𝙲 𝙷 𝙴 𝚁 𝚁 𝚈

18

NEW YORK

"I don't get why they haven't just booted you yet." The girl with the autumn locks states from my right side, "How many times have you been suspended? Like six?"

I turn the page of my book once again and try my hardest to dismiss her voice. My eyes narrow down onto the words through my shades and I angle my head away from the hair that curtains my face. The sound of Eve rummaging through her backpack makes an irritation rise within me and I turn towards her, "Could you be any louder?"

"I've lost my juice." She opens it wide and throws her hands inside, "Where the hell is my juice?"

"Maybe you left it up Mason's ass."

She stops what she is doing and glares over at me, "Very funny."

"Check the front pocket."

She pulls the bag closer into her lap and unzips the front, finding the green carton easily, "I knew I bought it."

I keep quiet as she fiddles with the straw in the plastic and to my dismay, she speaks again, "What's the deal with your mum then?"

I throw my head back into the tree and the book in my hands sits still, "What about her?"

"She disappeared again didn't she?" She's incredibly blunt with her choice of words, though I suppose that's why we get along, "I swear that woman needs a therapist."

I shrug and bury my head back into Stephen kings IT, "Beats me."

"We should totally just pack our shit and run away together, " She runs off topic like she usually does and I try my hardest to drown out her sound, "Like my aunt always says that she regrets taking me in. It's usually when she's just super mad but it's not like I was the one that killed my parents."

I turn the page of my book.

"Are you even listening?"

"Yeah, you didn't kill your parents," I respond.

"Honestly, sometimes I seriously wonder why we are even friends." She pulls out a sandwich wrapped in foil.

"Because I'm the only one willing to tolerate you."

"Charming." There is little evidence that my words upset her in the tone of her voice, "And you're any better? You're a headcase. You shut everyone out, lose your temper, and get kicked out of school every few days. You're a complete shit show."

Her words are muffled whilst she chews her food, I look at her through thick brows, and eventually, a smile that I can't seem to fight off turns upwards on my face, "You forgot the part where my Mum beats me for fun."

She chuckles and continues to eat with an open mouth, "At least she's generous enough to disappear every so often to give you a break."

I shake my head and find myself huffing a silent laugh, "Yeah well, your aunt tells people in the street that she doesn't know who you are."

"That's just because she loves me."

Her face remains still and her eyes narrow down on the pages between my fingers. She angles herself slightly towards me and rips half of the remainder of her sandwich off before holding it out to me, "You literally never eat."

I look down at the bread between her fingers and try to differentiate the filling to distract myself from her generous nature, "I'm not hungry."

"Bullshit. Take the fucking sandwich dingus."

"I already ate." I lie.

"Then why don't I believe you?" She eyes me suspiciously.

I look at her, "Because you've got trust issues."

She takes a moment to think before grumbling and putting the food into her own mouth, "Eat shit, Micheals."

Momentarily, I think briefly. Deep down, I know that she is correct about her assumptions. The house is never stocked with the basics, never mind half-decent food to ever make a single meal with, though Daisy always seems to know when things aren't okay and right now, that is always. I don't recall the last time I had something decent to eat and the stale cereal last night doesn't count, I'm sure. I begin to wonder about how life could be if I decided to leave this place and start fresh. It's something that weighs me down daily; The burdens of being one of the towns rejects just don't appeal anymore, nevertheless being a starved out, abused, and parentless teenager.

"I'm leaving this place," I state without uncertainty.

"Yeah. Give me a call when you make it to the top of the Eiffel tower, would you?"

"I'm serious."

She swivels her body in my direction and looks at me, "When are we going?"

"I'm going alone."

Her eyes roll to the back of her head, "You're impossible, you know? I'm coming with you."

"You actually have a chance here."

She stays quiet and I begin to regret my choice of words; perhaps trying to be kind just didn't fit well with me. I watch as she runs her tongue over her gums to fish out all of the left over food and she swallows. It's not that I don't want her there, it's just that I do not want to bring her down to my own level. Eve is a kind-spirited girl with easy A's and a warm heart, despite what her sharp tongue says about her. Wether or not she receives verbal abuse from her aunt, the girl has a bright future ahead of her and I won't be the one to take that away from her by being her runaway, degenerate friend.

"This place is weird. It's like the day of the dead." She bites down into her crust, "I don't wanna stay here."

Despite being forced to regulate our daily lives within the proximity of the concrete jungle, we are subjected to the neglected streets much further out of the city, though the crime rates are vaguely similar. We are just less cared about by the public. It's quieter but far from orthodox.

"What is it with you and referring everything to the supernatural." I press the back of my skull against the tree, "It's a load of shit."

"You won't be saying that when you're dying at the hands of a vampire."

I look at her with sheer disbelief, "Did you hit your head on the way out of your Mom?"

"Keep laughing." She swallows the last of her food, "But you know my cousin Johnny? He knew a guy that knew a girl. Well, I heard that girl disapeared for like an entire three months and they had a funeral for her. They found a body and everything. Then later that month he went to the red room club just off of middle street and his entire friend group went nuts off of this crazy drug."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just listen." She hushes me sternly, "Well, Johnny said that this guy bumped into that same girl in the mens toilets and she had this fucked up look in her eye. She left and like, he found his entire fucking group bleeding out on the floor. He said she fucking ate them, dude."

My lips turn upward, "Whatever. Save it for english class."

"I'm being serious! I saw the look on his face, he was fucking terrified."

I turn back to my book, "You're just full of shit."

"Whatever." She lays back into the grass and her orange hair scatters around the base of her skull like a halo of cinomen branches, "But when realise that I'm right, give me a call. That way I can say I told you so."

I turn the paper and continue reading the next page.