Megan
This is for my book that I'm attempting to write. I want to know honest opinions about it. Its long but if you have the time to read it and give feedback it will really be appreciated. Criticism is welcome just don't be too harsh I'm new and not that good.
Prologue
10th grade. My First year at St. James High School. To some people, it was a big deal, but for me not so much. My name is Katja Martinez (mom was German, father was Spanish). Tall, blonde, ocean blue eyes, lightly tanned, and new. I had moved from downtown Allentown (the sketchy parts of town) to Northampton (still sketchy but not as bad) Pennsylvania. After my parents died I had no choice but to degrade from my 4 bedroom house to a 1 room apartment with my younger sister, Catalina, who also had blonde hair, ocean blue eyes but was on the shorter side. But I took up two “jobs” (which you will soon learn more about) that paid a good- no scratch that an amazing amount of cash per night, but they were also extremely dangerous and it caused something very bad happened to me (which you’ll also learn about soon) making us have to leave. So we moved to have start fresh where I won’t know anyone and they won’t know me. Now to get some minor things out of the way. I am 16 and am all alone taking care of an 8-year-old girl. I mean I have a reasonable reason for why I haven’t gone to get registered to be fostered. If we went to a foster family there was a chance that I would get split up from my sister and I can’t let that happen. I’m now her only living relative so, I have to make it my priority to keep her safe which ended up being harder than I thought. So now that you know the basics I will give you front row seats to this tragic story, called my life.
Chapter 1: I’m not what I seem
With blinds that were partly open, allowing small but bright slivers of light fill the room, I woke up and automatically looked to my right to make sure there was a small child sleeping soundly in her bed. I quietly crept up to the door to go into the kitchen. Our house was small but it was home, for now. It was a 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment located in a decently secure town. In the kitchen, I prepared Catalina’s lunch and backpack for her first day at her new school, then doing the same thing for me and my first day. I had no intention of making friends in our last school and I have no intention trying now. My life is full of too many secrets, to begin with, and high school teenage girl preppy drama isn’t what I need. Now to fill you in, in my last school, I wasn’t the shy girl with a low profile with perfect grades. No. I was the girl with grades that if my parents saw, I would be dead. The girl who skipped classes when she wanted and who never went to detention when she was told to. I was also never afraid to throw a swift right hook when it came to bullies. Anyway, for today all I had to do was just get through the school day, pick up Catalina, then go down to the bar to get “working”. Ah yes, my job. Well, I am an experienced and undefeated street fighter in the bar down the road where they hold organized street fights. And surprisingly Catalina took the news well. She obviously worries for my safety but she is ok with it. But thankfully she doesn’t know what else I do to pay the bills and she won’t know until she is older. Speaking of Catalina, just as I finished packing her lunch I heard those dainty feet padding against the floor.
“Hi Kat.” my sister said as she addressed me with my nickname. She came up with that nickname when she was a toddler because she couldn’t come close to pronouncing Katja.
“Hi, Catalina. Sleep well?”
“Yes…”
“Are you sure you look a bit off.”
“I’m sure.”
“Catalina you can tell me if there is something wrong. that’s what I’m here for.
“Um well… I had a nightmare that I wouldn’t make any friends because I didn’t have any parents. And that all the kids were going to laugh at me. And then they would go to the teachers and tell them that my sister wasn’t 18 and then we would be separated and I would never see you again.” As she was finishing her eyes were brimmed with tears. Now just because I said I don’t want friends, doesn’t mean I don’t want my sister to make friends and new memories.
“Oh, Catalina. Don’t worry everyone will love you and no one will judge you and I would never in a million years let anyone separate us.”. I wiped the tears from her rosy cheeks with my thumb and her normal smile was back with the corner of her lips up to her ears as if nothing happened. “But we need to get ready and go to school.”.
I decided to wear a black crop top, black booty shorts, a pair of combat boots and my leather jacket. As we both finished getting ready I locked up the apartment and we went down to the parking lot to get on my motorcycle. I pulled out Catalina’s helmet and tossed it over. She put it on and buckled the chin strap which was already adjusted to her head size so it fits snuggly. I sat Catalina behind me like normal and drove off. The elementary school was only about 10 minutes away and my school was only 5 minutes away from Catalina just in case of an emergency. As I drove up to my sister and fighting instincts kicked in to be sure my baby sister was going to be ok. Before I dropped her off at the front door I gave her a kiss on the forehead and told her to have fun and behave then began to drive away while receiving multiple odd looks from other parents.
About 5 minutes later I pulled up to my school and about 99.7% of the students that were outside were staring at me as I was getting off my motorcycle. I got a couple of catcalls which I ignored because I was used to it because since I’m a street fighter I have amazing muscles including my 6 pack. I ignored them and put my earbuds in and got my schedule to go to the first period. I, of course, had trouble finding the classroom so I was a good 10 minutes late and had to listen to Mrs. Angelino, my English teacher, lecture me until I finally explained.
“Mrs. Angelino, I’m a new student and got lost.”, I explained with a hidden attitude and eye roll.
“Why didn’t you just say so in the beginning. Well, I’m sorry for the lecture. Could you please introduce yourself to the class.”
Ugh, why do all teachers make new kids do this? “Um no thanks, it’s not necessary.”
“Oh come on. I’m sure everyone wants to know your name and a little bit about yourself.”
“No seriously I’m really boring so it-”
“I am the teacher and you will do as I tell you.”
“Ok then. Well, my name is Katja and yea that's all.” After I finished my ‘Introduction’ I walked to the back of the class and sat down.
“Well, ok then. Thank you, Katja you may take your seat.”
That’s pretty much how the rest of my day went until lunch. I sat at a table by myself and I was kind of enjoying it until this asshole came around.
“Hey hot stuff,” he said with a wink.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re hot so I called you hot stuff. But anyway how about I give you my number and we can hook up.” My eyes met with piercing sky blue eyes. The boy standing in front of me was about 4 inches taller than me with large biceps. His hair was brown and long. He had a sort of Bieber look but not really. His hair was swept messily to the side so he could see. Overall he’s a typical popular hot football player.
I started to laugh hysterically until I realized he was serious. “Oh wait you're serious?”
“Well of course I am.”
“Well, that’s never going to happen so goodbye.” And just as I was turning around to go to the courtyard he did something he will regret.
“YOU MOTHER F**KER! HOW DARE YOU SMACK MY ASS!” He gave me a smirk right before I punched him right in the jaw sending him to the ground spitting out blood. And when I was sure he knew he wasn’t dreaming I said, “Touch me like that ever again, and I will make sure you won’t walk for a week.” And with that, I turned around for the courtyard to have a smoke then get the hell out of here.
Once I was outside I grabbed a cigarette and my lighter and light it and took a long drag. I only have 4 stored in my jacket and only use them when I am stressed or angry and this jock made me very angry and he ruined my lunch which was nice and peaceful before he came around. Hmm. Since I was skipping the rest of the day I decided to do something special for Catalina.
I decided to go to the bar to get some resources for Catalina’s surprise. When they called my name to get into the ring I observed my opponent. He was buff and tall but he was overconfident most likely because he thought this fight was going to be quick seeing as I wasn’t at big as he was. And he was right. The bell rang and I got into my stance and quickly dodged his first but slow first swing. I took the chance and threw a right hook to his jaw and heard a loud crack. His hands instinctively went up to his cheek then scowled. He pulled his fist back and the next thing I knew it came flying towards my nose. After that, he was tired and weakened. I pulled my knee up to his gut and began to hit him there over and over until my hand was grabbed and raised into the air with the crowd cheering.
“And we have our winner! Ky has yet again won another fight using his brilliant skills.”
He put my hand down and I walked back to my corner of the ring waiting for more challengers. And yes the announcer said ‘Ky’ and ‘his’. I used a guys name so I would get challengers. I also always wore a hoodie to hide my feminine face and long hair, even though my competitors will see my face once we are in the ring. And as cliche, as it sounds, it works.
I had time for 5 fights before I had to pick Catalina up which paid a total of $5,000 in cash. I had enjoyed the fights that night because they were fast and simple. But just as I was leaving, I sensed that something wasn’t right. I felt someone’s presence a few feet behind me confirming that I was being followed. I began to run to get to my motorcycle and into safety. I stopped running when the parking lot came into view and thinking that my follower left. But then out of the blue, someone grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into the closest ally way. While being pulled into the ally my fighting instincts finally kicked in. I grabbed my attackers hands and ripped them off my waist and tried to find the small pressure point between his/her pointer finger and thumb. My attacker then let out a scream which made me realize that it, was a he. While he was in pain I shoved him against the wall, hoisting him up by the neck only allowing so much air into his lungs so he could answer some questions.
“Who are you and what do you want?” I asked in a very scary voice.
“My name is Cole. Who are you? I saw you fighting and you look familiar. And damn your hot want my number?”.
Wait. I recognized the bruise forming on his sharp jawline and the ‘pick up line’ he used. But he said that he recognized me and that can’t happen. He can’t know that I got to school with him and that I’m an illegal street fighter. I just have to hope that he won’t realize who I am. I ignored the compliment and the question and got to the important things.
“Alright listen, I will let you go this time but if you follow me we will have a problem. Got It?” I used a voice that I only use with certain people, and by the look on his face, I could tell he was scared. Good.
He nodded and agreed to my demand. “Fine. See you at school tomorrow… Katja.” Did he just say what I thought he said? I thought he didn’t recognize me. Damnit. If he knows I fight at the bar then oh god this is a problem. “Listen I know it’s you Katja. But I just don’t know what you’re doing here and it doesn’t seem like a person like you belong here.” Oh, thank god he doesn’t know what I was doing. But I might as well have some fun and play the mystery girl.
“Good thing I’m not what I seem then. So let’s just keep to our ‘deal’ and forget this ever happened.” And with that, I left before he could say a word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that issue, I realized that with the hold up I was 10 minutes late. I was rushing through the traffic to get to the elementary school as soon as possible to pick up Catalina. And to be clear when parents were late to pick their children up the teachers has all the students sit outside until their parents arrived. I absolutely hated this ‘system’ the school had for pick up. Since the school was at the edge of the nice-ish town we live in and the edge of the gang banger side, I didn’t feel safe with her sitting outside while the dumbass teachers sit inside on their phones not watching the eight-year-olds. So I’m always edgy when I need to pick her up. Just the thought of someone walking by and seeing her then taking her is enough to make me reach 110 mph on my bike.
As I pull up to the school I scan the bus loop trying to find ocean blue eyes searching for someone. When I spot her I park the bike hop off and sprint to her and enclosing her in a bone-crushing hug.
“I’m so sorry I’m late I tried my hardest to be here on time and-”
“Where were you I've been waiting out here forever and 3 teachers asked if someone was coming to get me.”.
“I’m sorry Catalina I wanted to do an extra shift at work so I can do something special for your birthday.” Now I wasn’t originally going to do something big but I changed my mind which was the real reason I went to the bar to fight. I was planning on taking her on a birthday getaway.
“Let me see your hands.” She automatically took my hands in hers and examined my knuckles as I did. “Katja. You promised me that you would always wrap your hands so I don’t have to see you in pain.”
I looked at my own bloody and busted knuckles. I could have sworn that I wrapped them. I looked at Catalina’s face and she looked at me as a mother would to her daughter when she did something wrong. And I’m not going to lie, I did promise to always wrap my knuckles because she always got upset to see me in pain.
“I thought I wrapped them but I guess I forgot. Sorry.”
“Well if you want to make it up to me for both incidents, you will let me clean them and I get to pick dinner and the movie tonight.”
“Ok. Fine. Are you all ready to go and do you have any homework.”
“I’m all good to go and I need to study for my tests next week.”
“Well let’s get home, ok?”
“Ok.”
We got on my bike and drove home and went up to the apartment. I unlocked the door and walked into the kitchen to start making Catalina’s favorite food, Mac & Cheese but before I could finish she came in and dragged me into the bathroom to clean up my knuckles. After she finished I went back to the kitchen and got our bowls and brought them into the living room while she picked out her favorite movie, Monsters Inc.
Once the movie ended we both went to bed. I was lying in my bed tossing and turning trying to go to sleep when it happened- again.
Flashback/Nightmare
The front door flew off its hinges as my mom, newborn sister and I ran into the hall closet to hide from them. There was a man yelling at my father and my father was screaming back. It went on for half an hour before there were five minutes of silence which ended when my dad spoke.
“Katja I know you are only eight and this is a lot to ask, but I need you to take care of your mother and Catalina. I might not be around much longer.I love you all stay safe.”
There was no time to reply when an ear piercing gunshot rang through the house. A scary man yanked open the closet doors and ripped my mom away from me just as she finished hiding Catalina with me. Luckily the man didn’t see us still hiding in the closet. He left the closet door open to reveal a man on my living room floor with a bullet in his skull. My father. Suddenly another man slowly started walking to where Catalina and I were hiding. My mother's screams were the only noise in the living room once she saw my dead father on the floor. The big scary man walked closer to her and held her to gunpoint. My mother did the same thing as my father did and spoke her last words.
“Katja, kümmere dich um deine Schwester und geh zu deiner Väter Garage und rede mit seinen Angestellten, die sie auf dich aufpassen und dir Dinge beibringen, die du wissen musst, um zu überleben.”. (Katja, take care of your sister and go to your father's garage and talk to his employees they will take care of you and teach you things you need to know to survive.)
There was a scream. My scream. I ran out of the closet with my sister in hand to reach the front door as fast as I could. After I was out of the house I ran about 4 blocks to get to my father’s garage to talk to his friends who took care of me, taught me how to fight, and told me about my father's gang.
Flashback/Nightmare Over
I woke up screaming in the middle of the night once again and woke up a little girl who came running over to my bed to reassure me.
“Katja!” My sister screamed over my voice.
I opened my eyes to see a terrified girl hovering over me. As soon as I realize what happened I sit up and hug her. It's a relief that I know I at least still have her.
“Katja. Are you okay? Don’t worry we are ok. It’s just you and me.”
“I’m fine. It was just a nightmare about what happened. Don’t worry, and go back to sleep.” And with that, I kiss her on the forehead and tuck her into bed to see her fall asleep. I lay back down to get some sleep as well. And after two hours I finally did.
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