Chapter 1: Hi my name is Teresa. Officer Jim has taught me a lot of things. For example the 8 ways to say no to drugs. How gangs can affect your family if you enter one. These young people get involved in gangs because they have lower self-steem, and they think these people are their friends. It is not good being in a gang because if you try to get out you can get killed. I also learned that nicotine is a substance that is found in cigarettes. Drinking alcohol can cause accidents, chage your personality, and you can have trouble learning and remembering. Violence is not good because people get hurt and die. That is why I promise to my teacher, to Officer Jim, and to my parents that I will be drug-free, gang-free and violence-free. I laugh. This paper is a lie. It sickens me. I do not want to go home. I know what I will find. Open the door and be ready. I stay after school until it closes. Even though I do not want to go. My house is two blocks away.
Lies and lies. Open the door and this is what I will find. That is why I walk slowly. I keep crumbling the paper. My parents are working. I respect them because they only want the best for me and my brothers. Things have begun to change. They are not like before. My family drifts. It is not fair. I cannot do anything. In two weeks my class will do a play based on what we learned. How to be drug-free. I will not participate. I open the useless door that is suppose to keep intruders from entering. I live in an apartment complex. There are ten apartments. The parking lot is below. I go up the stairs. The keys. I put the key in. I approach the door and turn the knob. I hesitate. It would be good to remain here. To find something new. Hey up in the balcony, to the apartment next to mine, are two kids. I cannot keep waiting. I open the door. To accept my reality.
I find the same day. Noise, bottles rattling, and cheers. My brothers with beers in their hands sitting in the couch with their friends. One shows me a bottle and says "want some." I go to my room hungry and irritated. I try to do my history homework. Something about The French Revolution. Laughter, murmuring, screaming. In a while it will end. There. The fighting begins. One of my brothers is fighting with one of his friends. In the struggle they break one of the windows. "Come on! Let's clean this up." Trash bags are taken. Their friends leave. One of them spots me. "Go throw this. Check the mail too." My brothers laugh. "We will say someone threw a rock. They will believe it." I take the bag. I go down the stairs. Did someone say hi? As I go down I step on something. I am distracted. "Ow she stepped on my hand." I turn and there is a girl staring and a boy moving his hand. I did not notice they were sitting in the stairs. There is a door that leads to the parking lot. I go in. I do not want any trouble. It was an accident. I should apologize but I just want to get some sleep. Tomorrow should come quickly. I rush up the stairs. There is the girl standing in my path.
"Apologize," she commands. I do not want to cause trouble. The tone of her voice irritates me. "I won't. Is his fault for being in the way." Her eyes turn into a different color. She looks as if she could cut me into pieces. She just stares. So I stare back. I won't look away. I will not blink. She will not win. Some time passes. He appears. "I am fine." He grabs her hand. As she moves she keeps looking at me. I look at her to. They go up the stairs to their apartment. I go to mine. My brothers keep having fun. I go to my room. Strange kids. I hope I do not see them again.
Chapter 2: I eat my Corn Flakes. The table is empty. Five years ago things were good. We had just arrived in the United States. We went to the park, the movies, to meet my parents friends, to see other family members, to dine out, and go to parties. We were a family. Lowly things changed. Everyone begin to go thir way. To live for themselves. I stayed behind. No going out on weekends, the drinking came, and that was it. No one to share my worries, concerns, or happiness. My parents worked and worked. They had enough with my brothers's rebellion. Thanksgiving, Labor day, 4th of July. No school, no one around. I was sad in school because I was treated differently since did not speak English. Three years thrown to the side. On my own I began to learn that the world was full of confusion.
Apologize. Apologize. The girl's words keep ringing in my head. "Teresa have you decided if you want to participate," Officer Jim asks me kindly. She was scary. They do not attend this school. I did not see them in the morning. "Think about it." He talks to the kids. The play. I am not going to participate. It is wrong. It is a lie. One day out of spite I drank some beer. It tasted horrible. Who wants to smoke? The smell of cigarettes stay with one. The thought of performing infront of the whole school frightens me. To them I am not capable of it. Why do they think I keep quiet? Three kids are practicing a scene. "Want some grass?" The two respond together. "We don't do grass!" It is silly.
My brother's report cards arrive. I heat up some spaghetti for dinner. My brothers brag to each other about who has been absent from school more. The report cards are flush down the toilet. My parents will come late. They work in a hotel. I do my chores. Wash the dishes, pass thevacuum, and throw the trash. Just in case see them I grab the bag I prepared. I approach the stairs cautiously. They are not there. I run down and throw the trash. "There she is!" They are in the parking lot. "Let things be." I try to get back quickly but once again she stands in my way. This strange smell comes. Is it the trash? It is too strong. I can't move. I try to hold my breath. I am getting dizzy. I stagger forward holding out to the girl. Finally I manage to say "I am sorry." I let go and take a deep breath. The boy is in the stairs. I give him the bag. "For your hand." I gasp. Finally I am in my room. Was that stench coming from them? Were they wearing the same clothes as yesterday? Maybe they have it worst than me. I wake up at 2 a.m. I go to the kitchen. Throught the window I see the two kids. What would they be doing out this late. Their clothes seem to be stain with blood. I must be imagining. I go back to bed. In the morning I take a plastic bag and put inside some clothes that no one wears. I go up the stairs. To were they live. I knock. I ring the bell. Maybe they left for school. put the bag in a corner.
Chapter 3: I buy the newspaper. Today in the class we are going to learn how to read one. I look at the front page. The headline reads. "TWO KILLED." The first paragraph. "Two people were killed last night. Their necks were twisted. A neighbor heard some frightening wails. More on page A6. I browse through the article. Nothing. One of my teacher's friend is substituting for her. My teacher broke her arm while she was tilting her chair trying to get some candy. She will be out for some days. As the school day ends the principal announces that the school will be closing early for a few days. It is for our own safety and we are to "go straight home." Ah well. As usual my brothers are drinking. Every local channel shows the same breaking news. "Witness says he saw a boy and a girl running. He then hear screams and ran outside. Later he reports seeing the two kids flying." Another witness states. "How could two kids do this? Flying. Impossible." The attack took place around 1 a.m. It was not a dream.
I have only seen then at night. The looked pale. They do not care about changing clothes. That smell. Are they dead? Zombies. Blood. Do I have two vampires for neighbors? Avoid. Of course. During the day they are not around. Only at night. I sort of apologized. Problem solved. rush with my chores. But forgot about the daylight savings time. It is night. "Go throw the trash. Your two new buddies are there." The trash. My parents will scold me if I do not throw it. Lousy chores. I peek through the window. It is too foggy. I rub the the glass. Lucky me. They are standing outside. They wave. I duck. They are wearing the clothes that I left for them. "Go!" I take the bag. "I am going." I step into the unknown.
Chapter 4: They are standing next to the door. "Hi ther e," she says. Her voice sounds pleasant and friendly. They smell nice. The boy is twisting and turning a cube. "Hi." My curiosity wins. "What's that?" He hands me the cube. I turn it around. The colors are worn out. I make out some letters. It is a Rubik's cube. I twist it. I used to play with one of this but only manage to solve one side. "Me and my brothers used ..." The trash. I give him back the cube. It is gone. "I threw it." Wow. "Thanks." One of my brothers friends arrives with a case of beers and goes in. "Want to come over and play?" I can be rude. For one day things can be something else. "Sure." Together we go. I can just imagine. Coffins and black capes. A secret society. They must be really old. "Do you like puzzles?" the girl asks. "Sure. I am not good at solving them though." The door opens. What I see is not what want.
An old trunk. That is it. Both are distracted opening the trunk. No table, no chairs, no fridge, no food, no couch, no t.v., dirty floor, dusty kitchen, containers and clothes scattered around the living room. The apartment is stripped. Tomorrow they could leave and no one would notice. But there is this. I can feel. This that has been missing for a while from school, from my family, from my life. Something beautiful, that I had lost. It comes from them. This thing call love. We are seating in a circle. "Let see." I try to put back the little pieces of glasses. They get stuck in my fingers. I give up. "It must take a log time to put the egg back together." This is one of their precious treasures. "Thanks for the clothes," the boy says. After a bit I leave. I might not see them again.
The next day we all sit for a rare breakfast. The table is round. Five seats. My mom keeps looking at some envelope. "They are going to come for our things." She murmurs. My dad throws a napkin. "So Teresa what is this about you having friends?" He begins to talk about the friend that betray them and "there is no such things as friends." I listen to his vague story. I cannot understand the point. I leave for school were things make less sense.
Chapter 5: My teacher is back. She looks displeased. Some kids from the class got into a bickering figh with some kids from another class. "This ends now." She takes the class to the other room were the other class is. What do I have to pay for what others did? So some kids fight and everyone has to suffer. They all look like they dislike each other. This make less sense. I like this teacher from this class. He is cool. I have nothing against this kids. This is confusing. I run out of the class. I recall who I was. In second grade things were good. Then when my parents moved here. The school became a nightmare. I try to hold on and be good. I did my homework force, myself to talk but I was not part of the class. I felt outside. I remember that kid Alex who I slapped because he would not stop calling me names. That other girl Ana who I fought because she kept making faces at me. I became like them. But it was not fun to make others sad, to laugh at them, or be mean. I did not had it in me. I quit and became more quiet. An spectator seeing and observing. I keep trying to forgive myself for my foolish actions and accept that I am not that anymore.
"Nothing happened. I just felt like throwing up." I explain to Officer Jim. I see the other kids. The play resumes. We are in the school auditorium. "Did you think about it? It would only be one line." He hands me a paper with the line. I had refuse already but he gives me the paper just in case. I read the line. "I don't do drugs!" It sounds false. The school day is over. Since the school closes after classes there is no choice but to go home. Lee and Steban approach the girl with a bottle. Lee says "Do you want to drink some beer?" The girl shouts. "I don't do drugs!" That is the line. I throw the paper. The weekend is coming. Tonight I will stay inside. I take a nap. Though when it is night there is this force that asks for a change. I just go out. Tonight only I. No nonsense no staying in. I have some money that I save from my allowance. Pizza. The place is just around the corner. I order a supreme pizza. I am the only customer. I put my hand on the window. There I am . My reflection. The other me that lives a better life. In this other one I wait for a rescue that never arrives. I look at the empty street light and for a moment I see the two kids hiding lurking, stalking. As if they are ready to attack. Is it? I look again. Someone taps my back . Let it be nothing.
It is Alex. The kid I slapped in third grade. I had run into him a few times and he has tried to get back at me. He can get over the slap I guess. He is with two other kids. "There is no one to help you." The pizza is on the table. "I came to eat." I am not scare. I can handle them. Alex pushes me. "Let her be." The boy and the girl are here. I know what they are capable off. "Leave please." The girl just keeps standing there. "I can handle this. Trust me." They go. Alex and his buddies are distracted. I pick up the slices of pizza and throw them at them. I hit Alex in the stomach. I run not looking back.
I keep running. That day will come when this ends. Him or me. One must lose. Those are the rules for this life. No one will do anything. The first time it happened the teacher did nothing. It was me who had to apologize. For not keeping quiet I got bruises. That is when I knew I was alone. What a lousy week. The upcoming boring play, my drunken brothers, my parents nagging, and this. There is no bright spot. Then these strange kids have been the only ones to defend me .
Chapter 6: There is this line that separates me. The girl and the boy stand outside while I remain in. I do not need bodyguards. I do not need friends. I am like Alex. We each have a role to play. Someone always wants something in return. A loser. A winner. It is written. By then I will not care. I stop running. Thetwo kids are there. Again they have the same clothes from before. I want to pass them by. Things are like they are. Both are who they are. I am me. I have enough worries then to learn their names. That will only lead to trouble. To know their names means I care. Then they will invade my life, haunt my thoughts, make me hope again.
They keep getting me out of place. Stay. I want to help them. They bring out my kind side. This part that wants to do good. "Romeo and Juliet." I hold the book. It is old and muldy. A few pages are torn. "Have you read it?" she asks. My older brother had to read it for 9th grade. He called it a good book for putting him to sleep. Last year when some actors came to the school they perform the last part. "No, but I had the whole thing spoiled. They showed the last part. He poisons himself and she stabs herself. It was sad." I put the book back. I help them to wash and dry their clothes. I am again with them. I play some puzzles, I help tidy up their few belongings but it is time. Time for introductions. What is a name? How does it define me? "Teresa if we did not have names then how would we be able to know others." My second grade teacher words. "My Eli... Oskar is..." Echoes. Are those their names. Eli. Oskar. I am drifting. "What is your name?" My name. I am fighting. I shake my head. "Teresa." I finally say. "See you tomorrow?" both Eli and Oskar say at the same time. "Of course." Is this how friendship begins. The only thing I can lose is myself.
Chapter 7: As I got ready to go to sleep I felt bad. This feeling that I could not clean up. This shame that I felt because I had not listen to my parents. To them friendship did not exist since that friend had betrayed them. I remember my father's words that day when he drop me off to school and his face was serious. His words sounded angry when he said "There is no such things as friends. Remember Teresa." Out of nowhere came his words. I did not answer. And tomorrow they had ask me to come. I had said yes. I had betrayed my parents.
But there is noises in the night. Furniture, plates sounds of glass, clank clank, thomp, voices. "Hurry up!" Rushing to finish. Then someone wakes me up. "Teresa lets go with are moving!" What! It is 4 a.m. My mom dresses me quickly. We rush outside and get in the van. Eli. Oskar. What do I do? In the morning I go and take the keys and run run to the apartment to were they are. But they are gone. As if no one was ever here. Some guy is painting the walls. Gone. I sit in a corner and cry. Night comes and for one last time I go to my apartment.
I look at the window. It is foggy again. I write their names. Eli. Oskar. I put my hand circling their names. From the other side I see another hands. I rub the glass. It is them. They are back. They are smiling and so am I. I go outside. We hug one another. This time I make my choice. I leave with Eli and Oskar. My friends. To my new life.