This Is Where It Begins (Asthmo x Lance)

<<One>>

Mari's P.O.V.

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The sweet silence of the trees made my thoughts seem a lot less stressful. Yes, they were pretty powerful to me, since I tended to keep my thoughts to myself, but the wisp of the leaves made my thoughts seem a lot lighter than they were. With many problems at home, I had no one to vent to about school problems and I had no friends to speak to since I did not want them worrying about me. The park was usually quiet and not many people came around to ruin the silence that came upon it. Today, in particular, it was windy and the noise of the branches moving and the wind passing through made the day seem less cloudy. It seemed as it was going to rain, and I did not mind it one bit. I quite liked the rain when it came around. My head was becoming clear from all of the air, yet I took a small glance from the ground and saw a strange figure walking my way. A cigarette lit in his mouth as he took it out of his mouth and blew the cancerous smoke out. His other hand in the pocket of his leather jacket. I stuck my head back down, staring back at my shoes. 

"Hey, kid." His footsteps came even closer, soon to where I could see it in my field of view. He stood there for a few moments as I tried to ignore him.

"Are you brain dead? I'm talking to you. I would appreciate if you at least looked at me." His voice echoed into my ears as he broke the silence. I slightly looked at him and tried my best not to initiate conversation. 

"Wow, you must be. Why are you out here alone? Are you too autistic for your friends anymore?" He kicked my shoe, trying to get an answer from me. 

"Can you just stop?" I spit out the words, staring right at him. 

"Why should I, Autismo?" 

"What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" I stood up, slightly getting into his face. 

"Did you not just hear me? I called you... AUTISMO." He stood taller than me. I couldn't handle fighting him since I heard a lot about him and I wasn't the type to fight anyways. My life might be filled with fighting, but I sure as hell will not follow those tracks. 

"Excuse me. I will be leaving." I tried my best to slide out of his way. 

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" His voice slightly cracked as he said so. His hand flung over and pulled on my sweatshirt, almost pulling me onto him. I spun around and pushed him off of me.

"I'm sorry that you don't have the fucking capacity to pick on someone else, but can you at least leave me alone? If my friends don't want me, then why would you want me either? All you have to do is pass me. I don't even need your judgment to know I'm a fucking problem. So thanks for adding on to my fucking list." My eyes began to tear up as I said this. Why did I say it, and where did all of this come from? I spun around as he gave me a quizzical expression. His face seemed softer than before. I began to walk the other way, slightly wiping a tear from my face. 

"Ugh, hey. I'm sorry. Here, let me make it up to you. How about we hang out or something?" He grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. 

"I'd rather not." I ripped his hand off of my shoulder and continued to walk.

"Your name's Mari, right?" I stopped and spun around, looking at him with a puzzled expression. 

"How do you know that?" His face seemed very concerned. His shoulders were more slumped than before and he seemed genuinely upset. 

"Huh? I'm talking to you now. You can at least give me a nod." I growled at him. His head slightly shook as he looked back at me. He stood a small amount taller and his mouth began to open, his eyes averted away from me. 

"I heard about you. I hear a lot about you. Supposedly you're very quiet and so-called 'mysterious' as people say. What's up with you? Why do you seem so dumb, yet, you are not? Why do you keep to yourself so much? You do have friends, right?"His ears slightly fell down, looking down to the ground.

"Pfft. Thanks for calling me dumb. I really am, but, does that matter to you? Why do you want to hang out with me after you practically just called me Autistic?" I glared at him with as my eyebrows furrowed.

"You really aren't dumb. You seem pretty smart to me. And I want to hang out with you because I feel bad for picking on you. I didn't mean to make you cry, really. You just seem so weird and stuff with friends, but, quiet and preserved when you're alone." 

"Huh.." I didn't know what to say. 

"Please just hang out with me. You don't need to talk to me after this, I just want you to know that I truly am sorry." He held his arm as he said so to me. His face seemed too genuine for me to just walk away. 

"Fine. But you try anything, and I'm leaving." He gave me a soft smile as I turned around and continued to walk as he made his way up beside me.