1Little Don, Chapter 1
The Girl on the Bridge
A/N: I'm really excited for this story! :D
Warnings:
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A thin pair of arms wrapped around Saki Marion, coiling around her neck and pulling her forward. "Emily," Saki said lowly to the woman clinging to her. "We shouldn't. We're in school…."
Emily shushed her softly, placing a hand on the back of her neck and then pulling Saki in for a kiss. They were in the nurse's office, which was always carelessly left open during lunch break. The window was wide open that Friday afternoon. Spring sun washed through into the room and the wind blew through the window. Emily placed feather light kisses over Saki's neck, looking up at the other girl and sighing softly. Saki swallowed, biting her lip. She leaned forward and kissed Emily, slowly rolling on top of her.
Footsteps came rushing down the hallway. Saki broke away from the kiss shortly after the door burst open and froze on top of Emily. Their eyes locked in a shared look of fear. Saki swallowed and glanced over. A boy with a bloody nose stood at the door way with a girl standing beside him. They stared at Saki and Emily, forgetting about the bloody nose; rivers of blood flowed from his nose and down his chin. Saki glanced back down at Emily. Neither of them were out, mainly because Emily hadn't been okay with it. Saki couldn't really blame her; the people at this school were extremely intolerant of any nonconformists.
Emily stared at the boy and the girl, her face contorted in… Shame? She looked back at Saki, and swallowed. Emily's eyes widened very slightly, and she shoved Saki away. "Sh-she forced herself on me," Emily said, rolling off the bed and pacing over towards the two in the doorway.
Saki fell back onto her hands, then stared as Emily walked over to the two, clutching her shirt and turning her back on Saki with her shoulders hunched over.
"I always knew their relationship was a bit strange," the girl said. "Disgusting."
Saki waited for a couple of seconds. Surely Emily would defend herself and Saki… Instead, Saki could visibly see Emily's shoulders tremble. "It is!" Emily said.
Saki's eyes widened and she hopped off the bed and headed straight for the window. She didn't want to go through them to escape, but she needed out… She jumped through the first story window, landing easily onto the ground and then ran away from the scene of the crime, with her head lowered in shame and defeat. Meanwhile, the ache in her chest tugged and pulled, begging for her to start crying.
She found a quiet place, with nobody around besides the people in the distance. It was just off of school property, but she could see everyone from the distance; she'd know when to head back in if she couldn't hear the bell. Though, the way things were looking, she might not. Saki pulled her legs to her chest and put her head in her arms, releasing a shaky sigh.
Had she been fooled? Emily had told her countless times that she loved her; Saki had always returned the words. But now it seemed as if Emily's words were hollow… The feeling of betrayal bubbled in Saki's throat. She choked a little on a sob that she was determined to keep down.
The bell rang a good ten minutes later. Saki had looked up when the majority of the students had started filing into the building. She stood, dusting herself off. Saki's eyes were a little red from the tears she had suppressed during the lunch break. She took her time walking back to the school, contemplating the entire way whether or not she should just keep walking passed the school.
'Maybe I was imagining things,' Saki reasoned with herself. It was a stupid reason.
She approached the building and headed straight in.
When she got into the building, there were only a couple of people in the halls, half of them being security guards. Saki made it to her classroom right as the bell rang. She sat in her seat, and she could feel the stares on her back, and even some heads from the front row turned to stare at her. How fast rumors spread… There was a small amount of chatter. Saki thought she heard a couple of words about her in the daily class gossip before the teacher interrupted.
She sighed. Her foot started tapping with anticipation for this day to be over.
After class, Saki looked around for Emily. She caught sight of her, but was then shoved against the lockers. Saki winced a little, then glared at the one who did it. It was a boy, slightly bigger than her. He was with a group. They didn't bother her after that, but their intention was perfectly clear. And from the laughter around her, she knew others knew as well. When Saki looked back up, Emily was gone.
"She forced herself on me…"
Those were the words Emily used. Saki winced inwardly as she remembered them. Did she? Was that not what Emily had wanted? When Saki looked around for Emily next, she was nowhere to be seen. Saki remembered, Emily would always find her after class so that they could walk to their next class together. What happened to that?
Saki debated skipping the rest of school. Even as she thought about this, she continued walking to her next class with her head down the entire time. She gently shoved her way through people. Every time she looked up, someone was staring at her like she was an alien. Christ, this would probably leak through to her friends as well. What would they say? She didn't hang out with the best group of people; they skipped class and participated in some gang violence, and Saki had been ignoring them since she met Emily. They weren't exactly the most tolerant group of people either.
When she made it to her next class, it was eerily silent. She sat next to her desk partner. Her desk partner immediately leaned over and whispered, "Why do you force yourself on other girls?"
Saki clenched her fist against the desk. "Shut. Up," Saki said, otherwise ignoring the question and taking out her materials for class. This is what circulated through twenty minutes. Their school was small, but not this small. Saki had a suspicion that it was spread around only to the classes that Saki attended. Saki bit her lip. This had to be some kind of cruel joke. Any time now, Emily would come in and hug her, apologizing for leaving like that…
Of course, Saki and Emily didn't have any classes together. Saki sighed, tucking her legs under her desk.
It was no time at all before the bell rang to end class. Two more classes and then Saki could get away. Before she was able to exit class, her teacher called her back. She bit her lip. Saki didn't have a good relationship with her teachers. Some were better than others, but for some reason, Saki thought that her teachers might just be coming up with reasons to hate her. She really wasn't that bad, but she had always entered new classes with a bad attitude. She didn't tend to be polite to people until she actually had some respect for them. You earn respect, was what she was always taught, so she wasn't exactly polite to them right off the bat…
"Yes sir?" she said, walking back to his desk.
The man was standing at his desk. He looked down at her. "You are currently failing this class," he said. Saki could sense his subtle sneer. "I don't want you to retake this class any more than you do. Please bring up your grade."
She clenched her fists lightly. "Could I get some extra credit work?" she asked.
"Don't be silly," he said. "Just do your assignments. Maybe you'll pass the class then."
Saki could hear the condescending tone coming from her teacher's voice. She turned from him and walked out starting down the hall. She hated all her teachers. However, she did have some respect for a few of them. Emily had understood that. But Emily was…
Saki caught sight of Emily for the second time after the incident in the nurse's office. Saki paced after her, barely catching up to Emily. She grabbed her lover's hand and pulled on it. Emily spun around in alarm. Emily's eyes widened briefly as they met with Saki's. She gasped and pulled away as if Saki's touch burned. After a moment of silence between the two, Emily finally said, "S-stay away from me, you freak…" Emily turned quickly and paced through a crowd of people down the hall.
Saki watched Emily run. She swallowed, then let her head drop. "But I thought…" It was no more than a whisper. Saki started pacing down the hall again, to her next class.
Classes didn't get any better. More homework was piled up. Saki wouldn't be able to concentrate on the homework with what just happened. She'd be too distracted. She sighed, stuffing the pages of homework into her bag at the end of each class. At the end of the day, she walked home, taking the back routes so that she could avoid the stares. Just a day ago, Saki and Emily would be walking home on the main streets together. Now, Saki was forced into the back streets.
When Saki got home around 3, Saki's mother was in the kitchen, and her father was on the couch in the living room, reading the newspaper. Typical family picture. And even her parents weren't too fond of her. Her mother tried not to make eye contact and her father hardly talked to her. It was because she liked girls. Saki went straight to her room and slammed the door shut.
She sighed and sat down on her bed with her back to the wall. She placed her head in her hands, then firmly planted the side of her fist against the wall. She wasn't going to do the homework tonight. She probably wasn't going to go to school Monday, or Tuesday. Maybe not until the next, next week. She just wanted to disappear and last out over the rumors that had already spread.
Her stomach growled loudly. Saki sighed. She was famished from the stress of the day. She stood and walked out of her room and straight to the kitchen.
As she walked into the kitchen, Saki's mother was flipping through a magazine at the table. Saki was similar to her mother. She had her mother's hair and structure, but her father's eyes; nearly gray hair with pointed eyebrows and dark eyes. She was a good inch or two taller than her mother, but a full foot taller than her father. Saki grabbed an apple from the counter and took a bite out of it. She was getting ready to head back to her room when her mother started talking. "Saki, have you met any handsome boys?"
Saki turned to look at her mother, eyes narrowed venomously. Her mother was staring at the magazine, not even bothering to look at her. She didn't need this from her own mother now, not after what had just happened today. It brought back too many memories of when she'd storm out of her home and go to Emily's. "For the last time," Saki said. "I like girls. Why can't you just accept that?"
Her mother looked almost hurt with her head lowered and her shoulders hunched. The woman flipped the page of her magazine and played with the corner of it between her fingers; her eyebrows were furrowed. "It's unnatural," her mother finally said.
Saki bit her lip, hard. She glared at her mother, cursing her silently over and over again in her head. She turned away again and headed for the front door. She wouldn't stay here with a mother like that. As soon as she was out the door shut, she slammed it behind her and chucked the apple at the door. It hit the door with a thud before falling and rolling on the front porch. She glanced behind her. The door remained closed. Her mother didn't come out with a heartfelt apology and her father had read his paper like he always had. Saki clenched her fist and headed off. She didn't know where, she just knew she didn't want to stay there. She couldn't go to Emily's either. So she headed to a lonely part of town, towards the old bridge near the slums, where not even any of the gangs would go. The slums were not so densely populated like the rest of the city. She knew she could be left to herself if she went there.
Saki went straight there. She had only been there once, so she had looped around a couple of buildings a few times, to the main roads and the back roads before eventually finding a way to the bridge. Just like it had always been, the connector between the two sides of town was desolate and bare, with gravel scattered over its empty surface like dust. The only sound that came here was the sounds of cars from the rushing water below the bridge. She stopped in the middle of the bridge.
The bridge was deserted aside from the occasional car that strode by. Once every hour, maybe? Saki turned her back towards the road and looked down at the water below the bridge. It was dark, and the river was rough. The river stretched a couple of miles up and down each way. She sighed, staring into the water. She had no idea how deep it was.
Nobody would notice. The tide in this river would be loud enough to mask any sort of splashing. If she screamed, nobody would hear because of how deserted the place was. She placed her head on her hand, staring down longingly into the water. It somebody pushed her in, she could die and nobody would know until her parents filed her as missing, or until people actually started to notice she wasn't showing up at school. How long would that be? A week, maybe, more or less. She had skipped school and ran away from home for longer before, so would they even bother?
The river was very… riveting. She was gripping the rails of the bridge before she realized. It would be easier just to jump in. Her parents were disappointed, her love-life just flew out the window, and now the entire school had alienated her. 'Well, you don't have to worry anymore,' she thought.
She swung her leg over the rail, sitting on it a second before letting herself fall into the water.
Splash!
It was cold and rough like she had imagined. Rough enough to keep her underwater. She didn't think she could get back up if she tried. She was barely starting to choke now. She closed her eyes, not that she could see anything aside from darkness within the water anyway. The thought occurred to her in a little less than a couple of seconds.
Something wrapped around her arm tightly. Saki struggled to open her eyes. She couldn't make out exactly what the figure was. It was more of a watery blur than anything. She realized they were going up when she saw the surface more clearly, but didn't think to fight until her head was above the surface.
Saki let out a gasp; partly out of instinct to breathe air, and partly out of anger. Saki had stopped moving in the water. When she looked, she found out the reason was the someone who had saved her had grabbed onto a series of vines that was connected to the underside of the bridge. "Let me go," Saki said.
"B-but why?" a high-pitched squeak asked. Saki recognized it as a female's voice.
Saki tried to yank her hand out of the grip, but couldn't. This person's grip was surprisingly strong. Saki didn't look up. "I jumped in on purpose!" Saki said. "Let me go!"
"I can't!" she said desperately. "Can't we talk about things?"
"No!" Saki said. "Let me go!"
"P-please don't leave," the stranger said. "Let's talk."
Saki groaned, yanking again. "I told you, I don't want to," she said. "Just let me die here in peace."
"Th-then will you help me?" the girl asked. "I-I can't swim…"
Saki's eye twitched in annoyance. "What do you mean you can't swim?" she asked. "Why'd you jump in if you can't swim!"
"I-it was a spur of the moment though!" the girl said. "W-will you please help me?"
Saki gritted her teeth, then sighed and reached up to grab the vines. She could always jump again later. She took her hand away from the girl, then wrapped an arm around her waist. "Hang on to the vines," Saki said.
With some difficulty, Saki managed to ease her way with the girl to the other opening of the bridge. Luckily, the vines stretched over onto the side of the bridge as well. They managed to get to the shallow, ankle-deep end of the river. The girl panted slightly, walking over to the solid surface and falling onto her butt. Saki walked over, glaring slightly. The girl looked up at her wide-eyed with water drops resting on her eyelashes. Her eyes were bright, crystal blue color and her hair was dark blond, only because it was wet.
The girl blinked. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Saki was in the midst of thinking. "No," Saki said slowly, processing what had just happened. Can't swim? How was it that she dived in and got Saki to the vines then? Saki's eyes widened slightly and she fumed. "You liar!"
The girl blinked again. "What?" she said.
"Don't play dumb, you can swim just fine!"
Another blink, and then she laughed. "I guess you caught me," she said. Saki's blood boiled. This girl was enjoying this. "But wouldn't you lie too, if it were to save somebody else?"
"No," Saki said. "I'd mind my own damn business!"
"Maybe," she said quietly. She stood up and held out her hand. "In any case, I'm Bernesa. Nice to meet you."
Saki clicked her tongue and started walking back up. "Whatever," she said.
Bernesa blinked and followed her up. "My house is nearby," Bernesa said. "You could come over for a little bit to dry off."
"Will you just leave me alone?" Saki snapped.
Bernesa didn't seem offended in the slightest. She simply smiled and grabbed Saki's wrist lightly. "It's this way," she said. "Come on."
"I said…" Saki sighed. "Oh, for the love of-"
Saki allowed her arm to be pulled to the top of the bridge. Now they were walking into the slums of the town. "You go to Saint Peters High School," Bernesa pointed out.
"Yeah," she said. "What of it?"
Bernesa smiled a little. "So do I," she said. "What grade are you?"
"Senior." This was stupid.
"Me too," Bernesa said. "What's your name?"
"Saki Marion," she replied through gritted teeth. She never thought kindness could be so infuriating.
Bernesa didn't even notice the loathsome aura Saki must have been giving off. "I'm Bernesa Hutchinson."
'Don't care,' Saki thought, growling lowly in her throat.
They barely made it into the slums before turning into a two-story apartment complex. It was fairly nice for something in the slums. No broken windows, fairly clean, and only a questionable stench. Saki would have thought things would be a lot worse.
Bernesa walked ahead, her hand still clamped onto Saki's arm. Saki thought Bernesa said she went to Saint Peters High School. After the event today… Could she not know about it? Or was she absent?
Bernesa led Saki onto the second floor of the apartments and then turned in a room half way in. Saki caught sight of the room number, 24. And then they were inside. "You should take a shower," Bernesa said. "You don't want to catch a cold."
"I don't need a shower," Saki growled.
"At least let me put your clothes in the dryer," Bernesa said.
"Do I look like I have any spare clothes?" Saki said.
"So, wear a towel," Bernesa said. "Or you could try and fit into my clothes. I think I'm too small for you though."
Saki blinked. She hadn't noticed Bernesa's height until now. Saki was a good foot taller than her. "I'm fine in this," Saki said.
"I'm not fine with you in that," Bernesa said. Her voice was soft and kind, but her eyes were hard. "What kind of a hostess would I be if I let my guest wander around in soaking wet clothes?"
Saki's eyebrows furrowed.
Bernesa started again. "Will you please take a shower?" she asked. "That way I can dry your clothes and you won't be walking around half naked."
Saki sighed. "Fine," Saki said, but not in a happy manor.
Bernesa smiled and started walking. She hadn't let go of Saki's arm yet, as if to make sure Saki wouldn't bolt for the door. Bernesa led her to the living room and pointed to a door. "That's the bathroom," she said. "Call if you need any help."
Saki muttered silent curses to herself while heading to the bathroom. The bathroom was fairly large for an apartment. She stripped her clothes and dropped them on the bathroom floor with a quiet splattering noise. Then she pulled back the shower curtain and turned on the hot water, mixing it with the cold to make it lukewarm. She stepped in and sighed, tipping her head back and letting the water fall over her.
She didn't notice the door open, but when she looked out to find her clothes, they were gone, and replaced with a virgin white towel. Saki sighed, then continued to shower some more. Hopefully the dryer would beat her in timing.
Forty-five minutes later, Saki stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel. She dried herself off, ruffling her hair with the towel and then wrapping it around herself. Saki frowned, pulling her lips back into a thin line. She stepped towards the door and opened it, peaking out.
The air smelled different from when she walked in. It smelled of fresh cooking now. But now, she was stuck without clothes. 'Way to think ahead,' Saki thought. Now she was stuck naked in a stranger's house.
Bernesa came around the corner; from the kitchen, Saki assumed. Saki caught Bernesa's eye and Bernesa gasped. "Hold on!" she said. "Your clothes should be dry. I'll be just a second."
Saki sighed and leaned against the doorway. Soon, Bernesa came back and held out a pile of neatly folded clothing. Saki's eye twitched a little; Bernesa was avoiding looking at her by turning her face to the ground.
Saki grabbed the clothes and then shrunk back in, closing the door. She dropped the towel and started putting on her clothes. When she was done, she paused for a moment and walked out of the bathroom.
Bernesa was right outside the door. She smiled faintly at Saki, and Saki withheld a glare. "…Thanks," Saki said. The shower, admittedly, was helping her think better.
Bernesa nodded. "I'm cooking," Bernesa said. "If you'd like, you could stay for dinner."
"I shouldn't intrude any more than I already have," Saki said.
"You won't be," Bernesa said. "Just wait on the couch. It'll be ten minutes."
Bernesa didn't give her much of a chance to reply; she turned and headed back towards the kitchen before Saki got a chance to tell her, she wasn't all that hungry. She actually was. That apple was now starting to sound much better than it had when she left the house. Saki stretched a little, yawning. She was exhausted… grumbling silently to herself, Saki found her way to the living room and sat down. Food should wake her up. It always did, at least when Saki cooked it.
For an apartment building in the slums, this Bernesa girls' place was actually fairly nice. The items were nice, but not flashy. This apartment was furnished for only one. 'So where are her parents?' Saki thought quietly, continuing to observe.
While observing, she nearly nodded off a couple of times. Saki sighed, resting her head against the couch. Her sudden fatigue suddenly got the better of her, and she was asleep in minutes.
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Bernesa walked out, having just finished her cooking. Lasagna was hot on the table, waiting to be feasted upon. She leaned out of the hall doorway. "Dinner's ready," she said, then blinked after a few second when there was no sound.
She stepped out of the doorway and down the hall to the living room. She walked over to the couch, looking over the back of it and to the sofa cushions. Bernesa smiled a little. Saki was sprawled out on the couch, sleeping. Bernesa sighed a little. "Maybe another time then," Bernesa said, looking down at her. Her eyes lidded halfway. Slowly, she reached down and brushed some of Saki's hair out of her face. "You're going to catch a cold if you sleep with wet hair, silly…"
Bernesa lightly threaded her fingers through Saki's hair. 'How irresponsible,' Bernesa thought. 'For all she knows, I could be a psychotic killer… She must really trust people easily….'
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