"Where's Justin?"
I promptly ignored Ashley in favor of stuffing my notebook into my book bag. I shouldered it, sliding past her and out of the door.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" The slap of her flats against the floor grew louder as she caught up to me.
"Ashley, I seriously do not have the patience for you right now." I muttered, moving around other students in the crowd as I hoped to lose her.
"You do not get to ignore me after you humiliated me in front of the entire school."
"Do you hear yourself sometimes?"
She stood in my path and I groaned. "I need to get to class."
"Tell me where Justin is and I'm sure you'll get to class just on time."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Are you serious right now?"
She faltered under my gaze but pushed her chest out with confidence. "I heard about what happened to him. What he did."
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Mind your business."
"Justin is my-"
"He is not your anything," I hissed venomously and she flinched. "Move out of my way."
As soon as her leg shifted out of the way, I brushed past her. "Don't you want to know who has been telling?"
I stopped, barely looking over my shoulder. "No, I don't. And what am I supposed to do about it if I do know? People will talk, even if you breathe the wrong way. I wouldn't be surprised if you were running your mouth, too."
"I wouldn't." She said so softly that I almost didn't hear her.
The bell rung overheard and students started to run to class. I let out a suffering sigh and scrubbed my hands over my face. I'm late. Maybe I had more patience for her than I thought.
"Is he okay?" She said suddenly.
My mind flashed back to how tired Justin looked this morning as he slept. The bags underneath his eyes, the furrowing of his eyebrows, and his lips down turned in a slight frown. The memory of sitting on the edge of the bed and running my hands soothingly through his hair until his face relaxed made my lips twitch upwards.
"He's...trying. I think he's getting better."
"So, he really did do it.."
"So, what?" The hallway was quiet now. I turned to her with a frown and she stuttered on her words. It was an unusual sight. The ever confident and annoying, Ashley Larough, was flustered just by being confronted. Maybe she was like this, too, after the incident in the auditorium but I didn't get a chance to see because I left so quickly. You lose some, you win some, I guess.
"...I was trying- I mean- I guess- I was worried. I'm not that shallow, okay?" She mumbled.
"Oh, so, you are self-aware." I said blandly.
She surprisingly didn't respond to that, instead choosing to engage in a silent, staring match.
I crossed my arms over my chest and jutted my hip out as I waited. I watched as she worked her jaw as she tried to find words.
When she did, she pursed her lips. "You love him. Don't you?"
I felt my mouth go dry at the question and ignored the nudging in the back of my mind to run away from this. "What would you know about that?"
"You can't hide it. No one can. Besides, I know what it feels like." She admitted, almost sadly.
"Okay," I sniffed, shifting on my feet. "What's the point? You want a pity party? I'm not giving it to you, if that's what it is."
"No, that's not-" She groaned. "I don't like you, okay? I don't but I can't stop Justin from feeling the way he feels. I can see that he really, really likes you. The last time he was here... the last time I saw him was the day before everything happened, I guess. I could see very clearly the look in his eye after you left the classroom. He pushed Naomi off of him and just left with no explanation. But it took no idiot to conclude that he was going after you. So, I guess I can tolerate you. For him."
She admitted it with a grimace and I gave an amused scoff. "Did you just give me your blessing?"
Her grimace didn't cease, if anything, it grew deeper. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you. Not so sorry for fighting you, though. It was relaxing, somehow."
I couldn't help but laugh wholeheartedly at the absurdity of the situation. "Likewise. Landing a punch was satisfying. But thanks, I guess. You are a real pain in my ass."
"Likewise," She mimicked.
I sighed and started to turn away. "We need to get to class."
She wrinkled her nose up at me in displease. "Don't tell me what to do."
I rolled my eyes and she started to walk backwards in the opposite direction. "Take care of him."
"As if I'd do anything less."
And, with that, we parted.
-
"Hey, mom. How would you feel about a bit of a vacation?"
She slowly stopped cutting a red pepper that laid halfway diced on a cutting board. "What's this about?"
"You work too much. Take a break. Go see Grandma." I said softly.
She put the knife down and leaned her hip against the counter. "I'll ask again. What's this about?"
"Mama," I whined, pouting slightly. "Just listen to me, would ya? Why would you question a vacation? When was the last time you had a break?"
She let out a long sigh and stared at me for a moment.
I smiled. "Take a break. Relax."
She smiled back. "You should take your own advice."
I laughed. "Can't do that. At least not yet."
"You're going to wear yourself out thinking like that." She said, resuming to dice the pepper.
"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you. Use your vacation days and take the next few days off."
"...fine. But! Only if you take time to yourself. At least for a little bit. Deal?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Deal." I pulled her into side hug and kissed her temple.
"Now, shoo, so I can finish this." She said after I pulled away.
"Yeah, yeah, love you, too." I chuckled and she rolled her eyes.
"Destiny!" Merissa yelled cheerfully as she ran down the stairs.
I caught her and picked her up as she came into view. "What's up, buttercup?"
She grinned so brightly that I felt warmth grow in my chest. "I wrote in my diary today!"
I grinned along with her. "Did you now?"
She nodded vigorously and squirmed in my arms so I put her down. "I want you to read it."
"Alright. Did you finish your homework?" I asked as she pulled me by the hand up the stairs.
"Yep, Justin helped me." She said as we made it to the top.
"That's good." We entered my room and I spotted Justin on my bed with his back resting on the wall. My heart fluttered at the sight.
You love him. Don't you?
"Hey."
His lips twitched into a smile as he replied. "Hey."
Merissa let go of my hand and ran over to my desk where her diary was kept. I walked over to my bed to sit beside him.
I watched as Merissa practically skipped back over to us and crawled onto the bed with her diary in her grip.
I slowly took it from her and Justin curled closer, leaning his head on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to kiss the crown of his head and opened her diary.
I smiled tenderly at the big, uneven letters of Merissa's writing and began to read.
Dear Diary,
Hello, this is my first diary! Destiny says that I can write anything I want in here so I wanted to write about my day. I went to school and played with my friends. We had a spelling quiz and I did really good on it! I showed Justin my grade and said he was proud of me :) Justin is my brother and I love him very much. I love Destiny, too. They both take care of me and each other. I think they like like each other but Missy says that they just need some time. I think I'm finished. I'll be back tomorrow!
I heard and felt Justin chuckle into my shoulder as I closed the book. I pulled Merissa into my side and she squeaked in response. "You're so cute, you know that?"
"Yep!"She giggled and I sighed dramatically.
"Justin, I think we have a narcissist in the making. What ever will we do?"
"I'm more curious about who Missy is." Justin said as he sat up.
I turned to Merissa as I let her out of my grip. She sprouted a massive grin and I was worried for a second if she could damage her cheeks like that. "Missy is Destiny's mommy."
I rolled my eyes. "That meddling woman. She's glad I love her."
"Well, what was she supposed to do? Lie? She told her the truth," Justin placed his hand on my leg near my knee. "We just need a bit more time,"
He lowered his voice into a whisper. "Just give me...us some more time."
...Take some time to yourself.
I inhaled slowly, placing my hand over his and squeezing it before letting go.
With a kiss to Merissa's head and feeling warmth on both sides, I spoke.
"I know."