April 16

I recently moved to Forest Hills with my mom and my dog Max. After what happened to my family in Pennsylvania, my mom wanted a fresh start and she decided to move back to New York, to show me where she came from. As long as my mom was happy I didn’t care where we moved. 

It was my first summer in New York and my last middle school year. Summer was fun. My mom took me to many popular places, from Time Square to the Statue of Liberty, to different Piers, my summer was great and I was slowly getting comfortable living here. 

It was the first day of 8th grade in a new city and I didn’t know what to expect. 

“Excited for school?” 

“I’m not sure mom, I’m a bit nervous. What if I don’t make friends?” 

“Sweetheart, trust me, everyone is going to want to be your friend. But get going because the buses here pass every 10 minutes and you wouldn’t want to be late on your first day of school. Love you!” 

As I began walking to the bus stop, I felt a weird presence watching me. I looked up and saw a man staring down at me smoking a cigarette. I began walking to the bus stop and still felt the weird presence but I didn’t know where it was coming from. I got on the bus and headed to school. I walked into the office and saw a little lady behind a big computer screen with big black glasses. 

“Hi, my name is Andra Faustino, I’m a new student, they told me to come here for my schedule,” I said. 

“Oh yes honey, please have a seat, I’ll give you your schedule in a minute.” 

I began looking around the office and in the hallways and then I saw the man from earlier in the morning. 

“He works here too?” I whispered. Gosh, I’m going to have to avoid this guy. He just gives me weird vibes overall. 

“Here sweetheart, go down to 4b, you have English first. Have a great first day of school.” 

I began walking to my English class and I heard the garbage can wheels from a distance. I didn’t want to turn around because I didn’t want to see his face again and I was already nervous to enter my class. As I was about to open the door, the wheels got louder and I just went in. 

Everyone was staring at me. After observing the people around the room, I decided to sit next to a girl with long blond hair and a light blue dress. As I was walking toward her, she smiled at me and I knew we would become friends. 

“ Hi, are you new to the school?” She asked. 

“ Yea, I moved during the summer from Pennsylvania.” 

“ Oh, that’s so cool. Well, my name is Daniella, and I’ll be your first friend.” 

“ Yes, and I think you’ll be my only friend because the people here seem weird. Oh– and my name is Andra.” 

“Girls, please stop talking!” the teacher shouted 

Me and Daniella looked at each other and laughed. I knew that she had something that would make us close friends. Later that day, as I was walking to the bus stop, I saw the weird man standing outside looking at us. 

“Andra, that’s my dad. Come on, let me introduce you to him.” 

We began walking towards him and he just grinned at us. 

“Dad, this is Andra, and she’s my new friend. She recently moved here.” 

“Andra… My name is Daniel. I’m glad you’re Daniella’s friend. Where did you move from?” He asked

“I moved here from Pennsylvania,” I explained

“Daniella, can we go? I have to get home early.” I whispered. 

“Uh, okay. Bye dad, I’ll see you later.” 

She grabbed my hand and we both ran off to the bus. As I looked back, he was still staring at us and I didn’t know how to tell Daniella that her dad gave me a weird vibe.

I got home and I began crying. I felt weak. What if I’m just paranoid and I was just making a bad image of Daniella’s dad, without even meeting him. As I looked out my window, I saw a white butterfly by my window. It stayed there as I cried and once left when I got near it. 

Weeks have passed by, Daniella and I have gotten closer. She’s invited me to her house a few times and my mom has said to go, but I never felt safe there. I loved Daniella. She was my best friend and my only friend.

 I decided to tell her what happened in Pennsylvania, the accident– the car accident that caused my dad to lose his life. I told her about the guilt I felt, since I feel like I caused the crash. If I wouldn’t have shown my dad what was on my phone, he probably would have never crashed and would’ve still been with us today. Daniella helped me and even though we were 13, she always gave me the support I needed. It was all I needed, the support and love from someone else, besides my mom. 

It was only me and Daniella at school. We would always stick together and she would come over anytime, since we lived across the street. 

“Andra, you should come to my house later. It’s my Dad’s birthday and he wants you to be there since you’re like a sister to me. And plus my mom is going to make her best dishes. You can’t miss out. I’m not talking no as an answer. Your mom is also invited!” 

“Oh, sure. I’ll be there.” 

I got home and began getting dressed. I looked out my window and saw him staring straight at me from his window. I don’t know if he’s done it before but it was the first time I noticed. I froze up since I was just finishing getting dressed and I ran downstairs. 

“Andra you look beautiful. Let’s get going before we are late for dinner.” 

As we crossed the street. I saw the white butterfly again. It flew by so beautifully. It looked angelic. I wanted to be just like that butterfly. So peaceful, beautiful and free. 

We got to Daniella’s house and she ran to me. 

“Yay! You finally came to my house. We will have a great time together.” 

As my mom approached Daniella’s dad, they shook hands and I was going to do the same. He then grabbed me and hugged me. I felt his strong presence and body on me. I felt him smell me and I wanted to scream but I didn’t want to be disrespectful. 

Daniella and I sat next to each other and I thought my mom was going to sit next to me. Instead Daniella’s dad came towards us and sat next to me. We ate and all he did was keep glancing at me. I didn’t know how to react or feel around him. All I kept thinking was if he saw me change earlier? 

“Daniella tells me you are quite shy. Why is that?” He asked 

“I don’t really feel comfortable with people. I think I’m a very observant person and Daniella seems like the only person that understands me,” I explained

As my mom and I started walking back home, I turned around and saw him smoking on his window. 

Weeks have passed and I was still getting watched, and followed to school by him. I never told anyone because I didn’t want to cause Daniella the same pain I felt when I lost my dad. 

It was on April 16, when it happened. I was walking home from my piano class. I decided to walk home since the buses were taking a long time. It was a 15 minute walk and I thought I was going to make it home before it got dark. As I began walking near my neighborhood, I felt a presence near me. I would turn around, look around but see no one. I was alone, and there weren’t a lot of people out. I decided to go another way than usual. That’s when I turned around and saw him. This time he wasn’t hiding. He was following me. I began walking faster and noticed I wasn’t losing him. As I began running he did too. I was starting to get lost. I couldn’t catch my breath. Where do I go? I began running and running, not knowing where I was going to end up. I turned around and he wasn’t there anymore. Maybe it was all in my head. As I looked forward again, I never got to see the light of day in the world ever again. 

The day it happened, I wish I could’ve told my mom I loved her. Maybe, I should’ve told her what was happening with Daniella’s dad. No one knows what happened to me, or where my body is– besides him. I always try communicating with my mom. It wasn’t her fault. The white butterfly that I always saw, now always stays in my mom’s house. It has always been free, but since April 16, it is now trapped, not knowing where to go.