I ran and ended up in the corner of the hallway. The same place where I sat two years ago. The place where I listened to mom and Andy fight. The place where I broke down in tears as the heavy world sat on my shoulders. My knees buckled and I plopped on the floor. My breath was quick with guilt and fear. I folded my legs and buried my face on my hands. They won’t even bother to look for me. If they did, they would murder me. That sentence came across my mind. I stayed like this for about twenty minutes, and I’ll stay like this for as long as I want.
“Ally?” I heard a voice but I was sure that it wasn’t one of them, especially Mark. “What are you doing here?”
I lifted my head up, “Hey, doc.”
He sat next to me and studied my face, “What’s wrong?”
“I did something.” I admitted, “And I am feeling really guilty about it.”
He paused to let the moment sink in, “What did you do?”
“He’s mad at me and I know it.” I was on the verge of crying,
He lifted my chin up, “Who’s mad at you?”
“Mark… Mark’s mad at me.”
“Why?” He carefully asked,
“Because…” I hesitated, “Because he found out that I saw Isom and he got angry because they didn’t let him see Isom and he kept asking me why and I got scared because I’ve never seen him this mad before and he kept stepping forward and I kept stepping backwards until I hit the wall and then I slapped him.” I spilled under one breath,
He pulled me to his warm chest, “How did he find out?”
“I don’t know, he just did.” I sniffled, “I saw those eyes of his and ran off. Why am I so stupid?”
He stroked my arm, “No, you’re not stupid. Don’t you ever say that because you are not, okay?”
“I just slapped my own best friend. It’s like slapping your own big brother, which is just horrible.”
“There’s a reason to it.”
“But he-” My breath caught,
“He what?”
“He doesn’t see it.”
“Where is he? I’ll talk to him.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure. Now, come on.” He pulled away and stood up, pulling me with him. “I don’t want to see my girlfriend crying on the floor. You’re stronger than that.”
I slouched on the wall with his face inches away from mine, “Ryan, your phone’s vibrating.”
“I know, it’s probably dad.”
“You should take it, he might be looking for you.”
He picked his phone without moving an inch, “Hey, dad… Sorry, but I’m busy… Yea, maybe some other time… Bye…”
“Why did you do that?”
He slipped his phone back into his pocket, “Because I am not leaving you like this. I’m here for you.” He pecked me on the lip,
I smiled halfheartedly, “Thanks.”
“Smile.” He commanded, “I want to see your beautiful smile.”
I blushed and smiled,
He kissed me on the lips, “That’s it. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Okay.”
He then stood up straight, “I’m going to go look for them. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back in a jiff.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to fix things between you and your so called brothers.” He smirked, taking a few steps back.
“No, Ryan. It’s okay.”
“Stay.” He poked my nose.
“But-”
He stepped closer and cupped my face, “Stay and I’ll make things better for you, okay? You can trust me on this.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“I’ll jump out the window and kill myself.” He kissed my forehead. “Stay put.” He stepped backwards and took a left on the corner. I waited for about ten seconds before following where he went. I took the left, stopped, and then slowly stepped back and hid behind the pillar. Ryan was there with Cubbie, Pontius, and Sean.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Cubbie asked,
“Where’s Mark?” He asked back, “Never mind, answer that later. What exactly happened back there?”
“Uh…”
“I found her sitting on the floor with tears and I don’t like what I saw. Tell me what you did to her.” And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, I love Ryan Harrison.
“We didn’t do anything to her!” Pontius objected,
“Then why was she on the floor?” He demanded,
“Okay, ssshhhhh!” Sean hushed, waving his hands in front of their faces. “Look, Mark just scared and confused her and she kinda slapped him on the face. That’s it, nothing more.”
“Do you know why she won’t let you guys see Isom?” He sounded very satiric and rhetorical,
“Um…”
“Because she won’t let you guys feel even one little drop of sadness! She’d rather cry herself to sleep every night than see you guys feel a hint of sadness! That’s why! She cares, man.”
“Where is she?” Cubbie folded his arms,
“Not until one of you tell me where Mark is.”
Pontius sighed, “He’s somewhere looking for her.”
“Listen, Mark isn’t mad.” Sean explained, “He’s sworn himself and I’m the witness.”
“Then tell me why he yelled at her.” He gritted,
“How did you know?”
How did he know? I didn’t tell him that he yelled at me. I wanted to step forward, but I was paralyzed.
“I could see it in her eyes. I’ve seen her this shaky before.”
Right, he’s seen me like this before. Ariel yelled at me once, through the phone and Ryan witnessed everything. I thought to myself,
“You’ve seen her this shaky before?” Cubbie repeated, sounding questionable.
“Yea, I’ve seen her get yelled at before.”
“Who yelled at her?”
“Have you seen her fight with her best friend?”
“She’s never talked about it.”
“That’s why.”
Pontius’s eyes widened for a split second as if he knew something that the rest didn’t. “Harrison, where is she?”
“I’m not telling until I find Mark.”
“How can we find him when he purposely left his phone with us?” Sean waved Mark’s phone in the air for Ryan to see. “Yea, he doesn’t think straight at a time like this.”
“Why didn’t anyone stop him?”
“Have you ever seen Mark flip out? I bet not.”
“We’re talking about Ally here, not some fucking paparazzi. We’re talking about the girl who you and I care about.”
From the other end of the hallway, Mark showed up. His face was coldly hard and his eyes remained dark, “Where is she?”
“About time you showed up.” Ryan scoffed,
“I can’t find her anywhere.”
“That’s because you freaked her out, Mark. Now, why would you do that?”
“Look, I just want to go find her and apologize. Where is she?”
“I found her sitting on the floor, in tears. How did that happen?”
“Fine, okay, okay, it’s my fault! I didn’t know why I did that, but I just did, okay? Now, where is she?”
“She’s somewhere on this floor.”
“You’re not helping one bit.” Mark spat,
“I’m not helping?” Ryan asked in mock disbelief, “Says the guy who yelled at a girl.”
Don’t push it, Ryan.
“The girl who cares, Mark. She won’t let you see Isom because she won’t let you get your heart ripped out into pathetic pieces.” He added,
“…”
“I took her to see Isom and I saw her tremble like a terrified puppy. With Isom in that state, she still worries about you, you know that?”
“Please, just tell me where she is.”
Ryan sighed, “Fine.”
“Ryan?” Pontius called,
“What now?” He scowled,
“That was stupid of you to do this.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Yes it is.”
“No, it’s stupid of you to let this happen to her. I’m just here to smooth things out, you know? Not let things go wrongly.”
“If you were nobody to her, I’d break your neck already.”
Ryan chuckled sinisterly, “Well, that’s too bad because I am somebody to her.”
Cubbie clapped his shoulder, “I like you.”
As they got closer and closer, I ran back to the previous spot and just hovered there awkwardly. I could hear their footsteps getting closer. I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked at my dirty sneakers. I was observing it like it was some alien technology. I wanted to simply disappear, or become a part of the concrete wall. From the corner of my eyes, I started to see figures that mean they have spotted me. Without hesitating, Mark made his first move. He quickly paced to me and pulled me into a bear hug. He buried his face on the crook of my neck as my chin rested on his shoulder. “I’m really sorry.” He murmured, “I didn’t know and I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.” I mumbled,
“I broke my own promise.”
“I slapped my own brother.”
“I yelled at my own baby sister. I guess I deserved that.”
“No you don’t.”
He lifted his head up and kissed my forehead, “Your boyfriend told me everything.”
I glanced at Ryan and he looked back at me with a genuine smile, “Thanks, baby.”
“Hey, I had to keep my promise.” He winked at me and my heart skipped a beat, “You gentlemen are welcome.”
“Don’t push it, Ryan.” Pontius threatened,
“Don’t push it, Ryan.” He mimicked,
I chuckled, “You’re so dead.”
“No, he’s not dead.” Cubbie said, “And Pontius is not going to touch him, you hear?”
Pontius rolled his eyes in irritation, “Yea, I heard you, old man.”
“Yeay!” Sean cried, wrapping himself around Mark and I.