"The bus goes in five!" Dani came out of nowhere.
"I thought you left already..?" I asked. Had she forgotten about our fight so soon? An eager smirk graced her lips as her glance disconnected with mine. But she was still looking at me, on my neck in particular. I attempted to peek at the spot she was looking at but it was out of range.
"Is that.. A hickey??" she squeaked tugging down the collar of my jersey. I wriggled out of her grasp and ran my fingers over the sensitive spot on my neck. "Did Luke give you that?" she gasped, poking my shoulder. I didn't say anything, I just glared at her.
Evelyn's jaw dropped, and I could sense the disappointment in her eyes. She didn't say anything. Well she couldn't. Not in front of Dani and not to mention Larry. "Dani's right, we should go to the bus" she muttered.
"Where are we headed anyway?" Dani babbled leaning over the seat in Evelyn's direction. Dani was also a bitch towards her. In fact, Dani's bitching around was one of our favorite topics. Second after boys of course. We were even discussing to start a fanclub called 'Danielle Haters'. That was a joke. But anyway, Dani seemed to be way more interested in Evelyn than in me. At least she didn't ignore her as much.
"We?" I spat, and scowled at her. Larry shot me a nervous look, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, but you are going home, we are going to the mall" was I being a bit too harsh? No. She deserved it. Why were we even going to the mall? We never hung out at the mall. Only if we wanted something to munch on, other than that, we prefer to just stay at Evelyn's house.
We were only a few minutes away from the mall now, and the whole bus ride had been rather awkward. Dani had already left the bus, as she was meeting Drake somewhere. And it was just me, Evelyn and Larry left.
The bus arrived at the terminal, right next to the mall. As we exited the bus, I pulled Evelyn a bit closer. "We need to talk" I whispered nodding towards the ladies' room.
"You better have a good explanation" she hissed and gave Larry an apologetic smile. "Will you excuse us for a minute?" Larry approved, and we sneaked inside the bathroom.
"How could you?!" I didn't know what to say. "You knew better than to get involved with that guy" she scolded.
"Let me explain" I was interrupted.
"There's no excuse for.. That!" she pushed my head to the side and studied the bruise on my neck.
"He forced himself on me! It's not like I willingly threw myself into his arms.. I think" I struggled with formulating something to say.
"You can't fall for him Penny" there was a hint of sympathy in her voice, as she pleaded. I couldn't say to her that I was head over heels in love with the person she was trying so hard to keep me away from. But neither could I lie to her face, and tell her I had no feelings for him at all. I could only think of one thing to say.
"I'm sorry" I was unable to look her in the eyes. She just sighed and to my surprise, she embraced me in a tight hug.
"Just be careful okay?" she smiled as she drew back. "Don't trust him" she trailed off, her smile fading. There was a moment of silence.
"Maybe we should get back to Larry?" a smile crept up on her face at the sound of Larry, and we walked back out together.
I was sitting there stirring in the creamy liquid that filled the cup I was holding in my hand. Normally, I love frozen yogurt, but I was feeling too depressed to enjoy it. Evelyn and Larry was chatting and flirting and paying absolute no attention to me.
I spun the small plastic spoon several times around in the yogurt, making the once so tasty dessert into a gross melted fluid. There was something on the other side of the yogurt bar that got me distracted. Without noticing it, I poured the melted yogurt on the ground, luckily avoiding my clothes on the way down.
A couple of guys walked in, and a handful people even turned their heads to look at them. I watched him in awe as he strolled towards me, his fierce locks of hair sticking out from the beanie that covered his head.
"We need to leave" I muttered through clenched teeth, tightening my fists. Evelyn looked at me in confusion, and bam! It was too late. But Luke didn't stop.. He just kept walking, right past me. Pretending that he didn't see me, that I didn't exist. Evelyn was still looking at me, unsure of how to react to my sudden protest.
"You lovebirds stay here, I just.. I'll be right back!" I shot up from the chair before they managed to stop me and hurried out of the small bar.
Luke was very aware of the impact he had on me, and he knew very well what he was doing. But I couldn't help myself. No matter how much this guy hurt me, I just couldn't let go. I needed to talk to him. But how could I get him alone? He was walking around with his 'breaking cars' mates, and I had no intention of getting anywhere near them. How could I separate him from the rest of the group?
I kept an acceptable distance from them as I followed their every move. All of a sudden, Luke bent down, most likely to re-tie his shoes. The other guys kept walking, leaving Luke a bit behind. This was my chance. I sprinted over to him, snatched the beanie off his head and took a sharp turn, pushing past all the customers in the mall. I heard a loud grunt and footsteps behind me, getting closer.
I was just about to pass a corner as warm hands grabbed my shoulders, making me jerk back, followed by a silenced thud as he harshly shoved me against the wall. The violent grip he had on me loosened and his strict expression faded when he realized that it was me. His eyes went down to his beanie that was wrapped around my fingers, kept close to my chest in a sort of protective way.
"Why are you ignoring me?" I whimpered, tugging the beanie away when his hand reached to grab it. His eyes were locked with mine, and he started moving his hands around on my shoulders. For a moment, it seemed like he was massaging them, but then he let go and his eyes went to the ground.
"You know better than to mess with my gang" he mumbled. His voice was surprisingly pleasing to my ears. He looked back up at me with a grim look.
"I don't care" he didn't seem very happy with my reply, as he grabbed my shoulders again, pushing me back against the wall.
"I don't need you to take care of me! Stop trying to get control of me!" he snapped, raising his voice. A mournful look of regret travelled his face, followed by a cheeky smirk. He bit his lip in satisfaction as he discovered the love bite he had left on me. He drew back, carefully detaching the beanie from my grip and walked away, leaving me speechless.
