A New Precious

Chapter 16

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING, PRECIOUS! Mention of Abuse & Suicide! ⚠️

That Friday, Aaliyah and I had the whole day to ourselves, so that evening, we returned to Grady's for karaoke and dinner. This time, Aaliyah wore a pink and yellow dress, and I wore a pink onesie with another squeaky little tail. I knows people will look at me funny, but I never let it bothers me. I loves my sweet little tail so much. It feels like a part of me.

When we arrived, we looked for Máiréad, and sure enough, we saw her sitting at the same table she sat at the night we met her. We approached her. She was looking down at the table, seemingly very deep in thought.

"Hey, Máiréad," Aaliyah greeted.

"Hi, Máiréad!" I exclaimed, ready to give her the biggest hug, but stopped myself.

She suddenly looked up, and jumped out of her seat when she realized who it was. "You—you came back?" she stammered, looking as though she was ready to burst into tears.

"We sure did," Aaliyah said with a cute little smile on her face.

"I—I didn't think I'd see you again," she said as she looked straight at me, fighting the urge to cry.

"Awww, we could never forgets you. We loved meeting you that night."

"Really?" Máiréad seemed surprised.

"Of course, Precious." I could see she was on the verge of tears. "Awwww, I'm so sorry I wasn't here last week. We had an important gig to do, but I promise I did not forgets you."

And, with that, she finally broke down sobbing.

"Awwww, come here, Sweetie." I wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her into a warm, tight hug.

She returned the hug, and held onto me for dear life.

"You know, we were hoping we'd finish the gig early," said Aaliyah, "just so we could come see you."

"You really wanted to see me again?" She seemed surprised at that statement.

"Yeah. You have an amazing voice, and we wanted to hear you sing again."

"And, so sweet you were," I added. "We were so happy to make a new friend."

"Wow," Máiréad said, still seemingly surprised.

"I'm so sorry we didn't makes it back in time to see you."

"No, it's okay," she sniffled. "I'm not mad at you."

I smiled warmly at her. "Awww, okay, Sweetie. Is it alright if we sits with you?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

So, I sat next to her, and Aaliyah sat across from her.

"What was that?" Máiréad snickered.

"What was what?" Aaliyah asked.

"That squeak."

"Oh!" I giggled. "That's my tail!" I bounced in my seat, making my tail squeak.

Máiréad snickered. "That's funny!"

"I know! Isn't it cute?"

"Yeah, it's awesome. It's really cool that you wear onesies in public, and you don't care if people stare at you."

I giggled again. "Not at all. Gotten funny looks and stares my whole life, Precious. Doesn't bothers me anymore, no."

"That's really awesome. I wish I could stop caring so much about what people think of me."