SAINT AND MARY LOUISE

    His eyes, dark brown...

    Hair, gorgeously smoothed and milky hot!

    Cheeks, dimple marked...

    And voice as soft as the wind...

    Oh, my imagination is really something, I thought, staring at Saint Seville as he walked past us.

  "Dude, your eyes are seriously going to pop out if you don't quit giving snazzy punk that look." Molly whispered to me.

   Molly was my best friend, and classmate of course. I was literally the nerd of the class, and no one wished to be my friend, apart from Molly Sans. We met in fourth grade and ever since then we've been best of friends. 

    I was more of an introvert, really, the shy girl who had lots of pleasure staying behind closed doors...all by herself. I was average in height and had really huge, bulging, gray eyes, and a brunette fitted on my head. I won't say huge, though, but they weren't small, either.

  I gave Molly a naughty wink, and she gave me a slight spank on my butt. "Silly girl," I added, "Did you notice Seville's hair? It grew longer...and hot!"

  "Oh, it's just your eyes playing tricks on you, Mary Lou." She laughed, stealing a glance at the hallway clock. "OMG!" She exclaimed. "It's almost time,"

  "Time for what?" I asked.

  "Ah, please tell me you didn't forget," She raised a brow at me.

  "Forget what?" I questioned again. "Oh!" A low moan escaped my lips. "You mean..."

  "Practice...you know, for the musical that's coming up next month." She cut in, shaking her head. "Ugh! How could you forget?!"

  "Don't blame me. I've got a whole lot of things going on in my mind."

  "Like Mr Hot?" She joked, shutting her locker.

  "Oh, he's so cute." I blushed.

  "Ha! Fifty strokes of the cane for forgetting my musical." She frowned playfully.

  "Awe. Not me," I whimpered.

  "Oh, I'm just teasing."

  "I know, I know." I said. "Oh! Can't actually believe you're gonna leave me here," I stared with puppy eyes.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, baby," but practice calls. You know how Ms Susan is. She sure doesn't miss her period."

  "Ugh! Tell me about it." I said, and we both laughed.

 "Did someone mention my name? Hmm?" A feminine voice came.

  "Ms Su!" We shouted in unison, turning around.

  "Uh-huh? You know Miss Sans, you ought to be in the grand hall by now, and not wandering the hallway! " She said to Molly.

  "Oh, um, I was just about to -" Molly stopped, her head bowed, as she scurried off.

  "And Miss Houghton," She turned, eyeing me. "Off to class...now!" She commanded, walking off.

  I felt lonely, and I had no option, but to go to class, without Molly by my side. I shrugged, pulling my locker open again m, taking out my Math textbook, as a note fell freely from it, onto the neatly, mopped floor.

  "What's this?" I stared, eyes wide open.

  I picked it up, carefully slipping it open, as the words flashed before my eyes.

  Locker room...lunch time. Come alone!

  It read. I stood dazed, reading the words over again. "Could it be -" I stopped, shrugging the silly thoughts off.

  I shut my locker back, placing my book under my armpit as I headed for class.

  "Ooh, Frog eyes' looking good today." I heard Jackson's crew say, as I walked past them.

  They were the bullies of Beverly High, comprising Jackson Morrison, Colin Laurent, the Heathen twins (popularly known as the Stomping Slitters) and Fernandez Wilson...the Wacky Four, like I called them.

  They're definitely gonna kill me if they heard me say that - If they ever will.

  I kept on walking, trying not to be nervous like Molly had taught me, taking a glance over my shoulders, as I saw them make silly faces at me...the Heathen twins blowing kisses in my direction.

  God! That's gross, I scoffed, taking a final peek at them and walked into class. 

  "Oh, there you are, Frog eyes," Sally Shay sang, rushing towards me. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

  "What for?" I asked, confused.

  Sally Shay, the head of the cheer leader team, and the grumpy, spoiled daughter of our school principal was pretty much a pain in the ass. She had everyone at her beck and call, and not even the Wacky Four dared cross her path.

  No wonder...

  "So, like I was saying..."

  "You said something?" I looked at her.

  "Oh, don't give me that, or you'll be in detention!" She scowled.

  Ugh! The only words in her vocabulary...

  "Now, come with me! I've got something for you."

  To the blonde mobile, I scoffed, following her.

  An hour passed, and the lunch bell rang. I got up from my seat, remembering the note I found in my locker, taking a quick pause. "What if it's a trap, Mary Lou?"

  "What's a trap?" Molly's voice came startling me.

  "N-nothing," I smiled nervously.

  "Huh? You hiding something from me, Lou?" She asked, a suspicious look emerging on her face. 

  "N-nah,"I replied.

  Her lips curved slightly as her brows arched upwards. "Oh, you're one terrible liar, Mary Lou. Your nose is twitching...I can tell." 

  "Oh, fine. You got me." I finally gave in.

  "So tell me. What was that about?" 

  "I'll tell you all about it when I get back, I promise. " I said to her, hurrying off, not looking back. 

  I ran through the hallway, into the empty locker room, as I rolled my eyes around, heart beating without pause. I walked quietly, hoping all this wasn't for nothing, as I heard footsteps not so far off. 

  "Who's there?" I shrieked, my ears twitching in the direction.

  I listened quietly, trying not to panic, as I moved backwards, stopping abruptly at the sudden feel of my hands against something...not a thing!

  Gasping, I turned.

  "Boo!"

  "Oh my God!" I said aloud, my heart thumping. "Saint, what are you...?"

  "Shh. Someone's coming." He alerted, his fingers coming upon my lips.

  He gave signalled to me to come with him, as we went behind one of the yellow lockers, his body, rubbing against mine.

  "Too close," I breathed, shutting my eyes.

  "Scary kitty." He teased quietly, as we heard no one again. "He's gone." He spoke, pulling away. "Must have been one of the guys who forgot one thing or two."

  "Guess so," I managed to say, trying to relax.

  "Man! You're beautiful." I heard him say. "No wonder why those losers always pick on you."

  "Heh, I guess." I said, a blush coating my cheeks.

  "You know, if there's anything I'd like, is to have you, and by that, I mean..."

  "I'm sorry, did you just say "have me"? I mean, I probably didn't hear you well, right?" 

  "Oh, you heard me right, baby girl." He grinned, giving his lips a slight lick. "So what do you say?" He asked.

  "I...I...I don't know,"

  "Just say the word." He whispered, nibbling at my left ear.

  "Saint, I...I don't know. I'll have to think about this first." I swallowed hard.

  "All right, baby. By the way, I'll be having a party at my house tonight and I'd sure love to see you there." He said to me.

  "A party? I'm sorry, I can't...you know, party. I've got plenty of things to do, you know." 

  "But I insist. C'mon, one party won't hurt." He said, rubbing my arms.

  "Oh, I don't know..."

  "Please don't say no," He begged.

  "Well, all right. Just this one." I faked a smile.

  "Aww. What a darling you are. I'll see you at 8." He said happily. "Come on now. Let's go eat." He said to me, as we went out.

  We walked together, all eyes focused on Saint and I, as I felt the smoothness of his hand in mine, giving me some tingling sensation in my tum.

  "What are you..."

  "Don't ruin the moment," He hushed, and I said no more.

  We headed straight to the counter, and we ordered for deep fried cornbread balls (popularly known as hush puppy) and two lemonade drinks, as we sat down, numerous eyes centered on us, making me more nervous.

  "Why are they all staring at you?"

  "Hmm?"

  "I mean everyone," I said in a hushed tone.

  "Oh, heh," He laughed. "Believe me, my lady, they're all staring at you, and not me." He winked, sipping his drink.

  Great! Totes great!

  I got home early, rummaging through my wardrobe for the perfect outfit. I couldn't say why I was doing this, but I knew there was no way I could go back on my words, even if I wanted to. 

  "Mary," My mum called. "I'll be leaving now. Mary?" She called again, as my room door swung open.

  "Oh, mother."

  "Oh, sweetheart. I was looking for you." She said to me, drawing closer. "What are you doing?"

  "Oh, nothing, mum. I'm just looking for something for Molly and I sleepover." I lied.

  "It's today? Gosh! It must have skipped my mind." She said.

  "Oh, it's nothing to worry about, mum. I'm good."

  "You sure, baby? Ah, well if you say so. Just make sure you lock the doors properly when going. Okay?" 

  "Sure, Mum. I will." I affirmed, as she graced my forehead with a kiss.

  "I love you."

  "I love you, too, Mum." I replied, seeing her out the door.

  I came back upstairs, taking a deep breath, as I slumped onto the bed, a frustrated sigh eluding my lips. Oh, gosh. What am I doing? My conscience pricked my mind. Having told no one about this, or even my own mother, made me feel so worse. But like they say, it never hurts trying something new.

  "Whoo! Found it." I said delightedly, taking out the strapless yellow gown.

  I admired it for a second, carefully laying it out on my bed, as I quickly went to wash up.

  "Almost 8," I smiled, stepping into my shoes, having worn on a light makeup and one of my mom's expensive perfume.

  Pray she doesn't notice...

  I walked downstairs quietly, pulling the door open as I stepped out, having no second thoughts about what I was about doing.

  The Seville's residence was no different from what Saint had described to me. It was richly loaded, and had two swimming pools gracing its front.  

  I felt my stomach rumble, and my legs quivered, as I stepped inside. The place was pretty noisy and the house shook with the loud bang and screams of ecstasy that went on hovering inside. I still wasn't sure if I belonged here, but I didn't let my mind overrule me this time.

  "Hi, baby," A half-drunk guy in baggy trousers said to me, as I made no utterances, increasing my step.

  "Come on, Saint. Where are you?" I winced at the sudden inhale of smoked pot.

  "Ooh, another pretty face in the house." A girl in a black, skinny gown said to me.

  "Hi. I'm looking for Saint Seville. Do you know where he is?"

  "Oooh, Saint. My man." The girl at the party said to me. "Come, let me take you to him." She offered, taking my hand, as we made towards the back, the stench of smoke almost choking me. "By the way, I'm Sybil." She introduced. "Sybil Krieger. What about you, cutie?"

  "I'm Mary Lou." I said to her.

 "Hot. Anyway, we're here." She said to me, as we approached a hallway.

  "We're here?" 

 "Yup! If only you knew," Her voice came as I felt a napkin across my face, knocking me out instantly.

 ~~~~~~~~

  I woke up to the chirping sound coming from right out the window, as I felt pains all over body, my head spinning so bad. I had no idea where I was at, until the previous night came crawling back in pieces. The house was quiet and void of people...the room stenching so badly of masculine sweat, and whatever that smell was.

  What happened? Why am I here? I muttered weakly, feeling my head. I was completely bare, my clothes scattered all over the floor, beckoning to me to come pick them up.

  "Oh no!" I exclaimed, feeling the burning sensation in between my legs. 

  I remembered Sybil and how gentle she was, and not to talk about her partner...the devil in disguise!

  I felt so miserable, trying to get up, but to no avail as I was completely worn out. I cried so much, my tears wetting the sheets, as I thought about the next thing to do. My eyes scanned the room, as I caught a glimpse of a note on the pillow right next to me.

  Reaching for it, I read. "You're such an amazing girl. Thanks for giving me a chance."

  I couldn't believe my eyes. It felt as though my world came crashing right before me, and I began weeping again. 

  The one I had longed so much to be with, turned out to be nothing...but a ruthless beast!

  My hate for men grew stronger, and to crown it up, I never got to set my eyes on Saint Seville...ever again...

ML