You Should've Listened

Southside

"Good morning." When Dahlia climbs into my car I hand her the best thing on earth.

"Don't tell me this is pistachio ice cream." She holds it like it'll blow up in her hand and I burst into a laugh. "What ice cream store is even open at eight in the morning?"

"None." I make our way to the school. "I got it after I dropped you off." When I glance at her she's already looking at me with a thoughtful look on her face. I tell her to try it and she looks down at the ice cream like a child would broccoli.

"Oh come on, one taste. If you don't like it then fine but at least try it." When I get to a stop sign I turn to her and watch as she dramatically as ever, picks up the spoon to her mouth and closes her eyes, almost like she's afraid to eat the ice cream.

She takes the smallest lick ever and I chuckle as she freezes like she's waiting for it to make her sick. "Stop being dramatic and try more than just an ant size." She gives me a side eye then actually eats it.

I start driving again but I don't miss it when she eats more of the ice cream. "You like it don't you?"

"I never said that." She takes another spoonful and I bite back a smile. "It's not the worst thing I've eaten."

"Told ya."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." I let out a chuckle and she ends up finishing the entire cup as we answer a few questions for the project.

"Any siblings?"

"Yeah." I look over at her when I catch the hint of sadness in her voice. "A little sister, she was adopted a year ago." She has a smile on her face but it's dripping in sadness.

"Why didn't you also get adopted?"  I hope I wasn't overstepping but she doesn't show any sign that I did as she shakes her head with the same sad smile on her face.

"Nobody wants to adopt a teenager." She shrugs like it's no big deal but her tone alone says it bothers her. "They only want the new, cute babies." I feel my brows scrunch at that.

"Well that's dumb." She glances over at me like she's surprised I even said anything. "All babies do is poop and cry, I'd prefer a teenager any day." She chuckles softly then sends me a smile, this one a bit more hopeful.

"Let me guess, you're an only child?"

"How'd you know?!" She laughs, probably at the shock in my voice but when I look over at her, I can't bring myself to look away. The sounds she makes when she laughs are perfect. I quickly find myself willing to do anything to get her to laugh like that all the time.

"You just give only child vibes." She nods like she's so sure.

"What does that even mean?" She laughs again, a lot softer than before but it's none the less perfect.

We're almost near the school when I ask the next question. "Biggest fear?" She gives this one a bit more thought then turns to her window to answer.

"Not living." I turn my head to the side in thought.

"You're scared of death?" She shakes her head and turns to me.

"There's a difference between being alive and living." I think about that for a few minutes, when we pull into the parking lot I turn to her instead of immediately getting out.

"Which one are you?" Dahlia looks over at me like she's debating whether she's going to tell me or not. She looks between my eyes then grabs her bag as she turns for the door.

"The former." She leaves my car as soon as her words leave her mouth. A part of me expected that to be her answer but there's still a heavy weight in my chest at hearing her say it.

Climbing out of my car a few of my teammates spot me and make their way over. "Yo, what's up?" I do our handshake with all of them then we make our way into the building.

"You've been hanging out with that new girl a lot." He nods his head towards Dahlia and I glance at her before quickly looking away and shrugging in response.

"We're partners for that human relations class."

"Ugh I hate that class." I chuckle at his exaggerated sigh. "I hate my partner too." A few of the other guys agree but I don't.

"I like my partner, she's cool." Dahlia is still a few feet in front of us but I can't tell if she can hear me. When I look back over at my teammates they're all looking at me like I'm missing something.

"You do know she's from the south side right?" She's not from there, she only lives there. She's actually not even from this town, I remember her talking about how she moved around a lot but for the most part, she grew up two towns over.

"So what?" I don't bother correcting them because it doesn't matter where she's from.

"Look." He starts and I already can tell it's going to be bullshit. "She's cute and all but she isn't worth the trouble." What trouble?

"I also heard she's a foster kid so don't get attached, she won't be here long. They run away all the time." I feel a crease grow in my brows as they go on.

"Sounds ungrateful to me, who runs away from people who are nice enough to take you in?" Another one of my teammates adds and the rest of them agree but I stop in my tracks. At my abrupt stop they turn to me.

"Not everyone who takes them in is nice. Stop talking shit about something you have no idea about." They look shocked, maybe because I sound pissed but that's because I am.

I don't know much about Dahlia's situation but from what I do know I can tell she isn't living her best life and they sound ignorant. I walk off and not another word is spoken from them.