“Is there anything I can get you, Elvis?” Lizzie asked quietly, appearing a few feet away from where I s tood.
“No, Lizzie. Thank you,” I said, barely turning her way.
She nodded, ready to walk away, but then she stopped and looked at me again. She hesitated before she s poke.
“Elvis, nothing in life is by chance. Everything happens for a reason,” she said with a sincere tone, giving me a small s mile.
I watched her walk away with a dumbfounded look on my face. What on earth would this reaso n be?
The elevator arrived—a small compartment that fit up to six people. The door slid open, and I walked in, looking at the mirror on the back wall, seeing what my face looked like now.
Still no comparison to what that girl must be seeing in the mirror , I thought as the elevator dropped down to the base ment.
The basement is my favourite place in the house. The first thing you see when you walk in is a wall -s ized aquarium filled with
tropical fish swimming in neon bright lights. It’s the most stunning live painting you can imagine. I walked up to it, staring at the life through the glass window as I usually do.
There is something so soothing about an aquarium. The colourful fish looked peaceful swimming back and f orth.
I made my way to the lounge area. Adam and I had set it all up to our liking a year before, installing a sixty - f ive -i nch Samsung TV and surround sound system. I walked over to the L -s haped leather couch and slammed myself down on it, grabbing the remote from the coffee table and turning on th e TV.
I stared in a daze at the screen, not even flipping around the channels to see what was on. I couldn’t stop thinking about how everyone was so worried about me. How they felt sympathy for me.
I knew they were probably all discussing what I had just been through, but all I could think of was what the girl had just been through, what she must have gone through that day, what her family must be going through. I wondered if I should ask Adam or Allison to drive me to the hospital since they both had a car and I didn’t. Well, I did, but it was locked in the garage and the keys remained with my father. That was the last punishment he gave me when, of course, I had gotten into another fight with some guys in a parking lot.
Your temper is out of control, Elvis. Say goodbye to your car. My father’s words played back in my head.
What am I thinking? Going to the hospital? Have I lost my mind?
What would I even say?
Hi, my name is Elvis. I’m the one who found you all beaten up in a back alley. I’m a super hero!
I rolled my eyes at the thought. Seriously now, I’m not Superman.
So, let’s not make me out to be a hero, I told myself. And besides, I didn’t know who she was, or her name, or what she looked like. That would make it extremely difficult to find her.
After a few minutes, I could hear the smooth sound of the elevator rising up floors and then back down to the basement l evel.
“Hey!” Adam said as he walked out of the elevator with All ison.
I didn’t look up at them.
“Hey,” I said with barely any emotion in my v oice.
Adam walked behind the couch where I was sitting, patted my shoulder and continued to the gym room where he liked to train.
Allison sat on the couch, not too close to me, looking straight at the TV screen. It was on the Discovery Channel—I hadn’t had the energy to change it since I’d turned it on. I guessed that’s
what was playing the whole time I’d been down there, lost in my thou ghts.
“What are you watching?” Allison a sked.
“I’m not,” I answered, releasing the remote to her.
She took it from my hand but placed it on the coffee t able.
“Elvis, are you sure you’re all right?” she asked me, her dark eyes full of con cern.
“I’m fine, Alli,” I said, a bit annoyed with all of her quest ions.
“This can’t have been easy on you,” she said.
“Why is everyone so concerned with how I must be feeling? This girl was in a back alley, in the dark, covered in her own blood, left to die. And I’m supposed to accept sympathy from everyone as if it’s about me?” I was fur ious.
“No, not sympathy, just support, Elvis. I can’t imagine what it was like to see someone in that state. And I’m sure her family feels devastated for her, just the way we do for you,” she tol d me.
“It’s different for her, Alli. She’s the one who was attacked. I just pray I got to her in time. She was brutally beaten, and I don’t know why. I don’t know who did this to her. I kept watching her breathe while I carried her, hoping she would keep on fighting. I couldn’t make out any words she was trying to say.
She could barely say them clearly. She even kept losing consciousness. Even her clothes had blood on them. I think she might have b een … ”
I stopped myself from saying it: I couldn’t bring the word to come out of my mouth. I put my hands over my face.
“She was fully dressed, Alli. And I can’t be completely certain, but she was missing a button from her pants like it was torn off,” I said shaking my head.
Allison cringed at the tho ught.
“You may have saved her life, El,” she said.
“That’s something to think about,” Adam’s voice was suddenly behind me again. “You’re a hero, little bro.”
“Don’t say that. What if I hadn’t heard her? What if I had kept walking? She would have bled to death. She would have been found dead in the alley this morning,” I said with frustration, sitting myself up from the c ouch.
“But you did hear her,” Adam said. “You found her and took her to the right people to care for her, so why are you being so hard on yourself, El?” He didn’t bother disguising his confu sion.
“I did what I could, Adam. I get that. I just can’t help but wonder what if I had walked by the alley sooner. What if I could have been better help. What if I saw whoever it was taking advantage of her. I could have saved her a lot more. Maybe she wouldn’t be suffering the way I found her. M aybe—”
“Elvis,” Allison said, “maybe it would have been worse if you were there. Maybe you both could have been hurt badly. You don’t know what kind of person did this. They were obviously heart less.”
“I guess,” I muttered under my br eath.
Maybe Adam was right. Why was I driving myself so crazy with this? I didn’t even know the girl. I had to move on from it.
Could I just block it out of my memory and never think about it again? I needed to clear my head.
I stood up from the couch, not wanting to talk about it anymore, and walked over to the great white piano in the corner. It was a beautiful instrument. My mother had me and Allison take piano lessons as soon as we celebrated our fourth birthdays. She always loved music, telling us it heals the soul. When we were still young, she would have the two of us sit beside each other on the bench and play for her at the same time. My mom was always so happy when the sound of our music travelled around the house. She had attempted with Adam as well, but he was never interested in playing anything musical. That piano was actually Allison’s baby.
My baby—my black acoustic guitar—sat on a stand right beside the piano. I liked the piano, but my heart was always set on learning the acoustic guitar. By the time I was ten years old, my mother had signed me up for classes. Her eyes lit up when she saw how naturally it came t o me.