Vredeveld 1

Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10

Stay with Me…..

“You were awesome!” I exclaimed, trying to get my voice to carry over the roars of the

crowd. I was so happy for him! All the emotion, stress, and countless nights of no sleep were all

paid off. He walked around the blue velvet curtains, and his smoky grey eyes shined and met

mine through his black long hair. All time seemed to freeze as we stared at each other. All I

could see was him and his smile, looking back at me. I never thought I’d say Enrique would be

the one to change majorly. He’s improved so much over these few weeks with me.

“I would’ve never gotten here without you,” He shouted back, breaking my trance. In two

big strides, he was down the stairs and about an inch in front of me. I backed up a little, blushing

slightly. He smiled widely and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I felt the warmth in my

cheeks as I hugged him back. His breathing was fast, but had a calming effect on me somehow. I

laid my head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. I closed my eyes, silently

wishing this moment would never end. He slowly whispered the lyrics to the song in my ear. I’ve

heard them so many times before, but this time, they are all I ever wanted to hear.

Five weeks earlier, I slowly walked into Mrs. Bayne’s classroom. “I already have to be

here once, but twice a day?” I grudgingly mumbled to myself. I slugged into her room sadly,

wishing I was home.

 Vredeveld 2
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
As I turned into the faded orange room, I saw the one thing I wished wouldn’t be here.

Enrique Perez, with his backwards hat, sitting in his usual desk in old skinny jeans and a rock

band t-shirt. ”Great,” I breathed, and glared as he rolled his dark colored eyes and mumbled

something to himself in a different language. This was going to be so much fun.

I turned to complain to Mrs. Bayne, but found her shouting at a big man, and I mean big!

He was extremely muscular with tattoos all over his bare arms and neck. I stumbled a little at his

height. He’s got to be on steroids, I thought.

“Enrique needs to clean up his act, or I will suspend! He is the most disrespectful child I

know, Mr. Perez.” She glared through her glasses, even though this man was a good two feet

taller than her. Her curly short hair was matted and clumped showing signs of constant pulling at

it, most likely for stress.

“Excuse us,” he barked in a strong voice. He turned to Enrique and the look he shot at

him chilled the marrow in my bones. He stomped over and dragged Enrique out of his chair and

shoved him out the door. The man slammed the door behind him, and for a moment all I could

hear was my own breathing.

Then I heard a sharp crack, like a whip. It was followed by many more. I flinched each

time it sounded, wondering what was happening. In no time at all, the man swung the door back

open and stomped in, pulling Enrique in one hand and held a belt in the other. My blood ran cold

as I saw the dripping red lines across Enrique’s face, neck, and arms.
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Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
“What do I have to sign?” He growled. He let go of Enrique, who instantly fell to the

floor with a heavy and deep sigh of pain. The man strode over to Mrs. Bayne, ready to sign the

papers for suspension.

“Wait!” I managed to squeak out, not really knowing what I was doing. “I can change

him. I’ve helped other kids. It’s kind of my job, remember? I never got a chance with him yet.”

Everyone’s eyes were on me now. Mrs. Bayne’s were surprised, the man’s were mad and

impatient, and Enrique’s were the most surprised out of all of them. I bet my eyes were exactly

the same. What have I done?

“Well, what do you have in mind?” Mrs. Bayne wondered after a long silence. I

shrugged, but then it hit me. ”He’s always writing songs, what about the talent show? Maybe if

he accomplishes something, he might try harder in school if that boosts his confidence.” It

sounded like a fairly good plan to me, and eventually to Mrs. Bayne. Great, I helped Enrique,

but I just made one more thing to torture me with.

Enrique and I slowly walked down the bright blue elective hall to the music room. He

was on the right, and I was on the left. I ran my hand along the bricks of the wall, concentrating

on my dirty converse which were suddenly extremely interesting. I kept looking down, but I

could see his stone-like face, staring at me through his hair. Every second that went by drove me

more into self-consciousness. I stopped and turned toward him, fed up with staring. “What?” I

shouted, maybe a little louder than I wanted. He laughed a little and shot back, “I’m just

wondering why I make you so nervous.” He winked. My face burned. “you do not make me
 Vredeveld 4
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
nervous!” I shakily exclaimed, not knowing if it was the truth. He laughed shaking his head and

kept walking. I sighed and silently followed.

I swung the huge white door open, and he walked into the dark purple room. There was a

variety of musical instruments on the wall; all lined up perfectly like wooden soldiers. He picked

up a guitar and started playing it a little. That’s good. He can play an instrument, sort of. This job

just got easier. He played the simple songs like Twinkle Twinkle and Mary had a Little Lamb.

I sighed and he looked up at me and smiled. “There. I played a song. Happy?” he said

jokingly. He got up to leave, but I pushed him back down. He shot a look of annoyance at me,

which I ignored.

“Look, I don’t want to be here anymore than you do, but it’s what I said I would do.” I

pushed the guitar hard against his body, forcing him to hold it. He waited as if I was going to say

it was a joke, but eventually sighed and played some chords. They were pretty good for a

beginner. I began to receive my hope back.

Then I noticed his hand was too flat. I reached forward and put my hand on top of his and

pulled upwards, making his hand curl over the strings. “Your hand wasn’t curved-” I made the

mistake of looking up into his dark eyes. I found that he was looking at me, and also that his eyes

were grey. I stared in wonder. Why have I never noticed that before? He wasn’t looking at me in

a rude way, just simply staring, kind of like he was in a trance. I tried to get the rest of my

sentence out, but I couldn’t find words anywhere in my head. I searched and searched, but his

eyes made everything else dark. All I could see was his face, looking back at me. Like he seemed
 Vredeveld 5
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
to be, I was in some sort of trance. His eyes began to shine, and suddenly his hand under mine

flipped over and he held my hand. I was too shocked to pull away.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I can do this,” he whispered, “Just like you back in the

classroom, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but since you for some reason believed I can

change, I want to try. I promise it will be okay.” He smiled, making me instantly smile back.

Everything else in the room was still dark and fuzzy as I heard his words over and over in my

head like a scratched CD. As much as I never thought it would happen, I believed in him. It was

going to work out. It will be okay.

After that day, we worked as hard as we could. We started doing everything

together; eating lunch, walking to class, hanging out every weekend, just to finish his song for

the talent show. Even though it was two days away, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he

would be the best. I just knew it. I knew it every time I looked in his eyes or heard him sing.

Mostly whenever I saw his reassuring smile, which I always smiled back at.

Finally, the day of the talent show arrived. We hurriedly met up with each other in the

gym and ran through the song as many times as we could squeeze in. They called over the half

broken intercom for all participants in the talent show to please come to the commons after the

third practice. We power-walked to the commons area, each step down the narrow hallway

building more stress. I could tell by the way he squeezed my hand with his that he was building

stress, also. I looked over at him, and he flashed me a reassuring smile. I smiled back, suddenly

knowing that we could get through this.

 Vredeveld 6
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
After he went up on stage and I had to go in the audience, I kept trying to make time go

by faster. I waited through all sorts of entertainment, clapping short and loud, trying to see if that

would make time fly. Every minute slugged into an hour, every second a minute.

“Put your hands together for, Enrique Perez playing his song ‘My Heaven’.” Cheers and

claps frenzied when Mr. Duncan said his name. Hesitantly, he walked out onto the stage. He

looked down at me and I gave him two thumbs up. I guess I must’ve looked a little dumb

because he laughed a little then cleared his throat, and then began to sing.

His singing was phenomenal. Every note was golden, every chord was perfect. It was

better than ever. As soon as he played his last chord, the frenzied crowd began its rampage again.

Cheers and claps, all for him. This was it. He did it.

“You were awesome!” I exclaimed, trying to get my voice to carry over the roars of the crowd. I

was so happy for him! All the emotion, stress, and countless nights of no sleep were all paid off.

He walked around the blue velvet curtains, and his smoky grey eyes shined and met mine

through his black long hair. All time seemed to freeze as we stared at each other. All I could see

was him and his smile, looking back at me. I never thought I’d say Enrique would be the one to

change majorly. He’s improved so much over these few weeks with me.

“I would’ve never gotten here without you,” He shouted back, breaking my trance. In two

big strides, he was down the stairs and about an inch in front of me. I backed up a little, blushing

slightly. He smiled widely and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I felt the warmth in my

cheeks as I hugged him back. His breathing was fast, but had a calming effect on me somehow. I

laid my head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. I closed my eyes, silently
 Vredeveld 7
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10
wishing this moment would never end. He slowly whispered the lyrics to the song in my ear. I’ve

heard them so many times before, but this time, they are all I ever wanted to hear. Now, I believe

that anything can happen, not matter how hard it may seem.

‘My Heaven’

By: Enrique Perez

When I see your smile, tears roll down my face. I can’t, replace it….and now that I’m

strong I have figured out, how the world turns cold and breaks though our souls, but I know, I’ll

find, deep inside me, I won’t fail again. I will never let you fall; I’ll be here for you forever. I’ll

stand up with you, through it all, even if it means I have to fall. Now come take my hand, and

blow this whole bad world, away, while we still have time…..with our pain way behind us, we

will succeed, we won’t fall to our knees, no matter how much pain, I won’t let us fall…..as I now

take your hand, you know I’ll love you forever. Out of judging, deep dark water, we’ll find safe

land, we won’t drown, never……seasons are changing and waves are crashing and stars are

falling all for us. Days grow longer and nights grow shorter, I can promise I’ll be the

one….please don’t walk way….please tell me you’ll stay…I am the one…..for you.
 Vredeveld 8
Cat Vredeveld
Mrs. Thrower
Per. 1-2
10-5-10