?WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL?
?EPISODE 24 ?
I lay on the couch and hugged myself. I was thankful
that Meredith still wasn’t home. If she knew about this, she would panic, or worse blame herself.
I allowed myself a moment of weakness. As I wrapped
my arms around myself, I let all the tears out.
When the tears subsided, I replayed the moments in my
head again. I remembered the first night I saw that car. I
walked past it, and I knew the engine was on and somebody
was inside.
Then as I walked the streets, that car was there until I safely got home. Then the following days, the hooded
boy was following me, keeping his distance, but now… I
couldn’t help thinking that he was watching me… making
sure I would get home safely, knowing I would be walking
the streets alone.
Chaise.
I’m sure it was him. Same height, same built… same
black Porsche he drove to school.
He was protecting me even though I made it clear that I
didn’t want him, didn’t need him. Even though I believed I
didn’t need somebody to protect me or come to my rescue
when I meet danger face to face.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I realized that I owed him
more than an apology for treating him the way I did.
Now, I owed him my life. And I would always be thankful that he was there… he protected me… he saved me… he risked his
own life for mine.
I felt both guilty and grateful that he had been there for
me this night and every night before. I underestimated the
danger around me. I thought nothing worse could happen to
me after that night I lost my parents. I thought I didn’t need a protector.
But God knew I did! And even though I didn’t
know it, I realized that I did have a guardian angel after all.
And because of him, I’m still alive… whole… scathe-free and
safe.
********
The next day in school, I was pretty quiet. Denise was
rambling about not being able to get a good night’s sleep
because of some chaos in her house. Something about her
father and some relative staying over.
I wasn’t listening to her. I was still pretty shaken up about what happened to me
the night before.
I wanted to tell her. But I didn’t have the courage. And I
didn’t want to burden her or scare her. But I wanted to talk
to somebody… somebody who would understand what I
went through.
I was on the lookout for Chaise all day. I sure hope he
was alright. I hope he didn’t sustain any injury at all.
I was sitting under a tree with Denise. Our last period
was literature. Our teacher wanted us to write an essay. He
thought it would inspire us to be outdoors.
I worked on my essay fast. Writing was effortless for me.
I practiced every day writing to Hunter. I took my diary with
me to school today and decided to write on it again. I told
him everything… from the way the guys attacked me, and
how that boy from school came to my rescue.
I knew Hunter would want to know every little detail
about this event.
And even if he didn’t get to read it at all, I
wanted to remember everything that happened so I could
read about it in the future, and know that during the times
my life was an utter misfortune, God always sent a guardian angel my way.
I heard Denise cough beside me. She nudged my arm
with her elbow. I turned to her. With her head, she motioned for me to look up.
I looked over at my left side and saw a guy looking down
at me. I shut my diary and hid it in my bag. Then I stood up
and faced Chaise. He was wearing a gray hooded jacket
again, much like the one he wore the night before.
He looked down at me quizzically through narrowed
eyes, as if he was studying my expression, searching my
face for answers to questions he didn’t even ask.
Finally, his expression softened. “Are… are you okay?”
he asked in the gentlest tone he could manage.
Immediately, we both knew we were talking about the
same thing. I felt my knees tremble and the brave façade I wore all day began to crumble.
I nodded. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Chaise reached
up and wiped them with his fingers.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’re safe now.”
I tried to laugh in spite of my tears. I was so thankful to
him for saving me… protecting me.
And I knew I would
never be able to repay him for what he had done, so
instead, I leaned forward and hugged him. I buried my face
against the lean muscles of his chest. I felt him enclose me
in his arms.
“Thank you,” I said in between my tears. “Thank you. If
you weren’t there… I don’t know what would have
happened to me. Thank you for saving me.”
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