My Fallen Angel (COMPLETE)

MFA chapter 11*

"It's better out here under the shade," he said nonchalantly, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.  

I leaned my head on his shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, I'm better now." 

He looked down at me and smiled. "Good, I'm glad." 

"So, did we figure out what we're gonna do?" I asked. I was so ready to get out of here and to a city where there wasn't possible muggers on every corner. 

"Yeah, we're gonna head over to the mall, grab lunch there," he said before taking another drag. 

"Is it in the same city?" I asked, apprehensive. 

"Yeah, but a much better area. Cleaner, less homeless people. More toward where Scouty grew up," he told me, blowing smoke out of his mouth while he spoke. 

"Good, these homeless people and gang bangers are creeping me out," I admitted. "Of course, I could probably kick all their *sses, but still." 

Andy chuckled. "I'm sure you could," he said. He stood up, offering me a hand afterwards. I grabbed it and he hoisted me up and hugged me when I was on both feet. 

Acting completely randomly and not thinking it through before hand, I grabbed his cigarette from between his fingers and stuck it between my lips. Andy looked at me skeptically, like he already knew what my reaction to smoking would be. 

Breathing in like I was breathing regularly, I sucked in a bunch of crud that was not supposed to be in your body, much less your lungs. I snatched the cigarette from my lips quickly and nearly threw it. I went into a coughing fit and nearly yakked up whatever the hell I just f*cking inhaled. Andy grabbed the cigarette and threw it on the ground, crushing it with the toe of his boot. 

After I was done bringing up the hairball that was lodged in my throat, I glared at Andy. "I have no f*cking idea how you've done that for the last three, almost four, years of your life." 

He shrugged. "The first time I nearly puked, but after that it got easier and finally I couldn't stop." I frowned. That didn't sound good at all. 

I disregarded the whole subject and quickly changed it. "So how are we getting to the mall?" I asked. "We can't take the whole bus to the mall. It would kinda draw a lot of attention." 

Andy nodded. "Yeah, we're taking both our cars," he said. 

"You do realize my Volvo only seats four, right?" I asked him. 

"Yes, I do, but my Cadillac seats six, so we're fine on space. There's only nine of us," he pointed out. 

I calculated some numbers in my head quickly, then nodded. "You're right, sorry." 

Andy stood closer, wrapping his arms around my waist and bringing me closer to him. He kissed me softly, but let his lips linger for a while. He pulled back and smiled. "You ready to leave?" 

I nodded. "Yeah, just let me go get my bag and keys." And by bag, I meant the small Gir messenger bag that I still use. Yes, I'm seventeen going on seven, get over it. 

Running back into the bus, I grabbed my things and ushered everyone off. We piled into the two separate cars, Jinxx, Lottie, and Bone with me and everyone else with Andy. My silver, Volvo SC90 was a birthday present from my mom in April. I always took this thing with me. It's like my baby. 

As we made our way down the streets, I followed behind Andy, not knowing my way around the high desert. From what I had seen on my way to the venue, the mall was quite a ways away, though. 

To make the ride seem less long than I knew it was going to be, I plugged in my iPod and pressed 'shuffle'. The first song to pop on was the cover for 'Hero', by Paramore. I have a universal interest in music, don't judge if you pegged me as 'emo'. I never confirmed nor denied my style. You were just making assumptions and now I am angry at you.