I finally pull back into my driveway, seeing Dad and Kate’s cars parked already. Probably not a good idea to walk through the front door past midnight when I have school in the morning.

I hop out of the truck and make my way around the side of the house, about to start the climb up the portion of the wall below the roof where I can reach my window, before I realize something. You don’t gotta climb when you can, sort of, fly. I take a step back as I focus, entering my fiery form once again and willing myself to the roof, popping out of it and stumbling slightly. I'm getting better.

I wait a moment to listen to see if anyone heard me land on the roof, but after silence, I assume the coast is clear and go to open my window, getting it open after a moment and climbing into my room. The pain in my upper back stings back to life when I take a moment to stretch, having almost forgotten the stab wound there after I covered it in a spare shirt to absorb the bleeding.

Taking off the hoodie and shirt underneath gets me access to the wound. I walk up to a mirror hung on the wall and turn so I can get a good look at it. It doesn’t seem that deep and should be easily cleaned, at least if I had someone else here to do it for me.

I took a seat on the bed and grabbed the first aid kit that... she would sometimes use on me after bad fights. I do my best to remember the steps she always took. Disinfecting was first, so I took an alcohol wipe and tried to reach over my shoulder, but I couldn't reach the wound.

After a few more failed attempts, I groaned out in frustration before hearing a knock at the door followed by Thea’s voice.

"You alright, Jason? I heard you fall on the roof or something."

"Yeah I’m fine. Do you mind giving me a hand with something though?"

She opened the door and gasped immediately as she saw my back.

"What happened, Jason?"

"Just a fight with some asshole by the docks. I’m fine. I just can’t reach it."

"O-oh, I can help then. Cass taught me some stuff in case she wasn’t arou-" She stopped, realizing what she was about to say. "S-sorry, I didn’t mean it like that."

"It’s fine, just clean this for me."

She nodded and walked over, getting onto the bed behind me and starting to disinfect it, which stings like hell, but I’m used to it.

"I assume the ‘other guy’ is worse than you?" She asks, her voice still quivering a bit after her poor comment.

"You can say that the asshole deserved it."

“Then good, now hold still while I try to stitch this a bit.”

I comply, more pain radiating from my back as the needle sticks into me. My mind wanders to a different time as I focus on keeping still.

🜂🜂🜂

I ran through the woods near the skate park, trying to get away from the older kids chasing me and calling out at me, calling me a bastard or unwanted. Eventually, I found a small crevice in a river bank and tucked into it, watching as the bullies rushed past and deeper into the woods, thinking they were still chasing after me.

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The fear that they could return held onto me for hours, staying tucked in where I felt safe until I could tell the sun was beginning to go down. Finally, I crawled out, feeling cuts on my legs from many falls and some on my face thanks to some punches by my tormentors.

As I looked around, the realization that I had no idea how to get home dawned upon me, falling to my knees and beginning to cry as I thought I would starve out here, alone and scared.

"You look a little lost, are you okay?" A girl’s voice cuts through the silence of the darkening woods, causing me to scream as I flounder to the ground.

I turned to face her, feeling terrified until I saw her. Her crimson hair cascading from a cream-colored cowgirl hat, her bright blue eyes gleaming at me. She looked beautiful, angelic even. However, the fear came back immediately as the dog beside her began to growl at me, snarling as it inched closer, sniffing me before she called it back.

"Echo, he’s nice!"

The dog quickly backed off, still giving me a glare, as the girl approached and extended a hand out to help me up, which I took.

"I’m Cassidy. What’s your name?"

"J-Jason." I wiped away some of my tears, then some snot as she smiled at me.

"You look pretty rough. I can take you home and patch you up a little. C’mon!"

She led me through the woods by the hand, smiling back at me occasionally. How can someone be so happy?

Soon, the woods opened up into a trailer park, and Cassidy led me towards the cabin in the back. As we moved, another set of footsteps approached us from behind, and looking back, I saw a girl with very unkempt blonde hair.

"Who’s the boy, Cass? You got a boyfriend?" The girl asked in a teasing manner, looking me over.

"His name is Jason. He’s kinda hurt, so I wanted to help him."

"I bet your dad’s gonna be angry about you being with a boy."

"No, he’ll like that I’m helping someone. You should try it sometime, Izzy."

Cassidy sits me down outside the cabin, ordering Echo to "guard" me as she goes inside. The husky sits down directly in front of me, still glaring at me as it apparently does its job.

"I bet she likes you. You are kinda cute." Izzy speaks up, leaning against the wall beside me.

"Wh-what?" I reply, feeling confused at just everything that’s happened in the last few minutes.

"Whatever, you’re boring." She looked away, pulling out her badly cracked phone and scrolling through it.

After another puzzled look at her, the door beside me opens again, with Cassidy rushing out with a first aid kit and kneeling by my side.

"First I gotta disinfect. It’s gonna sting, so try to stay still."

She opens the kit and pulls out a bottle of something and some cotton balls, dipping the cotton in the bottle and applying it to a cut on my face. The pain is bad as I flinch away, almost making her drop the bottle.

"Hey, please stay still. I don’t wanna mess up your handsome face." She smiles at me, leaving me stunned at her words.

She takes advantage of my stunned state to apply the liquid again, this time getting it on properly and starting to disinfect my cuts.

🜂🜂🜂

Thea finishes up with the suturing as I push the memory away, tearing up slightly but wiping it away before she can see.

"Thanks Thea, I appreciate it."

"It’s no problem, just try to be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt."

"I’ll do my best, and don’t tell dad and Kate as usual."

"I know. I love you, Jason."

"Love you too, Thea."

I watch as she exits the room, glancing at the hat hung on my dresser, her hat. After a moment, I avert my gaze, feeling a headache beginning to start and flopping back onto my bed, letting sleep swiftly take me.