Chapter 3

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A response to Chapter 2 by Morgan
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Chapter 3:

 "You can't ignore me forever, Jaden." She leaned in closer as if to imply that if I wasn't going to speak then she may as well try to hear my thoughts.

"I'm not ignoring you." I spoke the words firmly, though not really believing them myself. "I just need to be left alone for-" I paused suddenly, considering the appropriate suffix. 'for a few months?' 'for a few years?' 'forever?' I tried to think of a nicer way to let her know, but the words 'left alone' were already lingering for too long.

"I can't leave you alone, Jaden. I still haven't kept up my end of the promise. You said no matter what happens, as long as I teach you how to fend for yourself, you promise never to leave my side. So even if you want to ignore me, you can't leave my side. I'm afraid of what those jerks will do to you if they see you alone again!"

"Why? What do people like that even want form me?! I'm a nobady with nothing of value! Topanga, I just can't do this anymore. Ever since I met you, you've been helping me and fighting my battles for me. Now everyone thinks that I'm incapable of doing anything but run and cry to you when I'm in trouble, and that just isn't right."

The bus came to an abrupt stop and the doors swung open as Leum started for the front. As he waved goodbye and hopped down the steps I watched with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia as he was engulfed in the sea of faces turning into a river with laughter and screams of excitement flowing into the halls of his school. Oh, how I longed to be just another face again. No more friends, no more enemies, no more friends of enemies becoming enemies of my friends. The bus raced down the street again, with another 6 miles or so before we reached our destination. I returned my attention to Topanga, who apparently had not taken her gaze off of me at all while I was staring out the window. "Aren't you tired of being a nobody?" Her words seemed more like an honest question than a simple taunt. "Don't you get tired of never knowing what else you could be meant for?"

"No, I actually loved every minute of it. And now everyone seems to be out to get me all because of-"

"Because I kept you alive," She interrupted. "Are you really going to try to blame me for what happened that night? Jaden, those men were looking for someone else and thought it was you. They were ready to hurt, maybe even kill you! You should consider yourself lucky to have a friend like me who knows what I'm doing in a situation like that."

As she went on about herself and all the ways I should be thankful, I began to relive that night in my mind and I thought about what might have happened had she not found me pinned against the ground with three men yelling at me in some weird language. I remember the man with the switchblade standing over me, pointing at the sky and then waiting for me to responde, as the other two men snickered and cheered the other on. But suddenly the man was on the floor, followed by the other two within seconds. To this day I still don't know what happened in the confusion of the moment, nor do I recall seeing how she managed such an insane feat of physical dominance. All I remember is looking up a few seconds later to see Topanga standing over the three men with a dissatisfied grin on her face. She said something to the effect of "He's not yours to hunt." and then I blacked out. Or for all I know I may have dreamed the whole thing up and blacking out was just my brain telling me the dream was too much to process. All I can say is that Topanga was anything but normal, and ever since that day I see everyone around me in a  completely different light. A man walking down the street is now a potential threat instead of someone who might know the time. I just wanted to go back to a life of homework and video games. A life without fear or danger. The life to which I belonged. Or so I thought.

The more I thought about it, the more lost I became, creating more questions than answers every time I replayed the scenario. There were so many questions I had. But all that matters now is that she shows me this un-human power that allowed her to so easily cast a shadow on every aspect of my life, not to mention take out 3 armed thugs in less than 10 seconds. Maybe then she would trust me on my own and leave me alone! But my thoughts were soon interrupted again by the sharp screech of the brakes as the bus came to a much more abrupt and violent halt. Bags flipped every which way as books and belongings tumbled and scattered all over the isle and floor. A hush fell over the bus as everyone regained their composure and looked onward to the front of the bus, looking for the cause of the driver's unreasonably harsh actions. A tall dark figure in a black trenchcoat stood before us in the middle of the street, peering into the bus. Though his eyes were hidden by sunglasses, I noticed a smirk forming as his peering suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. My heart sank into my stomache as I came to grips with what I feared to be the inevitable truth; I recognized his posture and his smile, and it seemed the recognition was mutual as I gathered enough of my shaking voice together to whisper, "He's looking right at me."

My heart began to race as the man walked toward the doors. Dispite the driver's verbal protests and attempts to operate the mechanisms, the doors flew open and would not budge otherwise. And as he came closer I could see more details about his clothing and size. It was him; the man that tried to kill me a few months before. Only this time I noticed he had no knife, or visible weapon drawn, nor was he accompanied by anyone else. The only thing in his right hand was a small red book no larger in size than the hand that carried it. Knowing there were only seconds left before I would be trapped on the bus with this maniac, I felt the urge to make a move, but my body refused to listen. The only movement I could manage was the shaking and quivering of my knees and lips. And in my desparation I looked to the seat next to me to ask Topanga what to do now, but there was no response. She was nowhere to be seen.



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Chapter 4: To be written by Momo. Link will be available when complete
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