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My earliest memories of her are actually good... I used to love her flowing red hair, and she always smelled sweet like flowers.
I can remember father taking us to a petting zoo, she squealed with delight as the goats ate from her hand. She even let me have some of her feed since I had dropped my own on the ground.
We ran through the streets playing imaginary games of space soldier, and sometimes I played along with her space princess game too..
She didn't live with us back then. She lived with her own parents, but that was just mainly where she went to sleep.. They were very poor, and her mother was an alcoholic. She'd come to school crying some mornings about the fights her parents would have. Her father really was a good hard working man.. He operated one of those giant cranes that they use to lift steel beams when they build skyscrapers. He didn't make a lot of money, and what he did make he gave to his wife. She tended to waste it away on alcohol.
My parents bought most of her toys and clothes for her. Sometimes her father would come over to watch a football game with my dad. Those were the good times.
She didn't like football, whenever her father came over to watch the games she'd make me come outside with her.
By the time I'd turned 9, though, everything had changed..
Her father passed away during my eighth year, 'industrial accident' they called it.. whatever that means.. Her mother ran away with her new boyfriend not long afterwards, and my own parents gladly took her in as one of their own. However, something was different about her now.
About a week after her father had died she brought me up to my room and said she wanted to play a new game. 'Doctor' she called it, said she learned it from her mother.. I didn't like that game.. She said all I had to do was examine her, so I uneasily agreed. She closed the door and laid down on my bed, telling me I was supposed to take her clothes off. I asked her why, and she punched me on the head.. That was the first time I could remember her hitting me..
I unlocked the door and ran downstairs to my mother, crying. I told her about being hit, and mother sent her home.. I don't think I ever saw her smile again.
When she first came to live with us she was just quiet.. I tried to play the old games with her like we used to do, but she rarely ever wanted to play along. The few times that she did play along she would break all the rules. One time playing space princess she even tried to kiss me. When I tried to hold her away she got a confused look on her face and started hitting me.. I cried until mother came outside and pulled her off me.. She was sent to her room, but things only got worse from there. After that she refused to play anymore of my games. Sometimes she'd come up with her own games, though I refused to play doctor again..
She got her first whip when father got her a pony.. I still don't see why she needed a whip, it was already fully trained.. Of course, the whip never touched the horse.. only me. I told my mother and father, but they didn't believe me.. they said I got the scratches on my back climbing trees..
Growlie didn't like her very much anymore either.. I used to play with Growlie as much as I could, just because I knew she'd keep away, from fear of being bitten.. he was my only friend..
My parents decided I should be married when I was young.. I still don't know why.. But they engaged me to that witch that lived in the room next to me.. Every now and then I'd wake up in the night and she'd be there.. lying next to me on my bed.. I didn't move for fear that she'd wake up and hurt me..
I figured out a route of escape though... I begged my parents for months until they agreed to send me to Pokemon Tech...
My young fiancé didn't like the idea, and tied me up in the basement.. trying to keep me from going on my appointed day.. but Growlie chewed through the ropes and I was free.. I almost thought I saw a tear in her eye as she watched me run away..
Pokemon Tech was a hard school.. but it was still much better than being back home.. especially once I'd met her.. The most beautiful little angel I'd ever seen..
No one liked her much, I couldn't understand why, she was so very beautiful.. I gradually got to know her during the evenings we spent out of classes. She stayed in the female wing of the boarding house, her roommate was a very popular girl that was slightly younger than her.. I always thought it strange that all the guys and girls liked her more.. She certainly wasn't better looking, at least not in my opinion..
My Angel did have her mean side though... I remember she used to call her roommate a whore. Her mean side was probably what drove most people away.. I suppose I was just used to taking much more abuse, and her small tantrums didn't seem to phase me. The bad comes with the good sometimes though, and the good was very good..
Soon we were inseparable.. she was so cute. Always wanted to be in charge, but could be such a girlie girl... whenever she got scared she'd grab my arms and press up tight against me.. I admit I got a guilty pleasure out of it, and loved to do anything that I thought might frighten her.. scary movies.. roller coasters..
Things were going pretty good at Pokemon Tech. I thought we had a pretty good handle on the subject matter.. then exams came.. I admit I should have studied.. but I really just wanted to spend time with her..
There was a small party in the girl's dorm.. I was lucky enough to get invited along.. It was all innocent really.. at least, what I saw of it was. I can only speculate as to what went on between the paired boys and girls that left early.. We stayed up almost all night laughing and singing and crying. We'd forgotten all of our cares for just a little while.. but unfortunately the final exams were one of those cares... I got the lowest score ever.. scores were all around pretty low for the school.. I would attribute most of it to the massive party the night before..
I was too scared to go back home, my betrothed would still be waiting for me.. So the night before we were expelled my angel came to me with a plan so we could stay together.. She said it'd be hard, but I didn't care.. as long as we were together..
As we walked away on that December night we turned to take one last look at our home for the past year.. the place where we'd been lucky enough to meet.. Then we turned away to face the cold, on our own.