Aya. The thought rises in my mind and I look toward her house. She'll know where he went. I knock on her door and hear her mom yell "Aya! Get your butt to the door right now!" I hear her door slam and she yells as soon as she gets to the door "I know!" She opens the door and I tell her in a panic "Michael ran away." She sighs and leans against the doorway "again?" Again? "Alright" she sighs "let me grab my jacket." She grabs her brown leather jacket and slips on her shoes then meets me at the door again "c'mon. Let's go." She grabs the keys from the ash tray by the door then closes it. She leads and I follow her through the woods. We find him behind a tree near a bridge over a stream and I notice why he would come to this specific tree. M&K carved in a heart. "I miss you Tía" he whispers before he notices us and stands up. "Aya" he says with almost surprise "um, I-I-" He doesn't finish his explanation of being here so she does for him "got in a fight with your dad again?" He looks down and sighs "yeah." The red mark is gone but left a bruise that is healing now and she sees it "he hit you." He brings his hand up to his cheek and nods with a fake smile "yeah" he laughs nervously "got a tooth too." She looks down sadly "you don't have to hide from me, Michael." His smile fades and he looks back down to the ground "I know." There's a moment of silence and he sits back down against the tree "it hurts" he pauses and tears come to his eyes again "a lot." He looks up at Aya with confusion "I can heal, right? If I can heal without even leaving a scar why does this hurt so much?" She raises her hand to his face and brushes away a tear "because some things just don't heal." He looks down again and shakes his head as he cries "it's not fair! Why does it have to be me?! I don't want this anymore!" I step in when Aya can't answer "because the strongest people are the ones who have been broken most and continue to get up. I have faith you can do that." He looks up at me with hope and stands up to wipe away the tears "ok" he says quietly "then I just have to be strong." He smiles and suddenly hugs me "thank you" he whispers. I hug him back and I can feel his smile widen. He lets go and Aya takes his hand "let's go home." He looks a bit worried and stops as Aya and I walk along but stop as soon as we notice "home" he whispers. "What's wrong" I ask and he looks up at me "I can't go back there." He backs away to run but I stop him "don't make me go back there! Please, don't make me go back there." I force him into a hug to stop him from pushing me away and to calm him down "we're not going to take you back. We won't let him hurt you." His breathing slows and he stops fighting against me "what do you mean then?" "My house" I say with a sigh of relief "mom won't mind." He takes a deep breath to completely calm himself down and avoid crying again "ok."
YOU ARE READING
Glass Dragon
Teen FictionA teen is living a normal life as an underdog until a hurricane comes and washes away his home. He develops the ability to heal and fight. Finding a new family, he risks his life to protect to them.
