We were settling in. Rick said it was a good idea, some people were still cautious. I was in between about it all. We slept in our beds last night and it was really nice. I woke up the next morning before Carl and went downstairs. Rick and Michonne were in their new uniforms.
"Wow." I said as I looked at them. "You look so official."
"I think I make it look good too." Michonne joked.
"Yeah for sure." I smiled. "Where are you guys going?"
"Deanna is going to show us what she wants us to do." Rick answered as I nodded.
"Have fun." I smiled to them. I got a cup and made a glass of water.
"There's a party tonight at Deanna's. You and Carl meet us there okay?" Michonne asked looking at me.
"Okay." I nodded. "See you then." She said as she left with Rick.
The day went by pretty quick. Carl and I basically just played card games the whole time.
We got into fancy clothes which I hadn't done in so long.
I wore a maroon dress. The only option with sleeves. I wore a long silver chain and the necklace with the L on it. My hair was still at my hips.
I walked down the stairs and saw Carl already ready fixing his collar. "You ready?" I asked anyway with a smile.
"Yeah." He said before turning around and looking at me. He smiled lightly. "That's a nice dress."
I looked down at myself. "My arms, but it's okay." I said as I held my arm. I was trying to convince myself more than him. I still had my marks.
95.
"I think people are gonna be a lot more interested in these black marks then your scars." He smiled to me. "How many now?"
"95." I replied as he looked at them. "When I get to one hundred it'll shrink up again." I smiled looking at him.
He grabbed my hand. "I was thinking I should tell my dad at the party."
"Sounds like a good idea. Just you?" He nodded.
"I think it'd be less awkward." He smiled.
"Okay. Let's get going." We walked out holding hands and got to the party.
We walked in and looked at all the people talking and laughing. I saw Michonne and she walked over to me.
I crossed my arms and smiled. "You look beautiful." She smiled to me as she grabbed my hands. "Own it." She said quietly as I nodded lightly.
It was so hard to just pretend you aren't self conscious. I have to convince myself that I'm not or else this won't work.
We saw Rick with Deanna and a man who I assumed was her husband. It was another normal thing. Everyone was talking and eating. I didn't know what to think.
"Should we get something to drink?" Carl asked looking at me.
"I guess." I nodded lightly as we headed over to the table. A grabbed a bottle of water. "The rest of them, of us, some of them look off too." I said looking at Carl.
"Looks like Abraham is trying to drink it off." Carl said as we looked over to him.
"Nothing new." I smiled to Carl.
"Hey." Rick said walking over. "Are you having fun?"
"It's different." I smiled lightly to him and looked to Carl.
"Yeah." He nodded. I could tell he was a little nervous but I was too.
"I'm gonna go talk to the others." I said as I walked over to the others.
"Hey." I heard as I turned around to see Ron.
"Hi." I smiled lightly turning to him.
"It's pretty boring right?" He asked with a smile.
"It's just different. I've never really been to a party before." I nodded lightly. "It's just something I'm gonna have to get used to."
"Yeah. Enid doesn't really like these things either." He nodded looking to me.
"Are you two together?" I asked naturally. I realized after it was kind of pushing it.
"Yeah we are. And you and Carl?" He asked as I nodded.
"Kinda yeah." I played with my water bottle lid.
"She isn't trying to be mean. She has just lost a lot. She came here by herself." He explained to me. It sounded a lot like me.
"Well I'll see you around I guess." I smiled lightly.
"Yeah." He nodded as I walked away. I'd much rather talk to the others. It was weird that I'd rather hang out with adults, but it was true.
I talked with everyone for a while. They talked about how it was weird but they were glad to be somewhere normal. Maggie was a lot happier now too.
Carl walked over and smiled to me with a nod. I turned to Rick and smiled to him. He gave me a nod and Carl held my hand.
"Lyla Rose, why don't you sing for us?" Maggie smiled to me.
"Sure." I smiled lightly. "Umm..." I thought as I sat on the couch looking at her. I thought of Bubbly by Colbie Caillat.
I started singing and not long after everyone was gathered around listening. I hadn't noticed until I was done singing.
"That was beautiful." Deanna said as she stared clapping and then everyone clapped. I smiled lightly as I played with my water bottle again. I hadn't gotten this much attention in a while. Everyone was complimenting me.
"Thank you." I smiled looking down.
I looked up to Maggie who smiled lightly. Her eyes were teary. I knew I reminded her of Beth. Whenever I sang I thought of her too. I smiled assuringly to her.
Not long after Carl and I left to get to sleep. We walked and I saw Enid walking by the gate. "You go. I'll be there later." I smiled to him.
"Okay." He nodded not sure what I was doing but he didn't question it. I went over to Enid and started walking next to her.
"Hi." I said as I walked with her.
"Hi." She responded as she looked away confused.
"I wanted to talk to you." I said looking to her.
"About?" She asked looking forward.
"Why you don't like us." I sighed lightly looking to her.
She stopped walking. "I don't not like you." She said looking at me as if if was obvious.
"Then what is it?" I asked looking at her.
"How about I ask you a question. Why were you following me the other day?" She asked crossing her arms.
"What do you mean?" I asked looking at her pretending to be clueless.
"In the woods. You both followed me out." She said not believing me at all.
"You were going out by yourself. We were curious. And honestly kind of worried." I explained looking at her.
"Well you don't have to be. I'm not your problem." She responded with a small shake of her head.
"That's the thing about us. We know you and you become us. So yeah everyone here is each other's problem. That's how it is." I explained looking to her. It was true. Ron told me she got here on her own. She didn't know that the same thing happened to me. I questioned wether I should tell her.
"What if I don't want it?" She asked looking to me.
"You'll learn too. I learned to." I shrugged lightly.
"So is this your way of trying to say you know me?" She asked looking to me.
"No this is my way of introducing myself. What is it about us that you don't like?" I asked her. It wasn't like I wanted to fix it but I just wanted to know.
"Honestly, you scare me." She answered with a shrug.
I looked at her confused. It wasn't what I expected. "Why?"
"I don't know. You just do." She shrugged back.
"Well I didn't mean it. I don't know a lot about you but from what I know we are similar. And before you go on telling me that 'I don't know you' or some shit, I just want you to know that it's true. And Ill talk about it if you want." I smiled lightly.
Something about her reminded me of me. She found this camp by herself and she lost everything. That's enough to make someone know a whole lot about you, especially if the same thing happened to you like it did me.
"Okay." She nodded looking at me. It worked. It actually worked.
"Okay." I nodded back. "Next time you decide to sneak out, we'll go with you. We need to be out there anyway. Can't get to comfortable."
"Yeah." She smiled lightly.
"All right then." I smiled back. "Goodnight." I walked away. When did I get so good at pep talks? I felt like maybe it was because how similar we were. It was weird, but cool I guess. I wanted another friend. Don't get me wrong, Carl is great but a girl to talk to. I haven't had one since Amanda.
I went upstairs and into the room. I laid down on my bed and looked over to Carl on his. "I talked to Enid." I said looking at him.
"And?" He asked looking at me.
"She's scared of us. Probably since we've been out there so long." I chuckled lightly. "She knew we followed her the other day."
"Wait really?" He asked sitting up a little.
"Yeah. Next time I asked her to invite us instead." I smiled at him.
He laughed lightly. "You're such a weirdo."
"Hey, I think I made a new friend okay?" I answered.
"How did you convince her?" He asked with a curious look.
"I told her we were similar and that she was one of us now and that we would take care of her wether she liked it or not." He sighed lightly. "It wasn't the kindest approach but it got it done."
"You didn't have to do that. Why did you?" He asked with general curiosity.
"She's like us. She just doesn't want to accept that I think. I had to try." I shrugged lightly. "She lost everything. I know the feeling."
"Well you have us now. You have me now." He smiled.
"Yeah I do." I smiled back. "You know her and Ron are dating?"
"I thought so." He nodded.
"How did you know?" I asked surprised.
"He's always looking at her and trying to be close to her." Carl responded. "I do that with you."
I chuckled lightly with a blush. "You do?" I smiled at him as he looked a way. "You're kind of a stalker aren't you?"
He raised his eyebrows at me. "Am not. Take it back." He said as he through a pillow at me.
I laughed and threw it back. "Okay." I sighed. "Maybe not a complete stalker." I said quietly.
He sat up and looked at me. "That's it." He smiled as he picked up his pillow and kept throwing them at me.
"Stop." I laughed as I got mine and threw them back. "Carl!" I chuckled.
I was about to throw another when he pushed me down on the bed and held my shoulders. I pinched his side and he laughed which gave me time to get on top of him and I held his arms.
He looked up at me with a defeated look before laughing lightly. "I win." I smiled at him before I got off of him.
He grabbed my waist and pushed me lightly onto the bed. He kissed me out of nowhere and I kissed him back. "I win." He smirked as I smiled back.
"Fine." He let go of me as I sat up and he sat next to me. I put my head on his shoulder for a few seconds before getting up. "I'm gonna go get a shower." He nodded and I walked out.
I didn't know what it was about us. It made me feel all warm. I guess relationships were supposed to feel this way. If so, it's a nice feeling.
I hope it lasts forever.