We were just two odd teenagers, laughing in the park at midnight in our homecoming attire.
We were in our own little world, and no one else could enter except us.
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"Do you want to go for a walk in the park, Lisa said I had to take someone with me?" Rachel asked me from my doorway. I looked up at her from my maths homework and smiled. "Anything to get away from maths," I said grabbing my hoodie. She smiled. "Let's go." She said. We jogged downstairs, and into the kitchen, where Lisa was sitting, reading a magazine. "Mom, Carson and I are going to the park." She said and grabbed a peach. "Oh okay, honey, enjoy." she said and smiled. I smiled and caught another peach that Rachel had tossed to me. "Thanks," I said to her and we walked out of the kitchen.
"So, what is your favourite fruit?" I asked Rachel as we ate our peaches. She sighed. "Hmm, I've loved mango and watermelon all my life, but recently I've been more drawn toward the peaches and oranges." She said. I laughed and nodded. "I'm a mango fan too, but my favourite fruit is definitely the raspberries." I said with a smile. She looked at me. "What about their favourite cousin the strawberry?" she asked. I shook my head. "No, I'm allergic to strawberries." I said, taking a bite out of my peach. "Oh," she nodded.
We made it to the park. I looked around for Leila, just in case I saw her. I always looked out for her every time I came here. "Who are you looking for?" Rachel asked me. I was quite startled at Rachel's voice, I almost forgot about her. "Oh, just a mother I met here a few weeks ago." I said. She smiled. "Okay," she said. We walked for a while, until we both laid eyes on the huge oak tree far off from the benches. "Race you to the old oak," I said and started running. I chuckled, knowing I was going to win, but that soon came to an end when I got to the oak and realized Rachel hadn't even started running.
I looked at her confused. She was walking with her hands covered with her windbreaker's sleeves. When she got to the tree, she smiled and walked toward the tree. "Why didn't you run?" I asked her. She smiled, but it faltered. "I can't run, I have an ankle problem," she said sadly and then started climbing the tree. My mouth hung open as I looked down at the ground. When I looked back up, she was sitting on a thick branch near the top of the tree. I sighed and started climbing. Once I reached her, I sat next to her and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know." she looked at me and smiled. "I'm fine, it's fine." she said. "Thanks, but what happened anyway?" I asked. She was looking down at the playground, which I soon noticed was a really beautiful view.
"Oh, I fell down a fleet of stairs and broke it. The doctors said that because it was so badly damaged, I could never run again, or not fast anyway. I can jog, just not run, if you know what I mean?" she said, looking at me. I smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." I said, my eyes staring into hers. She smiled then broke the eye contact. I frowned a little, but quickly covered it up with a smirk. "I've broken many bones before, like a dozen." I said. She looked at me and smiled. "Yeah?" she asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I broke my leg, my arm, I fractured my rib and also broke my hand, can't remember the rest." I said then laughed. She laughed as well then looked at me.
"Were they all accidents?" she asked. I sighed then swallowed hard. "Uh no, they weren't accidents," I said and looked at her. She looked at me with such innocence I was scared that if I even touched her, she'd be contaminated. "Um, my father broke and fractured the bones I mentioned, thought I'd try to be honest from now on." I said, trying to laugh to lessen the tension, but it died before if could even become a proper laugh. I felt Rachel's hand touch mine, before she squeezed it. I looked at our hands and felt something inside of me build up. I'm not sure of what it was, but it felt good. I looked at her. She was already looking at me. "I'm sorry about your father," she said softly. I felt my eyes burning with the urge to free the captive tears, but I tried to hold it in. I gave her a broken smile, but something inside of me tore through that and spoke words that I dreaded.
