You Owe Me

You Owe Me

RIIIING!

Finally school’s over. I jump out of my seat and swing my bag over my shoulder as we head out.

Please please please don’t call me over.

“Myla.”

Never works.

I groan as I walk over to Mrs. Goodwill. She lowers her glasses and looks at me judgingly.

“You still haven’t finished your autobiography. It was due last Friday. If you don’t submit it by Thursday then I will have to give you a zero.”

“I know. I just need some more time. I’ll work on it as soon as I get home.”

I check the time. 3:03. She better hurry. I want to get home ASAP.

“Ms. Prozair.”

“Hm?” I look up. I had unfortunately muted her voice. Again. She sighed. “Myla, dear. I only want what’s best for you. Considering your poor grades, I would suggest you pay more attention in class and finish all your work on time.” My impatience must have shown because she waved her hand towards the door and proceeded to shoot lasers at the back of my head. The second I was out of her sight, I sprinted down the hall, bumping into the one person I avoided.

“Hey shorty. Need someone to carry you so that you can move faster?”

I groaned. Not again.

Ethan Wallen ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair, green eyes shining as he smiled, obviously enjoying tormenting me. His friends gathered around, eager to see what would happen.

“Leave me alone Ethan.” I said

“I can’t do that now, can I? We don’t want our little midget getting run over by other 10th graders.”

I grit my teeth. I was 5 foot, considered short in high school. He, on the other hand, was 6'3, the perfect height for a future basketball star. Although I hated him, I had to admit he was an amazing player and had the best leadership on the court. Of course, that leadership was selective.

“Looks like midget drifted off again. Maybe her new name should be Myla, the mindless midget.” He laughed.

My ADHD had to kick in at that moment. Suddenly focusing was difficult.

“I was telling them about the first time you got run over. It was hilarious. Piper had bumped into you and you had fallen, causing her to walk on your hair. Such an unfortunate day for you.”

The memory kicked in. The mocking laughs. It was horrifying. “Ethan why don’t you bully someone your own size. But then again, you seem to have a speciality attracting all the other giants in the school, so I guess that isn’t possible. I guess they didn’t call you bigfoot in second grade for nothing.” I retorted.

His friends laughed, all recalling the scene. Hurt flashed across Ethan’s face,quickly replaced by anger. He shoved me into the lockers and grabbed me by the shirt, pulling me up to meet his eye level. My eyes widened in fear. I had taken it too far. My feet started wildly flailing and I was prying his fingers open.

“Watch your mouth Myla. I’m not as forgiving as I look.” And with that, he punched my face and dropped me to the floor. My eye was throbbing. I saw him and his friends walking away from me. I got up and trudged home.

~

“Mom! I’m home.”

Silence. It was just me again. All alone. No dad, no siblings, busy mom. The perfect life.

I dropped my bag on the floor and went to the kitchen, grabbing an ice pack from the freezer. I pressed it on my face, soothing my bruised blue eye. Unwanted tears rolled down my cheeks. Every day it was the same. No friends, poor grades, disapproving teachers, and Ethan. I wiped my tears and went upstairs to my room, where I sat at the edge of the bed, ice pack still on my face, and laid down.

~

I don’t remember sleeping but I sat up at the light of day. I checked the time. 6:52 a.m. “Oh shoot!” I got up and ended up stubbing my toe into the leg of the bed. “Ahhh!” I shrieked. No time for this Myla. You can’t be late again or else Principal Royce will be sure to put you in detention which means explaining to mom what you’ll be doing in school on a Saturday. I can’t have her worry for me. She has too much to think about. With the new motivation, I ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, changed my clothes, and brushed my hair within 6 minutes. My bruise was still visible and I didn’t want to attract any attention so I took a large band-aid and slapped it on my face. 6:59. I grabbed my bag and ran down. I stopped for a second, a daily ritual. I looked around for mom but knew she wouldn’t be there. I slipped on my shoes and ran out the door, to the bus stop where the bus was slowly pulling up. Just in time. I sighed, relieved, sweat trickling down my back. I got on the bus and sat in the front, avoiding all the popular kids laughing in the back. I could never understand what was so funny about riding a nasty bus to a dreadful school. As soon as the bus rolled to a stop in front of Maycroft High, I hopped out and sulked in. I suddenly stopped. I heard crying around the corner, very faint but noticeable. Out of curiosity, i slowly walked towards the faint weep. I stood in utter shock as soon as I saw who it was.

“Well well well. Looks like Ethan Wallen’s wall has finally fallen down.” I said with a smirk. “Myla.” He growled. “If you tell anyone-”

“Oh I'll see. After all, why should I help you?”

His expression softened. “Myla please. I was only tearing up because the college I applied for rejected me because even though I am excellent in basketball, my grades have been dropping recently.”

“Why should I car-”

“Hey Ethan! Whatcha doin’ back here.”

I turned around and saw the Chris and Warren Stolke twins walking up. Warren acknowledged my presence by nodding once. “Shorty what’s he doing here?”

I looked back to Ethan’s pleading face, and could see the desperate look in his eyes. I turned and faced the twins. “He just came to pick on my height, The usual.” I lied. For him. Unbelievable. The twins shrugged and walked away. I turned to Ethan’s astonished face, anger boiling in me.

“Myla than-”

“NO. You remember this, k? You Owe ME!”

Suddenly, two gunshots fired in the air, followed by a chorus of shrieks.

“What’s going on????” I panicked.

“I’d rather not find out. Come on, we have to go quick.”

We ditched our bags and I reluctantly followed as he ran into the woods, behind the school.

“There’s a police station not far from here.” He said “Let’s go quick before anyone gets hurt.” I quietly nodded, and started running after him. Instantaneously, I tripped over a tree branch, landing face first into a pile of rocks. My hazelnut hair draped across my face, and my foot was hurting like never before. My eye band-aid had given up on protecting my bruise. I was a bloody mess.

“Myla!” Ethan called out. “What’s taking so long?” Finally looking back, he gasped in horror, shocked to see my battered state. “Oh my god, shorty.” He muttered “What will I do with you?” He ran back and, instead of mocking me as I suspected him to, lifted me up, hoisting me on his back.

“Ethan-” I started.

“Nobody has to know about this. Understood?” He said as he made his way through the wilderness. I nodded, silently hoping that he wouldn’t trip- only so I wouldn’t be harmed. After struggling for a while, Ethan started to sprint. The woods were getting thinner and I could make out the police station. He ran faster until we had reached, and walked in panting. He set me down on a couple of chairs then ran to a few officers. He was in deep conversation with them then pointed towards me once. I was out of range so I was curious about what he said. A few minutes later, around 8 officers ran out and sped off with their sirens on. One of them came to me. “Are you alright?” He asked. I nodded, slightly confused on why he was asking me. “We should get you to the hospital.” He continued, “Your face seems pretty banged. How did you hurt your eye?” My eye! I had completely forgotten about it. Ethan sheepishly looked in my direction. “I fell while coming here.” I said. Ethan smiled. “Let’s get you to the hospital so they can check you.” The officer went to go talk to the others and Ethan came over.

“Why didn’t you leave me in the woods?” I asked.

“Because I owed you.” He smiled.

And that’s when I realized that I would never have to worry about being bullied, because today had changed things between us.

~

Thanks for reading!

Kashika Paul