Lena was running down the street at full speed, not knowing where she would end up. There were a million thoughts running through her head. What was she supposed to do? Her father was all she had left. Her mother was gone, there was Oscar but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t married, he didn’t owe anything to her, she wasn’t even sure if they were technically dating. Where was she supposed to turn? Lena started running even faster, hoping with each step she could erase the image of her father from her mind. On the kitchen floor, his face gray, blank. Dead. Her father was dead. And she had no idea why, or what she was going to do.
***
Lena was only a young girl when her mother died. She could barely remember the person she was, just the faint memory of her mother kissing her forehead, or tucking her into bed. Little snippets of memories like that were all that really remained of her. If she thought really hard about her mother, she could almost remember her hair color. It was always changing from brunette, to blonde, to even red, but one of the last memories she had of her mother she had brown hair, just like her. She always smelt of a mixture of lavender and vanilla, a perfume bottle she had left behind that Lena now continuously bought each time it ran out. It was the only connection she felt like she had to her now. The only memory that still existed aside from the photographs scattered around the house. Now the only present person in her life was her father.
She loved her father. He took care of her, but she couldn’t help but think about how annoying it could be that he was so overprotective. Lena was able to have a cell phone, but a restriction was put on it that didn’t allow her to download any applications, and she wasn’t allowed to receive any text messages. Strictly just for phone calls. She was about to turn sixteen, and knew the thought of getting her permit wasn’t even an option. Her mother had passed away in a car accident so she understood her father’s concern. But, to not let her drive because of a freak accident was not reason enough for Lena. She hated her father’s restrictions. She barely had any friends because of it. She had a restricted phone, she wasn’t going to get a car, she didn’t have a TV. Her disconnection from the outside world felt almost palpable. She was told to come straight home from school. This year though, she was getting a laptop. She could not wait. It would be the first time she had some sort of freedom to have access to a greater world if she couldn’t reach it another way. And, if she was lucky she was going to get a Macbook, which her father didn’t know could receive messages.
There was one person in her life aside from her father that she felt like she could trust. His name was Oscar. She had met him just this year and he was the closest person she had to a friend or boyfriend or whatever he was to her. Maybe he was both. He was understanding of the restrictions their relationship contained. He was there for her in every way that he possibly could be considering the circumstances. She was hoping that now receiving a laptop for her sixteenth birthday, would help bridge the disconnect between herself and Oscar, and not only Oscar, but the outside world. She wanted to know more, see more. She was tired of the neighborhood she grew up in, tired of the four walls she came home to daily. Only walking the path from her home to school, the aisles of a grocery store, the rows of the local convenience store, places that were considered “safe”. Lena wanted to explore the world, but she knew that was not going to happen anytime soon.
***
Oscar kissed Lena’s cheek lightly as she walked through the doors of Willowtree High. He was there waiting for her as usual, just beyond the double doors that closed behind Lena, shutting the rest of the world out for the next eight hours. Just out of sight of her father, who stood leaning against his pickup truck each morning, making sure she got into school safely. She was never sure what he thought was going to happen in between the fifty feet from the car to the front door, but he was protective, overbearing at times. The only freedom she got was when she was able to walk home, her dad’s work schedule interfering with his ability to pick her up. Lena let out a sigh of relief as she looked upon her friend. “Good morning to you too” she smiled at Oscar. Oscar smiled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “I missed you. It’s awful not being able to talk to you once we leave this horrible place. The only place we get to talk and hangout is at the one place I hate the most. Only two more days until your birthday though!” he grinned. Oscar already knew that for her sixteenth birthday she would be receiving her Macbook, and hopefully would be able to extend their communication further than the walls of school. They would be able to text, and maybe even FaceTime! It would also be easier to possibly plan a time to sneak out to see each other…
Oscar hated Willowtree, but to Lena it was a refuge. A place of escape from the confinement she felt at her own home. She was a good student, but she wondered if it was because she had to devote all of free time to studying. Weekends for most people were a time of relaxation, and an opportunity to unwind with friends. For Lena it was just a continuation of the week with the exception of actually having to bring herself to Willowtree. In the hallways she would hear students chattering about the latest pop culture.
“Did you see the latest episode of American Horror Story?”
“What are you going to be for Halloween this weekend?”
“Oh my gosh, did you hear about somebody insulting the way Khloe Kardashian’s baby looks on Instagram?”
Instagram, American Horror Story… The list went on and on for Lena about what she has heard, but has never got the opportunity to really see for herself. Sometimes Oscar would share with her some videos he had on his phone, or the latest story, if it was really interesting or becoming a big deal in their age group. Other than that, Lena wasn’t sure if she really would be happier if she was able to use these things or watch the things that everybody else her age talked about. Some of the things her classmates talked about seemed pretty trivial. However, she would like to at least have the option, and to have everything decided for her was really starting to take its toll. She knew she wasn’t that old, and she hadn’t been dealing with her father’s overbearingness for very long, but as long as he was around she would be. And as far as Lena knew he was going to be around forever.
“So do you know for sure that you’re going to get a MacBook?” Oscar asked, snapping Lena out of her thoughts.
“Yeah I think so… We haven’t really talked about it, but I’m definitely getting a laptop, and I’m going to argue that MacBooks are going to be better and easier for me to get schoolwork done. They hardly ever get viruses. And they last such a long time, I’ll probably be able to keep it all the way through college, or close to it,” Lena said confidently. She had definitely given this speech some thought.
“Yeah right, that’s if he lets you go to college! When is your dad gonna lighten up anyways? Does he even know about me?” he asked softly.
Lena looked away guiltily. She knew Oscar was right, and he just wanted to be there for her. She told him that she would ask her father if he could come to her birthday dinner on Friday, but she hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
Oscar saw her facial expression and knew.
“You haven’t have you. C’mon Lena, don’t you want me there?”
“Of course I do, but it’s not that easy you know that. My dad is… my dad. You should know better than anyone how he is.”
“I know, I just want to be there. I want to be with you,” he said squeezing her hand.
Lena looked at up at Oscar, she had to, even with him only being a year older he was still so much taller than she was. He looked sadly at her, and she knew his intentions were true. She wanted to be with him too, and he really has been so patient with her in regard to her situation. She knew she wasn’t an easy person to get close to, but he had somehow managed to get through.
“I’m going to tell him about you tonight, I promise,” she said standing on her tippy toes to kiss him.
He grinned, his smile lighting up his face, making Lena’s heart ache. Both with how happy he could simply make her, and with the idea of having to tell her father about him. Throughout the rest of the school day Lena brainstormed different ways she could tell her father about Oscar. Should she refer to him as her friend? Her boyfriend? She honestly didn’t even know how her father would react to her having a friend that’s a guy, nevermind using the term boyfriend. She figured she should probably just refer to him as a friend, that would be less jarring for him to hear.
As she walked home from school that day, she couldn’t help but think how much easier and how different life would be if her mother was still alive. Her dad would be way less controlling, her mom would be able to answer any question she had about Oscar, or anything in general! She couldn’t even imagine how different her life might be if she had a positive female influence in her life right now. A maternal figure she could turn to and rely on at anytime. Of course she had teachers she could probably talk to if she wanted to, but it wasn’t the same. Girls at school alienated her, because she was “weird”, she was “different”, she “didn’t understand”.
Oscar was the only person who gave her a chance, and for that she would be forever grateful. That’s why it really was so important for her to have him there for her birthday. He meant everything to her, in a way, he was more important to her than her father was. That probably isn’t fair to say, but he had never put restrictions on what she could and couldn’t do like her father did. He loved her for who she was, he supported, and appreciated her. Sometimes that could be hard to feel around her father.
Her thoughts concluded, as her puzzlement arose as she walked down the sidewalk, closer to her home. Her dad’s truck was parked out front. “That’s weird…” she said to herself. After he dropped her off at school in the morning her dad went straight to work or so she thought? Maybe he got out of work earlier than usual? That would be an hour and a half earlier than usual. She unlocked her front door, “Daaad?” she called out into the darkness. The house was completely dark, with the exception of sunlight coming in through the living room window. She slowly crept through the room, having the faintest feeling that something was wrong. Deadly wrong. She made her way into the kitchen and shivered. It was freezing in here, and she noticed the fridge door was ajar. She reached over to shut it, and immediately her eyes were drawn to the set of boots peaking out from behind the island in the kitchen. Lena froze, unsure if she even wanted to proceed further, but she knew she had to. She knew in her mind she needed to know if her assumption was true. She slowly inched her way forward, and there it was, her dad. Her dad laid on his back on the kitchen floor, his eyes wide open. On the counter there was still bread and sandwich meat from the sandwich he was would never be able to make. She bent down, got closer to her dad, and reached for his neck. She needed to check his pulse, maybe he had just fainted. She slowly reached her hand out, felt his neck. It was ice cold. No pulse.
Lena stood up, ran through the kitchen, ran through the living room, and out the front door. She wasn’t even sure if she shut the front door behind her. Her dad was dead, she kept repeating the words in her mind. She wasn’t even sure why, it was the only thought her brain could process right now. What was she going to do? She kept running, and running, hoping the answer would magically appear with each step she took. Before she knew it she found herself at Willowtree. She sat down on the front steps, and tried to collect her thoughts. She knew she should probably call the police, but she didn’t want to, doing that would make it real. She didn’t want police officers in her home, especially when she wasn’t even there. Where would she end up? She was only sixteen, she couldn’t legally live on her own. Her grandparents had passed away when she was younger, her parents didn’t have any siblings. She had nobody. Absolutely no one. She paused, that wasn’t entirely true. She had Oscar.
She picked up her phone and dialed his number, one that she had memorized by heart.
“Lena?” He sounded surprised, picking up the phone after the first ring. They have a
calling schedule where she usually doesn’t call him until 7:30 each night.
“Oscar. It’s me. I need you to come to Willowtree right now. It’s an emergency.”
“What’s wrong? What do you mean it’s an emergency? Why are you back at school?” he
questioned.
“Just get here. Please. I need you,” Lena was surprised at the weakness she heard in
her own voice.
“Okay, well I can’t take the car. My mom’s not home from work yet. I can take the train. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Just stay put,” a sense of urgency crept into Oscar’s voice. She knew that he would take care of her.
The minutes waiting for Oscar kept crept by like hours. Her thoughts ran wild. Was her father murdered? Was he sick, and he had just never told Lena about it? Did she leave the door open? The last thing she needed was for the door to have been left open, and some random person to have wandered in and just find her father dead on the kitchen floor. She had just left him there on the floor! She didn’t even try to move him to the couch, or put a blanket over him. What was wrong with her? She was so anxious to get back home, the second she saw Oscar at the end of the street she got up and ran to him. Once he saw her running, he started running to meet her halfway.
“Lena!”
“Oscar!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him.
“Lena, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“My dad… He was home… On the floor…” Lena couldn’t bring herself to say those
words yet.
“What do you mean? Is he okay?”
“No…”
“Lena, if I’m going to help you, you have to talk to me. What do you mean he’s not okay? Is he sick?” Oscar asked, his concern growing.
“No he’s not sick, he’s dead,” the words finally came out. Lena crumpled to the ground.
Oscar’s face went pale. “Dead? How? I’m so sorry Lena, come here,” he said picking her up off the ground. “I’m here for you, I’m going to help you get through this.”
Lena looked up at Oscar, so confident, and so sure of himself. She knew that whatever happened he would take care of her, and help her through it. Now, all they had to do was return home. Return home and face her father once more.
Mystery
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This was so good! I love when stories start with a sneak peek at a future scene. However, I felt like you were telling me a lot fo facts about the character, rather than showing me. For example, don’t say anything about her mother or Oscar, or that her father was all she had. Just show hr finding her father on the ground and being devastated. But don’t SAY she’s devastated, show through her actions.