Chapter 10 - NO ONE BUT ME

Luna Morris Ten years old. "Luna!" Clyde called my name angrily after I threw him a handful of dirt. He was the one who teased me for my ugly white dress. "You're such a spoilt brat!" He pushed me to the pond, making me drenched in water from head to toe. I cried. This time I screamed so loud that my grandfather came running. He pulled me up from the pond and hugged me, trying to calm me down. Clyde gave me a poker face, and I buried my face in my grandfather's neck, not wanting to see him. "Clyde! What did you do?!" I took a peek, and an old man came to us, scolding Clyde. "You're older than Luna by a year, and you should be protecting her, not pushing her into the pond." Clyde stayed silent. He didn't try to deny what he did to me or make excuses to cover up himself. "Gerald, I'm sorry." The old man said as my grandfather picked me up. "It's fine. I'll take Luna home." I hugged him so tightly. "I'll visit you tomorrow." The old man said. "It's fine, Nikolas. They're just kids. It's not a big deal." I glanced at Clyde, and he was looking down to the ground. "I hope a lizard bites you!" I said, and Clyde snapped his head up to me. Instead of giving his poker face, he smiled. I was about to protest, but my grandfather brought me back to the mansion. There are already people waiting for me with some towels. They escorted me to my car, and I cried again in my grandfather's arms. "Clyde is mean. He pushed me and called me ugly!" "We'll punish Clyde together tomorrow. How about that? How dare he push you into the pond!" My grandfather raised his voice. I hugged him, and we both went back home. I told my grandmother about what happened, and she giggled. "Clyde doesn't have any friends. This is his first time having one. He doesn't mean it, Luna." "He doesn't?" I asked curiously. "Yeah, you should get to know him better. I bet he's such a sweet boy." My grandmother said, and I have tried to understand Clyde since then. The next day, Nikolas, Clyde's grandfather, and Clyde came to our house. I hid behind my grandfather, still mad at him. My grandmother pushed me gently and gave me a sign to talk to Clyde. "Do you want to go to the garden?" I asked shyly, scared that he would reject your offer. "Okay." He said, and I smiled widely. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the garden, where I already had my sketching book and some paint. "I'm going to draw you something. What do you want me to draw?" I sat down and looked up at him as I grabbed my sketchbook. "I'm giving it to you, so you should feel special because I don't give my drawing to other people." He raised his eyebrows and sat down. "I want you to draw a butterfly, the one that landed on your head yesterday." He said, and I pouted. "I didn't see it clearly, and I can't draw it!" "I want that butterfly!" He demanded, and I decided to try anyway. I started to outline the butterfly and closed my eyes to remember other details about it. I took a peek to see Clyde, who was staring at me. He's waiting for me to finish. I went back to draw, and after finishing it, I ripped the paper from the sketchbook, giving it to him. He looked at it for a very long time, like he was debating whether it was good or not. "If you don't like it, return it to me!" I grabbed the paper, but he put the form up in the air. "It's beautiful, Butterfly." He said and smiled. I squealed, hearing the compliments coming out of his mouth. I threw my sketchbook to the side and hugged him, causing him to fall back. Our faces were an inch apart, and I could see how beautiful his hazel eyes were. "Thank you! You have to keep it, okay?" "Okay." "Now get off me. Let's go explore that fountain." He said as he pushed me away. I got up from the ground, and Clyde folded my drawing before putting it in his pocket. He grabbed my hand, leading me to the fountain. We stood there looking at the water falling, and hearing the sound of it made me feel calm. I turned to Clyde, who set his eyes on the top of the fountain. "I got bitten by a lizard yesterday." He said, and I laughed. "See! That's why you can't be mean to me!" I pointed at him but still laughing. Then I remembered that Clyde never had any friends. He's not bad. I guess he's not used to having someone around. "You should come to play here often. I'll draw you every time you come here," I said, and he let out a small chuckle. He turned to me, looking at me angrily. "Don't promise me things that you won't be able to keep." He said coldly, and I pouted. "I mean it! When I said I promise, I will keep it." "You promise?" He asked, still doubting me. "Yes." "You better keep it, Butterfly. If you don't, I'm going to haunt you." He threatened me, but ever since then, I kept my promise. I never broke it, and I guess that's why Clyde trusted me. He came to my house often, and we played a lot. Sometimes he's mean to me, causing me to cry and scream bloody murder, but Clyde always finds a way to cheer me up. After a year of constantly seeing each other, Clyde started to change. He became more distant, colder, and meaner. Sometimes he came to my house to sit silently beside me, and he didn't say a word. He's just there, looking at the sky, but he demanded I stay there and rant about my favorite butterflies. I never asked him why he changed, and maybe I was scared that he would never return. "I want to cheer you up like you always cheer me when my parents forgot my birthday," I said as I sat in front of him with a big smile plastered on my face. "I don't need you to cheer me up, Butterfly. All you need to do is stay by my side. That's your way of making me feel better." He said as he patted the space beside him. I sat down beside him and looked up at the sky. "If someone is bothering you, I'll push them to the pond or maybe put a lizard in their bag," I said, and he chuckled. He turned to me, "I'll let you know if someone is bothering me." "Okay!" "You should tell me too." He looked back into the sky. "About what?" I asked as I leaned my head on his shoulder. He put his head on top of mine. "If someone is bothering you or being mean to you..." "What will you do about it?" "I will kill them, and no one gets to make my Butterfly sad." That made me turn to him. "But you often make me sad." "Only I can do that, but other than me, I'll kill them."