She Was...

There is nothing holier in this life of ours than the first consciousness of love - the first fluttering of its silken wings - the rising sound and breath of that wind which is so soon to sweep through the soul, to purify or to destroy.

H.W.Longfellow



It was the first day of high school and Damon sat inside his car at the car parking, deliberating. He was a senior now. His thoughts went back to his junior year. Things had been so different then; he was so different. It was a new year with new freshmen but that year… that year would never come back.

                                                          ***

“Hey Damon, wait up bro!” yelled Claude running after the six foot tall frame in front of him. Damon stopped and turned to wait for Claude to catch up to him. When Claude caught up with him, his grey eyes looked into Claude’s brown, questioning.

“Why are you looking at me that way? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, guess so. Let’s go” said Damon coldly, as he walked ahead.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I know I promised to give up but you know how I get around alcohol. Come on D, please.”

“Please? You’re saying PLEASE Claude? You’re saying SORRY? I promised your mother Claude, YOU promised your mom. I don’t even know why I bother trying with you.”

Damon turned around angrily and went towards the gate when he suddenly crashed into a small figure.

“Sorry miss, didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”

He looked at the girl in front of him. She was thin, probably an ectomorph; a cute one though. Her eyes were a beautiful green and her brown hair fell in ringlets near her shoulders.

“It’s okay. It was probably my fault. I keep knocking things over you know. I’m Brenna by the way. You can call me Bree, like my friends do. Are you a freshman? I am and I am so excited.”

Damon broke into a smile. She was so childish but there was something about her.

“I am Damon. I’m a junior here.”

“Oh, I am sorry about that Damon. You don’t mind me calling you Damon do you? My friends say I talk too much. Do I?” asked Bree earnestly. Just then the bell rang.

“Oh my God, the bell rang. I should stop talking so much. Bye Damon, it was nice meeting you.” And she was gone as mysteriously as she had appeared.

“Well, who was that?” asked Claude, standing next to him.

“It’s none of your business. Now let’s go before we get late.”

With those words Damon walked ahead and Claude knew that whoever it was, she had just saved him from Damon’s wrath.

                                                    ***

A few days passed by. Damon occasionally saw Bree. She smiled at him but never talked to him again like that first day. Meanwhile, Damon could not stop thinking about her. He found out her timetable and often missed classes to wait outside hers; just to catch a glimpse of her. Monday he skipped biology to wait outside her physics class, Tuesday he skipped gym; a first for him, Wednesday he skipped chemistry and Thursday, Thursday, she finally decided to talk to him.

She found him waiting outside the biology lab. His grey eyes lit up as soon as he saw her. He had a well toned physique and the black tee he wore complimented him well. She went towards him.

“Hi Damon!”

He frowned. There was something wrong. Her voice lacked that enthusiasm that he had experienced the first day.

“Hey Bree, it’s been long so I was wondering what you were up to. So, how are you? Have you been busy?” asked Damon.

“Yeah, I’ve been a bit busy Damon. Sorry about that. Could we talk later? I have to go now.”

“What happened, Bree? Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine Damon. I’ll talk later. I promise.”

Bree left but there were a thousand questions running through Damon’s mind. He wondered what had happened to Bree in such a short time. She had been fine a few days ago. Just then Claude came. He had been drinking again; he could smell the alcohol on him.

“Hey D, what’s up bro?”

Damon looked at Claude. He had changed so much. They were childhood friends and Claude had developed a drinking problem in middle school when he had found out that his mother had cancer.Before dying, she had made Claude promise that he would stop drinking and Damon had been given his responsibility. Damon tried his best to look after Claude but he often went weak.

His high school friends were bad influence but he could not separate them from Claude. Claude had grown his hair long and had two piercings near his left eyebrow and one near his lip. He used to skip class often and even got caught smoking pot once behind the janitor’s room.

“You still did not answer my question, Damon.”

“Her name is Brenna, Claude. She’s a freshman.”

“Ah, that’s why I could not recognize her.”

“I like her Claude, but she’s been avoiding me. I don’t know what to do.”

“Hell yeah you like her D. You are so caught up in her thoughts, you did not even yell at me for drinking.”

“Don’t think I did not notice.”

“Yeah yeah, spare me the lecture preacher. Let’s go get you your chick.” Claude was really excited.

Damon had always been there for him, looking after him and getting him out of trouble. The least he could do was help him out with Brenna. He owed Damon that much.

                                                          ***

“Bree, listen to me please. I need you. I can’t stop thinking about you for a moment. I have never felt about anyone this way before. You changed me Bree.” Damon held her hands, refusing to let go.

“Please Bree, I love you. I am crazy about you. Don’t leave me and go. Hey Claude, why are you so quiet? Why don’t you tell her that I love her? You know that don’t you. Tell her. Please.” And then he broke down.

“BREE, CLAUDE…”

Bree and Claude lay side by side near the school gates. The police had brought in their bodies for identification.

                                                          ***

Damon jerked back to reality. He was still in his car. His face was hot and he realized that tears were rolling down his eyes. He could never forget that day. Claude and Bree had been involved in an accident.

Claude had called him to say that he was bringing Bree home. Damon would propose to her. Alas, fate had something else planned. A few blocks away from the school, a truck crashed into their car. The driver had been drunk. There were no survivors.

He closed his eyes to think about them, to think about her.

She had told him why she had been avoiding him. She had started liking him and was afraid that he would not understand. Then things started. They just gone out for their first date; had their first kiss. So much was left, so much to do. He wanted to scream at the injustice of it all.

Whoever had said that love could purify or destroy, had been spot on.