February 14, 2068

1616 CST

South Olympia, Kansas

Teresa Young's Point of View

This is the worst day of my life, and this warm and sunny weather isn’t helping at all! It’s like the universe is telling me to cheer up, but that’s simply impossible! Being little, eating candy, gambling, and reading are the only things I know how to do! I’m destined to be a loner until the end of time because I’m Teresa Young, the biggest loser in all of Olympia!

Ow! What the shit?! A rock?

“We finally caught her slackin,” a gruff voice states from behind.

Oh no!

“OW!” I scream.

Let go of my hair! Shit! Don’t take me into that alleyway! I-is this…?

“Howdy,” Nia laughs as she drags me away.

M-My nose! She punched my nose. I think it’s broken!

“You must have a death wish, Teresa Young,” Nia taunts with an evil smirk. “Roaming around this part of the city by yourself? Heh, couldn’t be me.”

“I guess she isn’t as smart as she thinks,” Rico laughs like a jerk.

“Leave me alone, you bullies! What did I ever do to you?!” I say.

“Rico, did you hear that? It sounded like she just asked for another beating,” Nia states with a head nod.

“I heard her loud and clear, pardner,” Rico says as he cracks his knuckles.

“No, don’t!”

My stomach! Now he’s picking me up by my hair! This is terrible.

“I don’t like privileged, smart-ass people who think they’re royalty, and prance around the capital like they run shit,” Rico says full of hate.

No, don’t throw me against the wall!

“Ugh!” I say.

Ow, my back.

“Let me get a piece!” Nia yells as she rushes over.

“Gagh!” I say.

She kicked me in my ribs!

“Rico, that felt oh, so good. You should kick her next,” Nia snickers.

“I told you it’s fun to release pent-up rage and aggression, Nia,” Rico says as he slowly shifts his attention to me. “You’re super smart, Teresa, so can you guess what’s gonna happen next?” He asks in malice.

Shut up, you doo-doo head. Go away.

“Not talking, huh?” Rico continues to provoke with a look of contempt in his eyes.

“You probably threw the bitch too hard and now she can’t talk. You should’ve gone for the ribs like me,” Nia says.

“Nia shut the fuck up! I know what the fuck I’m doing!” Rico hisses. “Teresa, if you haven’t figured it out, we’re about to brutally beat the shit out of you until your brain falls out of your big fucking head. You’ll be nothing, but just another dumbass kid on the street after we’re done with you.”

Oh. I see.

“Another dumbass kid? Heh. You mean like you two?” I say.

Why did I say that? He’s just going to get mad. Maybe I do have a death wish.

“Fuck you say?!” Rico says.

“Don’t even think about doing something as stupid as crying for help,” Nia threatens me with a glare as she crosses her arms. “Your screams will only give us a headache, and we’ll have to hit you even harder for punishment.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Heh, it seems like Lady Luck won’t help me today.

“HEY! BATTER UP DIPSHIT!” A girl shouts from behind the two bozos.

Yes! A blow to the gut was enough to knock out Rico!

“How many times do I have to teach you, idiots, this lesson?” The girl asks angrily.

“Wait, wait. We was just kidding. It was all a prank. A joke!” Nia nervously explains.

“Oh?” The girl questions, unconvinced. “Beating my friend to a bloody pulp is a joke, huh? Well, I can tell jokes too. Have you heard the one about the stupid, instigating girl whose boyfriend got knocked out by the baseball bat known as Joy, for messing with my friends? Oh! You won’t believe what happened next! That girl was faced with two choices! One. Scram, or Two. Face the wrath of Joy! Can you guess which choice she picked?”

“Sh-she picked choice number one!” Nia says in a hurry as she scrams.

“Good choice, buddy,” my savior gloats with a smile.

“There’s gonna be a day where we catch you slippin’ too, Ruby! And your joke was awful, by the way!” Nia shouts as she carelessly looks back while running.

“Teresa, watch this. This is going to be so, so amazing,” Ruby chuckles as she slowly approaches me.

A fist! Nia’s face was met with a fist from around the corner!

“Fucking bully,” a familiar voice says as Nia’s body falls hard onto the ground.

Can it be? There’s no way. She hates me!

“Ruby, I can’t believe that worked,” Kiko states in disbelief.

KIKO?

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” Ruby quotes with a grin. “Am I right, Teresa, or am I right?”

I just threw up and there’s blood in it. Well, that’s not good.

“Oh shit. We gotta get you to a doctor,” Ruby says concerned.

“Ruby, your plan of me waiting to deliver someone a knuckle sandwich, while you do the dirty work, was genius. I can’t believe I knocked her out,” Kiko quickly says as she approaches and inspects her left hand.

“See, I’m the brain and the brawn. I’m ninety-eight percent brain, and you two are two percent brain,” Ruby says with a smirk as Kiko checks on me.

“What about the brawn percentage?” I ask.

“Teresa, do I look like a mathematician?” Ruby asks.

“Heh, you’re underestimating yourself, Ruby,” I say.

“Math is whack,” Ruby says, followed by me throwing up again.

“My stomach hurts!” I yell.

“Oh, no!!! You’ve been infected too!” Ruby shrieks in horror as she places her hands on her cheeks.

Heh, you’re so silly, Ruby.

“Ahem, Ruby. I-I think you skipped a few classes in school,” Kiko says. “It’s not an infection. It’s just Mother Nature’s way of telling us that we’re growing up and can have babies.”

“One. Mother Nature is a shithead,” Ruby protests in frustration. “And Two. Who asked if I wanted babies? I don’t want a baby because the world can only handle one amazing Redheart at a time.”

“Anyway, two. Teresa needs a Doctor ASAP. I think a rib pierced one of her lungs, so you stay here while I run and get help,” Kiko politely brushes off Ruby’s rant.

“Ugh! You guys are so infuriating! I guess I’ll take the blame for beating up these two knuckleheads. Jeez. And they just released me from jail too. You guys are welcome by the way,” Ruby says in frustration.

“Thank you, Ruby. You’re the best,” Kiko says with a smile as she runs for help.

“I know I’m the best,” Ruby proudly supports with a smile.

“Thank you, Ruby,” I say.

“Teresa Young!” Ruby rudely points at me.

“Ruby Redheart!” I say.

“Teresa, I am so, so disappointed in you. You’re supposed to be the smartest girl in all of Olympus, but you’re acting like the world’s number one dumbass!” She yells as she invades my personal space.

What?

“Ugh! I would slap some sense into you if you weren’t such a mess,” she warns with a mixture of emotions. “Why are you roaming around South Olympia by yourself? You know how rough it can get around here!” She cries as she tears up and shakes me.

What, why is she crying? Why am I crying?

“Damn it, Teresa! I do the reckless and irresponsible stuff, and you do the clever stuff! I don’t know what I would do if I lost you! I’d have to kick someone’s ass!” Ruby says as she hugs me.

“You’re right! This isn’t like me! I was just feeling sorry for myself for no reason! Ruby, I’m so sorry!”

“I’ll only accept your apology on one condition, Teresa.”

“I-is it about your band?”

“No, you idiot! This is more important than my band! Listen! You have to promise that you’ll never do something like this again ever again! A little girl like you roaming around here all alone is a recipe for a catastrophic disaster! You’re better than this! You have friends, people who care about you! If you’re ever feeling like this ever again, you go talk to them! If you do something like this again, I’ll never forgive you! Don’t ever do some shit like this again, or else you can consider our friendship to be OVER!!”

No. I can’t lose another friend.

“You’re right. Thank you, Ruby. I’m so sorry. I won’t ever do this again.”

“You better not or else I’ll kick your zombified ass, and then once I croak, I’ll track down and kick your spirit ass in the afterlife,” she kindly threatens with a look of relief on her face.

“I guess I would miss you and your big head. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Huh? My big head? Your head is freaking enormous. I bet it can take up all of the space inside a, uh football goal.”

“Heh. I bet your big head can take up the entire space of The Styx River.”

“You little.”

“Teresa! The doctors are here!” Kiko announces as she and the doctors rush to my aid.

“Teresa you’ll be ok! They’ll take care of you! You’re lucky that I bumped into Ruby, though,” Kiko explains as the doctors put me on a stretcher. “As your best friend and partner in crime, I’ll always be there for you no matter what happens. I won’t be able to join you on your gambling adventures as much as I used to because I’ll be studying for the apprenticeship test, but don’t go by yourself! Just come over and get me before you decide to go on one of your quests. Nobody will dare harm you if I’m at your side because of my father’s status. Remember, we’ll always be best friends forever and ever! Friends will always have your back, no matter what happens!” Kiko promises as the E.M.T’s put me on a horse carriage.

Heh, living is oh so hilarious.