The girl next door, - ᴛ.ᴋᴀᴜʟɪᴛᴢ

chapter forty-nine.

• SKIP - POUTER

»-☠︎︎-+>

☠︎︎ 𝚃𝙾𝙼'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

I talked to Bill quietly as we walked home, my head turning towards him while I smoked a cigarette. There was no sign of paparazzi yet, and nobody had noticed us. It was only a matter of time, though.

"No. They haven't found her yet." I muttered, blowing out some smoke towards his direction. Bill sighed, his arms crossing as he tried to warm himself. "She'll be back. She always comes back. Even if it's not intentional." He breathed out.

I nodded a little, dragging from my cigarette before looking down. Bill stopped once he reached the front door, and we headed inside.

I immediately went to my room and emptied my pockets onto my desk, grabbing my phone out of the option of a lighter, cigarettes, a few pills, an empty baggie, and a burnt spoon.
I'd been expirementing with different stuff lately.

I sat down on the edge of my bed, opening my phone and going through my contacts before opening Mandy's.

After a few minutes, I found myself going through our conversations and the pictures she'd taken.

We have a shared photo album. I could see every photo she had, and she could see every photo I had. Most, I had to delete.

She always took pictures after a good day, and most of them were with Bill and I. One at a concert, one in bed, one in school or in the bathrooms, or smoking.

My eyes flickered to a video, clicking it and leaning back against the wall as I watched it quietly, the faint sound filling my room.

"Yes, Mandy! You've got it!" Seb clapped on the recording, the quality hard to make out until it was fixed up. Mario was clearly taking the video because he was cheering her on, too.

Seb looked a lot younger. Of course, he was a teenager. He had a few piercings, and his hair was all buzzed while Mario had his hair in hairsprayed spikes.

She was in a diaper, dancing to The Offspring. I couldn't help but grin, watching as Sebastian picked her up and put her face close to the camera. "Number fucking one dancer. better than you, man." He said as he leaned in close and stuck his tongue out and started shaking his head. "Rock-n-roll ass baby!"

"You're so stupid, man." Mario laughed, putting the camera down and then grabbing Mandy off of him, turning towards the camera. "Say fuck. Say fuck," He grinned, and guided her hand into a fist before pulling her middle finger up. "Say 'Fuck you, Daddy!'"

The video ended, my thumb swiping across to see a picture of Mandy. She was a little girl, about 6, her cheeks bright red and her eyes almost sparkling with the flash making her expression even brighter.

I sighed and closed my phone, tucking it into my back pocket as I stood up and wandered over to my desk, glancing at the Everlong CD she'd once given me. I put it aside and walked towards my window to look into Mandy's.

I leaned forward, my hands on the sill before I sat on the end and pushed open my window, slipping out with a slight thud and grunt. the snow sunk slightly below my shoes as I went forward, approaching her room and pulling open the window.

"Fuck," I breathed, holding into the edge for a second before I quickly boosted myself up and got in. My eyes flickered around, noticing the clothes on the floor.

I narrowed my eyes slightly but didn't say anything as I headed over to the piece of paper on her wall. I grabbed it, looking down at what it read.

"I need time."

My eyes flickered back up for a moment, biting my lip in thought.

»-☠︎︎-+>

☠︎︎ 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚈'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

My eyes flickered open.

I looked around the dark space, my hand trailing the walls before I slowly got up to open the closet door and get out. I glanced around cautiously before turning to look in the mirror.

My eyes flickered down to my wrist, wincing at the dirt and pus around it. It itched bad, and I fully knew it was infected now.

I rubbed the back of my neck, my head turning towards the knocking at the bedroom door. I paused, waiting for any speech.

. . .

The knocking got louder, and I groaned slightly. "Alright, alright." I muttered as I went forward, pulling open the door and rubbing my eye as I looked at Charlie and Terrance behind her.

"I changed my mind. I don't need your money." Charlie mumbled. My eyebrows furrowed a little as she held out her money, watching her keep quiet before walking off. Terrance just stood there for a moment before leaving.

What the fuck?

»-☠︎︎-+>

"Charlie! Charlie, what the hell?" I said as I quickly walked behind her as soon as I could, looking at Terrance and Vince. "Can we talk, please?"

She looked at me, biting for lip for a second. "Sure." She said as I pulled her aside.

"It wasn't my money. What were you on about?" I mumbled, furrowing my eyebrows.
"I just.. thought it didn't apply to you." She shrugged her shoulders, not bothering to look at me. "What doesn't apply to me, Charlie?" I sighed.

"Well, you don't have parents or a boyfriend, and you're kind of just... here. So.. Terrance found it, and I told him it was yours." She murmured under her breath. "Why would you lie about that? That's not even funny!" I threw my hands up. "Listen, I don't know you," she started.

I stopped her mid-way and held out the money as I watched Terrance come up behind her, gently grabbing her shoulder. "Come on, Char."

"I don't want your money." Charlie glanced at me, walking off with Terrance as he turned his head and spat; "Whore!"

My eyes flickered to Vince, but he was smoking a cigarette and acting as if nothing happened. "If you can't put up with it, then leave. You aren't privileged, kid." He said, glancing at me. But when I really turned away to leave, he called out, "Mandy, the fuck do you think your gonna stay?!"

"I don't know, out of this fucking hole for sure!" I shouted back over my shoulder, and continued to walk. On my way down the street, I dropped the couple hundred-dollar notes into the trash and left.