Becoming "Forever Yours"

Ch. 4 Countered.

"Are you sure you'll be okay walking home by yourself?"

"I'll be fine."

"How are you going to explain to your mom what happened to your face when she gets home from work?"

"My mom's not going to notice." I stopped, turning to face the two of them, then hugged them to me. "Thank you guys, for always having my back. Even with all the.. trouble it causes."

"Don't you dare thank us for being good to you, you've done stuff for us our own parents wouldn't." Nancy smiled softly.

"And trouble is my middle name, babygirl." Gina giggled, hugging me back. "Text me when you get home, okay?"

I nodded, releasing them. "Yeah. Thanks, guys."

The walk home was usually the most unburdening part of my day. I could think in my lonesome, play out so many scenarios in my mind, release so many heavy things in my head. But today, it was frustrating. I could only think about Margot's words.

Run away like your daddy did.

I scoffed.

What do you know? Your parents are dead. Stupid girl. Stupid girl with no parents at all.

I cringed at my own thoughts, knowing I would never be able to say it aloud. I wasn't that person, no.. I was. I just couldn't be that person towards Margot, not when she and I had been friends. No matter how long ago that may seem now.

I made my way to my usual alternative route that took me the long way home, but was stopped short when I noticed a bike blocking the narrow alleyway.

I slowly approached it, grazing the handle bar as I neared. Then I noted the helmet that held onto the other side of the handle bar. I recognized it almost immediately.

I hopped over the bike and walked further down the long tattered back street.

"Doll?"

I could hear her before I could see her.

"Hiding a body back here?" I joked.

"Now what would make you go and say that?" She emerged from behind a corner with a half-smile, having been sitting on something small and hidden out of sight.

"It's an alley, that you and your bike are blocking, by the way."

"Yeah, most people usually see it's blocked and turn around." She eyed me, still smiling.

"I'm not most people."

"You knew it was mine." She seemed rather happy about the fact of that, rather than surprised.

"You knew it was me." I countered.

Her smile didn't falter but her eyes focused on me more. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same. I'm just walking home."

"Find a new route, kid. This one isn't safe."

"And yet, you're here." I scoffed, starting to walk past her, but her arm shot out to grab me in less than a second. "I can take care of myself."

She spun me until I was back around her, with a simple turn of her wrist and a side step. "Says the girl with a swollen cheek."

"Fûck you!" I pushed her, but she didn't budge.

"I'm not trying to fight you." She put her hands up as a white flag.

"Yeah, cause pissing me off wouldn't lead to that!"

"If you're so upset about it, why not fight her back?" She glanced, nodding toward my cheek.

I stopped then, eyes wide. "You.. you saw?"

"I saw you let her off easy." Her eyes seemed to harden for a moment. "And I want to understand why. I want to understand you."

"Go. To. Hell." I turned on my heel. "You're no better than them."

"Yo!" She hurried to catch up to me. "Hey, hey, hey.. I can take an insult, but don't compare me to them. Not to the girl that did this to you." She made a move to touch my face, but I moved it away and watched her with stern eyes.

"You don't seem to mind her company." I recalled seeing them chatting away at lunch.

"I've learned to live amongst people I could care less for, but-"

"But?" I said irritably.

"But not with people like you. People who.. understand other people, even when they don't understand themselves."

"You know what I don't understand?" I smiled sarcastically, as she leaned towards me to know. "What the hell you're talking about. See you at school." I walked off, mad as hell that I had to take a different route home now.