FIFTH CHAPTER

“So, my house today!” Lucy simply announced after hearing everything that happened in my class. “Ok who is all coming?”

“Coming!” Chad and Steve scream at the same time, which started another round of roughhousing from them. They are always horsing around or jumping at each other when they see each other, yet they do everything together. I just giggled at their silliness and wondered how I have such great friends.

“Peter has practice, so he’ll probably not be coming today.” Miguel says as he looks in his planner. “I have a couple hours before I must be home. So yeah, I'll come.”

“Is it ok if I come?” Cathy asks.

“Yeah, no problem, Cathy. Come over as well.” Larry answered before Lucy could say anything. Larry is Lucy’s twin brother and so laid back that sometimes you forget he’s there. “Come here Mery let’s get going.” He says while reaching for my hand. I just shrugged as I took his hand and followed him down the street leading from the school.

“Hey, wait up you two!” Terry yells running after us, causing Larry and I to start racing down the street. We were all laughing as everyone raced after us and round the corner. Life can sometimes be sporadic either in bad or good ways. Right now, it was a good way.

I slowed down as we neared the star intersection. I always thought it was crazy how the streets created this almost perfect pentagram intersection. You wouldn’t notice it if you were looking at it on the map or driving on it. But given how often I walked this routine to Lucy’s house, I noticed. The road we are on forms one of the bottom points and the road we are heading to is across the intersection and the other bottom point. There is a median that separates the four-lane roadway but only up to this point. Most of the road is actually a two-lane road but is widened up here to control all the flow of traffic, as its T-bones a major road, that is the top point of the star. There is another road that flows between them, and it is the middle line of the star.

Looking both ways Larry and I run across to the median. But before I could cross over to their street Lucy jumped on my back and we both fell back onto the grassy median.

“You’re it.” She yells as she jumps up and ran across to her boyfriend, a high schooler that I am still getting used to. They are cute together, in that overly affectionate way.

“You’ll pay Lu, I promise you’ll pay.” I yell at her back as she laughs. She made it across the street just in time for the flow of traffic to pick up. I’m now stuck on the median and everyone else is stuck at the other points of the pentagram from me.

“Mery wait there, I’ll help you.” Mi yells just as Chad and Steve bump into him. Making him turn to them, to shove them away. I just laughed as everyone waved at me. I got up and looked around for my book-bag that had slipped from my shoulder. That’s when I heard someone yelling.

Looking up I get struck by the most beautiful hazel eyes of a stranger. The world just stopped as I gawked at him. I couldn’t tell how tall he was given he was standing at the other end of the median near the top point, but I could see the color of his eyes. It was like I knew him and not all at the same moment. I just knew he was taller than me, but I was short, given my 5 feet stature, so no surprise there. He was brown but pale at the same time. He was muscular in a swimmer type way, but he moved like a runner. His hair was the strangest thing I have ever seen; it was brown with blondes’ streaks but not like how professional’s do it. It was wild with uneven streaks on the bangs, with one blonde streak running from his right ear to the left side of his head, like it ended behind his left ear. His hair wasn’t short and spiky but sort of long, like past his ears long. I have never ever seen someone like him.

It took me a moment to realize he was moving in my direction and looked fearful. Then the world started again, and I could hear my name being called from all sides. I only had a second to look at Mi before everything changed. Suddenly I was flying into the air and looking at everyone as they yelled at me and the car that had was driving over the median right where I had been standing. I never even thought about how I was going to land, for I was blacking out at this moment. Meaning he hit me, I was hit by a moving car.

*Why?* I whispered.

*Don’t worry girl, I got you.* Nadia suddenly said as she pushed forward to wrap me in her warmth. *Just rest. I will handle everything.* Without answering her I surrender to the darkness, knowing she has it and I’ll be ok when I wake up. Though Mi and Lu are going to be upset, they will understand.

--- Miguel’s POV, a few minutes before ---

I just can’t believe the day we’ve had today. Nothing was going right and yet she still needs to meet them today. I must make sure that things change this time around. I just can’t keep letting her get hurt, plus my parents will not be able to protect her. Besides that, things are happening a lot more frequently. She doesn’t have to tell me about Nadia or that her nightmares are of the past, it’s part of the package that I know all that’s going on with her. Something that I can’t ever let her know, for she would be so shocked as well as embarrassed. Though I would never regret being her soul guide.

Smiling as Larry and Mery run from us, I chase after them but not at full speed, not even at half speed. I need to hang back as they should be around here for us to casually run into and for Mery to meet naturally this time. This is part of my job I dislike, trying to make everything seem natural when it’s far from it. Her world is about to not only change but explode as everything she thinks is fictional is real and her world is all a lie.

I speed up as we get to the end of the road but I’m not able to join Lucy as she crosses the street. For the annoying and clingy Cathy has not only crossed in front of me but fallen on me.

“Miguel I’m so sorry.” Cathy says as she gasps to breath while still holding onto me. She never seems to understand let alone listen when I tell her nothing will ever happen between us, besides that I play for the other field. Something that has always been true no matter what period or culture. Another thing I find funny is how easily Mery accepts, and never questions our relationship or that we work well together besides our monetary status. I always am in the better or higher monetary status family compared to her, not that I have any choice, because if I did then she would be in the better or higher monetary status than me.

“Ok Cathy now that you have caught your breath. I will leave you here and see you on the other side.” I say as I detangle her arms from around me, only to groan as the traffic has picked up.

Looking to the median I see Mery on the ground, mostly likely because she fell, or because Lucy knocked her over. Which is what seems to have happened as I hear her screaming “You’ll pay Lu, I promise you’ll pay.”

I’ll never get used to Lucy being a part of our little group. As Soon as I met her, I knew who she was and why she wanted to be friends with us, will Mery exactly. I almost didn’t ever talk to her but with what happened last year I needed all the help. Mery was in a really bad place, and I almost lost her due to my oversight.

“Mery wait there, I’ll help you.” I yell just as Chad and Steve almost push me into an oncoming car. Swiftly turning I pushed them back. “Hey, watch it you two idiots.” I told them and that only caused them to gang up on me.

“Oh, upset you got separated from your girl.” Steve says as he tries to hit me. I move to the side and laugh at the stupidity of him trying to hit.

“Who’s that?” Cathy asks, causing all of us to look in the direction of Mall Street Avenue. I can see who has captured her attention and just roll my eyes. Yeah, the pretty boy had to come. But does he have to be so picturesque with the sun shining behind him as he walks in the shade of the trees. Then again, he wasn’t walking but running.

“Mery move. Mery, Mery! MERIDA MOVE!” Hearing Lucy yell I looked back at Mery and to my horror, I watched as a car ran smack into her.

“NO, MERIDA.” I’m not sure who screamed it, but all I knew was I needed to get to her now.

“Miguel, hey wait.” Chad just about screamed in my ear as he restrained me from running into the street and right in front of car. “Look, someone has her.” He’s right, the pretty boy was able to get to her and so has Ericson. So yeah, I take a breath but… Wait the driver of the car.

“No way!” I declared as I shrugged Chad off me and ran to the next street just as the car cleared the oncoming traffic and got to it. I was right as I skipped to a halt and fell back.

“Wow dude, why did you take off.” Chad asked me as he caught up.

“WZE-46 something, Mi did you get the rest?” Terry asks at the same time.

“Yeah, I got it Terry thanks.” I answered before spinning and sprinting across the street as the last car passed us. Though a lot of the drivers have pulled to the side and are getting out to check the scene. I scream as I sprint across the street and up the median. “Someone call 911 and tell them we need an ambulance.”