Here I Am

Torn Away

We were running; it was all a-blur and streets seemed to melt past as Ryan pulled me with him, hardly even panting. I know he ran track sometimes and all, but give me a freaking break here. My lungs felt like they were going to explode even though I spent almost half my time in a pool. My vision was fading gradually and I realised that I was fainting. I wanted to say something; I don’t know what, maybe:

                “Hey Ry, could we take a quick break running from the possible serial killer chasing after us? Yeah, I’m feeling kinda woozy,”

                But even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, because it felt as if someone had put those really thick duct tapes around my mouth and put a sack of potatoes on my chest. I was definitely going to pass out now. I closed my eyes.

                I wonder what Ian was doing right now. Look, if I’m going to die, at least let me have my fantasy.

                I’m pretty sure it was a couple of hours before I opened my eyes and I noticed we were at Ryan’s place. I was feeling mighty groggy and it felt as if someone had slapped me on my boobs- or my chest, cause I wasn’t about to kid myself that I had suddenly gotten boobs from heaven. Still, they hurt like hell!

                “Ow!” I winced as I touched them. Ryan looked at me and rolled his eyes. “What the hell happened?” I asked, trying to sit up.

                “You passed out and fell on your face,” he replied simply, like I had asked him if he wanted fries with that.

                “You ass, you could have caught me,” I complained, rubbing my chest earnestly. You’re probably wondering why I am doing this in the presence of Ryan. Elementary; I just didn’t give a flying rat’s ass whether he looked or not.

                “I’m sorry if I was trying to save our asses from that crazy asshole,” he said, running a hand through his hair. Ryan was frustrated. I don’t know why though, but the classic Ryan response to frustration or stress was a hand through the hair.

                “We should just call the cops,” I said simply, reaching for the receiver. He beat me to it.

                “No need,” he said, turning away from me.

                “What the hell do you mean by that? No need? This mother f****** almost killed us,” I said, trying to sound reasonable. Well, I’m pretty sure I sounded as reasonable as a drug addict going cold turkey.

                “Forget it, Al; it was probably some crazed stalker or something. It wouldn’t be worth it.” I didn’t want to argue with him; I could tell even he was having doubts about what he had just said, but didn’t want to say anymore. I wanted to forget this incident too because as much as my life sucked balls, I was used to it. It was the only one I knew. Change would be unkind to me, besides, I was having a jolly old time stalking Ian. What more could a depraved, high school sophomore want?

                “I’m hungry,” I said, throwing Ryan off-guard.

                “What?” he asked, his face scrunched up to look at me like I was growing arms out of my eyes.

                “I’m hungry,” I repeated, shuffling to the kitchen.

                “Are you alright, Al?” he asked, and I could hear the worry in his voice. The hell was he worried about? I wasn’t about to chop myself to pieces with some random cleaver alright, jeez.

                “I’m fine, I just want some grub,” I said, stretching my arms upwards, then sideways, then backwards. I heard three distinct pops and confirmed that I had done it well.

                “What do you want to eat?” he asked coolly, walking over to the fridge and opening it up. It had everything I liked or wanted to try out. It had some left over noodles from the last time I had come over; which was yesterday. He had wanted to throw it out, but being the poor ass church mouse that I am, I couldn’t bear to see good food going to waste. I reached past him and grabbed it, turning around to face the microwave to heat it up.

                “You know, it’s probably your fault that this douche bag ran after us in the first place,” I complained. He started to protest, but I turned to face him and he saw my smile. He smiled as well.

                “You are beautiful, Al,” he said, still looking at me. Huh? Where the hell did that come from? I could only snort.

                “Yeah, probably win first price at the blue ribbon dog show,”

                “Al,”

                “Kidding! Jeez, Ry,” I rolled my eyes, hearing the familiar beeping sound, telling me that my leftover noodles were ready. I took it out and before Ryan could say, “Watch it,” I dropped the steaming bowl of noodles. See why it’s such a miracle that I made it into sophomore year in the first place?

                “Be careful,” he scolded as I rolled my eyes, my index finger in my mouth. Shit! That hurt so much! He took my arm and pulled it toward his face for better look-see. My finger left my mouth with a pop and he looked at it closely. Then he started doing the weirdest thing. He started blowing on it with soft breaths and then kissed it. My eyes widened because, even though Ryan and I were as close as boy and girl could get, we had never been this close. I started to say something but he shushed me. I started to feel weird, but then I looked at him and he was concentrating on something. I heard a faint ticking noise. It was a steady, soft sound, but clear to my ears. I looked at him and he looked back at me.

                He lifted his head and started to head for his bedroom. I followed him, meaning to ask just what the fuck that was about.

                “Take this,” he said, shoving a gleaming silver ring into my hand. I gasped. What the hell was going on? Was Ryan proposing? “I know what’s going through your over-imaginative mind, Ally, and no, I’m not,” he said chidingly, pulling me with him to the fire escape. I climbed onto the ladder and started to get down, but he stopped me.

                “Ally, don’t lose this ring no matter what, do you understand?” he instructed, taking my hand and putting it on my left index finger.

                “What are you talking about?” I asked, feeling sick all of a sudden.

                “Promise,” he ordered. I nodded quickly. Suddenly a loud crack and a large explosion sounded I saw him say something, but I couldn’t hear anything. I was partially deaf from the sound of the explosion. Then Ryan pushed me down the ladder and I fell onto the hard pavement. It hurt, but all I was thinking was what the hell Ryan was doing? The ticking thing was a bomb! I looked up and saw the house start to explode again and again and all I could do was scream for help even though I knew it was too late.