The Beautiful Monster

Every Tuesday and Thursday around 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., Alyssa volunteered at the local Boys and Girls Club.

She had always liked the idea of volunteering, and she learned that it looked good for her too when she was applying to medical schools.

Since her junior year, she volunteered here. She didn't want to boast, but the kids did like her a lot.

She mostly helped them with their homework or played with them until their parents picked up them up.

They were all different ages. Most of them were sweet. Some of them were terrors. Alyssa liked looking after all of them.

Part of her wished that she had a sibling. A little one preferably. She liked kids, so it would've been great to grow up with a sister or brother of her own.

She could help them learn all sorts of things, give them advice, and just be friends with them. But she knew that it was best for her to be an only child.

She was the only child that her parents could hurt and neglect. She didn't want any other child going through that.

"Alyssa!"

Alyssa looked up from helping a young boy named Landon with his math homework. She saw a fifth grader named Maya hurry toward her with a sheet of paper in her hand.

"Whatcha got for me?" Alyssa asked with a smile. She took the sheet of paper to see that it was English homework. "Remember what I said about the difference between adjectives and adverbs?"

Maya thought for a second, tugging on the end of one of her dark braids.

"Adjectives are for… nouns, right? And adverbs are for verbs," she said.

"Perfect! See? You know this stuff," Alyssa said before nodding to the seat across the table from her. "Let me help Landon finish these problems up and then I'll help you, okay?"

Maya nodded and sat across from Alyssa before getting to work on the questions.

Alyssa was going to miss all of these kids when she moved. She really wanted to keep volunteering over in New York because Boys and Girls Clubs were all over the country, but she knew that she would hardly have the time. She would be so busy and sucked into her studies.

However, she was grateful to have even been accepted. Getting into medical school was hard. She studied for the MCAT for months before she took the test.

She managed a score of 523, which seemed to be enough for NYU. Now, she could learn and train to be a good doctor for kids who needed care, and a lot of them did.

"Alright, good job," Alyssa said as she gently patted Landon on the back. "I think it's almost movie time."

A look of excitement broke across Landon's face before he grabbed his things and rushed into the next room where the kids who had finished their homework were waiting to watch a movie.

Alyssa checked the time. Parents would be coming to pick up their kids soon. She stood and moved to sit next to Maya. She checked over her work so far and nodded.

"You're so smart," she told her.

"I want to be smart like you," Maya said with a smile.

Alyssa laughed softly.

"Well, you're smarter than I was at your age," she told her. She struggled when she was younger because her parents didn't help her at all with her homework. She had to teach herself whenever she learned to.

"Do you think I could be a doctor too?" Maya asked as she wrote down an answer on her paper.

"Do you want to be a doctor?" Alyssa asked her. A lot of people said that they wanted to be doctors.

They liked the idea of helping people. Some just liked the idea of the money. But most didn't even make it to medical school. It was a tough field, and she was determined to reach the end.

Maya nodded as she looked up at Alyssa.

"I want to cure cancer one day," she said in a bright tone.

Alyssa smiled at her. She also liked working with kids because they were so hopeful and optimistic for the future. They saw everything in bright colors, and she missed seeing things that way.

She wasn't going to be that person to tell them that things got harder, and that the world was dark. She wasn't going to take their spark away from them because who knew what they would be able to do with it? Maybe they could change the world.

"I bet you could. Just learn as much as you can and always try your hardest," she told Maya.

With a determined look, Maya nodded and got back to work.

Alyssa helped her and a few other kids finish up before preparing for pick up. She had some homework to do tonight, but other than that, she could finally relax for a little bit.

Finals would be here before she knew it, along with all of her other graduation responsibilities. She was grateful for her brief break with Elias, Zoe, and Cole.

Most of the kids went home around the same time, but there were a few stragglers as time went on. Alyssa usually stayed until the last kid left so that she could help clean up before she went home.

She watched the last three play in the main room of the building. Eventually, two of them left, leaving one.

It was two hours past the usual pick-up time. Alyssa usually was going home at this time. She walked over to the girl, who had to only be in third or fourth grade.

"Hey, you're Karly, right?" Alyssa asked her as she knelt down next to her.

Karly sat on the floor, playing with a puzzle of a forest scene. A few strands of her blonde hair fell in her face as she worked.

Alyssa moved closer, sensing that she was shy.

"Is your mom coming to get you?" she asked.