It was a feild trip to the zoo that day. Christian was picked to chaperone. We were both in his group. It was a cold day, the sky was grey and cloudy, it promised rain. Christian rolled his eyes as Mrs. Pepper griped about how cold it was, as she always did. Ann laughed at his crazy antics as he started to imitate Mrs. Pepper, shaking his head from side to side as he mocked her and throwing his hand out at people. Mrs. Pepper turned around just in time to catch him off guard. Ann and myself burst out laughing at the look on his face. It was so innocent and blameless that it was hilarious. When they finally got off the bus and into the zoo, Christian was getting lectured on being disrespectful to his elders and so forth. It was obvious that he wasn't paying attention to the sour old lady as she spoke, but he politely said 'yes, ma'am' and 'no ma'am' at the right moments. He always made lucky guesses, it was one of his strengths.
We all agreed to blow off the worksheet that was assigned and say that they blew away in the wind. It was possible with all the wind that we had. Ann, who didn't like lying, casually let her paper fly away. We all laughed as she waved goodbye and good riddance to the horrid assignment paper. Ann and myself walked beside Christian, his arms around our shoulders, singing stupid songs that we didn't know the words to. The rest of the girls in the group glared at us. Christian noticed, and pointed it out to us with a laugh, politely not letting them hear what he was talking about. He removed his arms from our shoulders, and resorted to walking in between us and letting the other girls practically cling to him.
The first thing we did was go to see the dolphins. Ann loved dolphins. She stared longingly at them, dreaming not only of them, but Michael, as she always did. Michael had been her best friend for several years, and then had decided that he wasn't good enough for her when she met Christian at an audition for a TV series. She also loved acting. Ann loved Mike, but wouldn't admit it unless her life was ending that very second. Michael was jealous, and pretended to hate her. He was still friends with me, and she hated me for it. He told me things that i could never tell Ann, for fear that it would go to her head.
Christian came up behind her, and, putting his chin on her head and taking her face in his gentle hands, he kissed the top of her head and whispered softly to her, for he knew what she was thinking about. He put his arms across her chest and stood behind her watching the beautiful creatures before them swim gracefully through the clear blue waters.
Later on we went to the reptile house. Margaret Thacher was appaled by the disgusting snakes and lizards, and threw a royal fit, embarrassing the group and forcing them to leave. Christian hid his face while laughing at her, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
Christian started to sing a song from the audition that Ann had met him at, Santa Fe was the song. His crystal clear voice rang through the tree-tops. People stopped and stared as he walked and sang, acting as if he didn't know how good he was. He had the whole song, even the dances memorized. He stopped briefly to dance a little, getting a giggle from Margaret, who never smiled, because she never had a reason to.
He grinned at the girls as they started walking again. A loud cheer rang up from the people that had gathered around and rang in their ears as they walked slowly down the path to the penguins.
Around lunchtime they were still wandering around, for Margaret had gotten them lost by insisting that she knew the way to the tigers. She blamed it on Christian, who only smiled and accepted it with grace, knowing it would only upset her and increase her blasted griping if he said otherwise. They missed lunch, and kept going. Poor Meg's stomach started grumbling and so did she. Christian, his good temper finally beginning to slip, stopped and bought her more food than she could eat, and she was forced to share with the rest of the group.
Michael walked by our group, and Ann stared longingly at him and the group he was in. He smiled and nodded at me, but when Ann started to say hi, he hurried ahead to walk with his other friends. Christian glanced at me as Ann got up from the table, tipping her chair over and she ran away, covering her face with her delicate hands. Christian sighed, and ran after her.
"Amy," said a stern voice from behind me.
I turned around to see the rest of the group standing behind me with their hands on their hips and angry looks on their faces. I stared timidly up at them, and stood face to face with Margaret and Cecily. "Yes?" i said, with my voice a little shaky. This was the first time i had talked to them all day. They were popular and hung out with Ann. I knew them as snobs in my own eyes, but i was nice to them because they were Ann's friends.
"Something has to be done about your sister, Amy," Cecily demanded.
"What do you mean?" i asked innocently, knowing exactly what she meant.
"She's hogging Christian, and making it extremely obvious that she likes him, and flirting beyond belief. It's pathetic! Besides, she should know that she isn't pretty enough for him, and even if she was, she's not old enough."
Ann was 16. I stared at them, holding my ground, not backing off in the slightest. My sharp green eyes narrowed at Cecily. I pressed my lips into a firm line. "It's none of your business what my sister does. And even if it were... I'll tell you something. She doesn't 'want' Christian. They are best friends and nothing more. She does not throw herself at him, like some baseball. He is friendly and wants to help her. You have no idea what goes on between them, and i thank you for keeping your little turned up fake noses out of her business!" I walked away in a huff, not wanting to look at them any longer.
Before i left i saw the horrified and angry looks on their faces. I started to look around for Chris and Ann, but when i found them, i decided to leave them alone. If Christain hadn't spotted me and called me over silently with his finger, i would have left right then. Ann was leaning on Christian's shoulder, obviously crying. Christian had his arms around her, rocking her back and forth, trying to comfort her.
I looked at him silently asking what was wrong. He pointed with his free hand at Michael through the bushes that closed off the picnic area. He lowered his head to Ann, talking to her quietly as she cried her eyes out. His head shot up when he remembered that it hadn't been just him and us today. There were five other girls with them. He shot a worried look at me, and told me to give something to Mike. When he handed me a letter, silently, so as not to raise Ann's suspicions, I hurried off quickly to find my friend who had wandered off. When i found him i handed it to him and waited for him to read it. I wanted to hear a response from him before i went back.
"Okey-Dokey," he said after thinking for a while. "Tell him i said in a second, ok?"
I nodded my head quickly and ran off. I slowed down when i came around a corner, out of sight from Mike, and Ann and Christian. I unfolded the note and read quickly:
Mike,
I know you don't like her much, but i'm not having much
luck cheering up Ann. She's upset over you and would love
to talk to you about it, i don't care what she says. I have
a group to watch and can't give this to you myself. Between
trying to comfort Ann and keeping an eye on my group, i
barely had time to write this. Please come and talk to
her?
PLEASE!???
Christian
I ran back around the corner ready to give the letter to Chris at first able distance. I saw that Mike was already there and Chris was gone. When i heard Megs cry of delight i knew where he was. He had found the tigers for her to make up for favoring Ann. When i got there she had thrown her arms around him in sheer glee, for she loved tigers so much. Her big brown eyes got even bigger, and she let go as her face flushed, and she walked into the building.
Christian laughed softly at Meg, and followed the girls in. I called to them, asking to wait up. Christian stopped and waited, but the snobby girls went on to look at the cats, especially the tigers, of course. I started to talk to Christian and recieved five different dirty looks from five different girls. Christian looked at me and rolled his eyes, gesturing, unseen to them, at the girls ahead, getting disgusted at their behavior. "I wish they'd grow up," he said, sounding quite annoyed.
Meg stopped walking and waited for us to catch up. Christian was walking as slow as possible so as to delay his meeting with them as long as he could. When we finally did get up to them, the girls called to me as if they were happy to see me. I walked over cautiously, glancing at Christian as i did so.
Meg walked up to him and smiled sweetly at him. Pretending to be charmed by her change, Christian smiled back. He offered his arm to her, and she quickly accepted. He walked faster so that it was hard for her to keep up, but Meg, having more pride in herself than ever, and being more stubborn than a donkey, wouldn't let go of his arm. When we came out of the building, Ann and Mike were sitting near a tree waiting for us.
Ann looked at me and laughed quietly, her shoulder heaving at the hidden laughter. Meg was a sight to see. Michael, who had liked Meg for the longest time, changed his mind right then.
Christian smiled and walked over to Ann and Mike. "Coming with us?" he asked Mike as he stood up to walk away.
"Nah, but thanks anyway. My mom would kill me if i ran off. See ya!" He waved at Christian. "Bye Ann," he said as he waved to her.
Christian looked at me and slapped me a secret low five. "A job well done, if i do say so myself," he murmurred for only me to hear. He looked at me with a lopsided grin and tossed his long hair out of his face with the palm of his hand. I swear i saw Meg almost fall over when he did that.
Ann walked next to me laughing at Meg's tries to get near Christian while all the other girls crowded around him. "Poor Chris," she said, smiling and shaking her head. She was getting a really good laugh out of this, and so was i. While we were staring at the girls and Christian, we didn't notice a sign that said "careful of puddles." Ann started to run up to Christian when she slipped and fell. Her ankle turned and she screamed in pain.
Christian turned and ran back to her, kneeling down beside her. Meg rolled her eyes. She thought it was a desperate attempt to get Christian's attention away from herself, but, when she saw the look of pain on Ann's face, decided against that notion. Her eyes became worried as she stood watching Christian massage it, and rub it so as to stop the swelling. He sent Cecily for ice. It took her forever to find some, and when she came back with it, she couldn't find us, either. By the time she did it was melted and basically useless. She started to cry, and appologize over and over again.
"It's ok, it's ok," Christian said with a half smile. He strained to lift Ann's ankle without hurting her, but put it back down gently when she winced in pain. She had begun to sweat, and was in so much pain that she was crying.
"This is gonna hurt, sweetie," Christian said softly, "but not for long." He lifted her up onto his back.
She winced in pain as her ankle was jerked. As little as possible, but still jerked around. She gripped his shoulders and he carried her to the first aid office at the zoo.
The nurse treated her ankle, and gave her a pair of wooden crutches to take around with her, so that not all of her fun would be ruined. They thanked her and went on their way.
When it was almost time to go home, Christian decided to take us back to the dolphins, because we had spent so little time there the first time. We wandered off to the different cages around the displays, reading the information details on each animal just to pass the time. Ann stayed with Christian.
Christian stopped, he had heard a noise. Ann looked back, but he told her to keep going. Christian turned around to find a tall figure before him. The dark shadow was a man, he could tell. He had a gun clutched in his hand.
"Got a wallet for me, bud?" he asked in a rough voice, shoving the gun into Christian's stomach.
Christian whipped out his wallet and handed it to the man.
"Very good," the man said sharply, "You're a smart one. Now your watch." he said, glancing down at the expensive Rolex on Christian's wrist.
Christian sighed as he slipped off the watch and handed it to the man also.
"Thank you, sir. You were very cooperative. Too bad i have to kill you anyway, isn't it?"
Christian's eyes bulged. He took a few steps back and ran into Ann. He stopped when she whispered for him to be quiet and handed him one of her crutches. When he reached behind to get it, the gun fired.
Ann jumped in front of Christian. She was flung back into him with the force of the bullet. Ann fell to the ground.
The man stared at the gun. He stared at Ann. He stared at himself. How could he take such an innocent life? How could he have killed such a young girl? Before Christian had time to yell stop, the last bullet was fired and the man fell to the floor.
"Christian," she managed weakly.
"Shhhhh," he said softly. "Dont try to talk now. Wait until later, when you're stronger." He was trying not to cry.
"There won't be a later, Chris, we both know that."
Christian let tears fall from his hazel eyes, not letting go of Ann to wipe them away. "Don't talk like that. You know that isn't true. You'll be fine."
"Christian--"
"Hush, sweetie."
"I can't, i have to tell you this. She stopped talking and winced in pain. She took deep breaths as if trying to speak again, and then seemed to have given up. But then she choked out, "Tell Mike that I love him, please?"
"No, you'll tell him yourself, when you're well again," Christian said between sobs. "Hey, Ann?"
"What," she asked weakly.
"Did you know that if you put the batteries in backwards, the bunny keeps coming and coming and coming?"
Ann managed a weak smile and a small laugh. But the laugh made her chest hurt even more. She clenched her jaw in pain. "Just tell him, Christian, please. That i love him."
"I'll tell him if you don't get the chance to, i swear to you that i will."
With her final breath she said breathlessly, "I love you, Christian." And then her eyes closed and she went limp in his arms.