Can't - Mark Tuan Fan fic

11 - It's Between Me and Lara

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Lara was crying as two men take her out the room. "Cee. I'm sorry. Please don't let them take me. Please. I don't want to go there."

I looked at her with my blurry eyes as the doctor tended to a knife cut on my back. "Let her go." I tried to shout. "It was my fault." I turned to my mom beside me. She's crying as she looked down at me. "Mom. Please. Just let her go."

"Not this time, honey. Not again." She said, shaking her head. 

"Mom. It was an accident. I told you already. She didn't mean to do it. It was just an accident." I lied.

I get up for the second time this morning, my bed wet with my own sweat so are my cheeks with tears. I continue sobbing, hugging Mr. Puffy tightly against my chest. 

"Cris?" Angie, who just came in the room, runs to my side. "What happened?" She turns me around and puts her arms around me, cradling my head on her lap. 

I just keep on crying. Why would I suddenly remember that time? Is it my guilt because of last night? My worries because of the call from Trey? Those memories are supposed to be erased. Why are they coming back now? 

Six years ago, I was 14, my mom decided to let me see a shrink. She was worried that I'd end up like Lara. The sessions were supposed to help me forget about those horrible times. It did let me forget for a while. 

My mom said I was too protective over her, that she thought Lara did something to me to help her hide her evil side. 

For me, she's not evil. Not at all. Her problems made her do things she didn't want to do. It's like somebody else was controlling her during those times. Something that, even after I've grown up, I still couldn't explain. 

Lara's mom died of leukemia when we were just seven. I didn't know her before. One day, my dad came home with a little girl my age and her father. I still can't forget that day, because it was one of the happiest days during my childhood.

"Look who decided to stay with us, my little bear."  My dad said with a smile, pointing at the shy little girl hiding behind her father. 

I went to his waiting arms as he knelt on the floor to hug me. "Who is she?" I asked, peeping over my dad's broad shoulder to take a look at her. 

"This is Lara." My dad extended his right arm, asking Lara to go to him. "She's gonna be your playmate from now on. You should treat her as your sister, ok?"

"Playmate?" My eyes get bigger with delight. I've always asked my parents for my friends to sleep over the house, but they never allowed it. I couldn't contain my happiness knowing that I would be having a friend who'd actually be here the whole day and night. My mind was busy imagining what fun things we could do. "Lara?" I smiled at her. "I'm Cristina."

Lara and I immediately clicked. There was no doubt that we became BFFs instantly. Even though her dad insisted that she stayed with him in one of the small rooms at the basement, I let her sleep with me in my room. It was all fun after that. Until we turned eight. 

"How come you always get what you want?" She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I got here first." She was standing on top of the slide with me. She really got there first, but I was just too eager to wait for my turn. 

"You can go two times if you want." I told her, trying to make a deal. 

"No!" Without warning, she pushed me down the slide. 

I cried all the way back inside the house with a bleeding nose and a big lump on my forehead. 

That was minor. The following years got more and more serious. She had pushed me down the stairs because I wouldn't let her wear my tiara, so dad bought her another one. She killed my cat because it scratched her and left a mark on her leg. She cut my hair when I wasn't looking because I curled it and she wanted hers curled, too. There were just too many.