So, what brings you to this awfully small town?"

I gnawed my lip unconsciously as I refrain myself from blurting out my dearest secret. Having to lie about who I was and what happened was eating me alive inside but I knew I had to do so in order to survive. So I settled with a fake past made up by one of the agents who relocated me.

"My family died in a car accident," the words tumbled out of my mouth effortlessly, "so I had to stay with my aunt here."

Chayton patted my shoulder in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said sincerely. I was able to give him a small smile before our coaches blew their whistles loudly, signaling the end of Physical Education period. I got off the metal bleachers eagerly, waving back at Chayton who jogged to join the rest of the boys.

Thankfully, I survived past changing into my clothes in front of total strangers by ignoring their whispers and stink eyes. I scurried out of the locker room only to face another once of my annoyance. Lunch.

As I held the plastic tray in my hands, I scanned the crowded cafeteria for an empty spot, which happened to be at the far corner. With small, hesitated steps, I approached the table that was already occupied by two mysterious-looking Goths. They eyed me wearily before continuing to push their food around their plates glumly.

I almost did the same when a figure sat hastily in front of me. Not much to my surprise, it was Chayton. Again, with his bright smirk. He opened his mouth to utter something but I cut him off before he had a chance to.

"What do you want from me?" I muttered rather harshly. His smile instantly dropped only to be replaced with a perplexed look.

"Excuse me?" he shot back with raised eyebrows. What I said to him hit me instantly, resulting in my loss of words.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, "I'm just, overwhelmed with this whole thing."

Chayton's face softened as his smile returned to adorn his lips. "What are you so nervous about?" he inquired sincerely. He innocently scraped his chair closer to mine and somehow the mere presence of him soothed me.

"You're gonna laugh." He made a gesture of zipping his lips before motioning me to continue. Initially I wanted to tell him off, uncomfortable of talking to him but looking into his brown eyes gazing patiently at me, something stroked inside of me. Keeping to myself, without any shoulder to lean on was so draining. I couldn't very well tell Chayton everything so I decided with the shallow story.

I bowed my head as I spoke as I was afraid I would break down when I see his face.

"You see, I used to be this popular girl," I whispered, picking at my nails, "where I was the talk of the school everyday. Both positively and negatively. Now, people just stare at me like I'm a freak with two heads."

I saw Chayton leaned forward from my peripheral vision although I still refused to look at him. "Why would they do that? You're still you," he said, slightly confused.

"But I don't feel like myself anymore," I smiled bitterly, "too many things had happen for me to be normal again."

Just as the words slip through my lips, I realized I had spoken too much. Chayton squinted his eyes at me, as if in deep concentration.

"What happened, exactly?"

My eyes widened in horror. Acting on pure instinct, I promptly stood up and grabbed my tray of food before dumping them in a nearby bin unceremoniously. "I um, I have to go," I stammered, "I have some—work at the library."

I knew Chayton could see through my lie so I scuttled across the cafeteria to escape him. Just as I reached the doors, I heard him hollering my name. I didn't stop at first because Adele was still new to me and kept walking until I felt a tug on my elbow.

"So I'll see you later?" Chayton asked, a bit flustered. I could do nothing but nod when he smiled brightly before walking back to wherever he came from. I began my numb walk to the library to catch a bit time alone. After successfully getting myself lost a couple of times, I arrived at the quiet confinement I longed for.

Sitting alone at a table in the far back, I couldn't help but think back about the letter. It surprised me how the letter from my deceased father could leave my mind while I was around Chayton. He was like—my escape. I quickly shook my head to rid of any thoughts concerning that boy.

My hands dove for my backpack, digging for the letter. It was when I had overturned my bag in the search of the piece of paper I began panicking. I couldn't possibly have lost it, could I? I was known to easily panic, so my mind was a jumbled mess. What if someone had found it and read it? What if they know my secret? Would I be relocated again?

As I was busy flipping through my textbooks, a strong arm landed upon my shoulder. With a loud gasp, I spun around and was shocked to find Mr. Charles standing behind me.

"Looking for something?" he inquired. I was about to answer him when he withdrew a hand from his back to reveal none other than my missing letter. I quickly snatched it from his grasp and stuffed it back inside my bag.

"You should be more careful with your stuff, Adele," he spoke gently. Mr. Charles swiveled to leave but I immediately stopped him.

"Who are you?" I asked bluntly. Mr. Charles froze for a moment and I saw his body tensing. He spun around with his lips in a tight line.

"I can't tell you right now," he whispered, "but you're safe as long as you're with me."

"How can I know that you're to be trusted?" I almost shouted, frustrated beyond believe. Unexpectedly, Mr. Charles stepped forward and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You've read the letter, didn't you? I was assigned by your father. He loves you very much and won't do anything to harm you."

Just before he left, Mr. Charles gave me a sad smile, a smile of a thousand words. I'll protect you, you can trust me, I'm here for you. My knees buckled and I collapsed on a nearby chair.

Too much, just too much.

As I felt around my bag for the letter again, my lips were trembling from withheld emotions. I traced the writing of my father with shaky fingers and clutched the piece of paper to my chest. For the second time that day, I broke down in muffled sobs as I pictured the smiling faces of my family.

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