alr so this is a story I began writing during school. im proud of it. btw its not anything magical or experimenty, although it gets angsty. Chapter 1: Stranger Danger I raced through the crowd trying to catch up to my parents. My legs were short and tiny. I was four years old. Suddenly I felt a touch on my shoulder. “Are you okay honey?” asked a man who looked about as old as my dad. I hesitated. My father’s voice echoed in my ears. “If a stranger ever talks to you, walk away. Unless I told you that they are safe” In my four year old mind that meant stranger danger. I was scared. I loved people touching me, until this day. I could see my parents through the crowd. “Stay away from me!” I screamed at him. The crowd went silent. Everyone stopped moving around me, including my parents. I ran to them, grabbing my father tightly. I never wanted to be touched by anyone who wasn’t my parents again. “Jeffery, stop scaring children.” A police officer walked up to the man. “But I was just-” “Save it. You're on thin ice Jeff.” The police officer said, bringing him to the police station. Chapter 2: Middle School I had just finished fifth grade, with a lot on my mind. My best friend’s voice echoed in my ear. “Why don't you ever let me touch you? You act like I’m a stranger! What’s your problem?” What’s my problem. How am I supposed to know? A tear dropped down my cheek. My stupid touch problems cost me a whole friendship. I punched my pillow. Tears dropping more frequently. I heard my phone ping. A text from Myah, my friend who moved away. Myah <3 6:42 P.M. whats up? im boredddd Me 6:43 P.M. im fine ig Myah <3 6:43 P.M. nah. ur def not fine. spill it Me 6:44 P.M. ughhhh. clair and i arent friends anymore. my stupid touch issues cost me a whole friendship :( Myah <3 6:45 P.M. rlly? yall were besties b4. okay. dont call your touch issues stupid. its one of the parts of you that i love, and i dont want you thinking like that. Me 6:46 P.M. alright. gn Middle school. It started tomorrow. I had to see Clair with all her new friends. I don't want to go to middle school tomorrow. Tears ran down my face. I went to sleep with a lot on my mind. I didn't like thinking about all this stupid stuff. It was the morning of sixth grade. I rode on the metro. It was packed. I hated packed trains, because my shoulder was always touching someone else's. Someone bumped into me. I recognized his face immediately. Jeffrey. I screamed, and ran off the metro. Everyone stared at me but I didn’t care. I hated that man. I fell on my knees and sobbed. Then, Clair passed me. She was with the two most popular girls in our grade. They whispered something into each others ears and laughed. Although Clair didn’t laugh. She looked at me with a look in her eyes, as if a cry for help. Then I saw it. The cigarette. There was a cigarette popping out of Maddie’s coat pocket. Maddie pulled one out, and offered it to Clair. Clair hesitated, and looked at me again. “Stop!” I yelled. Maddie and Mary looked at me like I was a weirdo. “She doesn’t want to!” Clair had a look of relief in her eyes. “Like, how do you even know that?” Maddie rolled her eyes. “I knew.” I said, smiling at Clair. She smiled back. That was another thing I had. I knew what emotion someone was feeling, and Clair was scared in that moment. “Well weirdo, why don’t you like, let Clair choose?” Mary said. Mary and Maddie gave her a threatening look, and I gave her a smile. Mary and Maddie did something, but I'm not sure what. Whatever it was, it made Clair go to them. They gave me a dirty smile and walked away. I had knocked the cigarettes out of Maddie’s coat, so none of that. But I had just saved my friend from smoking, and she chose the ones who pressured her. This day just couldn’t get any worse. You know how I said this day couldn’t get any worse? I was wrong. I had just gone to my locker, and a tall boy, with black messy hair, opened the one next to mine. He smiled at me, and I blushed. Another boy came up next to him and said: “Ooh! Jackson has a girlfriend!” “Shut up dude he barely knows her.” Another boy said. I was red in the face now. “Sorry about my friends. I’m Jackson.” Jackson said. “Amile” I replied, smiling. Then, an alert began to ring. “LOCKDOWN! LOCKDOWN” a voice said. “C’mon” Jackson said, taking my hand. I began panicking and shaking. He touched me. I shook his hand off and followed him. He brought me into a classroom, where only a teacher was, hiding under his desk. The teacher pointed to a table. We hid underneath the table. “Why did you shake my hand off?” Jackson asked. I hesitated. “I um, have touch issues.” “What do you mean?” “Well, when someone other than my parents touches me, I get scared and panicked.” I said. He nodded, then apologized. I heard running outside. I was deeply afraid. Why did middle school have to be so scary?
