A couple of days later, Anthony took Mr. Solomon's words to heart:
"It's not healthy at all to stay in this kind of moping state of yours. Constantly worrying doesn't help anything, either. You need to get out and live your life. You only live once, after all…and it can be as simple as going outside, walking, and being active. Being around people also works. Just be in the present moment. It distracts the mind from the negativity we humans often think about…You don't have to make any commitments, but at least give it a try."
Therefore, Anthony decided to take a leisurely stroll through the town common. Getting some fresh air would be good for his body and perhaps even his mental well-being.
The air was getting warmer. A gentle breeze blew by with a refreshing feel to it, and everyone outside was taking advantage of the gorgeous weather. He could easily see this as he walked by all the neighboring houses and into town. Some adults were doing long overdue yardwork. Some kids were playing in the streets while cars weren't passing. Other kids were in swimsuits and jumping through sprinklers or sliding down slip-and-slides set up on their front lawns. Other people were strolling by on the sidewalks in pairs or groups and chatting with each other.
Once he arrived at the commons, he decided to do a few full loops around the inner perimeter. Following the paved pathways in between large patches of green grass, he kept his feet going at the same momentum and his eyes at his feet, which might not have been a good idea, but he was in no mood to be dealing with anyone he knew if they saw his face.
But then it came back to bite him in the butt because he ended up accidentally bumping into one of the last people he'd want to see at a time like this.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" he heard a voice all too familiar shout at him.
It was Henry Patterson. Anthony remembered he had had a few run-ins with Henry in the past, mainly for the fact how Henry often taunted him while Anthony pretended to not acknowledge his presence. This sometimes led to Henry following Anthony all the way to his house and all the while he teased and bullied him every step of the way. Though this came to an abrupt halt by the end of their sixth grade year (Henry had just found some new prime targets), the memories were still fresh in Anthony's mind.
This time around, Henry had come to form his own posse of other middle school bullies, about four or five in all, and they ganged up on poor Anthony before he had the time to react.
"Well, well, would ya lookey here?" one of them said tauntingly, "Aren't you the kid who's got nobody to look out for him?!"
"Hey yeah! I heard your mommy went up and left on you!" another one exclaimed at their victim.
Anthony tried to not be intimidated or even look like he was, but it wasn't easy. He had to look down at his feet to keep a straight face in front of these guys. They were all cracking up about the disappearance of his mother like it was the funniest joke in the world. All very cruel, and all way too soon, at least he thought so. They weren't letting up, either.
"Aaaawww, what happened?! Did mama not wuv you enough to stay, wittle baby boy?!" one of the bullies talked using W's for most of his L's.
"I bet she skipped out to go find a new husband and a better child!" another proclaimed.
"Yeah, how could she ever wanna live with some kid who smells like somebody crapping in garbage?!"
They all burst out in a cacophony of laughter on that one. Slapping their legs and holding their bellies, they couldn't help themselves.
Poor Anthony stood in the midst of it all. Part of him wanted to fight back, but a better part told him that it would only make things worse. He was outnumbered, and his whole body was feeling achy, so throwing a punch was out of the question. Then, acting on impulse, he tried to simply walk away, out of the circle they had surrounded him in once he had found a clear opening.
It didn't work. He was immediately cut off by Henry who stepped forward and raised one hand to Anthony's chest, ready to shove him.
"None of that is right!" Henry suddenly shouted, which caused his boys' laughing to stop and they looked at him for what he would say next, "Don't you know anything? This guy's mom didn't just leave cuz she wanted to," he then looked back at Anthony and whispered into his ear, "Your mama got murdered. And not just the kids from school. All the adults in town are sayin' it, too."
Anthony's heart dropped once he heard that. He was speechless. He couldn't breathe.
"So if you wanna do us all a favor, go to her then. To your precious mommy," Henry leaned back as he said this, "I think you'll be happy together that way."
Anthony could tell exactly what he meant by "go to her". It wasn't funny, but everybody else thought it was for they all started up again by snickering behind their hands. Anthony never felt so alone than right now.
Suddenly, a girl's voice spoke from one side.
"Alright, that's enough!"
All the boys turned their heads to see a preteen girl with really long blonde hair and her orange-plaid flannel blouse wrapped around her waist. She had her hands on her hips and her expression wasn't looking happy at all.
"What, who the hell are you?!" one bully asked out loud.
"Well, to answer your question, I'm Kiera. Now then, I think you guys shouldn't be bullying him," she began to stand her ground, "I mean, hasn't anyone told you to not pick on defenseless children?! You're being way too mean!"
"Hey, stay out of this, little girly! It ain't any of your business!"
"On the contrary, it is. You happen to be brutally teasing my client, and I warn you, anything further to what he's already been through could severely damage his well-being."
'Is this really helping?!' Anthony thought inside his mind.
That is when Henry stepped away from Anthony and towards Kiera. Once he was standing merely inches in front of her, they began to stare each other down. Neither of them changed their expressions, and they were acting as if they were about to start a lengthy and heated argument. Silence stood between them for a long, long time, and the other boys watched in anticipation of what would happen next.
"I know who you are," Henry said out of the blue, "Kiera Irving, right? The crazy girl who talks to stone graves in the cemetery? The same one who started a club no one will join?!"
This was it. He hit a nerve, but Kiera didn't let on.
Instead, she began to make her argument, "For your information, I'm not the only one in my club. Also, I go to the cemeteries and have some great conversations with the spirits lingering there. A lot of people who have lost relatives buried in the ground will normally talk to their graves. It's natural."
"But none of them are your relatives, are they?"
"I'm trying to support and comfort the ones who don't have anybody else who will come to them!"
"So weird!" one of the bullies muttered beneath his breath.
"Anyway, putting me aside, I'm going to have to tell you all to stop bullying Anthony!" Kiera sounded serious now.
"You can't tell us what to do!" another bully shouted.
"Oh," she started to make gestures to match her words and tone, like wiggling her fingers as she said this, "Would you rather I call upon my shadowy otherworldly spirit friends to tell you otherwise?!"
"Haha! There's no way!"
"Yeah! There's no such things as ghosts!"
"Let's go." Henry declared to his posse.
"Huh?!" they all said in unison, shocked at their leader's decision.
"There's no way we can win. Or do any of you wanna take your chances and beat up a girl?"
They all knew the answer to that one. In this day in age, a boy beating up a girl meant ridicule, one way or another. If you hurt her badly, people will say you're a jerk. If you get beaten yourself, people will say you're a wimp. Everyone from all the school districts knew this and wanted no part in it.
But the real reason Henry called off his boys was he could see the look in Kiera's eyes. Her silver-colored eyes. They were filled with fury upon their little dispute, and she was officially ticked off now for them insulting the deceased.
"C'mon, we're leaving now," Henry told the other bullies and they began to walk away, but then he turned to Anthony with one last word of advice, "But don't think this is over, Neville."
Once they were out of sight, Kiera breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew! That was pretty intense!" she turned to Anthony and asked, "I hope you're alright. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. They didn't hurt you, did they?"
He didn't respond. Not a word. He just stared in the direction in which the bullies had left. He hoped he had seen the last of Kiera once his father appeared to have scared some sense into her. His assumption was dead wrong.
She took a few steps closer to him, "Hello? Yoo-hoo! Is anybody in there?!" she waved her hand in his face to get his attention.
When he finally turned to face her, Anthony looked mad. His eyebrows narrows further than they've ever done before. He didn't ask for her help, nor did he appreciate it. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?!
"Hey, don't give me that look!" she exclaimed, "Especially just after I rescued your sorry butt! You should at the very least give me some of your time and attention now!"
"No! No way!" he screamed at her, but even she could tell he was on the verge of tears. Then he lowered his head, shaking his clenched fists at his sides, and spoke as though he was encouraging himself in a rather judged manner, "I promised myself I wouldn't cry again. At least not until Mom comes back. Also, Dad tells me a grown boy doesn't cry…"
"But that is so not true!" Kiera shouted at him, "It's okay for anyone to cry, and you'll feel better afterwards. And besides, the last time I checked, we're still kids! Maybe almost teenagers, but that doesn't make it okay to bury the pain in a place where it can just crawl out and come back to haunt you! You are a growing boy! Not fully grown! Also, if you would just listen to me for once, then maybe you too could understand what I mean!"
"That's what I'm afraid of!" Anthony croaked while clenching his fists.
He was about to lose it. With all the stress and grief and anger built up until now, Anthony felt he could no longer stand. His knees began to shake out of control until his own two feet lost sense of the ground beneath them. He could barely realize what was happening and all the while couldn't and wouldn't prevent himself from collapsing, hitting his knees on the hard concrete sidewalk.
"Whoa! Easy now, man! Don't go dying on me, okay?!" Kiera jumped in to assist him in balance support, trying to get him back up from where he fell down.
She grabbed his arms. As much as Anthony wanted to break away from her grasp, he didn't have the energy anymore to even try to struggle. Kiera dragged him over to a nearby park bench and made him sit down on it.
The next thing he knows, his vision his blurring up. Then he couldn't breathe through his nose, so he had to open his mouth to take a breath. He tried to do it silently, but his inhales sounded distressed, like his lungs and heart were ready to leap out of his throat.
There's just no way. Not now. He kept telling himself to hold it in. That this wasn't the time or the place.
All of a sudden, he felt a hand touch his back and began to gently rub it. Kiera had sat next to him and wore a kind and sweet-hearted smile on her face. For comforting was one of her specialties.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. Just hang in there, alright?" she spoke in a surprisingly soothing voice, much different from her usual rowdy and unpredictable demeanor.
With this, it made Anthony recall how kind and nice his mother was. She too used to rub his back when he was small and young. It was calming gesture to him. He had forgotten how much it let him relax, and this time around, it let him let the feelings flow outward.
He felt his face muscles crunch up and the overwhelmed tears began to roll down his cheeks. He soon put his face in his hands to cover up the scene he was making. He felt somewhat embarrassed at this point. Eventually, he couldn't even sit upright anymore and his head fell into Kiera's lap.
Anthony so desperately needed this. He wanted her to ruffle his hair like before. Keep rubbing his back. Stay by his side until the sadness was released. His muffled breathing sounded worse and worse. People passing by took quick glances at them and thought it was weird, but he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to know again what love felt like.
Kiera smiled bigger now, and she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. For she knew she couldn't leave him like this.
He ended up crying for a little bit over an hour until he worked up the courage to stand again and Kiera walked home with him.
"Um…thanks."
This is what he wanted to say when they reached his house, but she cut him off, "Hey, let's meet up tomorrow! I want to get to know you better!"
"Really?" Anthony felt a sense of shyness as a slight red blush crossed his face. It wasn't exactly noticeable, but he still felt it there. For the first time in a long time, he thought he had made a friend.
"Of course!" Kiera said confidently with a big grin, "And then I'll get Luna and we can investigate your father's garage for the ghost and—"
Anthony slammed the door in her face before she could say another word.
Well that small sense of relief and happiness didn't last long, now did it?