All You Wanted

A Jessie and Woody story

Chapter 1/6

He was hiding. Hidden behind the old and worn wood forming the simple structure of the school, or 'skool' as it's more commonly known as amongst the kids. As his bright sienna eyes scanned around the open field of dirt and grass ahead of the front door, he swallowed a gulp not sure whether he should or not. The young boy observed the few children who attended his school as they merrily skipped around in groups; some playing jump rope while others played make-belief or skipped stones atop the nearby lake. His heart quivered with a threat of breaking as the loneliness dawned on him. It was painful to see them all smiling happy, not needing him around to be so. The bell will be ringing soon, so he surely shouldn't have to stay here for the rest of break time.

But he was scared. What if they seek him out again? Like so many children of his age, he was bullied. There was one child among his classmates who at this moment remained out of sight, but he knew was around somewhere, of whom loved spending their time targeting him. For some odd reason it was always him who was the target, but nobody else. His bully was like a shadow stalking every time he got within the perimeter of the school grounds. How he wished he could be home tutored by his guardian back in the safe cabin in the farmyards not too far away from here.

His guardian was the Sheriff of this town, Tex Jack Dillin, who took the young boy in as an infant after his parents passed away. Dillin being an educated man strongly believed in the young boy's intelligence, and eagerly encouraged him to get his own education. He always saw the potential in people, and in the young boy's eyes he was a good man. A very good man. One who believed in him, and the young one always carried on because of his support. Life must be worth it if at least one person believed in him.

But that still didn't change the fear inside him. He wanted to enjoy the educational years before he grows up. Now he just wants it to exit from his life and never come back. Which saddened him inside, because it seemed like his work was his only friend. Apart from his best friend waiting back at the cabin for him. Spending time with his young colt Bullseye at the end of the day made all the school tortures worth it. For now though, he had to be kept on alert.

Taking a step cautiously closer to the opening, he kept his back to the wall with arms outstretched by his sides. He failed to notice his breaths had become unsteady, but that didn't matter to him. What was important was to keep hidden and make sure the one person he didn't want to be seen by didn't spot him. He had seen his bully run out with the group of friends that usually hang around a bully, like some kind of shepherd with his herd of sheep. But they just vanished, and that's what made him so worried. He was ashamed to be afraid of the outside, especially when the wide-open space was what he loved. Being inside just wasn't natural for him. He wanted to run. He wanted to get his blood pumping and feel that wind on his face. Now he felt like invisible chains had been wrapped around every limb, binding him strictly to the safety of the classroom.

The sun was burning so intensely outside. Great views of the Texas canyons were seen out yonder creating a perfect picture for any artist to sketch. The youngster knew it wasn't fair to feel cut back from such a wonderful day just because of some fear of being caught by his stalker. But why was he the target all the time?

"Woodrow," a gentle voice said from behind him. He turned his head to face his clear chocolate eyes towards the young woman sitting at her desk. She was a slim and beautiful lady with golden hair, which framed her face perfectly. She smiled affectionately at him, but his expression didn't change from that of nervousness. Despite this, her smile was one of genuine care. She was also aware of how smart and polite this young man was, being good friends with Dillin, and knew he was going to grow up beautifully. So she also did her part to look after him. "Please don't stay in all break again, dear. Go outside and enjoy the fresh air."

"I-I, I dunno Mrs. Barlow," he stuttered as his attention turned back to the outside, back still against the wall.

"Woodrow," she said with raised eyebrows, smile not fading.

"Sorry, I don't know Mrs. Barlow."

She laughed lightly. "You can't stay inside all the time, dear. Your brain will shrivel."

"I know, miss. But-"

"Look don't be afraid of the outside," she said standing from her chair and walking over to him. She placed a hand gently on his shoulder and he looked up to her still feeling on-edge. Being only twelve years old he was shorter than she was, but for his age he was and is getting taller faster than the other children in the rest of the class. All accept the one child who he was hiding from, who towered over everyone, even for him if it was just a few inches more. To him it was enough to be a quality to the bullying and looking up to someone who loved to mock you was never a nice experience. Especially when he's all too familiar with it.

She shook his shoulder gently and urged him outside. "Go on Woodrow. I'll see you in class later, okay?"

Young Woodrow, or Woody as he preferred to be known, looked back over the fields and walked slowly forward out. Mrs. Barlow smiled wider at him and the door was closed gently behind him. He felt his heart sink when it did, but the warmth of the sun quickly killed any nervous thoughts in his head. Woody loved the sun as it glistened the tops of the canyons in the far distance. The lush green grass jiggled in the cooling breeze and the sounds of the lake soothed him slightly.

- I suppose, what I can't see can't hurt me - he thought.

Still no sign of anyone he didn't like around as he walked forward towards the grass. Nerves were still tugging at him as he rubbed his hands together with his shoulders tense. He looked behind his left and right with frightened eyes, like a wild deer on highest alert. When he saw nothing there, he calmed down and took a deep breath.

Spotting another young boy playing a ball game with two girls, he placed his hands in his pockets and approached them slowly.

"Hi," he said simply. He didn't really say it quietly, but he still didn't get a response from any of them. So he tried again, "Hi."

The ball was chucked to the boy and once he caught it, all of their attentions went to Woody. Their looks didn't say much, it was only hinted that they might have actually ignored him when he first spoke up.

"Can I play too?"

The only answer he got was the three children looking at each other, and then giving him an odd look before moving away. When they did, Woody looked longingly out to them and then inhaled deeply before looking down to the floor. No one ever wanted to play with him, and he had to try and keep the tears from falling as his eyes burned like the sun. Mrs. Barlow, who was watching him from the classroom window, expressed extreme sympathy to the young boy as she watched him walk away to the river's edge. She sighed to herself before moving back to her desk.

Woody gracefully sat beside the river and brought his legs up to his chest. When he embraced them, he continued to breathe deeply as he watched the glitter of the sunlight dance on the water. He wondered how he could feel so lonely in a world so beautiful and full of life. It was moments like these when he wished he could find a hole to hide in. He started questioning to himself; maybe that's why he loved running. Maybe he just wanted to run away and never come back. Run away with Dillin, Bullseye and Mrs. Barlow; the only people who care about him, of course one of them being a horse. It didn't matter to him, but he suspected that was one of the reasons nobody liked talking to him. To them it's not normal to have a horse as your best friend. But he's the only one Woody's got, and loved him dearly for it. It's not like the children tried to be friends with him before Bullseye was even born.

Woody hugged himself tighter, laid his head on his arms and closed his eyes. He did wish he had other children his age to talk to though. Woody had so many ideas he wanted to share, and so many games he wanted to play. The lack of someone to talk to felt like he had to lock himself up, and it was eating away at his confidence day by day. He wondered if he had done anything wrong, and also wondered why it was so important to him. On the outside what was a friend? Someone who just hangs around you, or something more. Something linking to the heart. That's why it hurts so much. He was a flower with no bee to collect the pollen.

A presence awoke Woody from his thoughts. His eyes narrowed as they opened. Then they widened when everything came flooding back to him. He panned his head upwards as the pair of legs ahead of him provided the trail to the eyes of his tormentor. Woody grit his teeth in panic when his tanned eyes met the flashing brightness of emerald ones. They were beautiful but like a coiled rattlesnake, threatening. A twinge of fright started to grow in his gut when his gaze observed the familiar fiery strands of red hair upon her head, matching the contrast of warning colours, and the wide grin she possessed didn't help. The target had been caught, and Woody knew the inevitable that is to come towards him. Who knows what his bully wanted to do to him today.

"Hey what's wrong Wood? The Sheriff had enough of you already?" she said with a loud confident voice. Her defined cheekbones remained angled in her grin. Woody didn't say anything; he just sat there moving his eye contact away from hers. He felt like shivering over how upset he felt then and there. He tried his best to ignore her remarks.

Woody could feel the other couple of girls who always hung around the redhead stand on either side behind him. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want this to happen now, especially when he couldn't feel any resilience inside him to actually pull through whatever it was they were planning to do.

"Please Jessica, just leave me alone," he said quietly and pathetically. He was desperate for them to just go, and pleading seemed to be the only form of defence he had now. He hoped to get on her good side, even if it never worked before.

Little did he know that the sound of his voice automatically triggered more dedication inside the redhead known as Jessica Jane, or Jessie as she preferred to be known. Pestering Woody was always fun, she loved every bit of attention she received from him. It's when he ignores her that causes Jessie to get angry because she fully hates it when he does. As far as she was concerned, picking on the auburn-haired boy was the only thing worthwhile to do in this school.

She giggled, "But why? You look so lonely over here?" Her mocking tone strongly used while she walked behind him. "We thought maybe you'd like some company."

Woody didn't reply. He heard the cruel grin on her face when she spoke. He knew any sympathy put towards him from her was fake, so he refused to give her any satisfaction to her attempts. So he put on a blank face to show nothing she was saying was affecting him.

She lifted her foot and repeatedly wiggled her toe against his back. "Why's he so moody all the time?" she asked her friends.

"He's a big baby," one of the girls called Maggie replied.

Woody shifted away from Jessie's foot and got to his feet. "Stop that!"

"Ooh!" the girls said in unison using dramatic gestures with their hands as they moved to surround him. Woody froze on the spot not knowing what to do at this point.

Jessie from behind him brought a finger to her chin and tapped it, "You know I'm bored." When Woody and the other girls looked at her in bewilderment, she smirked at him. "Fancy playing a game Woody?"

"No, I don't," he said before attempting to move away.

Before he could, Jessie grabbed his shirt from behind, tugged him close to her before shoving him forwards towards Maggie. When he did, she caught him and shoved him towards Jessie again. Woody continued to be shoved back and forth, not having enough time to recompose since they had circled around him quite closely. A few times he almost tripped on his own feet, and he completely lost control of his balance as they harshly pushed him around.

"Stop it!" he yelped. He couldn't help crying out. He knew it wouldn't do any good, but his instinct was calling upon any desperate action to end this.

"What's the matter Woody? Don't you like playing our games?" Jessie said as she grabbed Woody by his collar. Close to his face, meeting his frightened eyes she continued, "You really think anyone else would want to play with a little piece of scum like you?" Using more force, she shoved Woody and he finally fell onto his back. Unfortunately nothing managed to break the fall, so nothing prevented the impact from hurting as his head and back hit the hard ground.

He winced and grit his teeth when the pain shot through his body. As he brought a hand to rub his aching head, he wasn't quick enough to acknowledge the girls had surrounded him again. Jessie forcefully grabbed hold of both his arms, while the other two grabbed a leg each lifting him off the ground.

Woody looked to each of them in extreme panic. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

As he attempted to struggle out of their grip, Jessie just chuckled again, "You look weary, we think you need to cool down. What do you think girls?"

"I think the hot sun is too much for the poor little boy," Maggie said as she pulled an exaggerated sad face.

"After three," Jessie snickered.

"No! No! Don't! Please don't!" Woody cried out as his struggling doubled.

Still unable to escape from their grip, the girls went closer to the river's edge and started swinging him back and forth.

Jessie then started counting. "1…2…3..!"

"Fire!" they yelled as they released Woody's limbs, sending him falling into the cold water of the river.

The girls all gathered around each other laughing like made hyenas. When Woody came bursting out of the water, he gasped desperately for air and coughed hard to clear his lungs. He tried to reach the river's bed with his legs but he wasn't tall enough and had to work hard to keep afloat. Maggie and the other girl, Katherine, pointed and laughed harder at him. The event truly sent them into hysterics. Woody would have attempted to reach the shore but he truly felt like they wouldn't come after him if he remained in the water.

Jessie picked up on this thought and smirked at him. She definitely wasn't going anywhere now. "What's the matter lil' Woody? Caught a cold over there? You really shouldn't go swimming in cold water if you're sick."

Woody looked at her with desperate eyes. He felt so small and helpless then, and now he was trapped shivering in the water with them waiting for him on the shore. He would have gone to the other side but he turned to see the edge was too steep to climb. He hated this, so much.

His attention drew back to Jessie when she spoke up. She started playfully splashing the water by the edge. "Come on little fishy. I'm not going to hurt you." Her eyes fixed on his and they just stared at each other for a moment. Jessie noticed how frightened he was as his cold shuddering body remained in the water. His dark brown wavy hair, now darker by the wetness of the river, dripped over his face and hid the tears as they slowly fell. Something about them was stirring something up inside her. Jessie couldn't quite fathom out what on earth it was. She waited for him to come closer. She'll wait until the bell rang if she had to because he was just too much fun to play with. He was like her little toy that she loved to manipulate.

To Woody's relief, the bell had been rung and all the children started heading back into class. All their heads turned into the building's direction when they heard the higher noise ending break time. Maggie and Katherine, being the scared little sorts that they were, immediately ran to the queue forming by Mrs. Barlow to prevent getting into trouble. Woody didn't want to get into trouble by being late either, but he wanted to wait until Jessie left before he attempted to get out. He was now exhausted, his body screaming out for rest as he continued to stay above the surface. Jessie stayed kneeling down and turned her attention back to him. Her face was serious and she remained still, unlike the panting Woody. He was extremely confused since it looked like she was observing every bit of his detail. She did this sometimes, and he never did understand why. However, the aftermath of what just happened still left him in shock and he was too tired to further question it.

Jessie gave up with waiting for him. She stood up with an annoyed expression and kicked sand towards him in frustration before leaving. Him being so far away from her didn't leave her satisfied with today's torment. She usually tries to keep him up close so she can see his face clearly. It's when she meets his eyes when she actually feels mysterious yet lifting feelings inside her, being too young to know what emotion it was, but she liked it. That's why she did it, because there's never been another moment in her life when she actually feels anything she likes. Some splashing immediately snapped her attention back. Woody had waded his way to the edge, and he gripped the land tightly keeping his head down as he panted and tried to remove the sand grains that landed in his eyes from the previous kick. Jessie stood there looking at him and he was aware she was still there which frightened him more. He was temporarily blinded, the shuddering increasing by the second. Jessie saw the opportunity open to her and she had half a mind to continue the torture. But her eagerness eagerly faded away, and she just tossed her head back to the front to stomp off.

She left him in the river with hands in her pockets and face on the ground. Mrs. Barlow noticed everyone was here except Woody. She told the children to take their seats in the classroom as she went to search for him. As the sun brightened in its downward trail, the sky reddened and darkened.

"Woodrow?" she called out.

Young Woody was so tired, cold and wet when he heard her voice. He didn't have to reply back since she found him soon after. Mrs. Barlow gaped as she saw him struggling to get out of the river. He was drenched and shivering. She gasped, ran over to lift him out of the water. Woody really wanted to thank her for the help, but everything came crashing down on him causing his thoughts to go off the path. He knelt down and frantically gasped for air.

"Oh you poor dear, what happened?" Mrs. Barlow said as she wrapped her brown vest over his shoulders.

"I-" he started.

His words were halted as he thought about how to reply. He really wanted to tell her what just happened with him and Jessie. But memories of what had been told to him before in one of his last encounters with Jessie were unwillingly called upon. He closed his eyes and the memory cleared itself for him. She had him pinned against the tree in the school grounds facing away from the teacher's sight; in fact it wasn't too far away from the river. She had a firm grip on his arms at his sides with her face close to his. He could clearly see every detail of her eyes. It was like gazing at collected grass strands with a hidden viper underneath waiting to strike him if he didn't remember his place. He was unaware of how much of his own eyes she took in herself, containing the same colour essence of mother earth's soil, but logic told him she wouldn't even think about taking that into consideration. His eyebrows arched, he was purely scared of her in his personal space. Woody felt powerless, completely embed to her will and she knew it. She moved close to his ear and whispered,

"Don't you breathe a word of what happens between us."

Woody sighed when the memory disappeared, suddenly feeling so feeble. "I-I was playing too close to the river's edge, a-and I accidentally fell in."

Mrs. Barlow looked at him oddly. She knew Woody wasn't that clumsy, especially when she can't imagine him being in the mood to play let alone close to the edge after being rejected by his fellow classmates. Mrs. Barlow suspected Woody was being bullied for a long time now, that's why he never liked going outside. She just needed to figure out who it was. But as Woody started coughing again to rid his body of the river's water, she knew it was more important for him to have a friend to help support him. That's when an idea came to her, which she wished to try tomorrow.

"Come on Woody. Let's get you back to class and clean you up," she said patting him on the back enthusiastically.

"Yes miss," he answered simply.

Evening came sooner than he thought, but Woody didn't complain because he loved the glittery stars that were nervously coming out. With his schoolbag over his shoulders, he walked along the dirt path home. This was the best part of the day for him. He felt much better now he had changed into the spare clothes Mrs. Barlow gave him and relaxed more now that the day was over. He would be meeting with his colt and settle down to supper with his foster dad soon. Dillin was a good cook and Woody always enjoyed the times he spent with him. Even though he was an educated Sheriff, Woody always thought Dillin was slightly daft. He would rant on about his day to the young boy, but in a funny way that always made Woody laugh. Like him, Dillin could never catch a break during the day and would tell it like a story over the dinner table which Woody would always patiently listen to. He really did enjoy it, but had to contain the laughter when eating to not trigger off any aggravation, even if it was playful banter.

Dillin's house was a lone one-floor cabin surrounded by open fields and dirt farms atop a small hill. A simple stable sprouted from the side of the house and Woody could see the hay was already spread everywhere. He knew Dillin wouldn't be in yet as he usually came home soon after Woody does. He entered the house and entered his bedroom to abandon his schoolbag on his bed; he can save his homework for later, it wasn't urgent anyway. Once he did, Woody went back outside and stretched his body out. His relaxed state didn't last long when he realised it was too quiet. Sure the sound of crickets and other critters were heard around him but there was something missing. When he heard rustling from a nearby bush, Woody was jumped out of his wits when a young horse leaped onto him knocking him to the floor.

Despite the shock, Woody grinned up at him, "Bullseye!"

Like an overexcited puppy, the colt began licking his face causing the ticklish Woody to giggle and wriggle underneath him. This was a habit that the horse loved doing, but even though it was annoying, Woody never made him stop doing it. It was the little affection he holds most dear.

"Come on then boy! Let's see how much you've practiced today," Woody said to Bullseye. Eagerly, Bullseye leaped to his hooves and began running around, extremely determined to prove himself to Woody. He already knew this foal loved to run, and he seemed to be getting faster every day. So Woody always wanted to see Bullseye's improvements when school ended. When he happily watched him run in circles, he knew it was the perfect time to tease him.

"Oh dear, oh dear Bullseye. That's not good enough," he said as he playfully crossed his arms. Bullseye looked purely shocked at those words and raised his ears at him. "Here let me show you how it's done." With that Woody sprinted in the opposite direction, and Bullseye picked up on the joke before chasing after him with a large grin.

Both were unaware of another presence close by. Behind the fence marking Dillin's garden, Jessie approached silently to crouch behind a thick and wild bush. Jessie had secretly followed Woody as he was making his way home. She carefully placed a hand on the fence and rose in her position to peak inside the garden. Her emerald eyes sought out the young boy playing with his horse and once they found him, she fixed her gaze and got comfortable in her seat behind the fence. She watched as Woody ran around with Bullseye, at one point they were face to face with Woody trying to run passed but being stopped by Bullseye who jumped from side to side. Then running off again before he rolled onto the grassy ground pretending he was dead. Bullseye approached him and sniffed his face before Woody blew air into his large nostrils. The colt jumped with a wide grin and let Woody wrap his arms around his neck in a hug.

Jessie rested herself against the fence not daring to miss anything. When she saw his smile, she sighed and let her face settle warmly.

-Why can't he like me like that? -