Caroline. My best friend. The girl that I never would've thought would blow up on me.
The girl I would've never expected I would dread to see in the halls.
That girl used to be, and still is, Lilah James. Now, you can add Caroline to the list.
In this moment, I would rather have to see Lucas Riggs making out with Lilah James then have to see Caroline.
Can I still consider her my best friend? This is just a bump in the road, she'll get over it.
I get out of my car in the absolute freezing cold. I would usually find Caroline and walk into school with her.
Not today.
Today is different.
The school air whips around me as I enter and I'm thankful for the heat.
My shoes squeak on the floors, due to the snow that I stepped in on my way here. Great, just what I need right now.
As I make way to my locker, slowing dragging my ass there, I see a circle of people. Now, school fights are very common here, so I'm not even the slightest bit fazed.
Since I'm nosey, I walk over to the big circle. I do this shit every time because I can't help myself.
But what I see isn't like anything I've seen before or expected to see ever in my life.
It's Lucas vs Jackson.
Lucas is beating the shit out of Jackson as he lays there on the ground. Lucas keeps throwing punches at him as Lilah yells at him to stop from the circle surrounding him. I don't blame her for not stepping in.
"You fucking idiot! Why would you say that shit to my sister and her girlfriend!" He yells.
I guess the ability to beat people up runs in the family.
I can faintly hear Jackson whisper, "I'm sorry." I'm sure he doesn't mean it.
Just as Lucas is about to go for a kick in the gut, he looks up and we make eye contact. His lips spread apart as we look into each others eyes.
He suddenly gets off him and stalks over to me, everyone watching and a few people recording. I hear Lilah yelling for him, he must hear it too because he looks back for a second before looking at me.
He looks like he's about to talk, but Lilah pulls at his arm and walks away with him. He turns to look at me one last time as I hear security call his name.
There he is, Jackson Mandy who's currently lying on the floor with his blood all around him.
There he goes, Lucas Riggs who just beat the shit out of him for the sake of his sister and his ex.
As everyone's departing from the circle, I catch Caroline who's still standing there and looking at Jackson. She slowly averts her eyes to me before shaking her head and walking away.
"Caroline! We need to talk!" I know I can be a petty bitch and if this were anyone else, I would ignore them for life... but I can't do that when it comes to her.
She slowly turns to me, looking between Jackson and I. "Why do you feel the need to get everyone involved?"
She thinks this is my doing?! "You really believe I would tell Lucas something like this?"
"I don't know what to believe about you anymore." She shakes her head before walking off.
Our friendship can't end like this.
This can't be the end of our story.
From Harper: it's open
I open the front door to the Riggs' house. I need more detail about what went on today.
She said her parents weren't going to be home, but we would still talk in her room.
I knock on her bedroom door. "Come in!" I open it to find Harper sitting on her bed and Lucas sitting at the edge of her bed, facing her.
I can't lie, this is really awkward.
"Hey babe."
"Hey, Rose." They both greet me. I sit next to Harper, by her other pillow. Lucas looks at me. "I'm really sorry, Rose."
"I'm not mad at you." I'm not mad at all.
"I'm glad one of you isn't." He shoots a look over at Harper. "Want me to tell the story?"
"If you insist." She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. I can't help but notice her boobs sticking out a little. There's no way she didn't do this on purpose. Whatever.
"Yesterday when Harper came back from your house, you could tell she was in a little... distress." He says and she rolls her eyes again, obviously wanting to interfere. "I had went into her room and asked her what happened and she told me everything from what you told her about Jackson's past to what he said at dinner." He takes a breath. "I was pissed and I knew that I wasn't going to let it slide. So, even though Harper took care of it, I had to take care of it even more. I knew he probably would've said something, because he didn't even know who Harper was and most likely wasn't scared of her. Jackson fears me, he's always have and I have no clue way. So, I knew that I had to use that to my advantage ."
Harper decides to speak up. "I told him not to do it when he said he was going to, but I knew he would do what he wanted and in that moment, I just wanted that kid bleeding on the floor."
"Rose, I hope you're not mad." He adds. "I also hope you're not mad that because of what I did, I got a 5 day suspension."
I laugh. "I'm not mad at all." I look down. "I saw Caroline standing there and I yelled out to her. It didn't end too well. I don't think we'll be the same again."
"I can beat her up for you if you want." He says and I roll my eyes.
"I know you guys have never gotten along, but I don't need you to. I appreciate it though." I look between the both of them. "I didn't know the Riggs family loved to fight."
Harper looks at me. "We only fight people that hurt people that we'd fight for." She smiles. "We'd fight for you."
I stand up. "Come here, Riggs." They both get up and we hug. "I appreciate you guys."
"We love you." Harper whispers.
I feel Lucas take a breath. "Even if you're my ex, I'd still stand up for you. I will always care."
In this moment, the Riggs siblings are my favorite people.
I would fight for them.
They're worth the fight.
Harper and I now sit on her front steps. It started snowing so we decided to go admire it.
"I love the snow." I whisper.
She puts her hand in mine. "I love it too, but not as much as you."
I laugh. "Were you always such a flirt."
"Never like this." She winks as she looks back at the falling snow. "Imagine us doing this in the future, but with a bunch of little children of ours running around and playing in the snow."
"That would be beautiful."
"When I go off to college, I'm going to buy an apartment and when you go into college, we can move in together!" I can see her face light up out of the corner of my eye.
"That's a nice thought, but what if we don't go to a college close to each other?"
She kisses the top of my hand. "We'll figure it out. We have some time, it's only December."
"Yeah, but this time next year you'll be a freshman in college." I explain. "If anything, I have time."
She shakes her head. "Let's talk about this another time."
"Does your future scare you?"
She nods. "I try not to think about it too often, but when I do, I think of the good parts."
"Like what?"
"Let's see, I think about our future home, our future kids, family vacations we'll go on, and all the memories we'll make."
My face lights up. "I like that you included me."
She turns to me. "Baby, without you, there is no future for me. You are my future." She kisses me deeply before snuggling up close to me as we watch the snow fall and I couldn't ask for a better person I would want to call my soulmate.