Help, I Need Somebody

Coming of age story written for my Creative Writing class. It's okay to ask for help sometimes

Big Ben rang six times. Stacey looked around in confusion; Alex should have been here an hour ago. Where in the heck was he? Growing more and more concerned by the second, Stacey decided she would go visit Alex’s house and see if he was just running late, though that was unlikely. Alex was never late, ever, especially for their Friday night romps around town. Stacey began to run towards Alex’s house in a panic. As she approached the home she could hear violent screaming and shouting coming from inside. She knocked on the door a little nervously; obviously Alex’s parents were not in a good mood today. The door was violently flung open and Alex’s dad stood in front of Stacey, all red faced and obviously out of breath. It even looked like he had some scratches on his neck, but Stacey couldn’t be sure.

“What in god’s name do you want Stacey?”

“Sorry to bother you, but Alex wasn’t at the Westminster Bridge when we were supposed to meet, and he is never late. It had me a tad worried. I thought he might have forgotten, or something had happened. Is he here?”

“Bloody hell. I haven’t seen Alex in days. You see his mother and I are getting a divorce, and we told Alex a couple days ago. He took off running the minute the words left my mouth. I just assumed he was with you.” Alex’s dad said with a heavy sigh, his hand running through his golden, tousled hair. “Guess I’ll have to go call the police. A boy like him couldn’t have gotten too far. Hope he hasn’t gotten into any trouble, the bloody kid.”

“Oh, alright then. I think I’m gonna go looking for him. I know Alex better than anybody and I’m sure I can find him in no time. He’s probably at the Ministry of Sound or the London Eye setting off fireworks. You know how he gets when he’s upset.”

“Oh, well I appreciate that, but you be careful young lady. It’s getting quite dark. You want me to come with you?”

“Oh no sir. It’s fine. I can handle London by myself.”

“Oh yes, I forgot, Ms. Starbright doesn’t need a helping hand, she can handle everything herself.” Alex’s dad winked and gave Stacey a knowing smile. “Just be careful. Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do. See you soon, Mr. Simons”. Stacey leapt off the porch and took off towards the London Eye. Alex and she loved to ride that Ferris wheel and throw cherry bombs off the top whenever they were angry. It was a great way to let off steam, with the crowds of tourist jumping in surprise under the lights of Westminister. While Alex probably wasn’t still there, it having been a few days and all, someone had probably seen him and might know whose house he was staying at.

“Bloody Alex. Just had to go and drop his phone out my window last week. This would be so much easier if I could just freaking call him”, Stacey grumbled under her breath. This was going to be a long night, and she should probably get some coffee at Coffee Culture. Maybe Tyler, the barista, will have seen Alex. Cafe Quattro was just a small, little cafe near the London Eye. Nothing special and a bit rustic, but, man, they had good coffee.  Alex and Stacey would go here all the time. They were actually headed there tonight. Alex loved their sandwiches, especially the grilled cheese. He would devour it in about two bites.

“Hey! If it isn’t little Miss Starbright. The usual?” asked the dark haired, bright eyed boy behind the counter. While he wasn’t what anyone would describe as good looking, he had a certain charm about him.

“Hey Tyler, and no, not today. I just want a cup of coffee to go. I’m kind of in a hurry at the moment.”

“Are you looking for Alex by any chance?”

“Yeah, I am. How’d you know?”

“He came in here looking all upset and barely even touched his grilled cheese, which rang some alarm bells in my head. That boy usually eats that sandwich in two seconds. You weren’t with him as well, and that’s always a bad sign. He all right?”

“I’m not quite sure what’s wrong with him, but do you by any chance know where he was heading?”

“He didn’t talk much. Said something about wanting to call you, but other than that, nothing”

“Okay, thanks Tyler”

“No problem. Here’s your coffee. Let me know if need any help finding him. I know you like doing things by yourself, but it’s dark and New Year’s Eve. The town can get pretty rowdy tonight. I get off in an hour”

“I’ll be fine Tyler. I know tonight will be pretty crazy, but I’ve lived here my whole life. I think I’ll be fine walking around town. Worse comes to worse I’ll take the bloody Underground if it gets too dark.”

“Have you ever even been on the Underground before?”

“No, but it’s just a bloody train, can’t be that hard to figure out”. Tyler just looked at Stacey and shook his head and laughed, his dark hair rustling with the movement.

“Tonight is not going to be your night. I can sense that already. Just be careful.”

“Okay, dad.” Stacey grabbed her coffee and stomped out of Coffee Culture. Why does everybody keep saying she needed help. It’s probably just because she is a girl. If the roles were reversed and Alex was looking for her, no one would even give a thought to helping Alex. Stacey sighed, people were just so aggravating sometimes. By the time she reached the London Eye, Stacey was absolutely fuming. Not to help her situation, Alex was nowhere to found, and not a single person she asked could remember seeing him. That must mean he was at the Ministry of Sound which was all the way across town. It was getting dark, so she’d have to take the Underground.

“Well, isn’t that just great”, Stacey sighed to herself. She hated the Underground. It was always so packed, and so confusing to navigate, but she needed to make sure Alex was okay.

The Underground was crammed full of bustling tourist, businessmen on their way back from work, and locals just trying to make their way home.  Stacey had never been so confused in her life. She tried to read the map hanging on the middle wall, but there was just too many people to see; let alone concentrate. Stacey eventually just gave up and hopped in a car that looked like it was going in her direction. It wasn’t until she had been on the tube for more than thirty minutes that she realized, that maybe, just maybe, she had gotten on the wrong train. When she exited, Stacey found herself outside Kensington Palace, which was about four miles from where she wanted to be. Now she had to walk all the way to the Ministry of Sound in the pitch black night of New Years.

“Bloody hell!” Stacey exclaimed to no one in particular. This year was obviously off to a great start for her. She felt like she walked for hours, when it had to have only been twenty minutes till she reached the Ministry of Sound. She had walked past the shimmering Albert Memorial; meandered by the medieval Jewel Tour; sauntered through Westminster, past Big Ben and Buckingham Palace; strolled across the blue lights of Westminster Bridge, and was finally approaching the Ministry of Sound. Just as she was about to turn onto Gaunt Street, Stacey heard a rustling behind her. She whipped herself around only to come face to face with a snarling young chav. He had short, blonde hair that was obviously cut by someone’s mother, a plaid baseball cap, and was wearing a sweatshirt about twelve sizes too big. He smiled menacingly at Stacey before grabbing her by the collar of her leather jacket, and pressing a knife to her navel.

“Gimme all ya money or I'll shank ya, orite”. The blonde boy pushed the knife harder into Stacey, without drawing blood. Stacey began to shake, but she tried her hardest to conceal it. Yeah, she was scared, but like hell she’d show him that. She wasn’t some stupid damsel in distress. She didn’t need to scream or cry for the police; she could handle this herself. She calmly gave the blonde haired chav her wallet. When he reached his arm out to grab it, Stacey took her chance and attacked. Unfortunately for her the chav was much stronger and faster than she had estimated. In one swift motion the young hooligan had her pinned down on the ground, the pavement smashed into her cheek, and with a tight grip on her short, black hair.

“OI! Don’t do dat again! I'm gonna have to hurt ya for dat”. The chav then raised his knife, and slashed the back of Stacey’s shoulder. Then the young boy took off running faster than a racehorse. Stacey stood up and cupped her hand to her shoulder. Luckily the cut wasn’t too deep, and it wasn’t bleeding much at all. It still hurt like hell though, and had Stacey all shook up. After standing still for a few seconds in the dark, cold, night air Stacey began to bawl. She was broke and didn’t know how to get home, her shoulder was bleeding and was in pain, and she still had no idea where Alex was. After a few minutes of tears, Stacey composed herself, and began to round the last corner to the Ministry of Sound. It being New Year’s, the place was packed tighter than a sardine can. Stacey could hardly breathe as she maneuvered her way through the crowd to her and Alex’s spot in the back, left-hand corner. Stepping behind a black curtain and into one the private booths, Stacey’s eyes fell upon a sleeping Alex. He looked oddly peaceful, despite the fact that his long, lanky arms were twisted around his head like pretzels, and the fact that his hair was sticking straight out. Stacey gently shook him awake. It took a few seconds, but she finally had Alex’s full attention.

“Hey bud. You all right?”

“Stacey? What are you doing here?”

“You think you could go missing for a couple days and I wouldn’t look for you? What world do you live in?”

“ I don’t know. Bloody hell. You should go home, Stacey”

“I’m not going anywhere without you. Come home Alex. You can’t sleep here forever. At least come stay at my house.” With that Alex’s eye went cold and he stared straight at Stacey,

“I don’t need your help, Stacey. I can handle myself, and right now I’m not going home. You can’t make me”. This caught Stacey off guard. Why wouldn’t Alex let her help him? She didn’t want to help him because she thought he was weak; she wanted to help him because she loved him. Stacey just looked at Alex, heartbroken. After a moment, she just solemnly turned and walked away. She just needed to get home. As she was walking out of the club, she pick-pocketed some money from a stranger. Stacey, for the first time in her life, felt completely helpless. She wandered aimlessly to the Underground, and stood on the platform, staring at the map, still completely confused. Finally, she looked around and spotted an official looking man standing next to the ticket booth on the platform. Stacey pondered him for a moment, before she lifted her head up high, swallowed her pride, and walked towards him. With heavy steps, she was finally in front of the employee.

“Excuse me, sir. I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m completely lost as to which train I get on. Can you help me, please?”