The wind blew delicately over daisies growing by the pond. The smell of algae growing at the bottom filled the air and was carried along with the wind, which lightly graze the sides of pale blushed cheeks and sun kissed skin. Heavy panting and footsteps filled the silence in the heavy grasslands of the prairie. They tightly held hands and stared freedom and fear directly in the face. They jump, not knowing where they will land. The dark abyss fills the void of light, consuming and obscuring their vision from the bottom. Men and women dressed in white robes and pointed hats, stand at the edge and watch as the south’s Romeo and Juliet fall into the prairie’s unknown.

   Summer break was finally over. As the sun rose on the scorching hot Monday morning, the groans of anxious students were heard all across Almont county. The loudest groan was heard from the house of the Skizz family. Pete Skizz slugs himself out of bed and attempts to go about his morning routine. He was almost late for his bus, forgot to eat breakfast much less brush his teeth and his clothes were all torn and crumpled. However, Pete Skizz did not let this morning ruin the rest of his day. He marched out of his house triumphantly, with high hopes to find love. Pete Skizz was eighteen years old which in his town was the perfect time in a young man’s life to find love, get married and settle down. There was a slight problem: Peter Skizz was a hopeless romantic. He could barely talk to girls and was unable to properly read the emotions of others. He was awkward. He was peculiar. He was different.. Pete had social emotional agnosia:  A person with this disorder is unable to nonverbally perceive emotions of others in social situations, limiting normal social interactions. Nonetheless, he was still positive that one day he will find someone who would love him for the way he was and he was right.  That day Chimdi Johnson,, the new girl from Nigeria, entered the Almont high school’s front doors.
“How exotic!” He whispered to himself

He went through the first two months of school admiring her from the distance. He loved the way her dark complexion shined in the morning sunlight, how her chocolate brown colored eyes lit up on dark afternoon’s, how her hair twisted and curled into weird but beautiful shapes. He just loved everything about her and he could not find a single flaw.

“If I could think about all these nice things about her I can surely say them to her” Pete thought to  himself.
As Christmas vacation approached, Pete finally worked up the courage to talk to her. He followed her into the girl’s bathroom but stopped once she entered the stall. He started to hear whimpers and sobs of sadness coming from behind the bathroom stall. As a person who suffers from social emotional agnosia he couldn't think of anything sympathetic to say to her, so he said the first thing that popped into his head.

“You’re really exotic” He shouted.

The crying intensified. Pete was embarrassed. The single chance he had to talk of the girl of his dreams, was ruined. Pete also began to cry, even louder than Chimdi. The stall door flung opened and Chimdi asked, “Why are you crying?”.

“I ruined the single chance I had to talk to the girl of my dreams” Pete responded

“Can you describe her for me?” said Chimdi.

“Well, her complexion is really dark which most people in this town would think is ugly… I think it’s absolutely beautiful. And those hershey chocolate brown eyes make me quiver every time and don’t even get me started on hair! I just adore her, she is a Greek Goddess in the flesh”

“What’s her name” Chimdi asked

“Chimdi Johnson… Matter of fact, I was following her in here to tell her all this but she started to cry when I said she was exotic and then I started to cry and then she opened the stall door and asked me why am I crying and then… ”

Pete looked up stunned, his true love was standing right in front of him. They both stared at each other for what seemed to be several hours and suddenly kissed.

“You have to meet my parents” Pete said breaking the kiss

“Umm.. we just met” exclaimed Chimdi “And second of all you’re white and I’m black. People of my skin color don’t have a good track record coming into a white man’s house unannounced”

“They will adore you, just as much as I do” Pete said.

Trusting the guy she just met, after school they both walked to Pete’s house. He opened the door and his parents were sitting on the couch as if they were waiting for him. Pete explained that he has finally found someone that he loves and that he was hoping to get their blessing. That evening the Skizz house was filled with with heated arguments and tears of disappointment. Pete Skizz was kicked out of his house for loving a black girl.

“You could come and bunk with us for a few days, my parents won’t mind” Chimdi said

Pete accepted the offer and willing went to  house to spend the night. Chimdi’s parents gave their blessing and were ecstatic a young caucasian boy like Pete was interested in their daughter. The following day, Pete and Chimdi were the buzz at school. Dirty looks were shot at them, balls of saliva were spat there way and mean, insulting slurs were quietly whispered among friend groups. Pete and Chimdi were not affected by it at all. They had each other and that’s all they needed. As the days and months went by, it seemed like the entire town was getting more and more frustrated with their relationship. Pete’s family disowned him and joined others in taunting  them everyday they walked home from school. Chimdi’s family were receiving death wishes and were scared for their lives. Some letters were so disturbing that it gave Chimdi nightmares.

“There are going to hang us, slit our throats, bury us alive” Chimdi said, “In Almont county our relationship is illegal. Our relationship is not welcome here. Just last week they were protesting outside of the house. We aren’t safe here anymore and don’t know what to do”.

“Let’s run away” Pete responded “We can love somewhere where it's not illegal, like the Moon or Canada. Just not here”.

Chimdi nodded and they devised a plan to leave that night. As midnight approached, Pete and Chimdi  packed up all their belongings and fled Almont county. They traveled for miles and miles looking for a place to rest for the night but couldn’t find one. Instead they were forced to make camp in the dense forest infested with bugs and insects. It wasn’t a pleasant or comfortable slumber for either of them. Pete couldn’t get any sleep. He mind was occupied a about his parents and why they didn’t support his relationship. Lost in his thoughts, Pete was not able to hear the noise radiating throughout the atmosphere. It sounded as if an army was marching towards them. The noise finally became loud enough to capture the attention of Pete and Chimdi. Pete peered through the bushes and saw people with white robes and pointed hats racing towards them with pitchforks  and torches. It was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Pete has only seen them once when he was about 10 years old. He quickly woke Chimdi up and they were on the move. However slowly but surely the KKK were following their track as if they were hunting dogs. They were able to finally catch up to them on an open prairie field. The leader of the KKK made her way to the front and called out across the field “Honey, Petey come home. We miss you”.

The voice sounded very familiar. It was Pete’s mother. Pete was stunned. He couldn't believe his parents were part of the KKK.

“Buttermilk, don’t make us do this. If you stay with her we will be forced to kill you too”.

The wind blew delicately on daisies growing by the pond. The smell of algae growing at the bottom filled the air and was carried along with the wind which lightly grazed the sides of pale blushed cheeks and sunkissed skin. Pete was willing to take the risk to be with the love of his life. He mouthed run to Chimdi a nd they were off. Heavy panting and footsteps filled the silence in the heavy grasslands of prairie. They tightly held hands and stared freedom and fear directly in the face. Chimdi and Pete stood as the edge of cliff. With the KKK gaining on them they had no choice. They jumped, not knowing where they will land. The dark abyss filled the void of light, consuming and obscuring their vision from the bottom. Men and women dressed in white robes and pointed hats, stand at the edge and watch as the south’s Romeo and Juliet fall into the prairie’s unknown.