The Best Time of Year

  Story



        It was a normal day. Josh Kingston awoke at 6:30 and drudged through his morning activities. He took a shower, got into his school clothes, and sat down for breakfast. He had a quick cup of coffee and grabbed his school work. He jammed it into his bag and ran out the door. He walked to his bus stop and sat down or a stone wall. He sighed. The autumn air was very refreshing. Josh wracked his brain thinking if he missed any homework or had a test. To his relief, he hadn't. About 10 minutes later, the bus pulled up, and Josh boarded it. He went to the back of the bus and sat down. All of the bus' occupants were screaming and were causing Josh to get a headache. He just slumped in his seat and stared out a window. The leaves were just changing color and the vibrant hues looked beautiful. The sky was a pale blue, almost gray. Josh smiled. He liked this time of year best, and seemed to be happy all the time when autumn arrived.

        Josh was lost in thought when the bus pulled up to his school. He felt a tap on his shoulder and his best friend, Ken Reily said, "Hey, bud, time to serve our sentence." Josh chuckled and replied, "Yeah, but school doesn't seem so bad around November, does it?" Josh jumped up and shuffled out of the bus. He walked through the school doors and met up with another of his friends, Sam Burrows. "Hey, Sam." He and Ken both said, "Hey guys. Guess where I was last night." "Do we want to know?" asked Josh as they started walking. "Hey. No. I was at a concert. It was really good. Killer lightshow and everything." "Who was it?" Ken asked. "I really don't know. I was walking near the arena and I heard them playing. I liked them, so I bought a ticket and saw whoever in concert." "You're really weird, Sam!" Josh laughed. "What do we have first?" 'Uh, Science, I think." Ken answered, mystified, "Yeah, Science." Sam said as he looked at his schedule. "Thanks."

        By this time, they had reached their classroom on the second floor. Josh went to the room and put his backpack in the back of the classroom. He walked back out and started getting his books, when he saw something that made his great day start turning sour, He saw another friend, Jessica McDermott getting her books from her locker down the hall. Josh walked up to her and said, "Hey, Jess." Jess turned around swiftly and said, "Hey, Josh. You scared me. How are you?" "I'm fine. You?" "Couldn't be better." "How'd you like the nice crisp morning. It was refreshing, wasn't it? Days like this seem to be…Jess, what the hell is that?" Josh cried out, pointing to her face. Her long dark brown hair had been covering the right side of her face, but Josh could faintly see a large bruise. "Oh, that. It's just a sports injury. I was playing softball and I was a little clumsy." "I don't see how that could be a sports injury unless the damn ball hit your face." "That's what happened. It's not a big deal." "I'll take your word for it, but I'm not sure I should." "Just drop it, okay." "Fine. See you later." Josh said as he waved her off.  He got his books and went into his classroom. He sat down next to Sam and Ken and quietly said, "I'm worried about Jess." "Why?' Ken asked as he flipped his notebook open. "She had a large bruise on her face. I asked her about it and she flipped out. She told me it was a sports injury and that I should just drop it. I don't believe that that's what really happened." "Don't you think you might be reading too far into this? She said she got hit by a ball and I'll believe her. Shouldn't you?" Sam asked. "Maybe. I don't know. But for now, let's just drop it." "Okay" The morning bell rang and everyone rushed to their seats.

        The first classes crawled on and all Josh could think about was Jess. He was worried for her, despite what Sam and Jess both said. After history let out, Josh found some solace in Math being his next class. He and Jess were in the same class and they sat next to each other. Josh was determined to get to the bottom of what had or hadn't transpired.

        During Math, as soon as Jess sat down next to Josh, Josh whispered, "Jess we've been friends for seven years, since fourth grade. We've even gone out. You can tell me if anything happened." "Josh, you've been watching too much TV," Jess hissed, "All that happened was that I got nailed in the face by a softball. Not that big of a deal, okay. And I asked you to drop it, so please drop it. You're just being paranoid and its getting annoying. Now just shut up and do your work." "Fine" Josh turned to see the board for the work, and flipped to the page in his textbook. He started to work, but he just couldn't get Jess off his mind. He tried his best to concentrate, but his mind just kept wandering back to Jess. He struggled through the next two classes, and was relieved when he went to lunch. He could finally fill up his mind with the useless dribble that spews from people's mouths at lunch. But the salvation didn't last long because Jess sat out across form him at the table. Josh scowled and sighed. He got up, and as slowly as possible, he walked to throw out his lunch.

        "So what the hell is up with Josh?" Jess finally asked after Josh left. "He's hung up on that damn bruise of yours. He's probably thinking you've been abused or some other crap. What goes on his mind?" Ken answered. "Yeah, crazy." Sam butted in. "Josh has been like that his whole life. It's annoying if you ask me, but he has good meaning." "Yeah, you're right. Just ask him to lay off. It's a tad creepy, to tell you the truth." "It wouldn't really do anything if we asked him. He's just overprotective. Well, what can you do, honestly?" 'Yeah, whatever." Josh returned to the table and put his head in his hands. "Hey, bud, you okay?" "Yeah," Josh groaned, "Just a little tired."

        After lunch, the rest of the day went relatively fast. Not fast enough for Josh couldn't stop worrying about Jess. He finally drove himself to the point were he wanted to bash his own face in, but that soon passed when the end of the day came. Josh and Ken were walking to Ken's house to get to work on a Science project when Ken suddenly said, "Crap. I forgot my noted. I'll be right back." "Hurry up." Josh sighed. After Ken disappeared into the school, Josh thought he could hear crying. Looking around, he saw Jess kneeling on the ground crying, and what appeared to be, pleading to someone. As Josh went forward to ask Jess what was wrong, he saw the cause of her anguish. Her boyfriend, Dylan, was standing over her, brandishing his fist. He hit her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach. "Bitch!" He snarled. Josh was furious. "That bastard will pay." Josh growled as morbid thoughts went through his head. Ken called out, "I got my notes. Let's start that project."

He ran up to Josh and asked, "What's wrong?" "Nothing," Josh answered never looking up, "But Science can wait." "Huh?" "Look" Josh pointed down to where Jess and Dylan were. "What the hell? What's he doing?" "Pissing me off. Tomorrow, that bitch is going to feel Jess' pain tenfold." "And I'll help." "No. I will handle this alone. It makes more sense of I beat up the abusive boyfriend." "True." "See you" "Can't wait for tomorrow." "Neither can I."

        The next day, Josh followed his daily routine, but with an aura of solemn fury. "What's wrong?" His mother asked when she noticed her son wasn't in his usual cheerful mood. "Nothing," He growled, "I'm just going to help a friend." "Ok. Just don't do anything you'll regret." "I won't." Josh grabbed his books and slowly walked to his bus stop. He got on the bus when it arrived and sat down next to Ken. "Ready to kick some ass?" Ken asked when Josh sat next to him. "Hell yes. Dylan will be in severe pain before the morning bell." Josh answered devilishly. Ken tried his best to stop himself, but he failed and started laughing really hard. "What's so funny?" "Nothing. It's just the thought of you doing something nice for someone is hilarious." "What? Jess is my friend and I'd do anything to help her." "Fine. Just don't kill the poor boy." "I'll try"

        The bus pulled into the school and Josh sought out Jess. He found her in the back, sitting by herself. She looked disheveled and in pain. Josh sat down next to her and said "Jess, your pain ends today." "What the hell are you talking about?' Jess asked incredulously. "I saw Dylan hitting you yesterday. I'm planning on fixing that today." "No, Josh. I annoyed him and I deserved him hitting me." "No, Jess. No one deserves that, except Dylan." And at that moment, Dylan appeared and said, "I need to speak to Jess alone." "Fine." Josh chuckled. He walked away to just be within earshot of Ryan.

        Josh was appalled at what he was hearing. Josh had finally had enough. He walked up behind Dylan, tapped him on his shoulder, and as he turned around, Josh punched him square in the jaw. Dylan stumbled back and looked at Josh in horror. "What the hell was that for?' "That was for all those obscene things you just called Jess." "What…" Dylan began, but before he could finish, Josh brought his knee into his stomach. Dylan fell to one knee and growled, "What goes on between me and Jess is none of your damn business!" "No. Jess is my friend and I'd do anything to help her, including beating you up." By now, a large crowd had surrounded Josh and Dylan. Everyone had gathered what had happened and were cheering Josh on. Dylan had regained his balance, but only for a moment for Josh hit him in the face. He followed it up with two more punches to his face. As Dylan stumbled back, Josh hit him to the ground and put his foot on Dylan's chest. "Remember this," Josh cried, 'This happened yesterday, but you were in my position and Jess was in yours." Josh growled and started kicking Dylan in the stomach over and over again until Dylan started sobbing. "Please," he begged, "Stop. It hurts." "Didn't Jess say something like this when you were kicking her? What did you do? You kept hitting her, didn't you?" Josh brought his foot up over Dylan's head and started stomping on his head, repeatedly. "Josh, stop!" Jess finally screamed. "Your killing him." "That's what he deserves!" Josh was about to kick Dylan in the nose when a voice screamed, "Mr. Kingston, come to my office right now!" The principal appeared and brought Josh to her office.

        "Now, Mr. Kingston, you're saying that you were only protecting Jessica from Dylan who was abusing her on a daily basis. Correct?" "Yes" Josh had just explained the entire thing over a period of hours. "Very well. Although you were doing the right thing, I have no choice to suspend you for two weeks. You sent Dylan to the hospital and if I hadn't shown up, you'd have killed him. You can go now." "Yes, Mrs. Boyd." Josh answered quietly.

        Josh walked out of Mrs. Boyd's room and looked for Ken and Sam. When he found them Ken said, "Josh, you're a hero around here now. Everyone hated Dylan and were clapping while you were taken away. What were the damages?" "Two weeks suspension. Not bad considering I almost killed the loser." "Josh, you should talk to Jess." Sam said, pointing to Jess, who was sitting in a corner, crying. "You're right." Josh sighed and he walked over to Jess. Jess looked up and whispered, "Thank you, Josh." Her face was covered in tears. "I can't thank you enough." She got up and hugged him. "Anytime. I'm right here." Josh whispered back. "I know." And they kissed.









The End