The End of Paralysis

"There you are!" suddenly, I was gripped by the arm, and I turned around baffled. "I've been looking all over for you, you know!" The person speaking was a girl, auburn curls bouncing around a soft face. I had no clue as to who the hell she was. "Sorry, you got the wrong person," I said, turning around to leave, jerking off her hand. "Oh! You sure do love a joke! Now don't be silly, and help me with my shopping bags, won't you?" Now she was holding on to my arm so tight, I could hardly feel my hand any more. I frowned at her. Leaning in, she said, "There's a guy that's been tagging me the whole day, please, just play along, maybe he'll let me be." The whisper sounded like something right out of a movie, but as I looked into her dark eyes, I couldn't help but believe her. "Ok." I said shrugging. "Right!" she said, once more speaking loudly. "Let's go to the library, we're late, and if we don't get there soon, we'll never finish our history project." Saying so, she started marching me to the town library, but not after shoving about five bags full of god-knows-what-girls-buy into each of my hands. And she still had some to spare for herself. Incredible. I actually had to go home for lunch, or at least, I thought it was lunch hour. I wasn't sure. I'd long lost my watch, and anyway, now that it was summer, I didn't really need to look at the time. When I was hungry, I went back home for food. And that was that. Mum and dad were never home anyway; mum at the women's charity association, dad at his golf club. So it didn't matter when I got home, just that I did, before they were back home. Which was usually around dinnertime - when the sky became a hazy indigo- or not even at that time at all. If I was lucky, they would call me, and say that they were eating out. Then I could stay out more, wandering about the town's streets. Preferably the secondary ones, where there were less people. "Are you coming in or not?" The girl was standing right in front of the library's huge oak doors. When had we gotten here? I'd been so busy thinking about I'm not sure what, that I hadn't realized we'd reached our destination. I nodded at her, and followed her in. Immediately she walked to the back of the many bookshelves, looked left and right, and then went left, heading straight for the plushy pillows in the corner, where no one else was around. I followed her, the bags loud in the silent library. When we reached the corner, she settled herself onto the biggest, plushiest pillow. I remained standing, looking at her. She stared back. So I put the bags in front of her feet. "See ya," I said. I really was hungry. I wanted food. "Wait, don't you like libraries or something? By the way, thank you SO much! I0 mean, gosh, what was UP with that guy? he kept on following me, and once he even snuck up from BEHIND me and whispered in my ear. I didn't quite catch what he said, but really, what a creep." She said all this extremely fast, as if her brain was going too fast for her, so that she couldn't get the words out fast enough. "Uh, well, they're okay. You're welcome. I have to go now..." I started leaving again. "I said wait! Let me present myself at least, and you tell me your name. It's only fair that I know the name of my saviour if I'm going to thank you properly. I'm Tisha." She held out a hand, and I looked at it a while, considering replying. I could have saved myself by ignoring her and leaving. Since I have a thing against people. They're so useless....but I reconsidered, and reached out with my hand, taking hers. It was soft and small. "Luke." Shit. Now I was going to have to talk to her. "Oh! What a nice name! I've always like the name Luke. I've even considered naming one of my kids that...not that I have any kids, but you know, in future. That is, if I get married. Not that I have anything against single mothers, but I'd rather have a kid if I'm married. You know what I mean?" "No." "Oh. Don't you like kids? And could you please sit down? My neck is starting to hurt from having to look up at you. Go on, sit. I wont bite." An image of me running towards my favourite hiding spot, in the small park by the fruit market flashed trough my mind. But my body wouldn't cooperate with me, and instead sat down. As I did, she opened her mouth to speak to me, but her cellphone rang, shushing her up. "Hey!" She greeted cheerfully. She chatted of this and that, I'm not exactly sure of what, I couldn't bother to listen. The rumbling of my stomach was too loud. I looked around me. Man, I really washungry. Why hadn't I gone home? "Sorry, that was my sister. She said mum wanted to know if I was going to eat home or not, but I told her I'd stay out." "Ah." "You're not very talkative, are you? Oh well, I guess I can talk enough for both of us. Do you have any siblings? I've already told you I have a sister, but apart from her, I also have another sister, and two brothers. We're five. It's quite chaotic, so I guess mum'll be happy I'm not eating home, you know, one less mouth to cook for." Pain cut through my mind, the coldest of steel, sharp to an impossible fineness. "No, I'm a single child." "Really? Wow, I wonder what that must feel like." The pain went away and I let out a whoosh of air. "So, were would you like to eat? I'm so hungry, I could eat an elephant. Wait, actually no, I like elephants. I dont want to eat one. I wish I could have an elephant though. I'd name him Bo. Isn't that the loveliest name for an elephant? I say we eat at MacDonald's, I havent got much money." "What?" "What do you mean, what?" "We're eating together?" "Have you had lunch yet?" "No." "Are you hungry?" "Well, yes, quite." "So am I. And since now we're friends, I thought we were going to eat out. So we could get to know each other more." "We're friends?" "I guess we aren't yet. Why do you say the word friends as if it's something weird? Don't you have friends?" I shrugged. "Oh well, whatever." She tossed a curl back. "So, you fine with the Mac?" "Ehm...ok. Why not." Who the hell was she? And why had I said yes? She was a maniac, and she wouldn't shut up. "Awesome." She got up, hands on knees, and then she took some of the bags. "Get up, I wasnt joking when I said I was starving, Luke." The way she talked, you'd have thought we'd known each other for ages. "Oh, and take those bags, I really can't carry all of them at once, my arms ache."