19 - Waves

Devon

Waves come in all sizes and cause different dangers. They can start out as just little waves in the middle of the ocean that grow into humongous ones that kill millions from impact. Even little ones can grab you and pull you under, never allowing you resurface to breathe. Though sometimes you wonder which is worse: the tidal wave or the undertow?

I have been beaten up before, even by Killian himself, but I have never felt as much pain as I do now. His punches felt like rocks were smashing into my face and the deranged look in his eyes made everything so scary. I had never seen Mom so strong and she ripped him off of me like he was nothing but an angry cat. Dad whisked me away as fast as he could, taking me to the bathroom as I tried to regain my composure. I was shaking, halfway blind (Killian broke my glasses), and confused.
"You okay? He didn't break anything did he? How are your eyes?"
I just nodded, not really comprehending anything as Dad ran the water and then put a cool rag to my eyes.
"Can you see?" he asked after a couple of minutes.
"B-Barely…"
"Did you get any glass in your eyes?"'
"N-no…"
I saw him nod as he moved of my hair out of my face to look at the damage done.
"He beat you up pretty bad…"
"What's his problem? I didn't do anything to him."
"Don't take it personally, bud. He found out some bad news today about what happened to him and he's not acting himself. It could be the worms' fault but right now he's not himself."
"Worms?"
"Yes. Four worms were found in his brain. Dr. Ross is afraid that it could be what the Sokanaru do in general by finding a body as its host. But these aren't Sokanaru because they are slugs and these are worms. I might send it to your grandfather to see if he knows what it is."
"Yeah… How did Mom d-do that? I've never seen her like that bef-fore."
"Your mother is very strong, why do you think she was so good with the Sokanaru animals? And some of them were pretty big. But her fighting days are over, so to say, and she only uses that harbored strength when she absolutely has to."
"Mom was a fighter?"
"She got into a couple of fist fights in her high school days… with me mostly. Come on, let's see if we can't find an extra pair of glasses for you somewhere."
I nodded as Kathlee and Rory looked at us in confusion.
"Don't go into Killian's room for a while, alright? Rory, go back to bed hun…"
"Did Killian do that to him?" I heard her ask.
"Yes. Just go back to bed for me."
I felt my way around the house to where the couch was and sat on it, waiting for Dad to find me some glasses. He finally did find me a pair from when I was like nine but it was as good as it came. He told me it would be best if I went to bed to settle down and then he'd assess the damage when I woke up and everything was leveled out.
I felt someone touch me and I woke with a start.
"What is it?" I asked, not knowing who it really was.
I reached over and turned my lamp on, sticking the tight glasses on. When I saw it was Killian, I scrambled over to the corner of the bed.
"A-are you going to hit me ag-gain?"
Killian looked down at his hands and looked so sad, so vulnerable.
"I don't know why that happened. I didn't want to hurt you. I couldn't control my body and I just kept hitting you… I don't know what's wrong with me but I wanted to tell you that I was sorry for hurting you."
"I guess that's okay… It really hurt though."
"I know that. I really am sorry."
"Thanks for t-telling me… Now can I go to sleep?"
Killian nodded and left the room.

After about a week or two, Killian seemed to level out and so we really didn't worry about the effects of the worms and didn't send it off to grandpa. Even after all this time, I was still covered in bruises and had a huge black eye that didn't seem like it wanted to go away. Isis was kind enough to put ice on it every day at school and the other kids seemed to think I may have won some fight so I was started to get some friends because of it.
Everything was perfect, so it seemed. Isis and I were getting closer and it seemed like maybe Killian and Ember were getting a little close as well. Life was grand and wonderful but it just couldn't have lasted forever, because forever isn't in our family line of luck.

My black eye was just starting to go away when Isis called me to meet her up at the park that we always met at. I vowed that today was the day I was going to ask her out and I reviewed my little speech with Killian and Kathlee. They said it was good and that I should go and do it. This was perfect!
I saw Isis' brown hair in a braid and walked up behind her slowly.
"Guess who?" I said, covering her eyes.
She turned around and I smiled at her but I could tell that there was something going on. I hadn't gotten any replacement glasses and so I was still wearing those old ones. But Isis didn't look too happy and so I stopped smiling.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Yes… I can't hang out with you anymore."
I blinked in confusion. "Why?"
"I don't want to be your friend anymore. It was great and all flirting with you, but you know… you're pretty annoying."
"I am?" I asked, totally shocked at her words. "W-what do you mean?"
"Well for starters, that stutter of yours. I'm tired of waiting to hear what you want to say just because you can't talk right. It's kind of rude if you ask me."
"I-I-I can't help that!" I yelled, her words hurting me deep.
"I don't like you and I don't like hanging out with you." She said firmly, looking me in the eyes. "Your deformities make me cringe."
"I can t-take some speech c-c-c-classes if it will help…" I said feebly, my heart starting to break.
"It's not just your speech, you dummy. It's just you in general. I like guys like your brother; now he's a cutie."
"He has the same face as me!" I yelled. "We're t-t-twins!"
"So, I like the color of his hair and his eyes and the fact that he doesn't have to wear glasses and look like a dweeb." She said nonchalantly, not realizing that with every careless word she was destroying me.
"What can I do? I mean, I'll get color contacts and dye my hair if I have to. Please! What will it take for you to stay with me? To still be my friend?"
"Nothing. Just leave me alone and go find someone else to pine after."
I tried to stop her from leaving but the words just wouldn't come. I was left in the park by myself, my heart ripped out, and alone. It took all I could do to turn around and go back home
When I got home, Killian and Kathlee gave me hopeful looks but then when they saw my sullen face, Killian got up.
"Devon…"
"She doesn't want to be my friend anymore."
"What do you mean?" Kathlee asked.
"It doesn't matter… I'm tired…"
Killian turned me around and looked at me.
"Devon."
"She told me that I was nothing to her. She didn't like me and she never wanted to see me again. We are no longer friends…"
"Oh, Devon…" Kathlee said, the first time I have ever seen her looking concerned for the wellbeing of one of us. "I'm so sorry."
"It just wasn't meant to be."
I shrugged Killian's hand off my shoulder and went to my room.