Young Writers Society

I still remember the first time I met Blake. We were going to the same elementary school; I didn’t know him that well. I was playing in the sand box and I found a necklace. The necklace had a single silver charm with a very small, forest green emerald incrusted in it. The chain was broken where the clasp should have been, it obviously had fallen off one of the girls when they were playing. None of the girls had complained about losing a necklace before. Believe me they would have.
I picked up the small treasure and put it in the front pocket of my pink, OshKosh B’Gosh, corduroy, overall, dress. I smiled happily and kept playing in the sand, until a dark shadow loomed over me, make that two. All the color gone from my face, I was on the edge of crying. Don’t let me cry in front of them! I can’t let them take the treasure! I slowly looked up at the two big boys. “Hiya, fellas,” I said as cheerfully as I could, trying to muster enough courage to keep the tears back, trying to be strong like my big brother. I stood up wiped the sand off my dress. The fake confidence was wearing thin as the boys both smirked. “Come on kitty hand over the necklace. We’ll leave you alone if you hand it over.” He said in an evilly gentile voice that drifted over me like palpable fear.
“Yeah kitty, just hand it over and we’ll go. You can keep messing around in the dirt like the smelly kitty cat you are.” Said goon number two left of goon number one. Goon number one was Johnny Rodgers, roomer was he killed cats and ate them for supper, I believed it. Goon number two was Steven king, who was my best friend until he started hanging out with Johnny. Our friendship ended was when he called me a rat eater and told me Johnny thought I was un-cool so we couldn’t hang out anymore. I would have been able to hold back my tears a bit longer if Steven wasn’t there. My brother would have been ashamed, my hot salty tears rolled down my cheeks and Johnny pushed me down and took the necklace out of my front pocket. “Give it back, Johnny!” I screamed at him and pounded my fists on his back. The blows were weak and only made Johnny laugh. I fell to my knees; only glimpsed Steven flinch at my quiet sobs once before my tears filled my stinging eyes blurring my vision again.
I felt a figure stand next to me, he felt like he was just a little bit taller than me but about my age. I looked up and saw him. He was wearing a black and green T- shirt; his hair was straight, thin and whispered around his face like his own personal black ocean falling slightly over his ears. His black jeans made a gentile swishing sound when he stopped next to me. The Goons stopped laughing and their faces went pale. “She’s a friend of yours, Blake? I didn’t think you hung out with weaklings like kitty here.” Johnny tried to cajole Blake into letting them have their fun. “I’d like it if you would give her her treasure back, and leave her alone from now on. You got me?” He said in a low cool tone as if he were asking for directions to the nearest barber shop to get his ocean tamed. The way he stood up to them gave me more confidence. He held his hand out awkwardly and told me to get up. I took his hand, got up and dusted the sand off my dress. My tears had dried, and Blake was standing there defiantly as if asking for them to cross the line. To my surprise it was Steven who spoke first. “ Here Kat, I’m sorry. We’ll stop bothering you.” He said gently, taking my breath away, handing me the necklace. Johnny looked astonished and a little mad but then Blake cleared his throat and they left. I gave Steven a smile and he smiled back, he hadn’t done that in a very long time.
“Thank you, Blake.” I said very cheerily as I held on to the necklace and put it back in my front pocket. “Any time, I hate guys who pick on kids weaker than them.” He paused and looked at me annoyed. “What are you staring at?” It was then that I realized as my face flushed red I was watching the breeze play with his hair. “You’re hair.” I said sheepishly. “Oh,” He looked a bit dark; apparently he was confused over what to do. “would you like to touch it?” He said at last. I was sort of taken aback by his answer. “Won’t it blow away in the wind?” I looked at him saucer eyed. I heard him chuckle which made me smile.