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Chapter 9 - Part 2

Laney's POV

I must have calmed down because now Stefani was no longer beside me. I scanned the yard for her to see her talking to the neighbor over the fence. I didn't want to disturb her so I went back to coloring. But all throughout the time that I worked on the coloring sheets, I couldn't stop thinking about Lyla.

She was present in my mind all the time, but now, when all of that just happened, she was even more present in the surface of my mind. I decide that what I was coloring was for her, if I ever found her, if she ever came looking for me. This coloring, as phony as it was to give it to her, was an apology for thinking that she had left me on purpose. There had to be more of a reason to why she left. She was always so caring and protective over me, she said she would always be by my side, and if she wasn't, then she was fighting to be by my side in a much safer situation. I thought that was what she was doing now. I had no idea what was taking her so long, I hoped she was alright. Maybe she already went back to find me to only see I'm not there? I hope she hasn't.

But what if she does come looking for me? She won't find me... ever.

I sighed to myself, holding back the tears at the realization that I would probably never see Lyla again.

"Who's this pretty girl?" I heard the neighbor ask from over the fence. I whipped my head up, remembering that was what our father always called Lyla. My sister hated it and she made sure that no one would ever call her that again. It only brought back memories of our father and of course, they were all really bad.

"Scarlett, what did I tell you about saying that?" A very quiet voice could be heard from the other side of the fence. It was muffled from the wooden boards and I couldn't see that person. Either she was short or just crouched. Then again, Stefani was pretty short too, she was standing on a rock that was part of the garden to give herself some height.

"I'm sorry, Lion. I forgot, I won't use it anymore, okay?" The woman named Scarlett apologized to the unknown woman. I smiled at the cute name, I assumed it was her nickname or her. Lyla had a nickname for me sometimes. She didn't use it too often but when she wanted to cheer me up or just make me feel extra special, she would call me ne-ne. It was just a repetition of the last syllable of my name.

It really did make my feel special when she called me that. Because it was her nickname for me and no one else.

"Laney, come on over and meet the neighbors." Stefani said. I hesitantly got up, walking timidly towards them. She noticed this, hopping of the rock and placing her hand on my back. "Don't worry, they are the nicest women you'll ever meet."

I looked up at her and said quietly,

"Like you?"

She smiled and nodded. So I climbed up on the rock myself, Stefani right beside me.

I met eyes with the woman who Stef was originally talking to. She had beautiful blue eyes like myself, with short hair spiked up and died a dark purple. She also had a lot of paintings on her arms. I forgot what Lyla called them.

"Hi," I whispered. Almost like I had with Stef, I could feel this safety and security radiating off of her. I felt free to speak and say what I wanted to and she wouldn't judge me or hurt me.

"Hi, love. Laney was it?" Scarlett asked me. I nodded, smiling a little.

She reciprocated my smile, but wider,

"That's a beautiful name. I'm Scarlett."

I felt I could, so I tried my hand at talking. I wanted to tell her what she had told me, so I tried my hardest to remember how she pronounced that word, because I knew what it meant, but to say it was a different story.