Noah - 1

Oddly enough, it was a warm November day, and I was sitting on the swing outside my house watching the cars drive by. There weren’t many, after all I do live in the middle of nowhere. Everything out here is brown, and dry too. Brown lawns, cars are covered in dirt, paint peeling off, once white, houses, broken store signs falling down in this run-down town. My house was the only clean one, with fresh paint, a shiny car in the driveway, and a little white swing hanging from one of the big trees in the green yard. But that was all because of my mom, she’s a bit of a control freak. Probably because of my dad. He was an abusive drunk before he left her for some younger chick, I was 10 when he left. After all that she went a little crazy. She’s always lecturing me about growing up and marrying a girl I really love and never leaving her. For god’s sake I’m only 15. Plus, I have my eye on someone, and I would never do that to her.

I should get to see her walking home today. Lennea is 5’3” with long brown hair and warm green eyes. She has olive skin with little freckles on her cheeks and nose. Today when I see her she’s with her stupid boyfriend, Johnny. I hate him, he’s so mean and self-centered. Lennea should be with me, but no, she chose stupid, tall, athletic Johnny. Wrong decision. Even more reason for her to have chosen me is I know everything about her. I know her favorite food, favorite class, I even know her whole schedule. I know that her father died last year, and Johnny was no help, making her cry everyday. Anyway, we worked on this project together last year, and it was pretty great, the only reason I could find to talk to her too. Otherwise I just watch from afar. Why doesn’t she ever notice me!? Usually when she walks home she gives me this look, like she knows she should be with me, but doesn’t feel like she can break up with Johnny because they’ve been going out for too long, or that maybe he’d do something stupid or crazy. I can tell she would rather be with me. I just wish he wasn’t around anymore.  Maybe if he was just, you know, out of the picture.

I hear my mom calling for me to come inside and so I have to go. It’s looks like it’s about to rain anyway, I wouldn’t have stayed out much longer.

Lennea - 2

Hanging out with Johnny is one of my favorite things. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and he was so supportive when my dad died. Plus he’s smart and sweet, I never want him to leave.

I glance to my left and notice that kid that’s always outside, sitting on a swing when I’m walking home. He’s kinda creepy. I think we worked on a project together last year, that’s the only time I’ve ever really talked to him. Hmm, what’s his name? Tom? Alec? No, it’s Noah! I watch him get up and go inside with a weird look on his face, and a look of confusion crosses mine. ‘I wonder what’s wrong.’  I thought.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Johnny, as if reading my mind.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” I said.

“Bout’ what?” He asked, taking my hand.

“You know that kid Noah?” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Ya, he lives back there somewhere right?” he said.

“Ya. Well, he’s always staring at me, but he never talks to me. It’s kinda creepy.” I said looking at the ground. I didn’t want Johnny to see my face because It turns as red as a tomato when I get embarrassed, which is weird because I don’t think I have a reason to be embarrassed.

“Hmm. That is kinda creepy. But hey, I just found out I don’t have to work this weekend so we can hang out the whole time.” He said with a warm smile. He squeezed my hand, and I smiled and squeezed back. When we got to my house we went upstairs and started working on homework. Johnny had a baseball game so he had to leave earlier than usual but it’s always nice to spend time with him, no matter how short it is.

Noah - 3

If he were just gone, that seems to be the most efficient way. Yes! If he were to disappear then me and Lennea could be together, nothing would hold her back from finally admitting she loves me! That’s it! I can’t believe this never occurred to me. A smile crept onto my face as I watched them walk to her house. And holding hands. Ha! Not for long, soon I’ll be the one holding her hand!

“Noah! Get in here! You have chores and homework to do!” I heard my mom yell.

“I’m coming!” I yell back. Geez, I can never find any peace and quiet around here. All I want to do is just think and look through all my pictures of Lennea. Most of my pictures are random ones I taken of her walking home and around school, but some are class photos. I also have all her yearbook pictures. I’ve already filled one notebook and I’ve started another. I also write down everything I know and learn about her. I used to record everything she did too, I would bring it to school and write it all down. But then someone found it. Thank god I caught them before they opened it, not because it’s “embarrassing,” no, I don’t want to share anything I know about her. I want to be the only person who knows her this well. And I am. Anyway, that’s when I stopped bringing it to school, I didn’t want someone else to find it. She’s mine. She just doesn’t know it. I hear my mom calling for the third time so I go inside.

“Have you seen my keys, I’m late for work? And don’t forget to take out the trash, and wash the dishes. Oh! And you need to clean your room, it’s starting to look like the rest of this town.” My mom said as she scrambled to find her keys.

“Don’t worry mom, all chores will be done by the time you get home. And your keys are over there, on the counter” I said pointing to them.

“Thank you.” she said grabbing them. “So much better than your father. You know-”

“Mom. Work, remember?” I said. I’m not in the mood for another one of her lectures.

“Right, love you. I’ll see you when I get home.” She said heading towards the door.

“Bye.” I said watching her walk out the door. I went to the window to watch her pull out of the driveway to make sure she was gone. My mom was a nurse and worked the night shift at the hospital. Why she chose this town, I’ll never know.

Finally. Peace and quiet. I flip through my notebooks of Lennea, while thinking through how I should tell her I’m going to set her free. Or maybe I should tell her afterwards. I don’t know, I haven’t quite figured out how it’s going to all play out yet. I just know I’m starving and need some food.

There’s nothing in the kitchen, so I guess I’m walking to the store again. I run upstairs and find my stash of money under my bed and pull out a 50. Don’t ask how I got it, it’s not a pleasant story. Glancing outside I notice it’s raining. ‘Great’’ I think, ‘That’s just what I need’. I have no rain jacket either because mine ripped last year, and we never replaced it.

I realize halfway through my walk I could have grabbed an umbrella, but it’s too late now. Anyway, I’m finally at the store and when I get there I see Lennea’s car parked in the parking lot. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t go in. I don’t want her to see me like this’  I thought. I’m soaked from head to toe and not getting any dryer. After standing in the rain for a good 3 minutes I decided to just walk home, but as I was about to leave I saw Lennea walking out of the store with her mom. Not wanting her to see me like this I tried to make a run for it. I slipped and fell on the gravel, cutting a big, deep gash in my forehead, going through my right eyebrow. I tried to get up quickly, but I slipped again and landed on my hands and knees. Sharp pains raced through my palms and I looked at my hands, which were bloodied and full of rocks. I got up more slowly this time, while picking the rocks out of my hands. I pulled my sweatshirt hood over my head and held my hand up to the big gash on my forehead hoping Lennea wouldn’t recognise me. I turned my head away from the road when she drove past to conceal my face more. The rain was starting to lighten up when I saw Johnny across the street with a group of his baseball friends. He saw me too and came running over.

“Hey Noah. Are you okay? That cut looks pretty bad.” He said

“I’m fine, thanks.” I said looking him dead in the eye, but still holding my hand to my forehead. I needed him to know that I wasn’t scared of him. I know that he’s just doing this to seem nice, but really he’s mean and selfish and couldn’t care less about me.

“Are you sure? You can come back to my house and my mom will fix you right up. It’s right down the street and she’s really good. God knows how many nasty cuts I’ve come home with from a messy baseball game or two.” He said.

“No really, I’m fine. I can just walk home, and my mom can take care of it, she’s a nurse.” I said, even though my mom wasn’t even home.

“Oh, well okay. I mean, I want to help. I could give you a ride home.” he offered. ‘Geez, why wouldn’t he just give up. I don’t want his help’ I thought. I wanted to tell him to shove off, but two can play at this game.

“Really, I’m okay. Plus you’ve got your friends over there, I wouldn’t want to disrupt you.” I said with the nicest smile I could muster.

“All right. I guess I’ll see you at school then.” He said, and he finally left. What was the point of that? He almost never talks to me at school, I mean sometimes he’ll say hi but I know he’s faking it. He just wants to rub the fact that he got lennea and I didn’t in my face. I need to find a way to make him feel bad for what he did. Maybe I could find someone to threaten him, or I could do it. But how? I’m not intimidating enough to do it to his face.

Lennea - 5

The next couple of weeks were pretty normal, accept… Johnny started acting really weird. He stopped walking home with me and was avoiding me in the hallways. And he was always making excuses for not sitting with me at lunch, saying he had to talk to his teachers or he and his friends needed to study for some test. Once I found him eating with his friends when he had said he needed to make up a test, and he’d be gone the whole period. I remember him looking right at me and then he just went right back into his conversation, like I wasn’t even there. It’s really frustrating because he didn’t explicitly break up with me either. I just needed to talk to him. ‘After this class is lunch, I’ll find him and ask what’s going on, he’s probably sitting somewhere with his friends, not studying’ I thought.

I saw him walking towards a staircase and ran to catch up to him.

“We really need to talk” I said catching him by the arm.

“Uh… I can’t” He said, nervously looking around “if he sees us…”

“Who?” I asked yanking his arm and making him look at me.

“Let's just… go somewhere private” He said shaking off my grip and grabbing my arm instead. He dragged me to the back staircase, that no one ever goes in, and let go of my arm.

“What is going on? Why have you been avoiding me? Why have you been lying? Just… what is going on?” I shouted at him.

“Look, I can’t be with you anymore. Okay.” He said still looking around.

“What? Why? I thought we were good together, what did I do? And who are you looking for? No one ever comes back here, ever.” I said punching him in the shoulder to get him to pay attention to me.

“No one. And It’s not you. I just… can’t do it.” he said pulling away and leaving me alone and hurt. After that I didn’t see him at school anymore. He just… disappeared.

Noah - 6

‘I wonder when I should tell her’ I thought. ‘Well not today, it’s too soon. I’ll catch her on the weekend.’

- That Saturday -

It was about 2 and I saw Lennea walking up the road. ‘Finally!’  I mustered the courage to run across the street.

“Lennea!” I shouted. She turned her head away from me in an attempt to hide the tears, but it didn’t work. After wiping them from her face she turned to look at me.

“Noah? Not now please, I have a lot of homework to do” She paused, looking at my forehead. “What happened?” She said asked, pointing to the cut.

“Oh. Nothing, banged my head on the counter.” I lied. “Anyway, I need to tell you something. It’s really important.” I said.

“I’m kind of busy” She said, walking away while still wiping her cheeks.

“It’s about Johnny” I insisted, running in front of her to make her stop walking.

“What about Johnny?” She asked. ‘Finally, oh how I’ve been waiting for this moment!’ I thought. And the words I’ve been dying to say to her, the words that kept me going, I can finally say.

“I set you free. He’s gone. He’ll never bother you again.” I said, getting excited.

“What? What do you mean, set me free?” She said, anger and confusion sweeping into her voice.

“He’s gone, Johnny, I got rid of him, you can finally be with me now!” I exclaimed.

“What!? You got rid of him!? Is that why he disappeared? I thought he was sick or- You know what, it doesn’t matter what I thought.” She said, with no hint of happiness in her voice.

“I… I set you free. He was bad for you, and I’m perfect for you. I know everything about you.” I said, my voice got quieter with each word as Lennea stared me down. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. No. She needed him out of her life’ I thought. ‘I just have to make sure I don’t become like him. I can’t make her mad or upset, that’s something Johnny would do.’

“What did you do?” She spat.

“Well-”

“And don’t say you set me free. You didn’t. Johnny was-”

“No, he wasn’t good for you. He was bad, that’s why I made him disappear. And you can’t tell anyone, no one can know, I did it for your own good.” I said in a childish voice. Lennea was speechless. Happy… probably. I just have to be careful to not make her upset again. No. That’s something Johnny would do. “Look, I set you free, Johnny’s gone, you can finally be with me now. I’ll never do what he did to you, I’ll never make you angry or sad. But you can’t tell anyone, or...”

“Or what?.” she said firmly. She seemed to tower over me as I slowly shrank back in her shadow. “And no.” she snapped.

“No?”

“You heard me. No. I don’t want to be with you. I don’t want to be with someone that would do that to another human being.” Said sad pushing past me and running the rest of the way to her house.

Lennea - 7

When I got to my house I ignored all questions posed by my mom, and just ran to my room. What do you do with that? When someone says something like that to you? He… made him disappear because he likes… no… is obsessed with me. He said it himself, he knows everything about me. Was he being serious? Does he really know everything about me? Is that why he would always stare at me at school but never talk to me? Is that why he always watches me walk home after school? How long has this been going on? And what do I do with this? I don’t want to leave my school, I love it there. But I can’t go back knowing that he is obsessed with me. And… what do I do about Johnny? I can’t tell anyone. He might hurt more of my friends. No. I have to keep this to myself. As much as I miss him and want him to be okay, I can’t tell anyone. Right?

Noah - 8

I made her mad. I can’t do that. It’s something Johnny would do. I can’t be like him. Can’t be Johnny. Don’t be Johnny. I watched her run into her house and I turned to walk to mine.

At school on Monday I walked the halls repeating to myself the words that kept me focused on what I had to do to win Lennea back. ‘Don’t be Johnny. Don’t be Johnny. Don’t be Johnny.’ I repeated to myself over and over. Whenever I saw her in the hallway she would look away or ignore me if I smiled or tried to talk to her. I guess I should give her some time to adjust to all this. To the fact that he’s finally gone. That I saved her. That I’m her hero. Maybe a couple of days would do, it shouldn’t take any longer than that.

It was lunch now and I sat in my usual place by the front door of the school. It was about the middle of lunch when I saw blue and red lights out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and was watching the police cars that were rolling into the school parking lot when I heard a voice behind me.

“Noah Patterson?” It said. I turned to see two police officers looking at me through dark sunglasses. The one who spoke pulled his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose so that he stared at me over them with cold grey eyes.

“Yes.” I said, confidently. I had to act like I had nothing to hide.

“Stand up and turn around, please, with your hands behind your back.” He said, rolling his eyes as if I should have known what was coming.

“What!?” I blurted.

“You’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Jonathan Flores. You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. -” His words faded in the background, as I frantically looked side to side. I was too shocked to listen to him. “How could they have found out? I didn’t tell anyone!” I thought. I was still looking around when I saw Lennea out of the corner of my eye. I focused my gaze on her and watched her walk up to me, hands clenched around her backpack straps.

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I just couldn’t keep this to myself.”