Uncle Danny grabbed my collar and pulled me up from the ground. I was so startled that I didn’t notice his punch coming right towards my face. As his fist hit my face hard, I fell to the ground with a thud. A grunt escaped my mouth from the pain that shot up from my spine to my brain. As my eyes became kind of blurry, I saw his lips moving rapidly, but my brain couldn’t register a single word he spoke.

And then I focused harder. “What are you doing here after school, instead of going home?” he spat, a few drops of his spit hitting my face. I made a face that probably went unnoticed. Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I looked up at his angry hazel-brown eyes.

“I-I was just spending some time on my own…” I managed to push the words out of my mouth. I couldn’t even think of how abruptly Diane had disappeared just when Uncle Danny showed up. He pulled me up again by my shirt and forced me to go home with him. I looked back with my still blurry vision, seeing if I could find a trace of her. But as you might have imagined, she was not there.

“Kids are telling me that you are behaving weirdly these days?” His sentence came out as a question more than a statement.

I thought for a second; ‘When did I act normal?’

“Say, who is that somebody you always talk to when nobody is around?” This question from my uncle almost made me want to cry. But, wait a minute. Diane always stayed when no one was around. And that was the time I got to talk to her. So, how come someone noticed that I was talking to no one? Diane was there, so how can someone say that I was talking to...no one? If they actually saw me talking? I mean...ugh, you get me, don’t you?

Like, I didn’t understand why people couldn’t see Diane while she is so perfectly existing? She has a perfectly round face with a cute small nose and pink lips. Her eyes are complete blue oceans where I always find myself drowning deep.

It’s so hard to ignore her blonde curls when she is near you, I always feel like playing with them with my fingers.

How could anybody not notice such a perfect human being like her? Why is she so invisible to everyone?

“I have asked you a question, Joe,” Uncle Danny blurted. I saw flames igniting in his eyes just like I saw fire in Mr. Anderson’s, earlier in math class.

“I... um…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say next. “You know what, Joe, you are crazy as shit!” Danny offered as if I didn’t know it already.

I licked my dry lips.

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I felt an unbearable pain at the back of my head after waking up. I didn’t remember anything that happened between me and Uncle Danny by the water. Not that I usually do. Danny beat me up almost every day in his drunken state. Though I hadn’t touched a drop of his beer, I felt I was drunk with him as well, and going through a hangover.

I looked down at my hands, which were bloody red and numb. Danny was always lonely. Since I was the same way as he was, I could sense his pain. He lost his brother, his sister-in-law, and later his wife as well. I had lost my parents. On the other hand, he had two sons, including me, to take care of (though he never considered me as one). And I was completely lonely. I was living under the same roof as my bullies; my cousin and his father (who may have fed me but had destroyed me physically and mentally).

I was the only way that Danny could release all his anger and frustration that he had on God. Whenever Uncle Danny beat me, he would leave me with a signature mark on my right cheek, and this time was no exception. I went in front of the mirror and stood before my reflection. I touched my face and felt the red cheek where Uncle Danny had most probably hit me with all his power.

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The area where Danny slapped me gave me a burning feeling. I wept, “Crap! Nobody loves me! Nobody!” Though you may find it kind of childish, that is the way I felt. And it was so real. I always feel like a loser while crying before a mirror. It’s like your own reflection is ridiculing you. But I couldn’t help it. Sometimes all I need is just to cry and cry. And after that, all my pain fades away in a matter of seconds.

Just like magic.

Just like Diane.

“Hi, handsome! And… a crying baby,” out of the blue, appeared the mystery girl, giggling sheepishly. And here she was, calling me a baby while she was the only kiddo here. Diane always avoided any human connection other than me. She was like an introvert. Or maybe she was an introvert who did not like to show up much in front of other people.

It is also very strange how she changes her outfits so frequently. Like, earlier that day, I had seen her in a white dress, but after a while, she was wearing a black one. Maybe she was trying to impress me.

How difficult is it to understand her motives?

I didn’t understand why she appeared and disappeared so fast that it was enough to cause you a heart attack.

She waved a hand in front of my face and I realized that my jaw was on the floor.

I closed my mouth and she burst out laughing.

I feigned an annoyed expression. To be honest, her laugh was hilarious, but I tried to look annoyed.

“What is it with you, my Joe? Why do you always act like a mouse?”

A mouse? Nonsense.

“Oh, how I love the look in your beautiful emerald-green eyes!” Diane teased, after a laugh that almost seemed like a thousand years long.

I huffed and rolled my eyes.

She was on the floor now, crawling in a burst of hard laughter that most probably could be heard from a million yards from my room. And there she went, tossing herself up on my bed and lying down, taking me along with her.

I fell on my back and eventually found myself lying next to her. Her laughter faded away and a shadow of something strong cast across her face.

It was affection. The urge to be with me. To stay inside my arms.

I wrapped my arms around her and she closed her big blue eyes, allowing me to kiss her. I held her chin within my fingers and casually pressed my lips against her forehead. My hands reached her beautiful, long hair and I gradually let my fingers trace her beautiful curls.

Her heavy breath brushed against my neck as she pressed her body against mine, completely closing the remaining space between us. The heat emitted from her body entirely engulfed me in a familiar sensation. That was a sensation I feel shy discussing with you. Something very sexual.

She touched my face. I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of her soft hand. And then she touched the area where Uncle Danny had slapped me. I took a deep breath.

“It’s not only a scar, Joe; it’s a lesson that will take you very far,” she whispered.

I didn’t know how far a scar could lead me and I didn’t know what lesson I had earned from that, but I knew her words were true.

I believed in her anyway. I believed in her more than I trusted God.

I let out a sigh. A knock on my door jolted me, and I found Diane was gone.

Just like that, an emptiness filled me once again, and I struggled to keep myself steady.

The knock resounded and I went to answer the door. Just as I opened it, a punch was thrown at my already tortured face and I fell on the hard ground. Again. Danny was drunk and it was the best time for him to beat me up.

I struggled to keep myself away from this man. I tried to stand up, but my legs gave in.

“You think you can live without facing me, huh? You little brat! You have ruined my life!” He gulped a sip from the bottle in his hand and kicked me hard in the stomach.

I clutched my stomach and grunted in pain that felt everlasting. The pain was so familiar, but it could not get any worse. I swear to God, I was thinking of death at the moment. I prayed silently to Uncle Danny and Almighty, to take my life away. Far away from this cruel world. Somewhere Diane would never disappear.

He kicked me again, letting out curse words.

I tried to call out her name but felt myself choking on something. A warm liquid filled my throat and I coughed up blood.

Danny pulled me up and threw me into a wall.

BANG!

Within a few seconds, my world shut down again.