The Punk's Princess

Eight

That night, Bosco folded up a couple shirts as Angie watched her from the doorway. "You're really doing this?" She asked.

Bosco nodded, placing the pile she had folded into the suitcase on the floor. "I-I am..." She answered, looking up at her friend. "...You aren't mad at me, are you?"

Angie shook her head, taking a seat on Bosco's desk chair. "No, I'm not mad. Just worried..."

Bosco sighed, picking through more of her clothes to make sure she wasn't bringing any merch with her. She felt like that would be embarrassing to wear in front of them. "I'm gonna be okay. I'll call you if things get rough."

Angie still looked uneasy. "You're...gonna come back eventually, right? You aren't leaving forever?"

"Of course I'm not leaving forever." Bosco said, tilting her head as she looked up at her. "I wouldn't do that."

Angie nodded a little, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the bottle of Bosco's anxiety medication. "You need to take those with you." She handed them to her. "Make sure you get them refilled whenever you can."

Bosco took the bottle, tucking it into the pocket of her art bag. "You're still going to text me to remind me to take them, aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Angie said. "Because you'll forget if I don't remind you."

Bosco hummed in response, touching the ring that hung from the chain around her neck. It hadn't even been that long and doing that was already becoming one of her self soothing mechanisms. The fact that Daya gave it to her really meant a lot.

Angie left the room to get the door when she heard knocking, leaving Bosco to pack a bit more in peace. She placed an empty sketch book into her suitcase along with a ton of backup art supplies that wouldn't fit in her main bag, trying to figure out if she could fit her easel into the suitcase before she heard Willow's voice.

"Kory told me to bring you these." She held up a bag of cookies. "Said you can share them with your new emo girlfriend and her friends."

Bosco blushed bright red. "She isn't my girlfriend, but thanks..." She took the bag of cookies, placing it onto her bed. "Guess word spread fast, didn't it?"

"Yes it did." Alyssa walked into the room next with a smug smile on her face. "I knew this was fate. I knew it the moment she asked me for a dagger tattoo."

Bosco shook her head, looking down at the rose tattooed on her wrist. "That was just a coincidence, 'Lyssa."

"But this wasn't." Alyssa pointed out the ring that hung against her chest. "Her giving you that was not just a coincidence. Remember what I told you rubies represent?"

Bosco held the ring once more, tracing her finger over the red stone. "Y-Yeah, but she only gave this to me to be nice. Not because it means anything..."

Alyssa wasn't convinved. "And the way she practically ran out the tattoo parlor door to catch up to you doesn't mean anything either?"

Bosco was quiet, placing more items into her suitcase. "...Yeah."

Alyssa and Willow exchanged a look. They couldn't tell if their friend was in denial or just clueless. Bosco fit as much art supplies into her bag as she could, having to settle for leaving her easel behind. She was about to place her stuffed horse into her art bag when she got a text.

Daya: Do you think I could come over? To like help you pack and stuff?

Bosco froze, looking at the posters lining her walls. There was no way she could allow Daya into her room with it looking like that. That embarrassment was far too much to handle. So she dropped her phone, quickly standing on her bed to rip down her posters.