Bruises ; O2L

19

Sams pov

When I was sitting on the bathroom floor, holding Cora, that's when I realized I love her. I love her unconditionally, even though we haven't know each other very long. I'm not sure about my feelings, but I think I love her. She's been through so much, and I don't want to make it worse. She's had too much pain. I don't know how much more she can take. I just want to be there for her.

Cora's pov

As Sam leaves I see Jenn on the phone. I try to eavesdrop, but I didn't want to be rude to Sam. I hear her hang up and I immediately get a call from Connor. I run up to my room.

M(e)- Hey Franta!
C- uh, hey Cora..

He sounds reluctant.

M- how's your grandma? do you know when you'll be back?
C- She's not much better, so I don't know. Um, Cora..

There's a silence.

C- why were you with Jc?
M- What? how'd you know?
C- Jenn called.
M- WELL HOW THE HELL DID SHE KNOW?!
C- Cora calm down. I just want you to be safe. I can't protect you if I'm not there.
M- I DONT NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME! I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!

He goes silent.

M- AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, HE CAME THROUGH MY WINDOW! I MADE HIM LEAVE!

I hung up. Out of all people, Connor. Saying I need protection. I don't need it. I can handle myself. I sit on my bed and stare at the floor.

"Can I come in?" I hear a voice outside say.

"Uh, sure.." I say back. A boy walks in, Kian?

"Hey, it's been a while." he says.

"Kian? What, why are you here?" I ask. "Sorry I don't mean that in a bad way." I quickly reply.

"Well, I heard a lots been going on. And I thought we could just hang out, to get stuff off your mind? And your best friends gone, so I thought you could use a friend." he smiles.

"Thanks, we can penny board, maybe?" I suggest.

"You like to penny board?!?" he squeals. "Sorry that was weird."

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "Let's go."

I grab my penny board and Kian seems to already have his. We penny board down the road and to the beach. We go to the pier and ride through the crowds of people.

I'm thankful for Kian. Even though I barely know him, he was taking things off my mind. I could use the friends.

"Hey, wanna do something even better?" he asks.

"Sure." I say.

"Let's go."

We run off the pier and down a sidewalk. We ride our penny boards down a few roads. I was following Kian, I had no idea where he was going, but I was in for adventure.

We come to a cliff. Over lots of water.

"Let's jump," he says.

"Are you crazy? Why would we jump?" I yell.

"Who cares? I've done it plenty of times." He grabs my hand and runs. We run, almost forcing me, and jump. We both scream, and then I hit water. I come up, feeling, actually refreshed.

"You do this often?" I ask and laugh.

"No, that was actually the first time." he confesses. I splash him with water.

"Kian!" I say and laugh. We walk back to the cliff and grab our boards. "I had fun Kian." I say and smile. He smiles back.

"Maybe we should do it again sometime." he suggests. He walks me home and we chill for a while, eating popcorn and watching Netflix. That was a good night.