When I opened my eyes, I found the sun streaming through the grassy field at the back of our house. As I became aware of my body, I found myself sitting on top of a car tire with my back resting against the broken wall of the garage where my uncle kept his car. My hands were tied with a heavy, thick rope. As I tried to untie it, I realized that my hands had become utterly numb because of the woolen string that was cutting off the blood flow.

I fought to loosen the ropes, but eventually, I found myself losing my cool.

“Uncle Danny!” I called out, knowing that no answer was waiting for me. My head felt heavy, and a wave of nausea hit me. What happened last night was a mystery. All I could remember was a flying punch to my nose that had shaken up my inner system. And I guess that was the last thing that happened to me before I lost consciousness.

“Uncle Danny!” I shouted again, “Please let me free, please!” My throat felt dry. I didn’t know what Danny and his son were up to inside the house that they couldn’t hear me. Or maybe they could, but they didn’t give a damn.

The torture I went through every day flashed in front of my eyes, and I wondered how my life would be if my parents were alive. All the emotions gathered inside my stomach, ready to burst out as tears. Just then, I heard footsteps approaching me. I tried to look over my shoulder.

“Hey, kid, what are you doing out there?” a young brunet who couldn’t have been more than 18 asked. His eyes were a deep ocean blue.

Speaking of the ocean, Diane appeared in my mind, and I wept hard, harder than I had ever done in front of anyone. I didn’t expect myself to wail like this because it wasn’t my intention in the first place. But it drew his attention enough to bring him in front of me and look at me like he was my big brother.

“Hey,” the brunet knelt down and ruffled my hair with his porcelain hand.

“Stop crying. Who tied you up? Did you fail your test or somethin’?” the boy chuckled as if it was fun to see someone like this.

“No,” I sighed. “I don’t know what I did.” I wanted to tell him that I did nothing—it was just my misfortune to get beaten up like that. But I wasn’t the type who let out family matters to a stranger. If I did, maybe my life would have been different.

He untied me and helped me up. As I stood, the earth underneath me seemed to shake.

“Hey, is it an earthquake or something?” I asked, panicked. “No, duh! Maybe you haven’t eaten anything for a while. That’s why you’re feeling weak,” he replied.

My eyes were drawn to his outfit—a white t-shirt under a dark red checkered shirt, and a pair of blue ripped jeans. I liked his white sneakers; they were so smart and stylish, but plain, nonetheless. I was so attracted to his style that I forgot I was crying like a little mouse a moment ago. My curious gaze might have made him uncomfortable, as I saw him looking down at me. I averted my eyes to the big sugar maple tree on our right side. I was perfectly aware of the slight pink flush on my cheeks because they were burning. The dry fallen leaves and the green ones on the trees were dancing in the wind as if mocking my mental crisis.

“You liked my shoes, huh?” he smirked, so confident in himself. “Hey, check out my watch,” he said, showing me the black watch on his wrist. It looked awesome. I wished I had a watch like that.

“Cool, huh?” he asked.

I moistened my lips. I had always wanted this kind of cool stuff all my life, but there was no one to ask for it. Just like other teenagers my age, I had dreams too. But unlike them, I didn’t have parents. I felt like a twelve-year-old who was so materialistic that he didn’t realize the reality in front of him. No wonder people treated me like trash.

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I sighed.

“You know what? I can give you the watch, but for that, you have to do me a favor,” the boy winked. As he did so, the dimple on his right cheek became visible.

I didn’t want to do anything to get that watch, but I still wanted to hear his deal.

“What favor?” I inquired.

“Listen to me, and listen to me good. There’s a girl in my class, and I’ve been seeing her for a few weeks now. She’s new in our school. All you have to do is convince her to go out with me. You can do that, right?” the brunet winked again, and this time it was twice. I was beginning to wonder if he had a serious issue with his right eye.

I was unsure how to convince a girl to go out with someone else, especially since I couldn’t even convince her to go out with me. But I supposed the girl he was talking about must be older than me, so I hoped he wasn’t thinking we had a chance.

No, why would I even think about that? It was apparent that he wanted me to convince his crush to date him. But why did he choose me for the job?

Talking about girls, Diane’s face flashed in my mind, “IT IS SO WRONG TO THINK ABOUT OTHER GIRLS WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY WITH SOMEONE!” the inner me shouted.

“Hey, big man, to earth!” he joked with a huge grin.

“Umm… hi… I don’t think I can do it,” I admitted, and his face faltered. I could see he had been holding up so much expectation for me to do that. But why did he choose me? I wasn’t a kid, was I? It wasn’t like girls would go all crazy on seeing me, just like they do when they find a basket full of puppies.

I sighed. Of all the boys, he found me to do that? Didn’t he have friends, or was he also a lonely freak like me? I frowned.

“Are you sure?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

I thought for a second before replying, “Okay, I can try, but you have to promise me that we’ll keep each other’s company.” I made a quick but reasonable response. It was a slim chance to finally make a friend. And I just didn’t want it to slip away. I guess I was a little bit smart, after all.

“Oh, that’s very sweet of you! Sure, we will keep each other’s company… in advance!” he stated.

And oh, this boy was really… something.

“What’s your name, cherry?” he asked.

Of course, he had to come up with some sweet, romantic name! This guy definitely had the caliber to pick up girls, so why was he asking me? Or was he gay? Wait, how did he know that I was a virgin?

“Hey, are you on earth?” he frowned.

“Oh, yeah!” I jumped.

“So, what’s your name?” he asked, skeptically eyeing me.

“Joe Watson. What’s yours?” I asked, returning the same gesture.

“Justin… Justin Perry,” he cracked a huge grin for the second time as if his name was something that made him proud. Oh, it sure would! After all, he wasn’t a loser like me.

“Oh, so you’ve been seeing that lady since when?” I asked, quite hesitantly, but also confidently.

The breeze swept across the grassy ground, and the sun poured down with all its power. We were trying to manage through the sound of chirping birds and the rustling of the leaves from the sugar maple trees around us.

“I’ve been seeing her since she joined our school,” he said, and a hint of a pink blush appeared on his cheeks.

Oh!

“Why can’t you go and ask her yourself?” I asked, wondering why he wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t like the girl would reject him. I mean, he was cool, and no one would want to turn him down.

“Because I hesitate. I get nervous around her,” Justin blushed again, this time like a ripe tomato. I could relate, since this was the same way I felt around Diane. She made me feel something... something not yet known to human emotions.

“So, you want me to tell her, but why do you think she would believe me? And if she does, wouldn’t you hesitate to take her out?” I finished the question with more hesitation than I had ever felt, but something about Justin made me believe that we could really make a good pair of friends.

“You know what, you will go along with me,” he winked again for the fourth time.

“I can’t go with you!” I jumped.

It was so awkward! He was going to date a girl, and he expected me to come along? I mean, come on! Why would I do so much for a wristwatch?

“Then, crap! Forget about the watch, I can’t even be your friend,” Justin stated matter-of-factly. He turned his back on me and started to leave.

It wasn’t hard for me to live without a friend, but then, Justin was so close to becoming one.

“Okay, I’ll help you through it, but you owe me a lifetime of friendship,” I agreed. Justin’s handsome, boyish face turned towards me and broke into a grin so huge, that I feared his mouth would probably rip into two pieces.

“That’s it!” Justin folded me into a huge, breathtaking hug, and when he finally released me, I saw a shadow of nervousness creep onto his face.

“What’s up?” I asked, worried.

“Do you know Diane?”