Smile ll Raura

s i x

I walked to the school exit after school, looking for the big tree.

Laura told me she'd meet me here after school, and I don't think she's lying.

I kind of trust her, even though I don't really know her.

She seemed crazy, smiling all the time, thinking everything will be okay. But all she needs is someone who could understand her.

Who knows? I could be that someone, and maybe this friendship would lead us to something more..

Thoughts ran threw my mind as I laid my back on the tree.

"You came,"

I turned around to see Laura, "Of course I would come," I said as I smiled and buried my hands inside my pockets.

"Your not like the other guys I know, Ross.." She said, nodding and smiling at me.

I nodded back and shrugged, "So, what did you wanna talk about?" I asked.

"Do you remember when I said I had a rough past," she said, her smile turning into a side-smile.

"Yeah," I said, remembering her frowning.

"Well, I wanted to share it with you, I never told anyone about my past. Because.. well, there was no one to actually tell," she said, looking down.

"Go ahead," I said as she sat down at the grass, crossing her legs.

I copied her and waited, eagerly wanting to know what happened in the past.

She breathed deeply and looked at me in the eyes, "I was 6 years old, I had a sister named Vanessa. She was 9 years old,"

I nodded. She continued, "We were at school, and we used to always play hide and seek and climb the tree to hide. It was my turn to find her. When I was looking for her, I looked at the top of this big tree and saw Vanessa scarily hugging the top branch of the tree

"I was terrified! Vanessa kept screaming for help and I quickly ran inside the school to tell mom and dad. When I told them and quickly came back running, she-she.."

I already knew the answer. But seeing her face made me want to cry.

"She was dead..." She said as a tear slid down her cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling my eyes water a little.

"The top tree branch that she was on broke into half and she fell from up there to down here," she pointed at the top tree branch, which was chopped then down the grass. And damn, that was a long fall.

A fresh round of tears formed and streamed down her face.

I hugged her tighter, feeling a tear rolling down my cheek from seeing her crying and in this situation.

After a minute of comfortable silence, she glanced up at me.

"R-Ross, I feel better. T-thank you.. for listening a-and," she said with a shaky voice.

"Shh.." I whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead.

"And thank you for your existence," she whispered and took a deep breathe.

"I'm glad you got this off your chest, Laura." I said, stroking her hair gently, "Hey, wanna watch a movie and bake some cupcakes?" I asked.

"You know how to bake cupcakes?" She asked with a chuckle.

"I can learn. You can teach me," I said shrugging.

"O-okay. Let's do it then, chef." She joked after she pulled away from my arms.

Getting up, I leaded her to my car and opened the passenger seat door for her.

I was such a gentlemen. A real gentlemen. Not like PSY would say, if you know what I mean..

"Thank you," she said before sitting and putting her seatbelt on.

I got to the other side, but before I entered the car, I saw her.

I saw Grace, holding a phone in her hands, and a devilish grin plastered on her face.