★ Fly Back to Me ★ 

Made By: Quinn Hernández

Name: June, Age: 13, Grade: 8th

One day I was on my way to a Volleyball game when I ran into Mark and his gang in the halls.

 “What are you in a rush for short stuff?” he sneered. 

I rolled my eyes at him and snapped back, “None of your business jerk!”

 I sprint past him, to the beach where the match has already started. I groan under my breath, knowing I will be scolded by both my coach and my parents for being a few minutes late to the game. 

“What took you so long in June?”

 My coach didn’t sound happy once I had made it to where she was standing, “Sorry I ran into someone and they wouldn’t let me pass them for 5 minutes… But please don’t make me run laps for being a little late coach!”

 I pleaded for her not to make me run laps until she made a bet with me, “If you get us to win this game you don’t have to run laps. If not, then it’s 20 laps at practice.” 

I accept it and go switch with my teammate, the opposite team hits the ball over and within seconds I spike it down into the sand. 

The crowd cheers for us while others groan disappointed with the team they were going for. I give my friends high fives and handshakes then it’s my turn to serve. 

I tossed the ball up and hit it over the net. The other team hit it but it went into the net. We kept playing for some time till we needed the last winning points. Which made me think if I was making my coach proud or not?

 When I went to serve again a bird flew by, knowing the details of its blue and green color, I should have known it was my grandma’s pet parrot Mango. I made our last point and we won! 

After our huddle I look for my grandma and find her with my parents. I walk over and hug her asking how her and mango have been doing. “Oh we have been great! How have you been June?” 

“I have been good, I’ve  had better days but yeah.” 

I walk with her to the car and then we say our goodbyes. Once I get home I instantly shower, eat some dinner, brush my teeth, and go to bed.

 The next day my whole body was aching, I couldn’t bear to get out of bed but I still had to get ready for church. 

I got out of bed the pain and my body ached, but I fought it off and got dressed out of my pjs. I went downstairs to get myself some breakfast and called my best friend who also plays volleyball with me. 

“Hey girl, what’s up?”, she asks when she answers the phone. “ Hey Ally, I was wondering if you would be at church this morning?”, She was silent for a second before replying “ I’m already at church waiting for you”

 I nearly dropped the phone when I saw the time.  It’s 9:40?! Church starts in 20 minutes!

 I set the phone down on speaker while I shoot up the stairs and get dressed into my church uniform.

 I ran back down the stairs grabbing my toast with butter, my bag, and my phone. I get my shoes on as quickly as possible running out the door, I arrive at the church.

 Oh my gosh I am so tired from running… “Oh hey Ally” I’m panting my hands on my knees. “Jeez how long do you live from here again June?”

 She gives me a mocking grin and I stand up straight. “ I live like five blocks down the street from here down the hill.” I was breathing heavily, My blood started to boil when Mark called out “June you look like a mess!”

 He starts laughing and I’m on the last thread from punching him in the face. “Mark, stop it!” Ally tries to get him to stop while I just get more angry. 

Him and his gang just laugh, I grab Ally’s arm and walk away with her, my grip on her arm tightens,

 “Let’s go Ally….” My voice was cold as I just looked straight at the doors to inside the church. “Ow June, that kinda hurts!”

 she winces in pain, I let go of her arm and I continue walking to the doors. 

Mark follows us and he manage to catch up to us with how much faster of a walker he is than us two are. 

“What’s the matter June? Are you a little upset because you look like a wet dog right now?” His friends behind us snicker, 

I stop in my tracks and turn to Mark.  “ You either shut up Mark or I’m going to punch you in the nose. You always wanna bug me so that you can just get yourself hurt then!” I shout at him.

“You sound like a high pitched squirrel when you’re mad..” He sneers while he grabs my arm.

I could feel how tight his grip was on my arm, I tried to pull away but he just pulled me closer.

“Mark let me go, Your acting so weird-” He cuts me off interrupting me.

“June you’re so dang stubborn just give up already” for some reason his words give me butterflies in my stomach.

“What?” I pull out of his grip and back up, “what are you saying Mark?”

I was confused and flustered at the same time. “I like you June. That’s what I’m saying…”

 I could see the embarrassment on his face, “Give me time to think mark..” My heart was racing as I walked into church, after church was over I still couldn’t get the thought of what he said out of my head. What were these feelings I have for him?

“June!”. Mark Walked over and I could feel my cheeks burning as he got closer to where I was located.

“What is it Mark?”.  I asked in a stern tone. “Whoa still mad about earlier?” He said in a seductive tone which made my heart pound in my chest. 

“No.. I’m not mad about anything” I mumble as he gets closer.

“Then what is it June?” he goes silent for a second,

“Are you still thinking of what I confessed to you still?” He smirks,

My heart was racing and I couldn’t get the words out to say anything.

I rest my forehead on his chest embarrassed to look up at him.

He held me in a somewhat hug that made me feel safe. 

“Mark.. I like you too, but I just didn’t know how to tell you..” 

His eyes lit up as he heard what I had just said. 

“That’s why you are always in a snappy mood, hm?” He teases me as he chuckles. I look up at him as he looks back down at me. “ Wanna go to the park?”. I asked.

He Smiles and nods his head. “Yeah I would love to go to the park with you June.” We walked together to the park. 

I started to speed up when a man in all black clothes was following us with his hand behind his back “Speed up..” 

I whisper to Mark as we walk faster.

The man starts sprinting at us. We started running and hid in the bushes.

“Are you okay June?” I nod my head and my breathing is heavy. 

We got out of the bushes and continued walking to the park, once we made it to the park it started to rain.

          “Oh how I love the rain..” I say in a soft tone. 

Mark looks at me and smiles “Wanna jump in puddles?” I accept his request and we jump in puddles dancing in the rain.“I love this!” 

        I giggle as I spin around In circles.

A while later we thought it was a good idea to go home. “It’s starting to rain a lot.” Mark holds me close to him. 

While we started to walk home, The man was back… But he wasn’t alone, He had a whole gang with him. We sprinted home and stayed at my house. I called 911 and told them there was a group of guys with weapons in front of the house.

When  the cops arrived they looked around the house and only caught 3 of them, when there were 6. Mark told me he would stay at my place to make sure I would be okay sleeping, “Yeah that’s fine..”

I tried to sleep in bed but I was still scared, so I went downstairs to the living room where Mark is. “What’s wrong June?”

He has this worried expression on his face, I sit down beside him. “I’m just scared they might find us again..”

He puts his arms around me in a hug. “It will be okay, they won’t be back soon..”

We watched a movie and I ended up falling asleep, Mark also fell asleep too and the next morning we didn’t wake up till 10:23am. “Good morning…”

I mumble as I start to open my eyes to see Mark was making breakfast. “Good morning sleepy head..”

I could smell eggs and steak being cooked. “Are you making eggs and steak?”

I walked over to him and the smell of the eggs and steak’s amazing.