My Knight in Board Shorts and Leather Flip-Flops

Chapter 1

 Chapter 1

          One year later…

It was the first day of school. Actual public school. Not homeschooling. Not the kind of schooling I got everyday for the past year as I recovered from the most traumatizing incident of my sixteen-year-old life.

Derek Wilson had been my boyfriend. Emphasis on the “had”. When I was fourteen-years-old, he was the love of my life. The only person I cared about aside from my father. He was cute, funny, smart, just plain perfect. My Prince Charming. My knight in shining armor.

We had started dating freshman year. He had always been there for me. At my smallest paper cut, my merest “boo hoo”, my most insignificant problem. He was the best, in other words. But one summer night changed it all.

Derek Wilson would serve jail time for date rape and the sexual assault, of me, Madeline Bell. Sure, jail would change him. But how would his punishment change me back to the person I was? It wouldn’t.

In my year of rehabilitation, my father pushed me to my physical limit. I was enrolled in the best karate lessons America had to offer and I became a black belt. I ran ten miles every day; strengthening my legs, lungs, and heart. I have the ability to defend myself on a whim or sprint away faster than a normal human being. Of course, I’m not normal. But I used to be.

I used to be that gorgeous, blue-eyed, blonde angel that strutted down the halls in the most fashionable attire, mesmerizing the glazed eyes of the guys and the envious eyes of the girls. I was a part of what you would call the “preps” or the “populars”. Yep, that was me. I was that kind of girl.   

But not anymore.

I adjusted my black hoodie to hide as much of my face and hair as possible. I wouldn’t be sashaying down the halls of my new school. Not today, not ever.

“Hey, hon’, you ready for school?” my father inquired worriedly.

I exhaled a shuddering sigh, “Yeah, I should be fine.”

 “Remember, palm to the nose can kill.”

“Uh huh.”

“Got your cell phone?”

“Yep.”

“How ‘bout your First-Aid kit?”

“Of course.”

“Gun?”

“Dad!”

“Just kidding. But I mean, if you really want to….”

“Dad, the school would expel me if I brought my gun to school.”

“Fine, fine. Have it your way.”

Yeah, I have my own gun. Dad brought me to the shooting range a few times. Not to brag, but I have amazing aim.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you to school? I got time.”

“Dad, if I wanted to be driven to school by a car, I would drive myself.”

He held his hands up in defeat, “Okay, I get it. Big girl, now. Ready to fight the world.”

I nodded and swung my black backpack over my shoulder.

Dad began, “Fly like a butterfly…”

Before I shut the door, I finished, “… and sting like a bee.”   

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“Ooh, who’s the new girl?”