JESSICA
I lay in bed, covered behind my stack of books, wondering when will something exciting happen to me, knowing that'll never happen. I am eighteen years old and I have not stepped out of my apartment except to go to work or buy groceries. It did not use to be like this till my parents were killed in a fire accident. Now I'm completely afraid of the world and I need to get over that fear.
I get dressed to embrace the world, putting on a bright yellow T-shirt with brightly colored pink buttons. I slip on some new jeans that tighten around my thighs, hips and become wide on my calves and ankles. I have never dressed up because, I am alone and have no reason to go anywhere nice. Brushing my black hair that falls just above my   shoulders then putting it up in a ponytail. Then I grab a red sling purse and take one last look at my mound of books. The mound I call my sanctuary.
I hesitate to open the door. I stand there and begin to think out loud, “Do I really need to go outside?”. Quickly I push the thought away and open the door. I stand on my little porch for a while and quickly push more unwanted thoughts away. I walk onto the sidewalk and close my eyes and take a deep breath in. Taking in the sweet smell of dew on the small patches of grass that surround the trees on the sidewalk. The slight chill in the air that marks we are in the middle of fall. “Ring,ring.”  A bell pierces my thoughts and I open my eyes. A young man on a city bike stops right in front of me. He was probably a few inches from running me over, when the sudden stop jerks him forward, making him fall next to me. He fell on his hands causing small abrasions to them. He quickly gets up and asks, “Are you ok?”.I peer into his blue eyes holding the stare for a moment then answer his question. “ I - I’m fine thank you.” I smile. 
His hair is a light brown, shortly cut, and he seems to be strong. He wears jeans pants and a nice checkered shirt. He smiles back and he begins to hop on his bike.I remember my whole idea for coming out here was to be a new person. In a desperate attempt not to be left alone I blurt out my name. “My name is Jessica.” He turns around and gives me a smile showing full aligned white teeth and says, “Mine’s Ethan.” I analyze him better in those few seconds. I see the outline of his wallet in his jeans . That’s when I take a guess that he might be going to get breakfast. It’s eight in the morning and it seems that most people out this early might be out for their daily morning booster. “ So, do you want to go grab some breakfast?” The words slip through my mouth and I quickly want to suck them up like a noodle. He looks a little surprised like I read his mind and says, “Sure, may I leave my bike chained to your porch though?” I nod. He chains it to the railing and we are on our way. I take my first steps back to my old life.
We take a subway to Manhattan and go to a small cafe called The Buttered Basket. I’ve never been here or anywhere for the matter of fact, so I want to enjoy this. We enter the bustling cafe and wait to be seated. While waiting, I scan the cafe like I use to do when  going out with my parents.  My eyes land on a man with a black coat, mustache, and fedora hat. I think to myself it’s not that cold, why would he be wearing that? We are seated in a booth with two menus. I decide to take my mind away from the strange man and take in the smells of the Buttered Basket. The scent of fresh made bread and coffee filled the cozy cafe. Nice polished wood floors and mahogany tables along with oak benches attached to soft cushions. This is the place of comfort. Ethan sits in front of me staring at the people. I think it’s awkward for him because of the silence but it is wonderful for me.
A waiter comes around and asks to take our orders. I quickly scan the menu and ask for the special which consisted of: eggs, sausage, pancakes, and a  creamed coffee. Ethan orders an oatmeal breakfast with orange juice. When the waiter leaves he is quick not to let the silence fall again.  “ So..What do you do??I mean like hobbies, uhm, sports, anything really.” I look up and catch his eyes. I quickly look in between his eyes so, that way I don’t get too shy and become overwhelmed with anxiety. “ I like books.”, I say in a small whisper still trying to find my voice. Surprisingly he catches my words. “That’s great. I love reading too. I just graduated from high school last year. Right now i'm just earning money for college.” I shift in my seat uncomfortably, as I begin to feel my hands shake from nervousness. Ethan seems to sense my agitation. “I understand. You don’t need to be so,nervous ok. I’m just a normal human being, or homosapien whichever you prefer to call ourselves.”, he says in a comforting way. I laugh a bit inside and let a small grin paint my face.“Now I get to see a smile.”, he says smiling back. I try to piece together why Ethan is so kind to a stranger. He must have sensed my patheticness and knew I needed a friend or someone to talk to. I just can’t piece together why a stranger would be kind to another stranger. It’s hard to remember what kindness feels like after you avoided its light for so long to also avoid the bad.
From the corner of my eye I see the man with the coat and the fedora hat get up. I see him clearly now. He was just sitting two booths in front of us. He has a well trimmed goatee,black hair slowly creeping out of his hat, and lines that crease his forehead like a fold in a paper. The man  might be in his mid-thirties. He has deep bags under his eyes showing sleepless nights. He seems to be quite confident; even though his features make him look easy to break. He looks around suspiciously and slowly reaches in his jacket. Something in my mind bellows for me to duck. I quickly jump to Ethan’s side of the table and pull him under. The move was swift and fast. It was like my body had a mind of its own,like I have done this before. I hear two shots fire. The people in the cafe begin to scream and panic. 
ETHAN
Jessica jumps over the table and pushes my head down. Two shots fire. My heart begins to beat quickly and adrenaline fills my veins. I feel Jessica slowly slipping under the table as I look down and she motions for me to do the same. She crawls under the table to where she can see what is happening around her. All the  booths are against a wall aligning both walls on the opposite side of the cafe. Jessica and I are hidden from view.
She peeks under the benches watching the shooter. I crawl beside her and look across to the opposite wall. People are holding there hands up and some are hiding behind  the counter,tables,booths, or anywhere they think a bullet can't find them. I see a family with two small children that look about the age of six or eight quivering under the table. The mom hides with them and the father sits on the table with his hands raised up.
I see the shooter, he looks like a plain psycho. “Now,now,now. Who wants to call the cops for me.”, his voice sound a little scratchy with a high tone which by the way is an annoying combination. As he speaks he walks around spinning the gun acting if no one can touch him. “All I wanted was for the waitress to bring me was a black coffee pancakes and eggs and what did she bring me? She brought me all the wrong orders twice. Oh,no that's not what I’m really angry about though. I’m angry that my wife left me and took my unborn child with her. I even told her I would go to school get a job and work really hard for a family. No, she just could not take a look at the better side of life” The psycho points at the family hiding under the table. “Mr. whoever you are let me save you the trouble of ever having to lose you children.” He bends over and grips the mother by the hair and pulls her out from under the table and points the gun to her head. The man begins to rise, “A,ah,a,” says the psycho shaking his head. “If you move I’ll blow her  brains out,ok.” The man reluctantly sits back down. “Let me tell you a little story.” says the psycho. 
As the psycho speaks, I look at Jessica. She slowly positions herself like a frog on a lilypad waiting to leap into the water. Her eyes darting everywhere, plotting every move the psycho takes as he drags the woman with the gun to her head.   She looks at  me and whispers, “Stay under the table no matter what I do.” I don’t even Have time to protest and she leaps out from under the table booth.
From another table she grabs a metal tray and bangs it on the psycho man's head. The blow was not enough to knock him out but, just enough to let the woman go and the gun. Everyone rushes to the exit but I stay and watch. Stunned by her actions to do anything. The girl who I just met turned out to be not what I expected.
The psycho whips around to face Jessica and throws the first punch. She ducks at a surprising speed and sweeps her foot underneath him. He falls to ground and quickly tries to stand up. Jessica with her pony tail tied back, arms up ready to fight  just like a professional boxer. She swings left and right  hitting him in the jaw both times. The psycho stumbles back and throws a second punch but, just like before she dodges it and sweeps her leg out tripping him again. He falls and she does not give him a chance to get up. She kneels down on him placing his torso between her legs pinning him to the ground, leaving her arms free.  The psycho grabs a butter knife and slashes it across  her face . A clean cut is formed across her right cheek. She does not even seem to care as the  blood trickles down under her chin.. She slaps the knife out of his hand before he has the chance to strike again. She punches him on the face once and then unleashes a flurry of punches. Again and again she strikes until she sees the man has gone unconscious. The psycho is left with a bloody face and two black eyes. I  probably would say the cops might want to put up a search warrant for his front teeth too, based on what I saw.
She gets up and looks down at her hands  which is stained with the psychos blood. She continues to stare which looks like disbelief in what she has done. I get up from under the table and stare at her. I misread her to be frighted, afraid, and fragile. She looks up and stares at me too.
JESSICA
I stare at my  hands. The same hand that almost killed the shooter. The same ones that had blood stained on them before, that had killed countless people. The girl who used these terrible hands has reawakened.The girl I tried to conceal and confine. The reason why I decided to hide from the world was because, I was afraid what the world would awaken again. The world would awaken the person who fought and killed. I tried so hard to bury memories and forget my past. To forget all the bad choices I made. I look at Ethan he stares at me. He saw the monster I tried to hide.