🖤⚡️They Met In A Record Shop⚡️🖤

Chapter 21: In Which Marigold And Allison Talk

(Marigold's Perspective)

The morning after Allison and I decided to be in a relationship she asked if we could call to talk.
I had woken up to the sound of that text from her, asking if we could chat.
It was ten in the morning, my hair was messy, and I was in my pajamas.
I was happy to have the opportunity to hear her voice, and accepted without hesitation.
I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear.
"Anything specific you wanted to talk about?" I asked her while lying back down lazily.
"Well... something really bad happened at my house. I'm at the record shop right now because I didn't want my family to overhear this phone call." Allison said into the phone.
"Wait... what- you're at the record shop?" I asked, puzzled and still half-awake.
"Yeah. I live walking-distance from it, remember?" she replied.
I facepalmed.
"Yeah... right, I forgot." I said.
"That's okay. So anyhow, my little sister actually stabbed a knife through my bedroom door yesterday..." Allison began.
I sat up straight in my bed.
"What the Hell?!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Allison said.
"I-is that normal for you guys?!" I asked.
"No! Surprisingly not." Allison replied.
"Shit..." I muttered, trying to take it all in.
"Are you safe???" It finally occurred to me to ask.
"Yeah; my room was locked and barricaded, and the hole in the door wasn't The-Shining-level-bad." Allison said.
"But it was still scary, wasn't it?" I asked.
"Oh, no doubt." Allison replied.
"I wanna help in some way. I don't know if you can, but I wanna help keep you safe." I said.
"I appreciate that, Marigold. I really do. I think the best thing you can do is let me come over to your house once and a while to escape my own." Allison said.
I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.
"Sounds good to me." I replied with a smile.
God, I felt so bad for her.
She's a great person. So kind, smart, funny, artistic and beautiful...
She deserved better than to live in a home where she felt unsafe.
"It's just..." I began uneasily.
"Yes?" Allison asked, encouraging me to say more.
"I can't protect you when you're at your home. And that scares me, Allison. It scares me more than you'll ever know." I admitted, nearly crying.
"It's okay, Marigold. My brother Andy; he protects me. He keeps me safe when you can't." Allison said in a soft, comforting voice, hearing the sadness in my voice.
"Okay." I replied uneasily.
"I'll be okay, Marigold. I really will. I promise." Allison reassured me.
"Okay." I replied.
There was a short, awkward silence.
"But what are you guys gonna do about your little sister? She's a real threat, Allison." I asked.
"Andy and I talked about that. We're gonna lock her away, my love. And then you, me, my family, her classmates; we'll all be safe from her. And it'll all be okay. Even if my other siblings are threats to me, none of them compare to Violet. I won't let her hurt me anymore and I won't start any more fights with her or Lucas no matter how much I want to, okay?" Allison reassured me.
"Okay." I said with a smile.
"I love you, Marigold." Allison said.
My smile grew.
"I love you too, Allison." I replied confidently.
"Now, I've gotta get back home before Andy realizes I'm gone and gets worried sick." Allison said with slight laughter.
"Okay, sweetheart. Stay safe." I said.
"I will." Allison replied with a tone of calmness and happiness in her voice.
Then she hung up.
I sat blankly for a moment, then put my phone down on the bed.
Then I got up quickly.
I went over to my TV and I sat down in front of it.
I put my feet under the stand and I started doing sit-ups.
I was gonna get strong for Allison, in case I ever had to protect her from anyone. A family member, a school bully... anyone!
I was gonna do whatever it took to make sure she was okay. Because I wanted protecting her and making her happy to become my #1 priority, because that's what you do when you love someone, if you can.
Sure, grades are important, and I'll make sure I don't skip doing any homework to hang out with her or anything like that. But I gotta make sure she's okay, and that includes making sure she's mentally okay, too.
I love her.
And I'm gonna do whatever I can to help.