Love and Paper

Chapter 34

"Mom!" I shrieked "Justin, I'll see you tomorrow, bye," he nodded greeting my mom before backing out of the house.

"Mom! That was my boyfriend, and he's the only one, the other guy is just my friend, nothing more,"

"he was in the house, what did you expect me to think?" She chuckled

"Goodnight," I sighed and walked into the house to see my dad doing the dishes

"Look who is five minutes past their curfew and also refused to pick my calls," He said

"I'm sorry dad," I started as my mom walked in and an uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them

"okay, Goodnight," I made my way to the room leaving the both of them in the kitchen

...

Everything at school was back to normal, Justin and I were in a good place, Mel and I were good but she was still sitting with Connor during lunch.

Lee came over for our study session later in the evening after my shift at Starbucks. Starbucks was always packed with customers, luckily I didn't have morning shifts, and mornings were the most hectic.

"Since we finished early today why don't we go for a drive with my car, tell me more about your family,"

"Will you buy me dinner?" Lee questioned and I laughed

"Yeah, I will,"

"Okay, let's go,"

...

"So...Have you been to any famous landmarks in New York?"

"Central Park, yeah" He laughed

"Well, that's a start," I smiled "We're going Seneca lake,"

"Okay?"

"Are there any other famous landmarks in France other than the Eiffel tower?"

"You men La Tour Eiffel?" He replied with a thick French accent

"It's the same thing,"

"We French people call it La Tour Eiffel most times," He smiled as the wind tousled his hair

"Okay, La Tour Eiffel," I replied pulling my hair out of my face

...

"We're here," I said getting out of the car

"Belle vue," He stared at the lake smiling (Beautiful view)

We skipped stones in the lake talking about random things before I asked about his family.

"So what about your dad?" I questioned

"His family never approved of my mom, so they didn't get married, but he promised to take care of us. Three years after we were born he left, his family promised him a good life, and job if he abandoned us. He did, left us to the streets. My mom worked so hard, hard enough to make anyone in her place want to commit suicide but she kept on going, once I and my sister were thirteen we started picking pockets, my mom found out and put a quick stop to it. Then she started making enough money to fend for us, she managed to pay someone to teach me English, so I could come to New York and start earning some money to bring them here,"

"Wow," I sighed "I'm sorry,"

"You can't be sorry for something that isn't your fault," he smiled at me "So...are you gonna tell me why you take weed or am I gonna have to tell your mom," He smirked

"I started taking them last year, Cheerleading became hard, the pressure was on me to do well in school and still balance my social life, while still playing the nice girl. My dad and mom started having problems last year, she worked hard and late, and she wanted to be the best, specifically because she is a black woman she wanted to shut down the people who said she couldn't do it. There was so much pressure from her work, my dad became lonely, tired, there was no one to talk to. So anytime I wanted to get away from the pressures of life I'd just get high. It's so hard having to be perfect in all areas of my life and still having to plaster a smile on my face like a doll."

"Ta vie est Presque parfaite," he chuckled making me feel like a whiny teenager (your life is pretty much perfect)

"But I could never imagine how hard it was without your mom around, I don't think I would have come this far without my mom's help," He smiled at me

"Your parents will be fine, your mom is pretty I don't think your dad would want to let her go,"

"Hey, why are you calling my mom pretty," I laughed

"Because she is," he smiled

"So you were going to steal my car if I didn't catch you in the act," I rose my brow and he laughed swinging his legs off the edge of the bridge

"Yeah, I needed to pay my rent, rent is expensive,"

"Still, please promise me you won't do that again it's illegal and it increases your chances of getting caught,"

"I won't, I promise,"

"How were you going to steal it though?"

"There's this trick I learnt from a couple of guys, either break the window and open the car door, or you use something to open the car door,"

"So how do you drive it away?"

"Hmm, Vous mettez deux fils ensemble et etincelle," he said with his strong French accent (you put two wires together and spark)

"Ohh wow," I replied fascinated "so were you the same guy I saw a couple of months ago around Tribeca, it was  dark and you were wearing a dark hoodie,"

"Possible, je voler surtout des voitures autour de Manhattan et Tribeca," he replied (possible, I mostly steal cars around manhattan and Tribeca)

"That was fascinating but still illegal so please don't do it again,"

"I won't," he smiled "And I can't thank you enough for keeping my secret and still helping me with money,"

"It's okay," I smiled "Friends should help one another,"

"Merci," he smiled

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