Forgotten [#Wattys2015]

Chapter 26; Our fights

Listen to "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift while listening. It's a cover too but their REALLY good. Enjoy!

For the next few days, Amber stayed home. She told Mom that she left school early since the trimester would end soon anyway. Ryan and I hadn't talked much since the last time I saw him. I started hanging out with Kendall and Stacy more, because of Stacy's request that we start acting the like best friends we used to be. I actually enjoyed that considering we didn't have much girl time.

"Really?" Stacy squealed as I told her what me and Ryan did. Stacy sat on the swing next to me and Kendall sat on the ground.

"Quiet down! I don't need the whole town knowing what I did."

"Correction," Kendall interrupted. "What you tried to do." I rolled my eyes. Stacy raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Kendall meant. I told Kendall the day before when I ran into her at the mall.

"We didn't quite do it. I mean, I wanted to-and we were going to-but Amber walked in on us." I was honestly ashamed that Amber caught us because it was not something I wanted her to know about. I shoved my hands into my sweatshirt pockets.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. I know how bad you probably wanted it." Stacy red lips curled into an apologetic smile. I sighed.

"Well," she continued. "You could still consider it your first time, right? I mean, you were half-naked." I shrugged.

"Well it's not all about sex in a relationship. It's about understanding and compassion. Besides, Stacy, maybe not everyone is as ready as you and Joey were," Kendall explained. Joey was Stacy's boyfriend. They decided they were ready on her 17th birthday. She claims she didn't mean for it to happen, but it did and she let it.

She giggled. "I still remember that day perfectly. He always refers to it as my 'birthday gift'. I'd honestly say, it was a great-"

"Stacy!" Kendall yelled. "No one cares." That was what I loved about Kendall. She didn't need a guy to make her happy. And when she had a boyfriend, she didn't even consider having doing anything with him. She said she was "saving herself for the right guy." And I praised her for that. Unfortunately, unlike Kendall, I wasn't a very patient person.

We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. I looked around the park observing all the things that changed since we last hung out. Not much. The sings rusted a bit more, the small pond had small patches of green. Small changes. The only thing that changed at the park was us.

"My sisters are back..." I whispered.

"Oh! Cool, I guess. Madison, too?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah." For the next half-hour, I explained to the girls where Madison went and where my father went and how we planned to find him. Kendall shivered every time I mentioned Dad's name.

"So, Kendall," I asked. "How's your..." I saw Stacy rushing over to comfort Kendall who was crying a river.

"It's okay. It's okay, babe." Stacy whispered, rocking Kendall slowly. I walked over and threw my arm over her shoulder so I could hold her as well. I urged her to tell us what was wrong.

"No. She's not better. And things aren't better. She just sits around all day and smokes and drinks. And some nights, her friends stay over. One of her friends sleeps in my room every time he comes. He always tries to sleep with me. Sometimes I just sleep with Alex in his room. The only reason he hasn't moved out is to protect me. He has to pay the mortgage, too. I do everything else. And when I don't, she beats me. It's gotten worse, too. Every time she smokes alone, she sits next to Dad's picture as if he's still here, Smoking with her. It's been two years and nothing's changed. She needs help before I lose her, too."

Kendall's Dad died two years ago. When he died, Kendall's mom started a drinking. She would come home late some nights drunk. She lost her job for going to work late and drunk several times. She never bothered looking for another. Eventually, drinking wasn't enough for her. She started doing drugs. All different kinds, too. She spent all of her part of the insurance money left by her husband on drugs and alcohol. Kendall's brother Alex started paying the bills and caring for Kendall. It was Kendall's job to take care of cleaning, cooking, etc. When she didn't, her mother beat her. Sometimes, she beat her even when she did do it.

"It's okay honey. It's okay. I'm here. We're here. You can stay with me until your mom sees that she needs to get help." Stacy crouched down in front of Kendall so she was looking into her eyes.

She shook her head no. "No. No I can't! I can't leave Alex there alone with her. I can't leave her alone. I don't know what she'll do! She could overdose and die! She has before. I just...I just-"

"Kendall! Listen to Stacy! You can't stay there. And I won't let you! Look, Alex will look after her. He will understand that you're too young to be experiencing all this. It's what's best for you." Kendall looked up at me then at Stacy and nodded.

"Okay...okay." Alex pulled up in his red truck in front of the park. He honked the horn twice before sending me and Stacy a slight wave.

"You go explain to him you're staying with me. He will understand. Then go home and pack your things. I'll pick you up at 7." Kendall nodded at Stacy.

"Thank you. I love you guys. I don't know what I would-" Alex honked the horn again. "Alright, I'm coming!" We all laughed.

"We love you, too, Kendall." With that we all did one of those cliche group hugs. Kendall got up and dusted off her skinny jeans,then leaving. Me and Stacy stayed there and joked and talked for about another 15 minutes until Joey showed up on his black and red motorcycle.

"Hey there princess," he said in his deep, raspy voice. Stacy squealed and ran over to Joey. She jumped into his arms and pressed her lips against his. I rolled my eyes as he slid his hands down her leather pants to her butt and picked her up.

I cleared my throat to get them to stop, but they continued. "Well I guess I'll get going. I have to catch up on my...homework."

Stacy pulled her head back so she could say: "Okay. I'll text you babe." Then she returned to her original position and continued kissing Joey. I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked home. I was actually jealous of Stacy. She had the perfect life. What she called a "great boyfriend", no family issues, both of her parents, and anything else she wanted.

I walked home slowly, hoping to waste some time before dinner in an hour. I thought back to the park. Back to Kendall. Stacy didn't have any problems and had the perfect life. However, Kendall and I didn't. We both had problems that we wanted so badly to fix; Problems that we wanted to be changed and forgotten. And we both had each other. We wanted to help each other and we would do what ever we could to help each other. This wasn't just my problem, or her problem. These were our problems. These were our problems that we would fight together.