Wanted

Chatper Five~

Milo POV
"You want to come to the park with me. I'm about to go walk the trail." Kandi offers as she plugs her earphones into her phone.
"Sure." I answer back as I follow her out the front door.
I tuck my hands into the pockets of my hoodie as I walk in unison with Kandi. I keep my eyes on the road ahead as I think about today. What I heard Daniel say to Nilani. As I gathered my belongings and headed towards the door I heard the last of their conversation which was:

"At least I don't suck em' for money." Daniel spat at Nilani.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you can handle yourself in the boys locker room, you perv." Nilani says back as she's walking away from him.

Daniel stood there with anger in his face. Then I did something so stupid. I walked up to Daniel and I said:

"She doesn't deserve you or your bullsh*t."
He shot back. "Who the hell are you, superman? Get the hell out of my face."

I had nothing else to say. I walked away. I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved. I knew this had nothing to do with me. But as Nilani walked away from him, I could almost see the real her. I could actually see the hurt she so often hides behind that fake smile. She doesn't know herself.

"And your gonna find her?" Kandi says as she keeps her eyes on the asphalt.
"What?" I asked quickly.
"You said she doesn't know herself. Assuming you were talking about Nilani to me I said and your going to find her." Kandi answered taking her attention from the ground to me.
"I didn't mean for that to be said aloud." I say highly embarrassed.
"Milo I'm your sister. You can tell me anything. Especially about your crushes."
"No, she's not a crush Kandi."
"Then..what is she?" Kandi asks.

I didn't have an answer for that. I don't know what she is. When I think of the word crush it's an understatement to what Nilani means to me. She's more than a school boy crush. She's so much more. As Kandi waits for the answer I shake my head, knowing I can't explain to her how Nilani is so much more than a crush.

~~~

"One more mile Milo!" I can't believe we've walked almost one and a half miles!" Kandi smiles.
"God, why didn't you bring water?" I ask irritably.
"I don't know, must have slipped my mind." Kandi answers back jogging ahead of me.
I jog to catch up with her. "Nilani?" I hear Kandi say.
"What about her?" I ask as I wipe the sweat from my face with my T-shirt.
"No, Nilani. Over there." Kandi says as she jogs toward a girl sitting behind a tree, Nilani.

Kandi walks closer to her.  Nilani is crisscrossed with her head against a huge Oak tree.  Her eyes are closed. You can see a faint but visible outline of a bruise around Nilani's right eye.

"What is she doing  asleep on the trail?" Kandi ask as she bends down beside her.
"No, Kandi don't-don't wake her." I choke out.
"Why? She needs help." Kandi says reaching towards Nilani.

As soon as Kandi's fingers make contact with Nilani's arm she jolts from her sleep, causing Kandi and I to flinch.  Nilani looks at the both of us with a scared expression on her face.

"Hey, we're from your school.  We see you around a lot.  What are you doing behind a tree." Kandi frowns.
"What do you want? Huh? You can't tell anyone about this. I'll do anything you want." She was desperate.
"No, we don't want anything from you. Here, come with us." Kandi says as she tries pulling Nilani up, but Nilani refuses.
"No, I'm fine. Seriously, just..I don't need help." Nilani frowns.
"At least come to our house for sleep. You can sleep in my bed." Kandi offers.

Nilani POV

Who do they think they are? Just because they see me around a lot and think I need help, they offer me a place to sleep. I don't need help. I don't need anyone's help.

"I said no!" I spat as I rip my arm away from the brown headed girl.

We all went silent. Milo, the boy, sighed as he squatted beside me. His curls dripping with sweat.

"I don't know if you know me, but I wouldn't tell you to trust me because why would you?-" He began until I cut him off halfway.
"What's that supposed to mean? You know what, don't finish." I said as I slowly got up from the tree.

My arm was sore. Milo noticed the bruise but didn't say anything. I suppose I do owe the kid a thank you. He does keep my secrets. He doesn't mention anything he sees. It's like he's selectively mute when it comes to me and my secrets. He steps back as I step around him and the curly headed girl beside him. They both look innocent. Reminded me of Nilani. She used to be so innocent. Now look at her. She's sleeping with guys for money. She's come to a low she never thought she'd be at. I didn't bother to look back at the staring faces watching me walk down the trail absently. It'd just remind me of something else good I've pushed away.