The Date After

VI

The patterns continued to fade from one to another as I turned around to look at this amazing man. I was completely speechless as I looked into his adoring eyes.

"How?" This was the only word that would seem to form in my fuzzied mind.

"Emie may have, may have not, helped me." My mouth fell open as I slowly turned back to the Ferris wheel.

I could just imagine the smug smile that will be on her face come Monday. That little- oohh she's so gonna get it.

"That bitch..." I whispered to myself. Don't get me wrong, I love Emie to death. I would tell her absolutely everything and anything. And I would do so because I knew it was strictly between us. However, considering that I sucked at holding grudges and the circumstances I'll probably forgive her within the first hour of seeing her on Monday.

I heard a deep growl come from Laurent's throat behind me. Shit!

"Melione, what did you just say." It was a rhetorical question no doubt but the hairs on my neck grew to a new height entirely.

"Umm," I quickly swallowed my nerves, "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Mmhmm," He hummed, "I'm sure."

A smile covered my face as I seemed to escape trouble this time around. However, with that smile came a blush due to my near capture. I turned around to give him a quick peck and grabbed his hand. He went to lean into me when I took off running towards the carnival ride with Laurent in tow.

"Mel!" Laurent yelled as he just barely managed to gain his balance.

A carefree laugh left me as I glanced back to see his slightly panicked expression. I stopped running once we reached the base of the vibrant ride.

Laurent left my side and walked to the platform. He grabbed two folded blankets then came back to me. He wrapped one around my shoulders then handed me the other. "Go get comfy and I'll be right back." With a gentle smile, he walked away.

I didn't care to look where he went. I just walked to the chair and sat down. To the left, tucked up against the side of the chair, sat a small picnic basket. My stomach grumbled and I didn't even know what was inside it.

I resisted exploring the goods inside as an attempt to hold on to a sliver of dignity. I was wrapped in two blankets and soaked clothing due to my still-drenched swimsuit. Keeping myself from gobbling down the food like a hungry beast was my last chance at keeping my little slice of dignity.

I leaned my head back on the metal. There weren't any clouds in the night sky which allowed for the stars to flood the blackness. As I zoned out in peaceful bliss my mind flashed back to the time I first met Laurent.

I was cornered in the desert by a man
He took the pistol right from my hand
As he put it to my temple, I asked
"Do you think it's gonna be that simple?"

Baby Outlaw by Elle King; a good song for my attitude right now. Mrs. Fleymmer was talking about the tritium isotope of Germanium and how it differs from the other isotope forms. We had 7 minutes of class left and I was so tempted to just grab my backpack and walk out of here. But she would be passing out the graded pre-tests we took last week soon. I already know what I got cause it's what I get on every test.

I was leaning back in my seat, my left foot crossed over my other knee. I was wearing what I wear most days. My leather jacket, black booties with 3-inch block heels, skinny jeans, and a plain t-shirt topped off with a single earbud at full volume. I sat in the back watching as class ticked by. The first two rows consisted of the notetakers and the "geniuses". In the third were the athletes and hotshots who couldn't care less and some of their girl-of-the-week barbie dolls. In the fourth row sat the "baddies" who were here due to multiple threats from principal dearest. That's where I sat, not because the old principal lady found a threat that would work on me, but because a scholarship was my only ticket out of this shit hole tiny town.

We had 3 minutes left and everyone was growing antsy including Mrs. Fleymmer. As she grabbed the stack of tests off her desk a soft string of curses fell through my lips. Just because I already knew my grade doesn't mean that I want to have to go through the fiasco of hiding the red numbers. Slowly she reached the back row and as soon as the papers hit my desk I flipped them over but not before I caught a glimpse of two zeros and a smiley face.

"See, I got a bullet for a tooth and
I'm gonna use it to shoot you
Even though you've got a gun to my head
You'll be the one that ends up dead"
Go ahead, baby-doll me

I stuffed the test into my bag careful to hide the red three-digit number from the classes' nosy gossipers. I've always been smart. In middle school, I was one of the girls who always sat at the front and snitched on the back. But it's harder to be hurt when everyone fears you.

10, 9, 8...I stood up and threw my bag onto my shoulder while grabbing my phone with my free hand. 4, 3...I slowly inched my way to the door. 1, DING.

Fuckin finally, I thought to myself, here comes mama my glorious sustenance. Food was the only thing that kept me even partly sane in this place.

Sorry, this chapter is shorter ya'll. But I promise that the next one is longer. MWAH
-L.K.