It is a hot day today so my best friend, Brandon, suggested that we should go shoot some hoops at the park.

We've been playing basketball at the park for three hours so far, but I just can't seem to get my mind off of one thing:

Autumn.

I thought basketball would help take my mind off her but it's not helping at all. Instead, I keep missing the ball if Brandon throws it to me or I miss the hoop everytime I try to take a shot.

"Man, it's fun beating you when your heads in the game but when you're barely making shots or trying, it sucks beating you." Brandon said after I attempted to shoot a free throw and missed...again.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, dude. I thought basketball would help take my mind off of..."

Intrigued, Brandon's right eyebrow lifted. "Take your mind of off what?"

My lips stayed shut.

Since we just worked out, Brandon was all sweaty but that didn't stop him from wrapping his arm around my neck. "Come on you can tell your good ol' friend."

I cringed at the feeling of his sweaty arm. "Ew stop Brandon. You're all sweaty!"

His arm tightened around my neck, capturing me in a neck-lock. "If you don't tell me I'm not letting go."

I gave in because the odor of his body smelled really gross. "Fine! Let me go!"

Letting go, Brandon walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. He patted the seat next to him, "sit and tell me what's on your mind."

I sat down next to him. Sighing, I raked my hand through my hair. Where do I even begin? Since I'm a boy, I know that we boys don't like sharing our inner thoughts, feelings, or secrets to anyone but I need to tell someone and I trust Brandon a lot.

"Well...it's about this girl." I began awkwardly.

"We are partners for the big project thing in English. When we were assigned to be partners, I thought I would only have to speak to her in English and to be honest I didn't want anything to do with her. We would go to the shelter once a week and do our own essays is what I thought was going to happen. Turns out, I was wrong."

"I hated her in the beginning for no reason but throughout the weeks, she's become a friend. I like spending time with her."

"Ok. So what's the problem then?" Brandon asked.

"Well...um...something happend Halloween night. I was at home and I got a call from her. She asked me to pick her up and I couldn't understand why she would want me, of all people, to go and get her from some party."

"When I picked her up, I could tell automatically that she was drunk. She looked terrified– traumatized actually. I was debating wether or not to ask what was wrong because I knew her sober self wouldn't say anything."

"But then she told me she was afraid of parties and I just had to ask why, and what she told me made me..." I trailed off, not knowing how to describe how I felt that night.

"Can you say what happened to her?" he asked me when I paused.

"Look, you're my homie and all but I can't." I told him with sincere apology. "Autumn would never want me to tell anyone and I have to respect that."

Brandon nodded, "ok. I understand."

Inhaling a deep breath, I continued. "The reason why she was afraid of parties made me feel pain in my heart. When I heard how sad she sounded, my heart started to ache and long to hold her in my arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay."

"Why didn't you?" Brandon asked.

I stopped and thought for a moment. Why didn't I hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay?

"Because it scared me," I admitted, finally realizing why. "It scared me how badly I wanted to protect Autumn right then and there. I'm afraid that if I give my all, she will just disappear."

"You're afriad she will leave you like your brother and sister did." Brandon said in a rehtorical way.

Weakly, I nodded.

"I did everything I could to protect my younger sibilings, Cameron and Natasha, because I cared for them. But then my father took them away and murdered them and now I have no fucking idea where he is."

"He is a mad man– pure evil. When he murdered my sibilings I felt so broken and I still feel that way. I've been trying to track him for years so I could avenge Cameron and Natasha."

A tear trickled down my cheek. "All the brokenness in me is too much to handle most days. I thought nothing in the world would make me happy again but this girl, Autumn, has made me feel again."

I looked at him and smiled, "she scares me, you know, because I have feelings for her that I can't explain. Ever since Halloween, I've had a desire do protect her more than I even protected my sibilings."

My smile faded. "There are scars and bruises on her arms all the time. They don't look like the types of cuts that suicidal people do on their arms. They look abusive, as if someone is abusing her very frequently. Personally, I believe her dad is abusing her because her mom seems too nice and Autumn even told me her dad is really mean and she never talks about him."

"That could be possible," he agreed, "but you shouldn't assume that unless you have real evidence."

"Yeah you're right. She tried hiding the scars and bruises by wearing long shirts, Brandon. It's quite sad that she thinks they need to be hidden."

"Well, what do you think of her scars?" he asked me.

Putting my head in my hands, I smiled. "To me, her scars are so beautiful. They represent battles that she found and survived. She's a survivor and it's awesome. Autumn's scars show the real her and the real deal is always better than being fake or pretending."

Brandon smiled, "you like her...don't you?"

"What do you think." I looked at him with a straight face.

He laughed but became serious again. "You need to tell her how you feel bro."

My eyes widened and my cheeks flushed red. "What? No! She will think I'm a freak!"

All of a sudden, Brandon laughed at my statement. My eyebrows furrowed, "what's so funny?"

"You don't see the way she looks at you, do you?"

"W-What?" I stuttered, suprised at his remark.

"The first day of school when we were sitting in the bleachers and she came up to us to confront you, she kept her eyes only on you. She looks at you like you created the whole universe. Personally, I think she adores you."

"R-Really? You think she likes me?" My cheeks felt hot and turned a brighter red than they already were.

"I mean come on. Did you forget the part where YOU were the person she called when she was drunk. Not her other friends or her parents, it was YOU!"

"I don't know...''

Brandon rolled his eyes, "ok act like an idiot I don't care."

"She seems so broken and sad, Brandon. Should I protect her?"

"You may think protecting her will make her go away. But in reality, protecting her will make her trust you more and think of you as something solid to lean against."

He put a hand on my shoulder, "you can be the one to save her and she can be the one to save you. You two are each other's safe, I can just tell."

He's right. Brandon's right.

I want to protect this girl, it's a very strong desire. Autumn's worth protecting from all the bad things in this world.

She's worth saving.