51 Shades of Mumu

Chapter 23

    "Hi," said the boy on the swing at the farthest end of the playground. He practically blended into the darkness as creak swoosh creak swoosh creak swooshed close to the ground.

    "Um, hey…"

    "I'm Harry."

    What was going on here? I had literally just made the most treacherous journey of my life in order to come to the park and relax. Now was not the time for some sombrero wearing idiot to start talking to me. Everyone already knew that once I got my hands on a boy, he was not safe…and neither was I. It was not boy time. It was self pity time.

    "I'm Mumu. What are you doing at the park so late?"

    He grinned and pulled off the ridiculously vibrant hat, revealing a mop of blonde hair. "I could ask you the same thing."

    "I came here to be alone," I spat vehemently.

    "Okay, okay. I'll go if you want…" He threatened to get up, but made sure to keep that tush planted to the rubber swing.

    "No, stay! Can I talk to you?"

    After all, desperate times called for desperate measures. If there was no one else to converse with, why not approach a stranger? After all, he appeared fairly kind and harmless, especially with those eyes that looked like they were perpetually smiling.

    "Um, okay? I was kind of hoping to just swing too, but…" At that moment he pulled out a deck of cards from the pocket of his cargo pants and began to shuffle them. Were those…Yu Gi Oh cards?

    "Alright shut up. My boyfriend and I were making out and…he suffocated me! Do you know how embarrassing that is? We were so deeply in love and now..." I sobbed. "I have no one to protect me. I feel so naked…so bare. It's like Hugh Hefner came and pulled all my clothes off and ran away."

    "Wait, what?" Harry was on the verge of laughing.

    "I'm serious! DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S TRAGIC? I don't have anyone to love, or love me!"

    "BABY I WANNA SEE YOU NAKED!" called a voice from the distance. It sounded quite a bit like Ronan's hunk of idiocy, Chase.

    "SHUT UP!" Harry called back. Aww, he was sticking up for me. Already, I could sense the connection forming; a deep connection like the one between a condom and a penis.

    I began to swing with fury, hoping to disguise my sudden feelings for this blonde, hat wearing boy. Maybe he would be like Faeleb, buying me presents in the middle of the night. Maybe he could transfer to Hempstead High and be my shield. He could ward off the evils of the world; the smells of curry that were sometimes too strong, the idiots who made catcalls and attempted to slap me in no no places, the foo foo dust that always swirled in the air, the jerks like Hyundai who promised the world and then almost murdered me.

    "Okay, I'm no therapist, but that's not good. Did you call the, um, cops or something?" Harry mumbled, sounding more befuddled as ever.

    I shook my head. After that, we swung in silence for a few minutes as a voice lulled some delicate and sad tune. "Don't leave me hiiiiiiiigh. Don't leave me dryyyyyy. Don't leave me hiiiiiiiiiigh. Don't leave me dryyyyyyy."

    The words cut into my soul like one of Lydia's bread knives. It defined the exact way I felt at this moment; Hyundai had just up and left me, and I could try and fill the void with Harry, but it would never be the same. I was left high and dry.

    "He has a nice voice," I found myself whispering, afraid to break the reverie that the mysterious crooner had created.

    "Ya know," Harry boomed. "You're weird as hell." His cards slipped out of his hand and splayed all over the asphalt beneath our feet. "But I like you. You're pretty cool."