Butterfly

 Chapter One: To bleed from frustration and anger           

 The numbing wind was like a breeze of ice hitting your face. Your hands cold to the bones, with the feeling of your body practically frozen, or at least exaggerated to be. The stones beneath you make you slip forward as you fall on your rear. This is exactly how Anna Merland felt with her digital camera in her left numbed hand. Anna put her camera on a rock carefully and reached in her back pocket. Struggling through her tight sweatpants, she finally grasped a white thin glove that seemed would barely cause any warmth. She bit her bottom lip gently and slipped it on her hand, the sun made the snow on her pants seem like a mountain of snow was weighing her down. She stood up and ruffled out her baggy black sweater. The snowflakes fell gently on the ground, like shooting stars a crossed the night sky, reminding of an owl’s quiet but huge wings flapping slowly in the wind.           

That’s when Anna caught her eye on something, something small and tiny. About an inch long, she found a baby green caterpillar crawling on a large leaf twice as big as her head. It’s back arching and straightening out again as it scuttled to the edge of the green droopy leaf. Anna picked up her black digital camera and slowly moved toward it. “I hear these caterpillars create cocoons at an earlier time than this.” She mumbled quietly to herself as she laid down on her stomach and set the camera up when the caterpillar stopped and moved its head side-to-side. She looked through the camera and clicked the flash button several of times. Each time the camera began to do a ‘click’ sound. When she stopped taking pictures of the confused and tiny caterpillar, she tore a part of the leaf where the caterpillar was scuttling.“I’m not going to let you die.” She said in its face as she slid the camera inside of a black bag slung over her shoulder and carried the caterpillar slowly until she stood in front of a large bike. She put the caterpillar up to her face and looked at its funny looking green body, “You’re very pretty, Mister.” Anna smiled slightly and sat on a bench with her legs crossed, the frozen bamboo wood only made her body colder.  “That’s your new name, you should get used to it.” She stood up quickly with the caterpillar on the leaf, “I’ll bring you back in the spring, and you’ll like my place. It’s quiet with just me and my mother. You can nest in a cocoon when we get there.” Anna began walking quickly down the side of the road. Hoping to keep up with her pace before Mister freezes in the cold winter.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.          

  “Mom!” Anna called out after opening the door to her house, “I’m home!” Mister was sitting patiently on the leaf, waiting for his new home in a cocoon as Anna whispered next to his tiny body, “You better be lucky that you’re going to be alive. But then again.” She stopped and smiled, “You’re Mister, not Lucky.” She closed the door behind her and sniffed the air. The smell of cigarettes and bacon fumed in her woozy head. She thought the mess in the room was most of the problem, but apparently she found the entire house was a problem to start with. Her mom quickly paced through the room, picking up millions of papers and dirt as she went. She was in a white apron with pink laces on the edges, while holding a broom, dustpan, and vacuum all at the same time.“I’m sorry for not saying ‘hi’ but something very important has come up after you left.” She opened a trash bag in a matter of six seconds and slid a pile of papers off a table and into the bag. Dust flew into the air making Anna cough furiously, her nostrils filled with dirt and her hands numb, “What’s so important-” She stopped and cleared her throat out, dust puffing out of her mouth, “-At six in the morning?” Her mother looked as to not even listen to her daughter as she rushed around the kitchen and dusting off window-sills, “The mayor called this morning.” She said it so fast that Anna could only point out ‘mayor’ and ‘called’. She picked up a plate and placed it into the sink, a clink came from underneath it and Anna walked in the living room. She knew mayor meant money, and money meant more food. This must have been very important because her mother and her weren’t called ‘middle-class’. They feasted off any money they could scrounge up and put on the table. But that wasn’t very easy considering Anna now needed to soon get a driver’s license. She placed the leaf with Mister on it inside of a large water-empty aquarium filled with twigs, leaves, and about forty-five other caterpillars that Anna was scared would die in the freezing cold. Anna’s mother than finished with the floor and tables and began to wash the dishes as fast as possible. The dishes making large clashing sounds, Anna winced every time she heard them, afraid of her mother destroying every plate, cup, and pot they owned. Anna picked up a bottle of Febreeze and began to sniff out the smells of cigarettes and bacon.          

   Even if Anna was a human, she had the ears, eyes, and nose of a dog. When she was scurrying around the house and smelling out any places that smelt horrible, she would spray as many times as possible in that spot just to get the smells and perfume to disappear. Anna’s mother called out above her now starting vacuum cleaner, “I need you to move the Butterfly Aviary on the new desk I got in the dining room! I knew it would be great for your butterflies!” She was swishing the vacuum as fast as she could, every now and then she would run into the wall or a table before thinking. Anna sighed deeply and looked down, the aviary was heavy, and her mom knew it. She got the aviary at a yard sale when she wanted about ten clown fish in a tank. It was the first time she watched Nemo, and she was only eight years old. Her father was the one who carried it to the car and inside of the house. It hasn’t been moved since her parents got a divorce. But fish were expensive, until Anna wasn’t interested in fish anymore. When she became about fourteen, she began to collect butterflies in national and strange forests around her area.“Why can’t we move it together after I finish-” She stopped, her nose began to twitch uncontrollably, her eyes started watering and she sneezed loudly. She rubbed her sensitive nose, “-After I finish the house!” She finished with the Febreeze and began to dust off all the tables, window-sills, metal objects, and anything else she could find in the house except the dining room. Her mother could handle that. By the speed she was going, her mom could finish in a matter of seconds. Whatever the mayor was talking about, it must have been very important.            

Her mother stopped the vacuum and nearly threw it inside of the living room, “You need to vacuum, honey.” She said at lightning speed and darted to the dining room. Anna grabbed the black plastic of the vacuum and plugged it in, dust swarmed around her eyes; she wanted to cry so badly just to get the tickling to stop. She flicked the switch and gently but quickly ran the vacuum around the room, pretending she was at school track, out-running Angela Patriarch, the most evil girl in the school. Who apparently had a loss when it came to running.           

 Anna stopped the vacuum and smiled thinking that she had cleaned the house better when it came to money than just plain chores. “Mom.” She said loud enough for her mother to hear, “I’m finished.” She walked inside of the kitchen. It was spotless. She couldn’t believe her eyes; her house hasn’t been cleaned ever since her parents divorce, and now her house looked brand new and practically amazing. She smelled the air and blew her nose; she didn’t feel like coughing her body up. Her mother darted to the kitchen and put her cleaning utensils away. She took her apron off and ran to the living room, “Come on, come on, let’s go, Honey.” She moved her hand in a waving motion towards her, “We don’t have all day!” Anna shot towards her and grabbed one side of the Butterfly Aviary. The weight on her side seemed to press against her, almost knocking the breath out of her body, “So.” She caught her breath again, “What did the mayor talk about?” The only thing that thought in Anna’s mind was, ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ Her mother shook her head, “Can’t say. He just said he would show up.” She smiled and walked into the Dining Room with the aviary and put it against the wall on the oak-wood desk. It looked so cute, all the caterpillars had fell to the other side of the glass, confused. Yellow, green, red, and blue little caterpillars with strange signs on them scuttled to the center of the glass container and began to climb up a long tree she placed inside of it. It had lots of branches, making a lot of cocoons and butterflies weren’t a problem.            Anna counted out each caterpillar one-by-one. They turned out to be forty-six inside now. Each color raced through her mind. Each little way she found them. Each little name she gave them. She knew this would come in handy; she would have to let them go in the spring. And then get more to flutter around her house after their cocoons hatched.            

 Anna sat on her knees and began to look at Mister’s green body behind the glass when she heard a ‘knock knock knock’. She turned and froze in her tracks, it was the mayor. And she had to act as nice and calm as possible. She was never very good at that. She heard another ‘knock knock knock’. Anna’s mother ran as fast as she could down the hardwood stairs and toward the doors of their house. She was standing in front of the door, let her shoulders drop, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the door. Anna scurried to the top of the stairs, where she could see them but they couldn’t see her. Anna had a feeling it was just about a job application or something like that. She sat down on the highest step and put her head down, she couldn’t see very well but at least she could hear them. “Come in Mr. Mayor.” Her mother opened the door and led him through her now-clean house. “Thank you very much, Miss Merland.” He straightened out his tie and cleared his throat.“So what exactly was this about?” She didn’t think before saying anything, “Mr. Mayor Sir.” She added before he could say anything. “Well.” He stopped and cleared his throat again, he began to change his sentence and pointed at something a crossed the room, “Where is your daughter? She might want to hear this.” Anna stood at the top of the stairs and perked her head up. Why did she want to hear it? She ran down the stairs and stood in front of the mayor, staring at him, “W-w-would you like a cup of coffee Mr. Mayor Sir?” The mayor smiled, “I’m not a coffee drinker. Oh and of course, this meeting is about you so I would like to speak with you privately please?” Anna, very surprised and honored, squeaked out something left in her throat, “Me?” She pointed at herself confusedly. The mayor nodded as Anna’s mom waved for her to go on. Anna looked back at her mother, she was confused. She didn’t know what this was all about, and by the look in her eyes, she knew what it was. Her mother walked up the stairs and listened close to what they were going to say. “What is this all about, Mr. Mayor?” Anna demanded some information, she felt light-headed, like she would faint from lack of exhaustion. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until now. Her stomach growled loudly and she bit her bottom lip so rough that a drop of blood formed on her lip. “I would like your butterfly project to become a Butterfly Museum. You have lots of butterflies in that aquarium over there.” He put his hands on the table and tapped a slow rhythm. Anna stood there surprised. She had no idea what to say. How did he know about her butterflies? “I don’t know what to say. How did you know about the caterpillars?” Anna demanded with her fist on the table. They paused for a long time when the drop of blood fell down her chin. The mayor needed the caterpillars from her, “I decided that the caterpillars would create a fabulous kid museum.” He dodged her questions stubbornly, “For each butterfly that lives in that museum-” “You dodged my question.” Anna interrupted him; she was sick and tired of not knowing anything around this crazy town.“You get three hundred dollars, and ninety-nine cents for each butterfly that lives in that museum.” He ignored her questions again. “Here’s my-” He fumbled through his pocket, “-Card.” He pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her. “Give me the Ans-”“Answer me.” Anna was standing above the small stubby man with her arms crossed. He had the paper in the air in front of her.“Your mother told me about it.” He moved the paper in the air, “Please take it and I will leave. Give me the answer in about two days.” He sat there waiting for her to grab the paper. They paused for a long time.           

Anna finally grabbed the paper and sat back down in the chair. The mayor stood up and brushed his expensive coat off with his hand, “Thank you. I’ll be going now.” He turned his head and grabbed the door knob, “Give me the answer within two days.” He said once again to Anna and left with the door wide open behind him. Rain began pouring down the streets, the sun was behind the stormy clouds, and the snow was beginning to turn into slush and mud. The cold breeze flew in the air as hard as it could. Anna darted for the open door and slammed it shut. It felt frozen and stung on her palm. The blood on her chin dripped off onto her arm, she immediately ran to the kitchen and tore off a jagged piece of paper towels. She wiped it on her lip and her arm; she thought biting her bottom lip wasn’t a good idea anymore.          

  Her mother ran down the hardwood stairs and hugged her daughter, “I guess this butterfly aquarium did something than just for fun.” She smiled sweetly and looked through the glass of the aquarium. Anna stared at her, she was happy that she could keep the butterflies for a long time but she felt weird about it. She told Mister that he would leave at spring. She promised him. She would never break a promise between any of her caterpillars. “I’m going to think about it.” Anna said softly and quietly as she picked up her black bag and slung it over her shoulder, “I’m going for a walk.” She walked to the door and slammed it behind her.                                                          

 Chapter Two: To feel something new           

The feeling in Anna’s stomach was like a new beginning, she felt happier than ever. She had no idea why, it was just a feeling that made her face flourish and long dark brown hair glow. Her beautiful smile and her large brown eyes lit up in the morning sun like crystals. She didn’t want the feeling to stop; she thought it meant something lucky. She picked up her camera and slid it inside of her black bag, “I can’t believe I have school today.” She mumbled under her breath and walked outside of her house. The sun gazed upon her face in a bright and shadowy way that felt like happiness. Anna had been waiting to meet some new friends. She pulled out a square band aid from her bag and placed it on her scarred bottom lip. She pressed too hard yesterday and it bled too much. She was starting a new high school today, and she wasn’t ready for it either. The only thing she had brought in her black bag was two pencils, two notebooks, and her camera. She still had hope somewhere that was telling her it would be okay.            As she was walking down the street, she noticed a man standing at a stop sign on the sidewalk. He had brown short hair and a red dragon on the back of his T-shirt. “Hmmm…” Anna smiled and ran up to him. The wind knocking her hair in all directions, “Ummm… Sir?” The man hadn’t noticed her and turned his head. He had a confused look on his face, “Yeah?” Anna paused and whispered to herself, “Brown eyes…” “What did you say?” The man looked down at her curiously.“N-nothing.” She stopped; she had wanted to ask him a question. “W-w-well, what sc-school are you going to?”            The man smiled and slung his backpack over his shoulder, “Just same old Brooklyn High school.” He let go of his pack with one hand and brought it out to her, “By the way, my name is William Blue.” Anna stood there looking at his eyes; she then looked at his hand. They paused for a while until the bus pulled up to them. Anna finally shook his hand and smiled, “Anna.” She tilted her head, “Anna Merland.” William let go of her warm hand and stumbled onto the bus, Anna slowly behind him. The bus driver, Max, closed the door when Anna sat down in the far back seat and looked down. The leather seats made her body warm and feel hard. It was cold enough for her breath to show in the air. Anna pulled out her camera and began taking pictures through her glass window. The clicking sound began to sound like little ‘dings’ like a metal triangle being tapped one-by-one. The bus stopped and Max opened the doors to let someone in, it was a girl, at least seventeen years old. She had long, blonde, curly hair that came to her waist. She had light green eyes and she was wearing small see-through glasses. It looked like she was wearing a collared long sleeve shirt that was white; she had a red tie on, and a blue and red checkered skirt. She had a blue denim bag slung over her shoulder and a pile of books about myths in her arms. She stood there silently, searching for an empty seat.          

   Anna looked up curiously and stood up, “Ummm…” She pointed at the seventeen year old girl and squeaked out as much words as she could, “You can sit with me.”“Huh?” The girl looked at Anna and smiled, “Arigato.” Anna blinked numerous of times and became confused, “What?” She whispered quietly to herself. The girl sat next to Anna and smiled with her hand out, “Watashi wa Sarah desu.” Anna shook her head; she thought it was just an illusion of what she was thinking. There’s no way she really is Japanese right? She thought quietly to herself. I only know one thing in Japanese, maybe it will help. Anna smiled and shook her cold hand, “Eigo hanaseru no?” The girl’s numbing hands made Anna shake with chills down her spine. She let go of her hand and the girl giggled, “Sogyantai. I do speak English.” She smiled, “My name is Sarah Anzu. I’m half Japanese and half English.” Sarah giggled a little harder, “It’s a game I play.”            

Anna stared at Sarah in astonishment; she was the most beautiful girl she had ever met. The sun through the window gazed upon her beauty as she pulled out a fold mirror and began to add some black eyeliner to her face. She stopped at one eye, “Oh man. I messed up.” Anna didn’t see anything wrong. She didn’t even look any different with it on or off. She still looked as beautiful as before. Like a flower, a rose maybe, but a beautiful one. It is gentle and kind, but if you make it angry, it will hurt you, that’s what a rose should be. That’s what Sarah Anzu should be.“I think you look fine, Sarah.” Anna told her, trying to make sure Sarah shouldn’t be uncomfortable about herself. Sarah looked back at her and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped and noticed Anna’s black digital camera, “Are you a photographer?” She said in the most softest and beautiful voice Anna has ever heard, “Most of all, what do you take pictures of?” Anna shook her head to stop looking at Sarah, “Uh, well… Not really. But I do take pictures, pictures of butterflies mostly.” The bus stopped to a loud rusty screech and Sarah stood up, “I guess it’s time to head off to school. Bye Anna Merland.” Sarah skipped off the bus at first as Anna picked up her camera and slipped it in her bag, “She’s a nice girl.” She mumbled as she slung the bag over her shoulder.

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 Anna was now at a new school. The chilling air on her soft lips made her body feel numb, but she kept her hair close to her ears and the warmth in her coat to keep her stable. It was uncontrollable that she was never going to see her old friends again. But she had a hope in her heart that she was going to see everyone in her life one day. Maybe at the same place. But today, she was going to be at high school. Brooklyn High school. She wasn’t a child anymore. She was a fourteen year old, a high schooler, and a girl who was going to make adult decisions. And make friends, friends like her. Anna clenched her bag, she wasn’t ready for this, and she wasn’t ready to be an adult. But it’s not like she had a choice.            

 She was walking slowly down the hallway with a yellow piece of paper in her hand. It was schedules for each period she had chosen for the day. She had four two-hour periods; they were science, language and literature, art, and home economics. The cold air was showing in her breath as she stood in front of the first period door, Science. She stood there for what seemed for forever, but in reality, it was only two and a half minutes.            

 She kept staring through the open window that read ‘Science’ above it. She tried to move but couldn’t. Was it because science hadn’t started yet? The students in Brooklyn High school who passed by watching Anna’s breath and her long brown hair, just whispered and mumbled. None that Anna could see were new except her. Anna was alone. And she hoped that somewhere deep in her heart that soon, she wouldn’t be. “Huh?” Anna became out of her trance and looked up quickly, “Did I mention my name to Sarah?” She whispered to herself, “How did she know my name?”“Whispering to yourself again?” William walked up to her slowly and put his backpack on, “You’ve been standing here and staring at the door for a while.”Anna looked down and sighed, “Yeah? I didn’t notice.” She fumbled through her pocket in search of something, anything, just to change the subject.William smiled, “Wow, are you being sar-”Anna couldn’t hear the rest of his words. They were being blacked out with the loud bell that made her ears ring and hurt. She realized it was time for science, and the happiness she had felt this morning disappeared for some reason. She had hoped it would be here forever, but it didn’t. All she could do is open the science door and let life go on, on how god chose it to be.            

She stumbled into the cold room and sat down in the front row seat closest to the window. The birds twittered and sang small tweets in the icy cold morning. It was always cold up here for some reason, maybe that’s how it always is in the mountains. The snow is always here, and the butterflies flap their beautiful wings every year. Anna was hoping that she could be with her butterflies forever. Although, she didn’t know the answer to that.           

William walked over to her and glanced at her for a second, then sat in the seat behind her. He thought she was strange, but he thought that was good.“Alright class, it seems that I got a call that we-” The teacher, Ms. Monique, stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked at Anna curiously, “I guess she had already made herself welcome.” Anna was wearing a brown glove over her hand and reading a book about butterflies. Ms. Monique held her hand towards Anna, “This is Anna Merland. She is our new student.” Ms. Monique smiled and sat in her chair, her cold breath showing in the air, “Anna. Please put your book away, we are beginning science.” Anna looked up confused; she had only heard her say her last sentence. “Uh, umm…” She clumsily stuffed the book in her bag and looked back at the teacher, “I’m sorry.” She looked back at William who had been staring at her the entire time, “Oh, William.” She smiled sweetly because she didn’t know he was behind her.“Welcome students.” Ms. Monique said as she passed out a large book on chemicals, “To the first day of Brooklyn High school.” She had started passing out from the last person on the upper-right corner to Anna, “I have given each of you an assignment. I know this isn’t writing class but, each of you will write the longest essay you possibly can or want about the things you love and cherish.” She stopped at Anna, who was looking at her desk and writing something out with her brown gloved hand. “Please finish by two months maximum.” She finally put the book on Anna’s desk and looked curiously at her. She kept staring and watching, but then shook her head and walked up to the front of the class, “If you would like. Because this is our first day, you all have chapter one in your books for homework and we can all go outside.” She sat down at her desk and folded her hands neatly on her desk, “The one I want to answer this question is Anna.” She looked at Anna with a bit of mischief and smiled.“Yes.” Anna said in a commanding voice. She had been listening and watching every move that Ms. Monique had made. She shivered and looked up at her, “But instead, we all get to go anywhere on school premises.” She smiled sweetly at her teacher, she had won something today. She had earned her respect or maybe some privileges just because she was herself. That is one moral, dear reader, which I would like you to put into mind. If you act like yourself like Anna Merland did, you will achieve something. It might not be worth a million dollars but it will be worth something.“Hmph.” Ms. Monique slammed her chemicals book on her table in a mean scowl, “Very well then. Everyone will half their free time for one hour, and forty-five minutes on anywhere in school premises.” She then stamped her way out of the door and slammed it behind her. Anna sat there and pulled out her butterfly book again, “That’s what you get from stopping me in the middle of my reading.” She whispered to herself as quiet as possible so she couldn’t hear herself talking. William walked up to Anna and stood in front of her desk, “Nice job. I haven’t seen anyone else who is able to do that to Ms. Monique.” He crossed his arms and smiled. His breath was showing in the icy air. Almost like time had to stop and rewind, Anna recognized the pose William was in. He looked exactly what Anna looked like when she stood in front of the mayor and demanded to know why he had come.“Arigato, Anna.” Sarah walked up to her with her books in her arms, her beauty dimming in the light. Anna looked out the window and put her butterfly book away, “What does that mean, Sarah?” She said it mysteriously as it muffled under her breath. Her lips felt frozen and her ankles were chilling her toes. She scratched her left eyebrow and looked up at Sarah, “So what does that mean?” Sarah poked her chin, “I know it but my Japanese is so easy I say it without realizing what I just said. It means ‘thank you’.”Anna nodded and stood up; her face was cold and shocking to the touch of her gentle fingers, “Y-your welcome.” She stood there, staring at William and Sarah. William’s short brown hair and dark brown eyes, with Sarah’s long blonde curly hair and light green eyes. They were exact opposites in glance. Anna couldn’t help it, “I’ll be going now.” William looked at her with worried eyes, “Where?” He got closer to her in that immediate movement. His hand gripped hers softly as he stood there looking in her eyes. Anna pulled away quickly; she didn’t know why he did that. The wind blew the window open and flung her hair around in circles. She stood there watching him and ran out of the door. She closed her eyes and kept running. Something stopped her when she realized the question, why was she running? What was she running from? She turned back and looked in the empty hallway. It looked as if she had ran forever. All the twists and turns in the school made her feel dizzy. Her head became light as she looked at her bag, “I’m going back.” She ran back from where she came and kept going. “I need to say sorry.” She finally came back to the science room. She paused again where she looked through the glass window. She saw no one. Where were they? “Where’d you go?” She heard a voice from behind her. She turned her head quickly and bumped her head into William.“Oh, Uh, well…” She backed away and looked him in the eyes, “I’m sorry I ran, I didn’t mean to.” She held out her warm gloved hand, “Please forgive me.” William tilted his head and shook her hand, “I forgive you. It’s my fault.” He kept a hold of her hand and smiled, “Want to go to the library?”Anna nodded hard enough for her hair to move out of her eyes with a smile, “Yeah.” She let go of his hand slowly and ran ahead of him, her brown long hair flowing behind her.“Wait you don’t know where-.“ William put his hand to reach her and stopped, “Alright.” He than ran with her and led her the way to the library. The twists and turns followed with each step, the cold air a crossed each others faces felt depressing. An extreme sadness was with each other at that time, but neither of them knew what it was. The feeling of a loved one being murdered or lying in the bottom of a lake waiting for you to pass out was inside of Anna’s dizzy head. The feeling of a loved one you know never to see again was floating in the air. Anna wanted it to go away so badly, she felt like hitting her knees on the ground and cry for hours on end. But instead she smiled and looked up at William, her face was flourishing and her eyes were sparkling. She felt like this morning, like the sun coming up and looking upon you. “I’m happy I met you, William.” The thoughts of sadness dispersed out of the air as Anna ran ahead of William and came to the library door. She stood in front of the door waiting for William to catch up. William kept walking with his hands in his pockets, he felt tired out. He was panting hard with the cold air following his every movement. He came to Anna and swung the door open. It was warm and refreshing inside of the tiny room. With only two giant shelves of bookshelves there stood a librarian sitting in a chair. She was very pretty, almost exact resemblance between her and Anna. She had blue slanted narrow eyes, long light brown hair, and she was wearing small glasses with blue lining around them. “May I help you?” She asked with a soft musical voice directly towards Anna who was panting. Her shoulders moved to every breath as she squeaked out something, “I would like to get a book please. Maybe something in fiction, a butterfly on the cover.” Anna collapsed on her knees and panted hard, “William, get my inhaler.” William was confused and looked around quickly in panic, “Inhaler?” He said quickly with worry.“It’s in my… Bag.” Anna could barely speak. She was quickly losing air. The fear rushed through her body like being shocked by an electric box. William darted for her bag and pulled out an inhaler and immediately put it to Anna’s soft lips, “Hold in there, alright?” He pressed the button as air shot into Anna’s body, her breath coming back she breathed in a massive amount of air and caught her breath.           

 She got up slowly, her feet stepping into place. She stepped slowly and hugged William, “Thank you, William. I didn’t want to tell you.”“Tell me what?” William was still scared.“That I have asthma.” Anna pulled away and smiled, “Come on.” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the librarian, “Let’s go check out a book already.” She smiled sweetly and saw the librarian pull out a black book with a green glass-looking butterfly on the cover. “Is this what you want?” She showed it in Anna’s face. Anna winced, thinking she might accidentally hit her with it.           

 A voice hovered in the air, “Anna Merland and William Blue please report to your next period. Anna Merland and William Blue please report to next period, please.”            

Anna gripped the book, “That will be great.” The librarian said slowly, “So what’s your name?” Anna was trying to speed things up, “Anna Merland.” “But you’re not here.” The woman insisted. “I’m new here so I’ll just take it.” Anna pulled the book out of her hands, “Come on let’s go, Willi-“ “But you’re not in here.” The woman said in annoyance. William butted between them, “Just put the book on William Blue.” He grabbed Anna by the wrist and ran through the hallway as fast as he could, Anna dragging behind him.“What’s your next period, Anna?” He yelled above the students.“What?” Anna yelled back, she tried to black out the students around them. Her ears were ringing with pain.“Your next period!” He yelled as loud as he could when the students stopped talking.Anna clasped her ears, “Don’t yell so loud. It’s Language and Literature.” William sighed with relief and embarrassment, “Same here.”            

William turned a corner of the hallway and grabbed a book out of his locker, with the butterfly book titled ‘Tithe’ still in his hand, “I’ll show you where the room is.” He than slowly began to walk with Anna and the other students down the linoleum floor. The metal lockers beside Anna made the color gray fade in her head. It made her dizzy and light-headed. William was walking in front of her with his ‘normal guy’ walk. It was making him look original. Anna thought that William wasn’t the person who grabbed her hand earlier with that horrified and worried look. She tried to get that moment out of her head. It wasn’t like her to be the one with the guys. She normally never made friends, but I guess William made an exception to her.“We’re here.” William said as he pulled her up to a door that resembled the science door except the bolded words ‘Language and Literature’ printed on the window. Anna opened the door slowly with a ‘creak’ sound going with its movement. William moved behind her and watched her sit in the front row seat that was closest to the window. William waited for her to sit down and sat right down behind her.“Alright class, welcome to the first day of school. My name is Mr. Oak.” The man standing in front of the class had a lean face with blonde short hair and brown eyes, “I heard that we have a new student named Anna Merland. She must be smart, considering she was able to make Ms. Monique angry.” He laughed loudly as Anna heard her name and looked up, “I want to know, how much literature are you going to teach us?” She asked in a soft considering voice. The sounds of birds flapping their wings and tweeting soft music flying out of their nest was outside of Anna’s open window. She shivered with cold but breathed in and out rapidly, the cold air making her lips dry and chapped. Mr. Oak looked up after staring at the book William was holding, “I don’t have an estimate answer for that, Anna.” While wanting to ask a certain answer he pointed at William, “Can you show me that book, William?” William looked up when Anna looked down, “This one?” William stood in front of the class and handed him ‘Tithe’ to him. The black covering looked like death itself, but it looked like a good read. Mr. Oak gripped the book tightly and looked up at William, “I didn’t know you liked this author.” He smiled and handed the book back to him, “It’s a good auth—“ William stopped him, “I didn’t get it.” He looked back at Anna who was staring at her desk, “Anna got it.”“So New Anna got it?” Mr. Oak asked, he already knew the answer to it. Anna looked up again; she was being talked about a lot. Maybe too much than expected, “I did get it. I wanted William to read it.” She smiled and looked back down.Mr. Oak clasped his hands together, “Alright William, get back to your seat we’re going to start Language and Literature.”

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The rest of the day was like a normal school day. The sun gazing through the window on Anna’s cheeks made the rest of her body cold. She hadn’t paid attention to any other teacher besides Mr. Oak because he was teaching her to write. Her lifelong dream was to write. She didn’t care much about love; she only cared about writing and her butterflies.            

The smoke that billowed a cross the sky on that bus ride home made Anna think that no towns except this one had existed. No one could see anything except the buildings and the stars at night. The person who had sat by Anna that evening was William. He wanted to know more about her. They both talked about their lives, and Anna talked about her butterflies.            

 The feeling in Anna when they talked was like a new beginning, like the crisp morning of the first snowfall she had seen as an infant. The smell of smoke and snow fell through the sky, the feeling of grasping yourself and finding what you are. To learn something new.            

The bus stopped at the same place Anna had met William. Anna stood up from her seat and gathered her things, her camera was cold and her fingers were numb. She began walking slowly down the hallway with William behind her. A girl whispered next to Anna, “You must be going out with Will aren’t you?” She giggled and continued her talk with another younger girl. Anna ignored them, if they wanted to think it was true it wouldn’t do anything to her. Anna continued to walk and stumbled down the steps.“Good night, Anna.” The bus driver did some type of salute when William stepped behind her and closed the doors.             The bus passed the two of them in the cold air and drove off slowly. The darkness had already arrived to the both of them. The smell of smoke still gathered around them when Anna said something soft and beautiful, “William?” William looked up and stretched, the cold air making his face light pink, “Huh?” “I’m glad I met you. Thanks.” Anna then ran down the sidewalk as fast as she could, the feeling of happiness in her eyes, her breath coming out with the cold one-by-one, the glad but relieved smile spread a crossed her face, to feel something new was to never feel something the exact way ever again. It’s sad but it’s always happy to feel that way.                                                                          

Chapter Three: Into the Lake           

It was a normal day. Anna was standing outside in the slushy snow with her digital camera. It was after school, and the first day of school. After William left her standing on the sidewalk she ran back home and got changed. Her mother told her that she had to tell her answer to the mayor. But she really had no choice, if she didn’t say yes than her mother would be very disappointed. The snow peaked out of clouds and shone on Anna’s pink cheeks. She picked a flower out of the ground and stared at it, “I can’t wait for my new butterfly book.” She muttered to herself as she dropped it back down and pulled out her camera. Waiting for a butterfly she carefully stepped forward. The cars behind her zoomed past on the road as she stepped forward one more time and aimed the camera at a blackberry bush. She pressed the button a matter of times and her foot slipped underneath her.“Careful, Anna!” William was running towards her on the sidewalk as Anna was tumbling down the hill. Her body was aching with pain, twigs and rocks beneath her made her fall faster.            

William darted down the hill, quickly dodging all the trees and running down to get Anna. Anna kept going faster and faster until she flew off a small cliff and fell into the cold water beneath her. William kept running and stopped at the base of the water, “Anna!” He yelled out as loud as he could, “Anna!” He yelled even louder. William hesitated and kept pacing back and forth, not knowing what to do. Anna didn’t know how to swim.           

William stopped and took off his shirt, “Anna!” He yelled out as he dived in the freezing ice-cold water. The numbing in his face and legs were like being trapped in a freezer for hours. He kept swimming down and down until he saw Anna at the bottom of the lake. He kept pacing his arms faster and faster, his arms felt like giant weights strapped to him. His legs were very tired. Anna, it’s going to be alright, he thought as he continued to swim and grabbed Anna around the waist and pulled her as hard as his strength could. She was heavy and it looked like she became unconscious. Her mouth was wide open and her body was cold. William had very little strength but he finally managed to force her off the bottom of the lake. He placed his feet on the cold rocks at the bottom and pushed up. He kept moving his arms as he could. His lungs felt like they were going to burst open. He reached to the surface of the water and pulled her up above him. He lunged his face above the water and caught his breath. He hadn’t realized how long it was when he was at the bottom of lake while trying to pull her up even just an inch. He began breathing as much as he could. He let his arms rest for a second and began to swim again. He got to the edge of the water and laid her down on the hard gravel. His cold hands were heavy and weak. He smiled with relief when he saw a shadow at the top of the hill. He didn’t care if anyone saw him with her; he just wanted her to breathe again. He put his numbed ear to her chest and listened for a pulse, there was nothing. “Ok, just like they tell you.” He muttered as he tilted her head up and placed his mouth to hers. Breathing in and out he continued giving her air. He didn’t want to stop until she woke up or he felt her breathe. Anna began to cough furiously as water fell out of her mouth.  He let go and sat up, hoping Anna didn’t see him doing that. Anna opened her eyes and sat up, “What happe-” She coughed harder, the pain in her lungs were like fire. She couldn’t breathe very well, she wanted to sleep so much but her frozen body kept her awake and safe. She felt tired as she touched her bruised cold arm. The sun lit through the trees like a covered fire. The birds nesting tweeted little songs. William smiled, “You kind of tumbled down a hill and fell into the lake.” He rubbed the back of his wet neck slowly. Anna looked at him and noticed he had no shirt on, “I’m freezing.” She held herself tight; her hair stuck to her face and stung her eyes. Anna tried to stand up shakily but fell down again.“Careful Anna. Here.” He slid his hands underneath her legs and picked her up. She was light enough for William to carry her but he had no idea how to climb up that hill with her in his arms. He reached down on the ground and picked up his dark blue t-shirt and placed it over Anna, “That should warm you a little.” He placed his foot on the gravel and slowly began moving little-by-little. The pain in his legs grew more and more until he had to clench his teeth from tears falling down his cheeks. He put his foot above a small fallen tree and almost dropped Anna, “Sorry.” He said pitifully and continued up the steep hill. The sun had turned into a sunset and shine on the two of them. William finally let go and forced himself into running. The strength inside of him was little but he had to warm Anna before she passes out. He didn’t remember how long this hill was until now. He looked up and saw he was standing at the edge of the hill. He balanced his feet and stepped on the hard concreted sidewalk. His aching feet stumbled down the street as he shook Anna gently, he didn’t want her to fall asleep, “Anna where is your house? Anna?” Anna opened her large brown eyes and hugged him, “Keep going.” She said quietly while the pain in her chest continued to get harder. She coughed quietly and wiped her wet chin. The sand on her cold legs felt like she was being scraped with sandpaper. She had a very uncomfortable feeling in her chest.          

“Here?” William said as he pointed to the old looking white house in front of him. Anna nodded with a smile, “Yeah.” She said as she coughed continually. William ran with the best strength left inside of him. He tried to dodge from tripping over his feet; he slammed his fist on the door continually until his fist hurt. “Ms. Merland come out!” He yelled out as loud as he could, “Ms. Merland!” He stopped and caught his breath. The pain in his arms and legs finally came to his brain, “Ms. Merland!” He hit the door as hard as he could and looked at Anna, “Don’t fall asleep Anna. Please.” Anna looked at him, “I won’t.” She said with the pain in her body urging her to cry.            

 Her mother finally opened the door, “Who the hell are-“ She looked at Anna and gasped, “What happened?” She said in an angry tone as if to think it was William’s fault this happened to her. William pushed her out of the way and ran through the door, “She fell in a lake.” He said quickly as the pain in his cold body continued. Anna’s mother slammed the door, “Who did this?” She said demandingly. “Anna did it over clumsiness.” William said as he laid Anna down on the couch and put a blanket over her.“Who saved her?” She asked questionly as she began to boil some water.William leaned close to Anna’s face and breathed hot air in her face, “Don’t fall asleep.” He stood up and walked to Anna’s mother, his cold body and his shirtless chest full of pain and aches, “I saved her.”           

 Anna’s mother gave into him, “And do you know her?” She was being more interested in how he had saved her than what she had just asked. She picked up a cup of coffee and shoved it in his face, “Want a drink?”            

William was getting angry; he wanted to help Anna than talk about her, “Shouldn’t we be working on saving her from her heart from stopping?” William’s face lit up as he ran to Anna’s bag and pulled out her inhaler, “This should help.” He finally felt the pain in his chest grow so hard that he clenched his fist and slowly walked towards Anna. The pains in his legs were trying to stop him but he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to make sure that she could breathe properly. He stood in front of Anna and tilted her head up, “Anna, keep breathing alright?” Anna nodded as William put his gentle hands on the inhaler and placed it against her lips. He pressed the button gently and let Anna breathe the air inside of her body. The last of the water dripped out of her mouth as she wiped it off, “I’m cold, William.” She said helplessly. She couldn’t walk, she didn’t want to cry, she couldn’t speak enough to tell her mother that he was a good person. So she just looked at her mother with large sincere eyes.           

Her mother smiled and handed William a cup of coffee, “Thank you.” She hesitated, “Is it William?” William took the coffee and put the inhaler on the table, “Yeah. I go to the same high school Anna does.” Anna coughed loudly and closed her eyes. She wanted the pain to stop, she wanted to fall asleep.“You can go to sleep if you want.” William said to Anna and smiled.“You know, you don’t look so good. You can go to sleep in Anna’s bed upstairs.” Anna’s mother insisted, and William knew she was right. William’s house was much farther from hers, and he didn’t know if he could walk one block without passing out.“I’ll just stay up and watch over her.” He said quietly and pulled a chair up. The hard wood was very uncomfortable but he had to take care of her.           

 The cold wet water made his hair stick to his face. The numbing air around him made him shake with fear. “Am I going to die, William?” Anna pushed herself up slowly.“No you’re not Anna. Of course not.” William smiled as Anna sat up, “You should lie down, William. I’ll be fine. And for some certain reason I know in my heart that everything will be okay.” She said as she pulled him on the couch and put the blanket over him, “You saved me today, so I’m going to do the same for you.” She finally closed her eyes began to snore softly. Their wet bodies cold in the air made Anna’s pain slowly disappear. William tried all night to keep awake; he wanted to make sure Anna was okay. But William’s eyes couldn’t keep up with his feelings. He closed his eyes slowly and shook them awake. He needed to protect Anna. But he didn’t know why. His eyes closed again, but he didn’t open them again. He softly fell asleep in Anna’s gentle arms.

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Anna’s eyes opened slowly as she stared at William who was standing in the kitchen. She thought that she was going to wake up and he would be gone, and everything would be back to normal. The mayor would come and Anna would allow him to make the butterfly museum, she would head off to school and meet Sarah, William, Ms. Monique, Mr. Oak, and everyone else. But she woke up, not ready for school, William in the kitchen, her wrapped in a blanket and her pain gone away. She wanted to leave this world, but she wanted to be by William’s side. She didn’t know why.William looked over at Anna and dropped his cup of coffee, “Anna.” He ran up to her and hugged her, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Anna laid there wide-eyed and confused, “What?” William let go of her warm body and put his hand behind her head, “I’m just so happy that you’re safe.” He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee, “Here. These will sooth your throat.” He immediately got up and began to clean the kitchen from the broken coffee cup, “Sorry about the cup. I was just worried about you.” Anna nodded with an ‘its okay’ and took a sip of the coffee. It was black, black coffee was what she hated the most. But she didn’t want to be mean to William. She put the cup down and sat up with her legs dangling over her blankets, “Thank you, William.” She took another hot sip and felt it go down her throat. William nodded and handed Anna her bag, “The bus comes soon so you might want to get ready.” Anna gripped the bag gently and looked inside of it. Her camera wasn’t in it. “Where’s my camera?” She asked as she stood up and smiled. William stood there wide-eyed, “You had a camera with you?” Anna nodded to his question. William rubbed the back of his neck, “If it was with you yesterday than it must be in the lake.” Anna’s smile disappeared, “But that was the best camera out there, and I paid all the money I got from that job for it.” William rubbed the back of his neck slowly, “I. I hope you can get another one, Anna.” He gripped Anna’s wrist gently and led her out of the house with her bag in her hand, “We need to hurry alright?” Anna nodded and dragged behind him, the concrete made her feet ache as she laughed quietly to a joke William made. William looked back and smiled, “So how long have you been to this place?” Anna sped her pace up and walked beside him, the cold wind on her face was numbing her ears, “Ever since my parents got a divorce.” William got another worried look on his face, “I’m sorry about that, Anna.” He let go of her wrist and looked down at her feet. He was feeling even more depressed. “It’s alright. I didn’t like my father anyway.” Anna giggled with her hand over her mouth. William glanced up and looked back down. Anna ran ahead of him and stood next to the large red stop sign. William walked up beside her, “So do you think you’ll make it through class?” He put his hand on her forehead.“What do you mean?” Anna looked up at his hand on her cold forehead. Her clothes were dry now because of last night.“Well it looks like you have a fever.” William said worryingly. “I’m fine William.” Anna pushed his hand out of the way and smiled, “I’m sure.” William still wasn’t convinced but played along with her anyway. The smoke in the air was like a giant cloud of dust, but its stench reeked. Anna looked up and saw a butterfly. It was orange coloring and it was tiny. She saw it come closer to her and it perched on her shoulder.“Anna. You have a butterfly on your shoulder.” William pointed to her as the butterfly flew around Anna’s head, its tiny orange wings flapping against wind. It landed back on Anna’s shoulder. Anna took her finger and rubbed it on the butterfly’s wings. It adjusted and sat back down in place. Anna smiled and stared at the beautiful winged thing on her shoulder. She looked up at William, “Mission Blue Butterfly. Mission.” Anna pat the butterfly again, “Her name is Mission.” William shook his head as the bus’s engine was heard from a block away. Anna turned her head towards the bus and saw the bus driver pull up, “Come on in.” He said as he opened the bus doors and Anna walked up the stairs and into the last seat in the back.All the girls on the bus looked down in silence when William stepped on the bus. “What?” William looked at everyone who began to stare at him.“You locked lips with Anna.” A girl named Diane said, she was sitting in the center seat and looked at him. William blushed with embarrassment, “It wasn’t a kiss.” He said quickly as he sat down next to Anna, “Help me.” He whispered to her.“Than what was it, William?” Diane replied to him in an angry way.William looked up, “It was CPR.” The butterfly floated around Anna’s head who was entirely confused of this conversation, “You kissed me, William?” Anna asked him and moved closer to the window. William moved closer to Anna, “I did CPR on you after you fell in the lake.” He whispered back to her.Diane wasn’t being fooled, “How could she have passed out? Oh and hiding her in that part of the lake was smart, but not smart enough.” She was in that feminine girl tone that always annoyed William.  William stood up, he wanted to tell her what happened but it may ruin Anna’s respect from the other students. The bus began to move and he fell back in the seat, “Alright, we did kiss.” Everyone on the bus laughed and Anna looked over at William, “But William, I fell in the la-“ William covered her mouth, “Please don’t tell them. I don’t want people to hurt your feelings for the rest of your life for being clumsy.” William shook his head and took his hand off her lips.           

  Anna smiled, “Alright.” She said out loud as she put her arms around his stomach and held him tight, “Thank you.” Anna felt love in her heart; she felt that she would stay like this forever. But she needed to stay by his side to do that. She didn’t know if it was possible. A great sadness wept through her body and tears began to run down her face. She was scared if something bad happened to him. It was because nothing should come out right in this world.                                                                                                           Chapter four: I don’t want to lose you    

        Anna woke up to see William standing in front of her. He had a worried look like before but he closed his eyes tightly. The darkness surrounded both of them slowly. Anna shivered and swallowed, her spit falling to her stomach. She felt like throwing up.“Where are we, William?” She asked softly. Her cold dry lips bled from cracking. She smiled and touched her lips. The coldness in the air was even more than she could think. Her toes and fingers felt frozen as her body felt numb. It was a feeling to be lying somewhere on the ground with her true love standing in front of her cold body. She shivered quietly once more and stood up, the light in the room seemed to shine into her brown eyes, and it stung like fire. She closed her eyes and pictured the blackness. She tried to make it seem like a dream, like William and her were back at her house. He was cooking, while her sickness tired over her brisk body. But every time she opened her eyes, she saw the light shining in front of her. She saw William. And she saw something small and frail flutter next to her.It was the butterfly.“Anna?” William got to his knees and looked into her eyes. Anna opened her eyes and smiled sweetly. She wanted to say something important to him, but when her mouth opened, the words passed through her lips like her breath. “You don’t have to say anything.” He put his hand softly onto Anna’s mouth and picked her up heavily. His feet ached painly as he forced him to his legs. Anna could see he was wet and cold, but when she touched his arm he was warmer than fire.“What happened, William?” She said softly, she couldn’t speak louder than that. William looked back at her with worried eyes.“Your mother was killed.” He said with tears. The salt-water dripping down his chin tasted like the lake the day before. The wetness dripped onto her lips as she closed her eyes. “Who killed her?” Anna said with no breath. William put her back down, he swallowed deeply. His face was nervous, “I didn’t know she was sick.” Anna’s eyes grew wide as she looked at his face. William didn’t look in her eyes, he was ashamed. Anna just wished for him to look at her, but he just waited for Anna to yell at him.

“Why did you do this?” She yelled as she grabbed him tightly at his shoulders. William didn’t look in her face, he was sad. Tears ran down his hot cheeks, “I didn’t mean to. I brought her to the hospital and…” He stopped silently, his shoulders dropping. He looked at Anna’s feet and sighed deeply in the back of his throat.  

(I’m so sorry this isn’t done but it was my less recent stories)