One Shot (2 of 5)

INTRODUCING BRANDON

“So I’ll see you after first period?” Olivia asked me.

“Yea, I’ll meet you by your locker.” I replied with a smile.

“Great, see you then!” She kissed my lips and walked away. That was rather lovely.

I started walking to my classroom which was Algebra Trig. I walked into the classroom and sat in my normal seat which was the last seat by the window. From there, I had a great view of the city and the lake. A fellow classmate that I tend to associate with from time to time sat in front of me. I think he’d be considered a friend.

“So…. You and Olivia, huh?” He said to me.

“Good morning to you too, James.” I replied.

“Yea, yea, yea,” he ignored, “When the hell did you pull that off?”

“Last night.”

“How the hell did you pull that off?” He wondered.

“She approached me.” I proclaimed.

“Modesty has never been your strong suit.”

“Brandon, is it true that you and Olivia are dating now?” Rachelle asked me.

“Yes it is.” I replied.

“I hear y’all even rode here together!” Heather added.

I chuckled at that, but inside, I couldn’t understand the big deal. No sense in trying to figure it out now, especially with everyone surrounding me. Lucky for me, the teacher walked in, immediately ready to jump into the lesson. I started looking out the window as usual. I then felt my phone vibrate. Olivia was texting me.

“I’m sorry that u were getting so many dirty looks… A lot of haters here!” Her text read.

“So it seems.” I replied.

“I was wondering if u wanted 2 go 2 the movies 2nite? That new horror movie came out.”

“Yea, that sounds good. My mom won’t be home until late anyway.”

“Does she always work late on a Friday?”

“Busiest days…”

I hid my phone as the instructor handed me a quiz. I looked at it and immediately filled in my answers then went back to texting.

“I’ve been wondering, why does it feel like everyone is against me dating you?” I texted.

“It’s not that they’re against it, they’re just most likely jealous or don’t know anything about you so it baffles them.” She responded, drawing an unnatural facial expression from me.

“Oh… Makes sense, I guess. How do you really feel about it all?”

“It won’t really start 2 bother me until people start 2 disrespect you. I won’t allow that 2 happen.”

“Are you saying you’re going to protect me?” Saying that actually made me grin.

“With every ounce of my being!!!”

That made me smile. In fact, a series of different things were stirring up in me that I couldn’t really explain. It slightly worried me. We continued texting each other until class was over. We all exited the classroom and started heading to our next class. I, on the other hand, went straight to Olivia’s locker. I stood right behind her and watched her gather her stuff. She closed her locker, turned around and jumped from me startling her.

“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me!” She said, holding her chest with a big ass smile on her face. “I’mma need you to wear a bell or something.”

“If I did that, then you’d know I was coming.” I joked.

“Whatever!” She said as she took my arm.  “I just want to play hooky the rest of the day and spend it with you away from here.”

“I’m down for it, but you may mess up your perfect attendance.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m still trying to figure out why do I care so much.”

“Maybe because you strive for perfection.” I teased.

“Ha, yea right! I’m still walking around with an A- average. In fact aren’t you the number 1 student in our school?”

“Unlikely.” I said modestly.

“Uh huh, be modest all you want.” She stated. “Seriously, let’s play hooky.” I looked at her in the eyes and smiled.

“If you really want to.” I said.

“Yes, I really want to.”

“Where will we go?”

“No one is home at your house, so let’s go there.” She suggested.

“Not a good idea. My neighbors are way too nosey. They’d snitch on me in a heartbeat.”

“Then let’s catch an early movie, have lunch at a nice restaurant, go bowling and then go to your place at the normal time?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We left the school together and went straight to my car. When we got in the car and I started driving off campus, she immediately took my hand.

“Your hands are so soft.” She said as she put it to her face.

“So are yours.” I replied. “So where would you like to go first?”

“Let’s walk around the mall and then catch the noon showing.” She suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

When we got to the mall, I followed her around as she went into multiple stores looking for things the females tend to look for. Some of the things she personally bought, other things I offered to buy for her. Overall, I can honestly say that the time I was spending with her felt natural. It was the only time I really felt alive. Even more troubling is the fact that it all feels familiar. Like I’ve felt this way before or we’ve done this before.

We continued to walk around until we were approached by a group of guys. My instincts were telling me that trouble was about to start. My mind started racing with scenarios on how a normal person would handle this situation. Too much aggression could scare Olivia but not fighting back could be worse for both of us.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Olivia.” One of the guys said.

“Same could be said about you, JaMichael.” She replied. “I thought you were still locked up.”

“That was 6 months ago. That’s what happens when you abandon me.” He stated.

“You call it abandonment, I call it realizing how much of an asshole you are and moving on.” He smirked at that comment and then turned his attention to me.

“New boy toy?” He asked, already knowing the answer. “Doesn’t seem like your type.”

“That’s exactly why I’m with him.” She proclaimed as she grabbed a hold of my arm. “I’d really appreciate it if you leave us alone now.” I can feel the nervousness and fear seeping through her hands. What do I do?

“Maybe you should rethink that.” He looked at one of his friends. They both came towards me. Olivia pulled me as we started backpedalling. I could squash this in an instant…. I couldn’t decide what to do. They grabbed her so they could pull her off me.

“Leave him alone, JaMichael!!!!” Olivia shouted.

All of a sudden a 4^th guy held Olivia as two guys held me. I slightly struggled, enough to at least look like I was trying to get away.

“Consider this a suggestion.” JaMichael said to me. “Olivia is mine whether we’re together or not. My suggestion to you is to break up with her.” He then punched me in the face……

“I just want it to all go away.” Olivia said to me.

“We can run away together.” I said to her.

“But his gang is all over the country… Where could we possibly go?”

“Whether we’re on the run for the rest of our lives, my life would be perfect because I’d be with you.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” She said with a smile. “I really feel like I don’t deserve you.”

“You’ve been a rock in my crazy world. You’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know. I love you, Olivia.” I kissed her lips gently. I could feel her start to cry. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just never thought I’d find a man like you.” I started to wipe her tears away and smile. She returned the smile and said “I love you too, L…”

“I think you knocked his brain loose…” One of the guys that were holding me said. What the fuck was that???

“I think so.” JaMichael agreed. “I think he’s ready for a couple more.”

I never been punched before… I didn’t like that at all… As JaMichael swung again, I leaned back and watch it connect with his friend’s jaw. His friend let go of my arm as he fell to the ground. I swung and punched the other guy that was holding me, knocking him out instantly. As I turned toward JaMichael, he already started swinging at me again. I caught his arm, backhanded him across the face, flipped him over me, held my knee to his throat and threatened to break his arm across my knee.

“Let her go!” I said to the guy holding Olivia. He hesitated but did let her go. “Now step away from her!” He took a few steps away. I then looked down at JaMichael and started talking low enough so only he could hear me. “I’m only going to say this once and I need you to understand that this is not a joke.” I tightened my hold as my threat to break his arm was slowly becoming reality. “If you or your gang approaches me or my woman again, I’ll kill you, your entire gang, and your families.”

Right as I started to feel like his arm was going to break, I let it go and stood up. I immediately walked over to Olivia and took her hand. As we walked away I attempted to figure out what that vision was and why Olivia was in it. I then started to wonder about what I just did and if it was the right thing to do.

“We should probably go to the movies at a different theater.” I suggested. She nodded in agreement.

As we started heading to another theater, Olivia, who hasn’t said anything since the incident at the mall, finally broke her silence.

“I’m sorry about all of that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I should have told you about him.” I looked at her and could see how worried she was. I pulled over at a 7-eleven and parked.

“Hey,” I said softly as I took her hand, “it’s going to be alright.”

“I just feel like I got you into a mess.”

“You did, but it’s a mess that I’m willing to clean up.” I said with a smile, drawing a smile out of her. “So tell me, how bad is it?” The look on her face said it all. It was so bad that she couldn’t even lie to me. “Okay.” I thought for a moment. “When do your parents come back?”

“Next week.”

“Who else is at the house?”

“Just maids and other employees, why?”

“I think you should stay with me for a little while…. At least until things calm down.” I suggested.

“Really? Your mother wouldn’t mind?” She wondered.

“After I tell her what’s going on, she’ll understand.”

“Can we leave out a few details?”

“Don’t worry… My mother isn’t the type to judge, which is why I never lie to her. I can trust her no matter what.” I started driving again. “Besides, she’s going to be more upset with the fact we were skipping school.” I joked. She chuckled and took my hand.

“You may be right about that.” She brought my hand to her lips and did a prolonged kiss. “I just want it to all go away…..”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Olivia said. “Are you sure you’re not going to feel bad about up and leaving your parents?”

“I could ask you the same question.” I replied.

“Sometimes it’s like I don’t exist anyway.”

“I assure you, they’ll notice you not there.”

“Maybe so, but you’re everything I need.”

She looked into my eyes with such a sweet grin. I kissed her softly on her lips. I stopped kissing her as the bus came to a stop. We got off and started walking towards the train station. It was dark with only 3 street lights between us and the station. I started to get a bad feeling. I saw an ominous shadow approaching us from the side.

“I think they found us.” I said softly to Olivia.

“Already…. How did they know?” She replied, worried about our current situation.

“When I tell you, I want you to run as fast as you can.”

“No, I’m not leaving you!”She declared.

“No, you’re not leaving me. We’re merely splitting up and will rendezvous on the train right before departure.” She paused. “Please, I need you to go.” I said in desperation.

“Promise me you’ll make it.”

“I promise.” We stopped walking and embraced.

“I love you.” She whispered in my ear as I can feel her sobbing.

“I love you too.” I said back, holding back the tears. “Now go!”

I let her go and started running towards the ominous figure in the distance. I glanced back just enough to see that Olivia was running away. Before I could even swing at the guy….. BANG!

“BRANDON!!!” Olivia screamed.

I popped out of my trans just in time to swerve the oncoming traffic. We did a 360 before stopping inches away from the barricade. We were both breathing heavily, trying to calm down after a near death experience. I looked at Olivia as her eyes were peeled on me.

“I’m sorry. Are you ok?” I asked her.

“Yea, but are you ok?” She asked me.

“I don’t know.” I looked at the time. “Let’s just go to your place, grab some stuff and go to mine.”

“What about your neighbors?”

“Not important right now.” I said as I continued driving.

20 minutes later, we arrive at her house. We both go inside and she immediately starts packing. I grabbed my phone and called Selena.

“Hey, Mom, are you busy?” I asked as she answered the phone.

“Nothing crazy, what’s up?” She replied.

“I have a situation that we need to talk about. When are you getting home?”

“How bad is it?”

“I want to order a pizza.” Which is code for a Class 2 Emergency.

“I’ll be home at 4.” She replied. Basically she’ll be there in like 20 minutes.

“Thank you. See you then.”

I hung up with her and went upstairs to Olivia’s room……… Why do I know where I’m going? Why does this all look familiar? I can’t shake this feeling… I really needed to talk to Selena. I approached Olivia’s room and knocked on the door. She looked up at me.

“Hey, how much you have left?” I asked her.

“Not much. I’m just making sure I have everything that I need for the next few days.” She replied. “You can sit on the bed if you want.”

I walked over to the bed and sat down….

Olivia got on top of me, wearing nothing at all and started kissing me. I embraced her, picked her up and lied her down on the bed. I alternated between kissing and licking her neck, locating a spot that turned her on a lot. She started pulling my pants and boxers down, pulling me closer with her legs to coerce me into entering her. When I did, she immediately grabbed onto me and loudly moaned….

“Brandon?” She called, what seemed to be for the 4^th time.

“I’m sorry, what’s up?” I replied.

“Okay, that’s the 3^rd time. What’s going on?” She asked as she sat down next to me. “Talk to me.” I took a deep breath. She took my hand. “Please…”

“I’ve been having visions… well I thought they were visions but they’re really starting to feel like memories.”

“Memories? Of what?” She asked.

The way she asked was interesting. She wanted to sound like she was asking out of concern but to me it sounded more like hope…. Like she was hoping I was remembering something. I ignored it for the moment.

“Well, mostly you.” I looked into her eyes and could read it clear as day. She knew something and it was something deep. “What are you hiding from me?” I asked her. I then heard car doors slamming. “Shit, we gotta go.” I grabbed her bag and waited on them to enter the house.

“We’re jumping?” Olivia asked.

“Yea, just hang on to me and brace.” I said.

When the door finally opened and I started hearing footsteps, we jumped out the window, landing directly on their car. We got off the car and got into mine. By the time they noticed, we were already at a good distance.

“I didn’t think that would happen so fast.” Olivia stated.

“Neither did I.”

“You seem pretty calm.” She said to me.

“We’re almost safe. They’re not going to know where I live, but I need to make sure we’re not being followed.”

“How will you do that?”

“Take the extremely long way home.” I said.

“Are you sure it’s necessary?” She asked.

“No, but better safe than sorry.”

“I guess you’re right.” She looked out the window for a moment and then back to me. “So I guess you have a lot of questions, huh?”

“I do, but it’ll have to wait until we get to my house. I want to give you my full attention.” I replied.

“Ok.”

We got to my house almost an hour later. I parked my car in the garage and grabbed Olivia’s bag.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be safe here.” I assured her.

“Are you sure?”

“I put my life on it.” I stated.

“I trust you.” She said as she took my hand. We walked into the house and went into the kitchen.

“I’ll make us something to eat.”

“When will your mom be home?”

“In 5 minutes.” I said, noticing the time right now. Knowing Selena, she was tracking my car and noticed that I took the extra long way home. She’s going to do the same so it’ll take her a while. I went into the fridge and took out a pack of steaks. “How would you feel about steak and potatoes?”

“I’d feel pretty good about that.” She replied. She sat down at the bar.

“So tell me, have we dated before?” I asked bluntly.

“In a sense.”

“What do you mean by in a sense?” I asked.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you finish cooking?”

“I’ve waited long enough.” I said as I placed a glass of water in front of her.

“Well,” she took a deep breath and took a sip of water. “We’ve been dating on and off since middle school. We were each other’s firsts.”

“What do you know about me?” I wondered.

“Almost everything.” She replied.

“Who am I? Where am I from? Where are my parents?”

“Your parents…” She said, almost in sadness.

“Yes….” I stopped and looked at her… “What happened to my parents?”

“Your parents were murdered the same night we….”

At that moment, Selena walked in the house.