Candy Girl

car-aoke with Taylor Swift in the background

"I could take us in my bike, you and me, Gwen, what do you think?" Leon asked

"No, thanks. I actually think Elliot Toyota is cool. I don't want to leave my friends," She said.

"Hey, Gwen." Elliot called her out. "I found this old book in my house about Alan Fletcher. I remember you told me you liked it and thought you might want to see it. You can totally keep it."

"Hey, that..." Ellie said as she took a closer look to the book. "That actually looks like the 2021 edition from Barnes and Noble I got you for your birthday last year." Ellie said as she grabbed the book from Elliot's hands. Gwen nodded.

"Yeah, you're right!" Gwen said, as a smile drew her lips. "It's nice you remember."

"Hey, Gwen," Leon began. Aiden, who was had been standing against Elliot's Toyota smoking a cigarette, stepped on it and put it inside its pack. He rolled his eyes and lightly pushed Leon's head to the front.

"We're not going make it on time, if we don't leave now." Aiden pointed out coldly.

"Lose the scary frown, Ward. You don't scare us anymore." Ellie said as she playfully pushed him. This took Aiden by complete surprise. "Well, them." She pointed us out, "You never scared me."

"I'll see you there, I'm taking my bike." Aiden stated.

"Oh, come on." Gwen complained. "If we're not all going squashed together in the car, what's the point of even going? Come on, Aiden. Lose that cool façade."

"Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the car!" Elliot, Ellie and Leon shouted.

"You can be shot gun," I quietly suggested. But this caught the groups' attention.

"Shot gun! Shot gun! Shot gun!" They shouted in unison. "Shot gun..."I joined quietly.

He looked back at me, "Anything to silence these idiots."

We got inside Elliot's car and drove. I sat on top of Gwen's lap while Ellie and Leon stood besides us. Elliot turns on the stereo, it immediately gets my attention. I payed close attention to the lyrics of the song.

"Is that Out of the Woods?" I asked to Elliot. I knew for sure that those were the lyrics for Taylor Swift's out of the woods.

"Oh, that's actually Aiden's playlist..."

"That's a really good cover," I said Aiden. "Who does it?"

Aiden didn't look me in the eyes, but quietly mumbled. "Ryan Adams."

"Wait, cover? Who's the original from?" Leon asked curiously.

"Taylor Swift," I said excitedly.

Aiden warned with a look both of Elliot and Leon to keep quiet.

"Hey, I'm not some jerk. I'm not gonna make fun of you. Taylor Swift is cool, man. I like her song August." Leon said.

"That last album she got out was pretty cool, what was the name?" Elliot asked

"Folklore, man. How dare you try to forget such an iconic album. Hey, Aiden. Put the song August next."

"It's a really good album, isn't?" I asked Leon shyly.

"Yeah, it's pretty solid. What's your favorite song?" Leon asked.

"I love all them, but I really like Dorothea."

"I don't know that one," Elliot said as he tried to remember which was it.

"Hey, Aiden! Scratch that! Put Dorothea next so we can all listen to it."

I felt Gwen's warm gaze upon me. She hugged me for a mid sec, she noticed I was trying to be a little bit more social. Ellie squeezed my hand slightly.

Leon began to sing, "Hey, don't leave me hanging, Risa." He said as he asked me to sing a long. Gwen, Ellie and I joined. Even Elliot, but only in the parts he remembered.

We stopped near a McDonald's. We ordered the family box. Before there was any awkward silence, Ellie quickly interrupted. "How about you hear a funny story?" This sparked Gwen's interest in a second. "Oh, can I tell it?"

"NO!" I shouted from the very top of my lungs, as I put both of my hands in these girls' mouths. This action gained the boys attention, who stared at me puzzled. I felt myself blushing madly. "We are not telling any funny stories."

"Now, I want to know." Leon teased.

"We should get going," I interrupted and pointed at my phone's clock. This, thank god, made everyone gathered their trash. I grabbed one of the brown bags and told them to it inside this one.

"I'm going to put this away." I told Gwen, she nodded and I walked over a big green container. I open the cap, my voice was cut off by my breath. Without thinking I pushed myself further into the container.

"What?" I heard a voice say. "Why do you love playing in the trash?"

"There's a cat inside!" I shouted as I desperately tried to help the cat out of the plastic bag it was inside. I saw someone's hand dig inside and slowly, carefully pull it out. My eyes were full of tears.

"You have to be gentle," Aiden said. "You don't know if it'll make things worst." He said as he gently pulled the cat outside of the bag. He was barely breathing.

"We have to take him to the hospital," I begged. "Please. It's dying."

"I'm on it," Aiden said as he whistle loudly. Elliot and Leon came rushing toward us. "We need to take this cat to the vet."

"I know a 24 hours animal hospital," Ellie said. I stroke the cat gently. "Let's get going," Elliot said.

"What should I do?" I asked anxiously.

"Just get in the car," he said. I did as told and grabbed the little kitty in my arms. We headed like fire to the animal hospital. But they asked us to pay in advance in order to treat him.

"I'll do it," I said as I stood inches away from the veterinarian. "Just let me get my money from my house, but please, he's dying!"

The veterinarian seemed to finally catch some sense inside his head.

"I'll drive her," Aiden said as he pulled me by the arm and we drove towards my house. I exited the car into my house, I looked for my wallet where I saved my Christmas money and my allowances. I took it with me in case we needed more. The whole ride I couldn't stop feeling anxious about the cat. I started crying.

"Hey," Aiden said gently. "It's going to be okay. The cat's going to be fine."

"He just looked in so much pain," I cried.

"The doctors in there are really good," he said. I felt his hand pat down my head softly.

We arrived to the animal hospital and waited for nearly four hours before they gave us any news. I keep going back and forth from the parking lot to the waiting room's display asking for any information about the cat.

"She is doing okay," the lady from the display said as she tried to calm me down. "She's stable now and she'll be out in a few more hours. Are you the owner?"

"No, I mean, we found her inside a trash container."

"People are so cruel," she said. "You'll probably want to send her to an animal shelter, right? I got some names I could give you."

"No, I'll take her home." I said without even thinking.

"She's an old cat," the lady warned me. "I don't think it'll be easy."

"It's fine," I said.

"You wanna put her a name?"

"I'm not really good with those things."