"So, what grade are you in?" I asked Wanda, trying to break the ice.

"I'm in my final year," she replied, her voice relatively calm at first. But then, her tone shifted, now laced with frustration. "I had planned to focus on my grades to get into a good university, but this year has been one disaster after another. And those girls... they've made me their target, as if I had any control over what my parents did."

"What exactly did your parents do?" I asked cautiously.

She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable. It was like she was deciding how much to reveal.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," I quickly added. "I don’t want to make things worse."

For a moment, the only sounds were our footsteps and the distant hum of a passing car.

"No... it's not that I don't want to talk about it," she finally said, her voice wavering slightly. "It’s just... if you haven’t heard about me before, then I can’t drag you into all this. It’s better that way."

She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure, then continued:

"In short: My parents turned out to be bad people—corrupt. They were caught red-handed by... let’s just say, the authorities. I lost almost everything overnight, and I didn’t even know they were involved in that kind of business."

Wow. That was heavy.

"And what do those three girls have to do with it?" I asked, still trying to piece everything together.

"Um, well… they’re connected to, um, the authorities that, uh, took down my parents," she explained, her words halting as if she wanted to tell me more but couldn’t quite find the right way to say it.

"Ouch, that’s rough, to say the least. Not only did their parents destroy your life, but now those awful girls are treating you like this and bullying you? I’m really sorry you have to go through that," I said, genuinely feeling bad for her.

For a brief moment, it felt like the air around her grew darker and colder than anywhere else. She fell silent for a moment, then whispered softly, "I hate them… they’ll regret what they’ve done."

Just then, I heard a familiar voice behind me, snapping me out of the tense atmosphere.

"YOOOO JOSHUA! What’s up, man? Wait, wait, who’s this cute girl next to you?" Dean suddenly appeared out of nowhere, jogging up to us with his usual energetic grin.

"Heyyyy," he said in a lower tone than usual, giving Wanda a playful wink.

"I’m Dean," he added, casually leaning his elbow against a nearby tree, clearly trying to look cool.

Seriously, Dean?

But I noticed that the strange, dark atmosphere around Wanda had vanished, so I silently thanked Dean for his well-timed interruption.

Wanda looked down, clearly embarrassed, and didn’t say anything.

Dean and I had known each other long enough to have an entire silent conversation with just our eyes, and it went something like this:

Dean shot me a significant look, raising one eyebrow as if to ask, Who’s this girl?

I raised my own eyebrow in response, giving him a look that said, None of your business.

Dean’s eyes narrowed slightly, questioning, Why won’t she introduce herself?

I shrugged, furrowing my brows as if to say, I don’t know, don’t ask me.

Dean tilted his head toward Wanda, his widened eyes silently urging me, Come on, do something!

I sighed, nodding reluctantly, sending back the silent message: Fine, I’ll handle it.

Breaking the awkward tension, I said, "Dean, this is Wanda. I helped her out with something today." I motioned toward her, then added, "Wanda, this is Dean, my good friend."

Only then did Wanda lift her eyes and look at him again. She gave a small wave, still looking a bit shy, and quietly said, "Hey, nice to meet you."

----------------------------------------

When Dean found out I was walking Wanda home, he immediately declared that he was going to join us. He even suggested that we should grab something to eat at a nearby restaurant, so now the three of us were walking side by side, heading for some tasty food.

As we made our way to the restaurant, Dean couldn’t resist retelling one of the more embarrassing stories from my life.

“And get this,” Dean said, barely able to contain his laughter, “he stood there for a whole hour—an hour!—listening to that old lady ramble on and on, and then he finally managed to ask her, ‘Do I look like I work here?’” Dean burst out laughing, practically doubling over as he slapped his knee. “We were dying, just watching him!”

Ah, yes, what better way to get to know someone than by making fun of your friend’s past blunders, right?

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I gave Dean a swift kick in the rear, trying to wipe the smirk off his face. “Might I remind you that the whole situation was your fault in the first place?”

Dean dodged to the side, grinning. “Hey, you could’ve said something sooner! But no, you stood there for an hour, helping her pick out a shirt!” He grabbed me by the shoulders, trying to wrestle me playfully as we both laughed.

In the middle of our roughhousing, I heard a soft giggle from Wanda’s direction. I glanced over and, for the first time, saw her smile. It was a real smile too, not the sad, reserved expression she wore the entire time I knew her. She looked so much brighter, almost like a different person.

“You guys are so silly,” she said quietly, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to suppress her laughter.

I pushed Dean away, straightening up, and turned to Wanda. “Don’t blame me,” I said, smirking. “Whenever Dean’s around, everyone loses a few IQ points.”

“Yeah, right. Like you’re a genius or something,” Dean shot back, rolling his eyes.

We all laughed, and the atmosphere became lighter and more relaxed. It felt like the tension that had been hanging over us was starting to melt away.

As the laughter died down, Dean turned to Wanda, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “So, Wanda, what did this goofball here help you with?” He nodded toward me, his tone still playful but with genuine interest.

Instantly, I felt the shift in the mood. Wanda’s gaze dropped to the ground, and she started fidgeting with her fingers, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

Sensing her hesitation, I decided to step in. “I helped Wanda out when three nasty girls were giving her a hard time at school. ‘Giving her a hard time’ is putting it lightly, by the way.”

“Buuu, you didn’t have to tell him that…” Wanda muttered quietly, puffing out her cheeks in embarrassment. She seemed even more flustered now that the attention was on her.

Hmm, interesting. When she confronted me at the school gate, she was much more confident than she is now around Dean.

Dean’s expression immediately turned serious, his playful demeanor vanishing.

“What? Who were they? Tell me who they are, and I’ll deal with them right now! Anyone who’d pick on a sweet, delicate girl like you has got to be a real piece of shit. Just point them out, and Joshua and I will take care of it!”

She raised her eyes, shocked, and quickly held her hands out in front of her, shaking her head. "No, no, no! There’s really no need! I can handle it, really!"

Dean wasn't having it. "We can’t just leave it like this! Joshua, back me up here!"

"Absolutely," I said, nodding in agreement, feeling the motivation from Dean’s words. This guy always had a way of getting me on board with his ideas.

Then, just like before, I felt something shift in the air—a subtle "snap," almost like the faint sound of a balloon popping somewhere far off. It was the same sensation I’d felt in the restaurant with Tori and in the bathroom earlier when I confronted those girls. I really need to come up with a name for this feeling; it’s happening more and more often. Maybe something like ‘the snap’?

Suddenly, everything around us seemed to take on a different hue, almost like the world had a green tint to it. Though nothing in reality had actually changed, I got the sense that the sunlight was hitting Wanda differently, and for a moment, she didn’t look so pale, dark, and gothic anymore. Instead, she just looked like a normal, somewhat sweet girl.

She looked at us, her eyes glistening, and softly said, "Thank you, really, thank you so much."

----------------------------------------

After a while, we left the restaurant and walked Wanda to the street where she lived. For some reason, though, she didn’t want us to walk her all the way to her door, so we just said goodbye and went in the opposite direction.

The moment she was out of sight, Dean whistled twice and nudged me with his elbow.

“Joshua, you’re really pulling some girls, huh? Is she the one you’ve been working out so hard for?” he teased with a sly grin.

I rolled my eyes. “Heh, not exactly. Like I told you, I just met Wanda today.”

“Oh right, the whole story with those three awful girls. What really went down?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Well,” I began, “Here’s how it went down: I was passing by the restroom and heard some commotion inside. I walked in to check it out, and there was Wanda on her knees, while those girls were holding her down and bullying her.”

Dean frowned. “Damn, man. That’s messed up.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty,” I agreed. “I don’t know all the details, but it seems to be about some family drama. Wanda’s family did something illegal—at least, that’s the gist I got—and those girls are somehow connected to law enforcement.”

Dean raised his eyebrows and let out another low whistle. “Damn, that’s heavy stuff. But come on, it’s not like Wanda’s responsible for her family’s actions, right? She’s just a kid like the rest of us.”

“Exactly what I thought,” I nodded. “But you know how nasty people can be sometimes. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on her at school. If I notice something like that happening again, I’ll step in.”

Dean grinned. “Way to go, Joshua! I’d totally back you up, but my classes are in a completely different building, as you know…”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I’ll call if I need backup,” I said, pulling out my phone to emphasize the point. And right then, I got a text message.

Dean smirked. “Oh ho, is that Wanda already texting you? Not bad,” Dean teased again with a grin.

I chuckled. “Nope, not her. I don’t even have her number.”

Dean stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me in disbelief. “Wait, you spent all that time with her and didn’t get her number?”

I shrugged, and Dean gave me an exaggerated look of disappointment.

After a brief pause, he sighed dramatically, “Bro…”

“Bro,” I shot back, giving him a look that clearly said, 'Back off'.

Dean spread his arms dramatically and stated eloquently, while shooking his head like a disappointed sage:

"Broo..."

----------------------------------------

Dean cancelled our pre-planned monday run because he had to help his parents with something at home. After saying goodbye to him I checked who had sent me the text message.

"SEE YOU TOMORROW AFTER CLASS!!oneoneone! I'll be waiting for you in front of the school!ONE! Don't be late this time!!ONEONEONE," the message from Tori read.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a long, exhausted sigh.

The madness continues.

But seriously, why does she write 'one' after every exclamation mark? Is that some kind of joke I'm supposed to get? And what did she mean by 'don't be late this time'?

I’ll have to remember to ask Tori about the whole situation with Wanda. Especially about those muscle heads who dragged me outside of the school. Maybe she knew more about how this all ties into that strange 'phenomenon.'

I could already feel a familiar ache beginning to pulse in my head again.