Battle Wounds

sixteen.

"Bullying you through text?" Demetri finished with a frown. "I thought he'd stick to being a jerk in person but now we need to worry about virtual bullying? He's unbelievable. Literally unbelievable. He's officially gone to the dark side. I can't believe he'd do this to you when he'd literally been there a year ago."

Relieved at Demetri for coming up with a probable (though wrong) explanation, she smiled sadly. "Yeah, but it's fine. I just ignore the texts."

"Okay, but you need to block him. Seriously, Harper. You don't need to deal with that. You'll probably get bullied enough as it is by him and the rest of the Cobra jerks when school starts. Especially since you're staying for good and - hey, did I say congrats about you getting adopted? Because I think it's awesome that you're staying! But, back to Hawk and his bully texts. Ignore them. Delete them."

Harper turned the screen of her phone off and placed it face down on the table. "Already done. And thanks. I'm glad I'm staying, too."

"Do you think he's going to start bullying me through text?" Demetri asked absentmindedly. "God, I hope not. I have enough to deal with," he said with a groan before smiling apologetically. "Sorry, that was rude. But I always knew everything would work out for you."

"No, you didn't," she said with a laugh. "You're about as doom and gloom as I am when it comes to life."

Demetri smiled in reply. "No, I'm not! I think I'm pretty positive. Sometimes," he said to which she rolled her eyes. "Do you think you'll be adopted before school starts?"

"Uhm, I don't know. I don't think so. It's kinda a long process but Olivia and Lucas submitted all the paperwork so it's just a matter of waiting." Nothing was standing in the way of her being adopted but she hoped it would hurry up all the same. After all, life had a funny way of sneaking up on her and causing problems.

"It'll be okay," Demetri said as if somehow reading her mind.

Harper forced herself to believe that as well but if her unpredictable life taught her anything, it was to expect anything. "Ready to get going?"

Together, they walked toward the exit just as more people walked in, making the already busy pizzeria more packed. With summer winding down, everyone wanted to make the most of the last few weeks of freedom before school restarted.

The sun was low in the cotton candy sky. It slowly dipped behind the buildings until the next morning came and it was time to rise once again.

Hugging her jacket to her, Harper walked in comfortable silence with Demetri. Now and again, they would talk about school or comment on how Sam and Robby's date was going. They even joked about spying on them but without 80's attire, they would stick right out.

"What are you looking for?" Demetri asked, watching as she patted her pockets in confusion.

"My phone."

"You mean the one you probably left inside? On the table. You had it there," Demetri said.

Harper sighed, frustrated as they'd already walked a couple of blocks. "Yeah, you're right. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, I'll just wait here," he answered.

With a quickened pace, Harper retraced her steps back to the pizzeria and hoped that her phone was still there. The bell dinged above the door though it was muffled amongst the music and laughter all around. The table they sat at earlier was already occupied by a group of people and her phone was nowhere in sight.

Harper approached the counter and asked one of the workers if anyone had turned in a phone. She drummed her fingers on the counter anxiously, the seconds feeling stretched out as she waited. A sigh of relief left her lips when her phone was placed down in front of her. Thanking them, she exited the pizzeria for the second time to an even darker evening.