Same Experiences

Chapter Ten

George

I jumped when I heard a knock. I still had to get used to the fact that there were people in the house.

I spun around in my chair and the person who came inside turned out to be Ebony Williams. She was looking at me angrily.

Ebony Williams. Who would've thought that I'd find Ebony from fifth grade in here? The moment she'd seen me, she'd recognised me. Well, of course, I looked too much like my father. The only part of my mother I had was her nose, maybe even her chin.

"Well?" Ebony's thick English accent pulled me out of my reverie. I just shrugged at her, not knowing what to say.

"Your father was freaking out, Gina. He was babbling all sorts of things and most of it was how he could not lose you," she said with sadness in her voice. Rage bubbled like lava deep in my gut, creeping up my throat and into my mouth, but I pushed it inside.

"I had my own reasons, Ebby. There were a lot of things that you didn't know, that you still don't know about my life and my father," I replied. She scoffed. "Like what? Like how you ran away for your own selfish reasons and left your old man behind alone?"

I looked at her with wide eyes. "Ebony, I just don't wanna tell you. Respect that. I had my own reasons," I said, keeping the anger out of my voice. Or at least trying to keep it out.

"No. Enough. Just vanishing into thin air is not the solution to anything, Gina. I'm surprised that you haven't looked back even once," she said with grief. She might be feeling actual grief but I felt like it was exaggerated or something. She had always been like this. Always pushing and prodding, always eager to know my secrets. I'd always wondered why she was like that. But I'd never known that it'd turn out to be like this. She was accusing me of something about which she knew nothing. She'd been one of those friends who I'd held on to because I didn't have anyone else. She was maybe even one of the reasons she'd run away. But she was somewhere down in the list.

Before I could snap at her, the door shot open to reveal a very angry Lucy, stiff shoulders and hands balled up into fists at her sides. I stared at her open-mouthed with Ebony. "You don't even know what you're talking about and you have the audacity to say enough? First of all, you have no respect for the fact that people might not want to tell you stuff and second of all, she did the right thing by leaving her old man behind. The reason, you don't need to know. Plus, after this judgemental outburst of yours, I think you've lost the right to know. So, you better get out of her face right now, before you get a black eye."

Ebony was shaking with what emotion, I don't know. Might be fear, might also be the tears she was fighting to keep at bay while rushing out the door. Lucy rushed to me and looked at me with a concerned face.

I shook my head with a smile. "Well," I said in a mock serious voice. "I guess the harmless rabbit can bite really hard sometimes."

Lucy laughed, the anger from her eyes going away. Suddenly Rey peeped in with a confused expression. When I waved her to come in, she came in, her black hair tied up in a braid as usual.

"Um, if you were the reason that Ebony's leaving, thank you so much. At least, I didn't have to tell her to get out," she said in a low voice. I stared at her with wide eyes. I'd really thought that she was gonna be angry at me and Lucy. "She was very pushy and we'd talked to her about it, but to no avail. So we decided that we'd talk to her about leaving , but then, she got herself out, I guess."