- Anthony Williams

Out of breath. Don't go. I hate you.

"Time is up. Pass your answer sheets forward." The sound of papers echoed.

"How did you do?", Leah asked.

"Fine, I guess.", I replied while munching on my sandwhich.

"I think I'm going to fail. I mean, what's with that pop quiz anyway?!", Sam was frustrated.

"Ah.", Leah uttered looking elsewhere. Sam and I looked towards her direction yet I couldn't see clearly.

"Celine.", Leah said. I gasped as anger was like water filling up the glass really quickly.

"She's coming here.", Sam said. I got up as soon as I can and walkes fast, leaving Sam and Leah behind. Someone grabbed my hand.

"Wait!" Both of us breathed heavily. Then she heaved out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?", I asked in anger.

"About eight years ago." Filled with anger, I slammed her against the wall. Sam and Leah caught up to us, Leah wearing a worried face.

"You just made me blind, suddenly  disappeared eight years ago without saying a thing, and now you came here and ask for forgiveness after eight long years?!", I shouted.

"Anthony!", Leah shrieked as Sam stopped her from getting close to me. Celine was looking down and this made me even more angry.

"LOOK AT ME!!", I yelled at her. Starled, she slowly looked at me in the eye, her eyes swollen from crying.

"I have never seen clearly since the incident! This is all your fault! You made me blind! You took my sight away! You took what was most important to me!", I sobbed.

"What do you want to become when you grow up Celine?"

"I don't know. I can't really decide."

"When I grow up, I want to be a painter! An Artist that talks about life through painting. Also, I want to paint you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, when your all grown up and wear make up like mom, I want to paint you."

"I'm sorry."

"Is that all you can say?! After eight years?!" I couldn't help myself but punch her really hard. She fell on her knees as she gently touched her cheek.

"I'm really sorry."

"You can't even say my name!" I yelled and I ran away.

Scared. Angry yet I wanted to hug her and say it's okay. This grudge will overpower my feelings until I get my revenge. Until then, I will always hate her... with all my life.

"Why did you do that?!", Leah caught up to me. Panting and panting, she was out of breath. She stood up firmly and walked towards me.

"Don't come near me."

"I understand how much you hate her but she apologized! You could have atleast not have punched her like that. Sam took her to the nurse's office because she was bleeding. You should return the favor of saying sorry to her."

"Who are you to lecture me?" Shocked and hurt, Leah ran away. I was just so angry that my heart turned to stone. I will never forgive her for what she has done to me. She deserved that punch. It isn't even half of how much I have suffered these eight years.

I got home and threw my bag on top of my bed.

"I'm like a train wreck.", I said to myself in the mirror. Looking down to my right was a picture of two kids. I took it and stared at it.

"I can't even clearly see this." A tear came down and I threw the picture into the trash.

"I will never forgive you."

Sunlight. Waves. The prickly sand touched my palms. I can feel a shell on my hand. I looked at it. White was its color. I'm not good at biology so I can't tell what type of shell it is. But I can tell that it was a beautiful white shell. Her face appeared in my mind and I slammed some sand in to the water. I clenched my fists and I lied down the sand. Then I noticed someone's presence.

"Why are you here.", I said. She was silent.

"What I said was a statement, not a question. Which means you should not be here." She sat beside me and I sat up.

"Look here you -" I was stopped by her palm touching my cheek. It was soft and warm. It was like my grudge was slowly drained away from me. I could hear her lightly sobbing, guilty for what she had done to me eight years ago.

"I'm going to be a doctor. I will save you.", she whispered. I was silent, trying to absorb what she said as much as I could.

A doctor. Save me. What did she mean by that? If only I could see her face. She placed her forehead against mine and she sobbed.

"I will work hard and become a doctor. That's why... you must continue to become a painter."

My eyes widely opened, our conversation from eight years ago came flashing back to me.

"For now, all I can do is apologize. I will not stop apologizing until you will someday forgive me." Her hand slipped away and she stood in front of me. Her silhouette perfectly shaped against the sun's bright light.

"I will definitely save you!" I could hear footsteps slowly fading away.

"Oh my where have you been?! You're soaking wet!", my mom asked. Yes, I took a dive to clear my mind out.

Her words were so abstract. I could not understand the meaning behind those words. If only I saw her face, then I would not be so confused.

I grabbed my things. My hands would not stop shaking. I painted and painted and painted. For the first time in my life, I have painted an abstract.