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My first thought was ‘What the fuck?’
I walking down a deserted street, with a girl that looked barely older than me. She looked small and fragile. She looked at me with fear in her eyes. She was being pulled by away by a man, who was chastising her about how she was a burden to him. Instinctively I ran up to him. “What do you think you’re doing to her?” I asked angrily. “None of your business, kid.” His grip on her wrist tightened. She screamed out in pain but he put his other hand out to cover her mouth. “Let her go!” The words came out much louder and more livid than I expected them to. He turned around. “Well, she’s my child not yours so you better leave. C’mon Reyna, let’s go!” He started dragging the girl away again, when he received a hard punch in the back. He turned, glaring at me menacingly. “Let her go.” My words were simple, plain but yet solemn. His reply was a punch back at me. However, I dodged, which led to him being imbalanced and falling onto the floor. He released his grip on the girl but she didn’t move. Suddenly, he got up and tried to throw another punch. Stupid man. I grabbed his arm and judo flipped him. He was lying on the floor, seemingly in pain, but it looked like he would be able to get up soon. I needed to get out of there. Grabbing the girl, I ran away and she followed. After turning a few corners, we were both panting, but we lost him. I looked at the girl and smiled. “Reyna, are you alright?” She stared at me with black eyes that seemed to pierce the soul. I realised that I was still holding her hand, tight. I let go immediately. Taking the chance, she turned and bolted. Kid couldn’t even be bothered to say thanks. But I guess she couldn’t, after all that screaming. I just hoped she was alright. Five years later, Christmas Eve “Let me go!” I growled at the boys. “Leave me alone!” My hands were bound up with rope and I couldn’t break free, no matter how hard I tried. “Never, girlie. You’re too fine a specimen to leave alone.” They looked at me with a smirk. “What do you want from me? I have no money, no family, no friends.” I demanded to know. “You don’t even know what you’ve done wrong.” The lankier of the pair spat. “Don’t touch me.” “What are you going to do? Pull our hair?” Shorty laughed. I shifted myself to face him. “No, but I’m going to do this.” I tried to kick him where the sun never shines but he dodged at the last second. I landed on the floor. “Not so strong are you?” He pushed my back onto the floor. “You have beautiful blue eyes, did you know? It’s such a waste that you don’t sit still and let yourself look pretty.” He reaches out a hand, about to slap me across my face. I couldn’t do much anymore, with my hands tied. The pair kicked and punched me for a reason I did not know. I felt dizzy, like I was about to pass out. When I got kicked in the stomach hard by someone, I came back to my senses. I am Thalia Grace. And I will not be beaten by some scrawny bullies. I was out of luck, them somehow tied up my laces together. But I wouldn’t give in. I screamed, a sharp piercing scream, so high that it surprised even me. “No one is coming to rescue you, princess. We’re in a dark alley with no one around. You might as well just give in.” Beanstalk took his knife out of where he was hiding it. “If you scream again, a gruesome fatal accident be in the news tomorrow.”I felt like someone was watching me, as the two teenagers closed in. I pressed my back against the floor, praying that whoever was lurking in the shadows would save me. Just as Shorty was about to put his hands up my shirt, I heard a voice. “Let her go.” The voice was eerily quiet, but you could tell the owner was angry. The boys froze. It seemed like they would listen to the voice. “Let. Her. Go.” The stranger said each word slowly. The boys seemed to snap out of their daze. “We’re not scared of you,” they said, ”You’re just a dropout from our school, Reyna.” Yet, I could see they were shaking in fear. I saw a glint of a blade in the darkness. She had knife too. “Show yourself or else you’re just a coward.”“Fine, boys. Just leave her alone.” She stepped out and I could see she was not carrying a knife but a spear of some sort. As her face emerged, I realised something. I’ve met this girl before, in my past that I wanted to leave behind. She glared at the boys and The boys seemed to shrink under her gaze. “Run along now, Octavian, Michael.” She shooed them away, but not before she punched them both in the face. Both boys looked at me, as if telling me that they would find me again. “Are you okay?” She asked, looking at me with concern as she untied my shoelaces. She was the girl with the jet black eyes and ebony hair that I had saved that day a long time ago, in the same deserted street from her father. Reyna. Her name meant queen. In the faint moonlight I could see that she did indeed look like a queen. Her eyes were more mature, as if she had gone through pain, her jawline defined. She was wearing purple, the colour of royals and she looked a queen. Her hair in a glossy braid. Her eyes themselves were piercing and seemed to look right into your very soul. “Yeah. I’m fine.”“That’s great,” She replied,” My name is Reyna. You look familiar. Do I know you?”“No,” I admitted. “My name’s Thalia. Thalia Grace. We sort of know each other but we don’t. If I’m not wrong, you’re the girl that I helped, years ago.”“Wait...are you the girl that beat up my father when I was younger?” Reyna asked as she freed my hands“Yeah. Is he better, by the way?”Reyna stiffened at the question. “Well, no. He’s dead you see. One day he got mad, nearly killed my sister so I may or may not have stabbed him with a magic knife that caused him to disappear. But anyway, I’d like to thank you for helping me that day. I learnt how to fight from watching you. Thank you.” “I should be thanking you,” I replied, ”After all, you just saved my life. Who were they, anyway?” “Octavian and Ethan. The school bullies. They used to just beat people up but now they use knifes and many people have been seriously hurt.” Reyna pulled me up. “That must suck, to be in a school like that.” “It does, honestly. Anyways, where are you headed?” “Not anywhere, really.” The truth was that I didn’t have anywhere to go. No home, no family. I was all alone. “Do you want to come to my place then?” She smiles at me, a genuine smile that looked beautiful on her. “Sure.”That was how I ended up spending Christmas Eve with a new friend eating chips into the night. When I woke up on Christmas morning, I felt slightly embarrassed to find that I had been sleeping cuddled with Reyna. We both woke up at the same time, which was sort of hilarious. After last night, we felt like best friends. We had a great time bonding and talking about random stuff while Reyna’s sister, Hylla, spent the night out with some friends, playing in a band called ‘The Amazons’. “Good morning. Merry Christmas!” I wished Reyna.“Good morning to you too! I can’t believe it’s Christmas,” She smiled. Her face was slightly red. She was blushing. It took me a while to realise that I was blushing a bit too. “Race you downstairs?” I challenged her. “You’re on.” She accepted before tousling my hair and running down. “Hey! This is unfair! You got a head start!” I complained as I raced down the stairs. We both squeezed through the doorway at once, which led to us being stuck in a very awkward position. Just then, Reyna pointed at something above our heads. Mistletoe. She looked at me for approval. I shrugged and smiled. Reyna leaned in and her lips smashed against mine. It was like a collision of tastes. She smelt like lemon and grapes. She smelt good. Her lips were soft and moist. She ran her hands through my hair and pinned me against the side of the doorway. We kissed for a while longer before she pulled away. I felt dizzy with exhilaration. I just had my first kiss. With a beautiful girl my age. Reyna’s cheeks were red but she had a small smile playing on her lips. I pulled her down by the shirt and kissed her again. “Merry Christmas,” I whispered. “Merry Christmas.”