"Pretty Girl"

24 - i'm right here

Malorie's POV:

"This it?" Daddy's new boyfriend, Carter asks, pulling into a dirt driveway.

"This is it," Declan says.

"Look! There's Julie!!" Baylie says, grinning.

You can see the shed that's half way burnt down. Ruins lay around it on the grass.

I look at Brie. She looks at me and smiles.

"You good?" I mouth. She nods. We get out of the car.

"Fuck, it's hot!" I say, putting my hair up.

"I know!" Baylie says. She runs over to the goddamn pig. Who recognizes her.

"Oh my god," I say. Daddy chuckles and kisses my head. I walk over to them.

"This is Mal, Julie!" Baylie says, petting the pigs head.

"She's my girlfriend!" She whispers smiling. "Remember I've always wanted of those?" She whispers. I smile.

"Introduce yourself, Mal!"

"Sorry! Hi Julie! I'm Malorie!" I say.

The pig fucking oinks at me.

"See! She likes you!" I pet her head.

"We're taking you home," I whisper.

"Come! This is my cow, spots. Her name is spots," I say. I look at Baylie and smile.

"You're so cute." I kiss her.

"You wanna go see the inside?" She asks.

"If you're comfortable with that, of course," I say. She grabs my hand. We go through the front door.

"This is the living room..." she says. It's simple. Couch and a TV.
"And the kitchen..."

I hear the fear grow in her voice. I squeeze her hand.

"If you can't do this, that's okay. We'll leave right now."

"No. I can do it. I'm okay," she whispers. We walk down a hall and stop at a door. She opens it.

There's a bed against the wall. And on the floor, there are chains.

Chains.

Her bed is unmade. Some of her clothes lay on the floor. There's a desk with a couple math papers on it, and a dresser with a picture of her her siblings, and Donald with his wife.

And Julie. Julie is in the fucking picture.

"That's why I was so... childlike," she whispers. I look at her.
"There's not much here compared to yours."

I pick up the chains and look at her. She takes in a breath.

"Let's burn it down," she says. I look at her.

"Baylie."

"Let's burn the fucking house down. Brie!" She walks out. I drop the chains and go into Brie's room. Her and Star are in there.

"Let's burn it down. Let's burn the house down," she says. Brie smiles.

"Who's gonna take the animals?" Star asks.

"Our neighbor a couple miles down. He's been taking care of them and he said he would take them," Brie says.

"Let's burn it!" I say.

"Let's burn what?" Declan says.

"The house," Brie says.

"Oh, yeah let's do it," he says.

Baylie shows me around the rest the house before going into one of the drawers in the kitchen. She grabs matches.

"You have everything valuable?" Kate asks.

"Yes ma'am!" Brie says. I grin. We walk out.

"Ready?" Carter asks.

"Not quite," I say.

"Your animals are with the neighbor," daddy says.
"If that's what you're waiting for."

"No..." Lexi says.

"I don't know either," Carter says. Baylie lights a match.

"Woah?" Daddy says. She goes inside.

"That wasn't part of the plan!" I say, following her.

"Yeah, I know." She throws the match on her bed. The flames engulf it almost immediately.

The satisfaction that crosses her face is a sight I love.

She picks up the chains and throws them in the fire. And then the picture. And her clothes on the floor.

She looks at me and smiles. And then kisses me.

"Come on before we die," she says. She grabs my arm and pulls me outside.

"Wanna try?" She asks, looking at Brie. She grabs a match, lights it, and throws it.

Declan does the same. Then me. And Star. And Lexi. And Kate. And Crystal.

And Daddy. Daddy throws one too.

We back up as the fire gets bigger.

The glory in their eyes. I look at Star, who looks at me and smiles.

"Book worthy," she mouths. I nod and smile.

"This is lowkey cool," Carter says. We look at him.

"Dreamed of," Baylie says. She's goes to the grass and picks up her pig.

"C'mon Julie! Let's go home!"

A/N - "my mommies and I have a pet pig! Her name is Julie!"

- Baylie and Mal's future kids

🩷🩷

I love you all lots!