Sara and I walked out of school together. It was Monday, which meant a long week was ahead of us.

She grabbed my arm again and began fangirling, “Eli is starring in that new show! Kpop Tasty Road! Ahh, I can’t wait!” she shook my arm.

I didn’t even bother not telling her to not touch me; she was never going to learn.

“And why do I care?” I questioned.

“Because you’re going to watch it with me! Duh!” she replied, grinning.

“I have better things to do than to watch some blonde Mohawk guy talk about food on a TV show.” I scoffed.

“No you don’t~” she sing-songed.

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Aish, shut up!” I said, walking faster.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

I sighed as I looked at the math problem in front of me, how the heck do you rationalize denominators? Why can’t they just rationalize themselves? Sheesh, lazy.

I looked at my phone that was lying beside me on the sofa, if only I had Sara’s number……

No! I don’t need her to help me with this stupid question! I can figure this out myself!

I picked my pencil up again and began teaching myself.

Ten minutes later, I gave up. Stupid denominators.

I decided to take a break from homework, taking a walk always calmed me down. I grabbed my jacket and headed out, the wind was blowing rather strongly and it was a bit chilly. But other than that, the weather was fine. I put on two jackets, just in case. If I got sick, it would do me no favours because  I have no one to take care of me or cover for me for school.

I walked around randomly, not caring where I was going. I went as far as Sara’s bus stop, which wasn’t that far. I guess she lived closed to me considering the fact that the stop after hers wasn’t very far either. I decided to tour her area.

Not because it was hers obviously, because the area seemed nice. Yup, that’s right.

I found a nice open park near the houses and took a stroll there. Soon, I was headed out of the park towards the houses again. There were a couple of shops there, so I decided to look around. I regretted wearing two sweaters now, I was feeling really hot.

Just as I was about to leave the park, I heard a scream. Then glass breaking. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What’s going on?

I heard running, more screaming, and more glass breaking.

A girl came running from the neighbourhood of houses and was crying silent tears. Then I realized it was Sara.

Tears running down her face, a giant cut on her arm, and worst of all: pain and fear in her eyes, something I had never seen there before.

 It scared me; someone like her being scared and hurt.

She didn’t notice me and ran past me, her jacket lightly brushing against my hand. I turned around and watched her go deeper into the park.

It was cold out, it was getting dark, she was crying. I wasn’t a heartless guy who would just leave her alone like that. Come on, give me some credit conscience.

If it was anyone else you wouldn’t go.

Shut up. Annoying second voice, hm.

I ran after her silently, not making any noise. Not that it mattered; she wouldn’t have heard me anyways.

She walked further into the park, her flimsy little jacket not keeping her warm. I watched her as she neared a pond with sparkling water. The moon and stars reflected off the smooth surface of the water as she took a seat on a bench near it. Then she began to cry out loud. Every cry, every tear that went down her cheek left a cut (just like the one on her arm) in my heart. 

I watched her in pain as she let her heart out. I guess she kept her emotions bottled up a lot.

At least 10 minutes must have passed by with her crying her soul out in the cold and me silently watching her. Then I slipped my extra jacket off of me and walked over to her. I draped it around her shoulders and sat down next to her.

She slowly lifted her head to look at the jacket and then at me.

I was at loss for what I was feeling right now. The look on her face and in her eyes was…… heartbreaking. The way the tear streaks on her face were more evident in the moonlight, how her eyes were glistened with tears and sorrow, how she looked at me with nothing but pain in her eyes.

That was what got to me.

The pain, something I never knew she felt. She seemed like a princess living in a castle, but in reality, I bet she had more emotional scars than I would ever know. She always acted like a happy-go-lucky person and I never knew anything could hurt her. The countless times I and told her to go away, she was unfazed by it. I never knew that she had all these emotions hidden inside her. I never thought that someone like her could feel pain, but I guess that was what made her more vulnerable to it.

A hurt-filled tear streaked down her cheek again.

“You should have brought a jacket before you came out here you know.” I commented, fixing the arm of my jacket on her.

She sniffled and looked at the pond.

I then took notice of the huge cut on her arm. Stupid me, it’s been bleeding for so long! There was blood on her arm and her pants and shirt.

I took some tissues out of my pocket and cleaned the old blood from her arm. Then I pressed down on the wound that was still leaking blood. That was when she seemed to notice what I was doing because she winced and moved her arm away, “Ah.”

I took her arm back and continued to press on the gash. I could still tell she was wincing and wanted to retreat her arm, but I had a firm grip on it. She eventually stopped trying to move her arm away.

The blood wouldn’t stop and I began to get worried, I took a handkerchief out of my jacket and wrapped it around her arm. That should do it for now.

“I don’t think your clumsiness is the reason you got that cut on your arm.” I remarked. She didn’t answer and played with the hankie. I saw more tears come out of her eyes, thick and fast.

After she calmed down a bit she spoke, “My dad is a severe alcoholic and sometimes he just lashes out on me.” She sniffled. “He’s always abusing me and when I ask him to stop; he just bashes me even more.” She told me. She stopped for a while and more tears went down her cheeks. Then she went on, “One day he was my loving, caring dad who loved his family more than anything. But then he changed completely. He started drinking excessively and got angry at us so easily. It only got worse over time and now….” she sniffled again. “My parents divorced after that and he seems to have become even more aggressive. By law, each of my parents was supposed to take one kid. I wasn’t going to let my sister live with my dad so I persuaded my mom to take my sister and leave me with my dad.”

More tears, they were like an endless flowing river of pain for me. Clearly, she had been close to her dad and this ‘change’ had affected her a lot on the inside. But she never showed it, she put her emotions to the side and let the smile on her face light up the day.

“I don’t know what happened; I just want our life to be the way it used to be. I just want my dad back.” She whispered.

Seeing her like this, I didn’t know what to do. I felt the need to comfort her, do something to let her know she wasn’t alone and that she shouldn’t be sad.

I don’t hug people; I don’t talk to them so I definitely didn’t hug them.

But Sara looked like she needed a hug right now more than anything.

So that’s what I gave her.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

I opened the door to my apartment, looking back to make sure Sara was still behind me. She had been quiet the whole way here.

“Go in.” I pushed her and told her to sit on the sofa. Then I went into the kitchen and took out my first-aid kit from the top cabinet. I sat down beside her and put the first-aid kit on my lap. I gently took the hankie off of her arm and found that it was still bleeding. I bit my lip, that must be a deep cut.

I took the medicine out of the kit and opened the lid, “This might sting a bit.”

I grabbed a cloth from the kit and put medicine on it. Then I dabbed it over her cut as gently as I could. She winced right away and tried to move her arm. But I didn’t let it move an inch.

She calmed down after the stinging stopped, she looked at me. “You don’t have to do this you know.”

“I know.” Was all I said. To be honest, I don’t know why I was doing this. Or why I gave her a comfort hug. I’m way too confused right now.

After the medicine, I bandaged her arm and finished the job up.

Awkward silence.

I shifted uncomfortably and scratched the back of my head. Now what?

She seemed to be in her own world and then she stood up abruptly. She took my jacket off and put it on the sofa.

“I think I’m going to go home now.” She smiled a bit. “Thanks, Kris. Really.”

“Are you sure you can go home?” I asked. “I mean…. Your dad won’t do anything?”

I wasn’t sure what I’d do if she couldn’t go home. Let her stay here? O.O

She shook her head, “It’s okay. He’s probably asleep now and he won’t remember anything tomorrow morning.”

I was still reluctant to let her go home to her drunk dad. But I didn’t know what else to do, I’d never been in a situation like this.

She walked to the door and I decided to walk her outside.

“Bye-” she turned to say bye when she opened the door. She gave me a surprised look and opened but I cut her off.

“Just keep walking.”

She closed and continued walking. We walked in silence to the elevator and out the front doors of the building.

“I can go from here.” Sara said. “Bye, Kris. Thank you.”

“Wait.” I stopped her. “Give me your phone.”

She gave me a confused look but I just held my hand out. She handed me her phone and I sent myself a text from it. Then I wordlessly gave it back to her.

She gave me a queer look.

I coughed and cleared my throat, “Safety and educational purposes.”

She smiled and chuckled. I felt good, I had made her smile and laugh. Not something I regularly did. 

“Okay, well good night.”

I nodded and watched her leave. It didn’t feel right that she was walking alone at 10 o’clock in the night. 

I shook off the guilt I was feeling. I’ve done enough for her; she can go by herself right?

I crossed my fingers before going inside.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

The next day I anxiously climbed on the bus, hoping to see Sara in one piece.

I didn’t need to worry, she was there and smiling like any other day. Strong girl.

“Hi Kris!” she greeted cheerfully.

I didn’t answer, and seeing that she was okay, I just sat down. I looked at her arm, the bandage I put on her was still there.

I tried not to smile.

Beside us, there was an old lady who was struggling to hold onto her many grocery bags. Why would you buy so much if you can’t hold it, lady? You’re going to drop it.

As I predicted, she did drop her bags. I pretended not to take notice of it, it was her problem anyway.

But Sara did, and she began to help the old lady. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She picked everything up for the old lady and turned the four bags she had been holding, into two. She put one in the other to make it easier for her.

“Oh, thank you!” the old lady exclaimed. “You’re such a nice young girl!”

“It’s no problem.” Sara smiled kindly. She sat back down in her seat.

We arrived at school shortly after that and we went through the usual. She seemed okay, seemed. I knew she was hurting inside, but I also knew she would never show it. I guess yesterday night had been too much for her.

The end of the day came and me and Sara were side-by-side on the bus again.

“Do we have math homework?” Sara asked, scratching her head.

I rolled my eyes, “Yes. How can you forget already, we just had math last period!”

“Oh.” Sara laughed. “Haha.”

I shook my head and we arrived at the stop before mine, the hospital neighbourhood.

Sara got up, I gave her a questioning look, “This isn’t your stop.”

“Today it is.” She answered, getting up and quickly exiting the bus before I could ask her about it more.

Maybe her mom lives in this neighbourhood and she’s visiting her.             

I got off at my stop but I didn’t feel like going home yet. So I walked to a nearby café. As I was walking, I passed by an old lady who was having trouble with her groceries. It was one bag, but it was quite big.

Okay, what’s up with old ladies having trouble with their grocery today?

Anyhow, she dropped them. And it was a big SPALT! I think she had back troubles because when she bent down, she gasped in pain and held her back.

I sighed, I’m getting way too soft.

I stooped down and picked all the fruits, vegetables, and other elderly food items and put them in her bag her bag. Then I picked it up.

“Oh, why thank you!” she said giving me a grateful smile.

“It’s okay, where do you live?”

“Just around the corner.” She replied.

I started walking and she guided me to her house. When we arrived at her front door, I gave her the bag. I think she’ll be able to take it to her kitchen.

“Thank you so much!” she said sincerely. “It’s so hard to find such a nice, young man like yourself.”

I shrugged as my face grew hot, “No problem.” And I walked to the café, feeling good about myself.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

I still don’t understand how to rationalize stupid denominators and numerators. My math teacher does not know how to teach.

But Sara seemed to understand it. I looked at my phone that was beside my textbook. It was 9:30, she wouldn’t be asleep, right?

I took the chance and dialed her number, biting my lip.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“Oh, Kris? Hi!” her tone changed immediately.

“’Sup. I need your help.” I said.

“With?”

“Math.”

For the next 20 minutes, Sara and I were on the phone and she was teaching me how to rationalize denominators and numerators. She’s a pretty good teacher; I could totally imagine her as one in the future. Her kind way of explaining things and her patience that never wavered could come in handy as a teacher.

“Okay, thanks.” I said when I finally got it.

“No problem, are you sure you get it now?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Night.” I said.

“Okay, bye! Good night.” She said and then hung up.

I stared at the questions in my textbook that made so much more sense now. I finished my math homework with ease and prepared to sleep at around 10.

I went to sleep feeling light-hearted and I felt happier than I had in a long time. Much happier than I had been in China.

I wonder why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiiii~!

I don't update very often, but I try and make 'em long.

I wrote a one-shot about to Kai~!

Called: Dear Mom

Comment~~~~ Please (: