"Every time I get somewhere I wanna run away."
-Runaway Runaway, Mars Argo.
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"Babe.", Parker whispers as my jaw clenches. He's so annoying. "Psst! Babe! Babe! It's important."
"WHAT?!" I finally scream at him. Everyone in the class taking the test falls silent and turns to look at us as I glare at Parker.
He smiles.
"Do you have any gum?" He asks cheekily. Other people start to glare at him for disrupting the class. "Well, I can't kiss you with decaf coffee breath." He states. Everyone starts looking at each other, whispering.
"Yooo you guys finally together?!" One of his fake friends yells over. Parker tries to wrap an arm around my shoulder but I push him off.
"Why her?"
"She's so... nerdy."
"Whatshisface, Brady? Braden? I don't know. He said she had modeling pictures that someone had shown him. I guess she's wicked hot under those.. layers."
"I mean at least she doesn't dress like a slut."
I stand by that last comment.
"Who said that? That I do- Parker if you poke my ass one more time" I growl. He stops. "That I don't dress like a slut?"
Everyone points to a girl with pastel pink hair and a baby blue dress on. "Sup?" She asks.
"Let's be friends. Meet me at the Starbucks on Third Street after class." I demand boldly. She shrugs and nods.
I love how our teacher stays passed out, and disinterested. This is just a pop quiz. He said himself he doesn't put it in our grades, so oh well. Parker suddenly pulls me onto his lap and kisses me intensely. I kiss back instantly, finding joy in this kissing thing.
"GET IT WEST!" A bunch of his friends yell out. The teacher wakes up. He looks at us. He blinks before going back to bed.
I shrug and kiss Parker again. He tickles my side and I giggle in delight.
"Let's skip class." He says. I nod and get off his lap. We get our things. Everyone watches as we walk out. Parker smacks my ass just before we walk out.
"I'm getting this out there." I hear some girl say. I pretend not to see Parker give her a thumbs up.
So we were holding hands, walking, when fate decided to hit.
"Ally?"
I freeze. Parker looks at me, confused. He looks to the guy off to my side, then back to me.
"Ally Smith." I turn to the guy. "It's great to see you after all these years."
Anger bubbles in my chest. This is the first time I've seen him since.. Her.
"I couldn't say the same about you," I say in a low tone, my hand squeezing Parker's.
"Ally, who's this?" Parker asks, concerned. I let out a breath.
"Remember how I told you that I found the body of my best friend who'd committed suicide due to her boyfriend cheating?" I ask him. He nods. "This was her boyfriend." His eyebrows raise, and his eyes widen.
"Wow, so I get to meet the douchebag who put my baby through pain. Nice." Parker says sarcastically, glaring at Connor.
"You're in a relationship? Wow. Congrats Al. Really. I didn't think you'd want a relationship." He says. "And you look great by the way. You glowed up."
I cringe as I remember looking at myself in the mirror every night and sometimes even crying because I hated how I looked. With acne, braces, glasses, and no good fashion sense whatsoever, I was often a target for bullying.
"Whatever," I mutter. I start to walk away with Parker.
"Wait! Ally! I was actually looking for you."
I freeze again, angry.
"Well, what the fuck do you want then?!"
"Wow, you finally said fuck." He mutters to himself as he gets a few papers out of his bag. "Uh, something with Melinda came in from the government. I was asked to deliver these two things to you. One is something of Mel, the other is from.. your dad."
Stiffly, I take the two papers from him.
"I hope I'll see you around.. and.. I'm sorry. For everything that I did."
It wouldn't be until later that I'd find out he committed suicide, going on this wooden bridge for trains. He'd let it hit him.
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"I should open it. I shouldn't. I should. I shouldn't."
"Just open it, Ally," Parker tells me.
"Ok," I say and pick up my father's first.
I blow out a slow breath as I open it. Parker looks at me curiously.
Allison,
Hey. It's been a while since I last wrote you. I wrote you on your graduation day. I don't know if you read it or not. Before that, it was the night of your prom. Every birthday since your tenth.
I wish I knew you. I wish I hadn't been so stupid. It wasn't your fault what happened to your mother. I know that now. Its nature. I shouldn't have abandoned you and your brother. I'm so sorry. I'm so proud of both of you.
I've seen some of the modeling jobs you and your brother have done together. You grew up to be such a beautiful young woman. I saw a college basketball game the other day, and I saw you. You're the assistant coach. I heard of the things you have done for the team. I'm so damn proud.
I know you may not be happy to hear this or may be upset, but I'm coming to the game tonight.
I hope to meet you. I want to know you, Ally.
See you.
Love you, Dad.
I lift my gaze and stare at the wall.
Maybe if this had been a couple of years ago, I'd have been angry, and tearing it up. But I lost Melinda. I have Parker, who makes me see clearer.
I'm going to forgive him. Life is too short to hold grudges this long. While I can never really forgive Connor, I can forgive my father because some people don't get to meet their dads ever, and there's a little girl inside me somewhere wanting a father.
A tear drops from my eye and lands on the paper. Parker takes in a sharp breath. He takes the paper from me and reads it. I pick up Melinda's.
But I can't open it.
I set it back down to read after the game.
I stand and go to walk towards my room, but Parker pulls me into his arms. I hug him back, a smile gracing my features.
I pull away and shake my head, smiling at him, and say, "You're an idiot."
He smacks my ass, saying, "Come on, we gotta go."
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"You are very touchy-feely today. You keep smacking my ass. It's annoying. Kind of." I tell him.
"You like it, don't you?" He asks with a smile as he takes my hand and we walk into the gym again. Crowds are starting to walk in. After practice we'd had about half an hour to do what we wanted so we got Starbucks.
I blush and look away. "Don't be embarrassed. It's my fault. Well, not really... I mean... It's not my fault you have one beautifully, perfectly thick ass." He says in my ear. I feel my blush deepen. I shake my head and walk away from him. He laughs and joins his friends. Me and the coach go over tactics for the game plan before deciding which to use that would be better against this certain team.
Created by Moi.
I smile at the coach before walking over to the water bottles for the team and where I'd placed Parker's gummies. I bend over to grab them, and of course, a smack goes on my ass. I freeze before standing up. I turn around slowly. From the corner of my eye, I see my dad watching with his eyes widened.
Parker smirks at me. I slap him across the face. I look over to where my dad is. He fidgets nervously. I wave with a smile. My face is turned towards a pissed-looking Parker.
"That was rude." He says, looking wicked angry. So I ran. I duck under flying basketballs and the occasional arm as he chases me, but he eventually catches up and turns me towards him.
I mean, we probably look like a couple that has abuse going on right now because I see a few older men standing up and walking toward us.
That is until Parker kisses me. I wrap my arms around his neck and smile. He suddenly picks me up, and I squeal in delight.
"Coming through, make way for my queen here, boys." He says, and his friends chuckle while moving out of the way. I smile happily as he carries me back to the supplies. He sets me down and kisses my nose. I blush. "You're so cute when you blush." He says, making me blush harder. "Now where's my gummies?"
I blink.
"You are a douchebag," I say, laughing, and grab the gummies off the floor. I hand them to him. He jumps in excitement and opens them. He pulls out the red dinosaur one first and starts talking.
"Oh, you're all bloody. Did someone do that to you? Did someone eat your head off like this?!" He asks the dinosaur before biting off the head and laughing darkly to himself.
"Wow, I am dating a psychopath," I state, recording him. He looks up. He pours the gummies all in his mouth at once, drops the trash left onto the table, and grabs my phone. He swallows the gummies as I hop down.
"No! Ally give me the phone!" He shouts at me. He gets my arm.
"TRE!" I yell. He turns towards me. I throw him the phone. He catches it. Parker runs for him and I get on the sidelines. Tre eventually tosses it to Derrick, who tosses it to Nate, who tosses it to Jose, who tosses it back to me. I laugh easily as I run while posting it on Instagram. Then Snapchat. Then Facebook.
"ALLY!" Parker yells. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT, I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" I shout back. I stop running and stand still, only for him to collide with my back, knocking both of us to the floor. He catches himself with his hands while I lay facing him. He just stares at me. I stare back.
"..kiss her, kiss her," oh my god no, "KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER!"
He smiles and kisses me softly. Then, he grabs the phone, which I roll out of his grasp slickly and springs up.
"These people are fucking ninjas." I hear some chick say. "But... goals."
"Haha! I already posted it on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, and now all that is left is Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube!" I tell him.
"Ally, let's talk this out.."
"WHEN DO WE EVER TALK THINGS OUT?!" I yell at him. He stops and thinks for a second.
"Good point."
With that, he chases me again, but this time I have a plan. I run towards the bleachers where my dad sits and run up them. I sit next to him and wait for Parker to catch up.
"Babe, give me the phone. This is my social life you're ruining." He tells me. I smile.
"Parker, my father, my father, Parker."
Parker freezes before going into the 'perfect man on earth' act.
"Mr. Smith. It's so great to meet y- wait you're the one who a-"
"Dad, I forgive you and I'd love to have you in my life, and I'll see you after the game!" I say in a high-pitched tone before ducking under Parker's arm and running.
"UUUUGH" Parker groans.
From this day on, I vow to be more forgiving.
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XoXo
-Elisia