Entry: 1

Entry: 1
   - Problems

A girl with sun kissed curls sat in the dappled sunlight under the big oak tree.
She sat with a group of other girls that were all caught up in who was dating who.
   “It’s not like their doing anything.”
   “Oh please Maria! It’s in black and white! They are so hooking up.”
The girl with the curls sighed and got up.
   “Where are you going?” Maria asked.
   “Um…I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see you latter.”
She pulled her leather messenger bag on to her shoulder, as she pulled out her antique film camera.
   She took pictures of random things from unusual angles. She had fallen in love with photography a year ago. She could see better through it then she could with out it.
She had never before realized how well she was at photography, till she picked it up when she realized just how much she wished she had a year ago to capture the timeless memories.

She walked down the sidewalk of the small town she had moved too several months ago. Her mom worked at the local diner, and she baby sat for film money. She hadn’t been in contact with anybody from her past for the past year. She was happy though. Or…at least as happy as she could be.

Rounding the corner she wasn’t surprised when she saw the boy waiting for her.
His blond hair was dirty and wind-swept. She could tell he had been playing hard because his jeans had grass stains on the knees and he had dirt up to his elbows.
   “Hello Sage. Did you win this time?” She asked as he fell in step with her.
   “No. But I was just one point less.” He mumbled.
   “Well there you go. You’re getting there.” She said with a reassuring smile.
   “I think you’re the only one that thinks that.” He remarked.
She rolled her eyes.
   “Don’t you think people think you’re strange because you hang out with an eleven year old?” he asked, glancing behind him.
   “So? It’s not like they control my life. And besides. You are an extremely special eleven year old.”
   “By that you mean I’m a freak?”
   “Well if you’re a freak, then so am I. So I guess we’re even huh?” She asked with a grin while she snapped a picture of him.
He ducked his head and spun around her.
   “Don’t! I told you! I don’t like my picture taken!” He cried with a smile.
She laughed.
   “Yes well that’s just life buster.” She ruffled up his hair as they continued down the road.

Her vision messed with her and she gripped Sage’s shoulder as it blacked out completely.
There was a flash and she was suddenly at the local mall. Only there was no one there. Which was unusual. She heard gun shots, but not just any ordinary gun shots. Three people burst through the door. Two were older and were dressed in complete black, one was younger, about her age, with a Lakers jersey and jeans.
She quickly turned around and found a clock. 4:23pm.

Her sight came back and she let go of Sage’s shoulder.
   “Did you see him?” He asked.
She nodded.
   “Right here at the local mall. Imagine that.”
   “Did you get a time?”
   “Of course I did! Come on! We have six minutes to evacuate the mall.”
They both took off at a run. A smile crossed her face. It was finally happening.
Thank you Lord!

++++

Inside the mall, she spun on her heal and looked at the clock.
   “4:17. We need to hurry.”
   “I hear you. Ok can I? Please??” He begged.
She gave him a stern look.
   “Absolutely not!”
   “Then how do you suggest we get all these people out?”
She chuckled. For Sage there was only one way of doing things.
She walked over to the wall and broke the glass casing that covered the fire alarm. Pressing it down, sirens started up immediately. Security started to clear people out, and she disappeared into the girls bathroom after telling Sage to wait outside.
   It seemed to take forever for everyone to file out, and once they had, she dropped down from the stall, and walked out.
Taking a shaky breath she tried to control the overwhelming feelings.
She had been keeping tags on this guy for a long time now. She had seen things that made her heart break in ways she never thought was possible.
She knew that he probably had a good reason, but that didn’t help with the hurt. She had always made it a goal to be there for him, and what he did was like a stab in the back. One that she knew she would have an extremely hard time to forgive him.

Shaking her head she forced herself to focus on the now. Taking a deep breath she could hear shots being fired and prepared herself.
They burst through the second floor emergency door.
She gasped and ducked to avoid getting hit.
The boy in the Lakers jersey took the stairs two at a time and jumped the rest. He ducked and rolled, coming up in front of her.
His silver-blue eyes grew wide as he tried to figure out what she was doing there.
   “Well hi.” He said jerking as another shot was fired. “You might want to leave.” He warned taking her hand and pulling her towards the door.
   “Actually, no.” She said, pulling the opposite way. “I don’t. But you had better get outside. Someone’s waiting for you. I’ll take care of these two idiots.” She let go of his hand and dug into her bag.
He chuckled nervously.
   “Yeah. Like that’s going to happen. Would you please go? Before you get hurt preferably.”
   “I won’t get hurt.”
   “I seriously doubt that.”
She rolled her eyes.
   “You always were hard of hearing.” She muttered.
   “What?”
   “Duck.”
He just looked at her confused. She scowled at him and jerked his head down. He narrowly missed a shot that went right through the glass.
   “I told you to duck.” She mumbled.
Taking out a stick of wood she left him behind and walked bravely into the open.
The boy behind her groaned as he gripped his hair.
   “What are you doing?” He growled.
   “Cleaning up your mess. Now get going.” She hissed.
   “I don’t think so.”
   “You had better get going before I call Sage, and he’ll make you go. Now out!”
   “Who the heck are you?!”
Her heart dropped. He didn’t recognize her. Not like that’s surprising.
   “Just go.”
She ignored him but he finally made his way out of the mall.
   “Like you always do.” She whispered.

++++

She walked out of the mall with determined strides. The boys were leaning against a tree, Sage ran over and looked at her with a worried look.
   “Don’t worry. I’m fine.” She said, forcing a smile. For his sake.
   “Are you?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed it. She smiled and squeezed back.
The other boy walked over with his arms across his chest.
   “What did you do to them?”
   “Simply wiped their memories. They’ll be lucky if they remember their names. When they wake up.”
   “You’re awesome.” Sage said, giving her a high five.
She scoffed.
   “Of course you could have just blown them to smithereens…but knowing you…” That earned him a slap up side the head.
They both chuckled, and she turned her attention to the boy.
   “So who do you go by these days huh?” She asked.
The boy cocked his eyebrow and he took a wondering glance.
   “That depends on who’s asking.” He said finally.
   “How about a friend.”
   “A friend?”
   “Yes a friend. Boy you never said he was deaf.” Sage stated.
She slapped his head again.
   “He’s not deaf. He’s just…cautious.”
   “Why do you talk like you know me?” He asked.
   “Because I do. Was it Colton?”
He raised an eyebrow.
   “Or…was it Jayson?”
She let go of Sage’s hand and walked off.
Sage rolled his eyes and punched his arm.
   “Nice going jerk!” He muttered, running to keep up with her.
Jayson stood still and watched the bouncing blond curls of this girl that he didn’t recognize, yet knew his name.
    “How do you know my name?”
    “Because I know you. Or at least I thought I knew you. Apparently I don’t anymore seeing as you’ve been doing some pretty darn mean things lately. But I’m not going to say anything because that’s who I am. The sweet girl next door who never says anything bad about anyone else, who just keeps it all to herself and the Lord because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. That’s me.”
    “Hey, hey Al, calm down.” Sage stepped up and squeezed her arm.
    “You promised you could do this. Remember?”
    “I can do this. I’m fine. I can do this. Oh Sage I feel like I’m going to burst.” She sighed and closed her eyes.
She glanced around and noticed they were standing in front of the ice cream parlor.
    “Ice cream anyone?” She asked. Pulling out her wallet and stepping inside.
    “Because I really could use the sugar.” She muttered.
    “Yes please!” Sage yelled, jumping up into a high stool at the counter.
She smiled.
    “Well duh. Jay?” She caught herself and bit down on her lip and glanced down at her knees.
    “What can I get you kids?” The waiter asked.
    “Um…two peach Sunday’s and a…?” She looked over to Jay who slipped into a stool next to her and ordered his own ice cream.
    “Who’s paying?” the waiter requested.
    “I-”
    “That would be me.” Jay pulled out his wallet and gave over thirty bucks.
She tried to keep the shock off her face and nodded.
    “Alright then. It’s coming right up.”
    “Thanks Alex.” She said with a smile.
    “So you know me as Jay. Not to many people know me by that name.”
    “Well actually the whole agency knows you by that name. Not like you talk to them any more huh?”
    “Whoa wait. How do you know that? That’s confidential.”
She closed her eyes and Jay noticed the eyeliner and sparkly eyeshadow that vaguely reminded him of a day in the rain.
He shook his head.
Impossible.
    “Yes I suppose it is confidential.”
Their ice cream came and Sage dug in. She picked at her ice cream as she tried to figure it all out.
She shook her head and got up.
    “Sage, I’ll see you at home. Make sure he gets there. My mom will have a few words for him.”
Sage nodded with a peach ice cream mustache. She slung her bag onto her shoulder and quickly walked out the door.
Wiping away the tears, and dealing with a broken heart.