Cages

chapter three (edited)

The next morning I woke up and went downstairs to the kitchen in search of food. Since summer started I've been extra lazy and I haven't got around to going to the grocery store to buy more food. I always made a mental note to but I never actually did it. I'll be lucky to find something that'll atleast make a small meal.

But as always, luck was not on my side.

I opened the fridge to reveal it only held ketchup, a small amount of milk, a can of soda, cheese & jelly.

As sad as it is to admit, I actually considered putting ketchup on a slice of cheese and just eating it, if only to put off going to the store for another day.

I sighed and closed the fridge door. I procrastinated long enough and when my stomach rumbled in hunger there was no doubt I was starting to face the consequences. I was gonna have to make a trip to the store.

My aunt Linda (my dad's younger sister) sent the money last week. I grabbed my wallet and keys and opened my front door only to bump into Lola.

“Where you headed?” she smiled.

I knew I shouldn't have let her in last night. I mentally went back in time and cursed myself. Now she thought we were friends or something. Girls always took one little thing and ran with it.

I glared at her. “What, are you stalking me now?”

Lola laughed. “If I was stalking you I wouldn't have asked where you were going, I would've just followed you.”

“Good to know.” I muttered, looking down at her skinny frame. “Now move, some people have to actually buy food to eat.”

She ignored my jab. “So you're going to the grocery store.” she smiled.

Crap.

They always get you to slip up, one way or another.

“No, I'm going to Mars to get food.” I said dryly, moving past her & towards my car.

Like the annoying girl she was, Lola followed.

“I have pizza in the house.” she said. “My parents bought like three boxes as if they were gonna be there.”

“I don't need to hear about your dysfunctional family.” I told her, unlocking my car.

Atleast she has one. Said the even more vicious voice in my head.

I hated that voice. It always betrayed me by saying my true emotions, no matter how cruel they came out.

Lola smiled. “Come on, Kacey. You helped me last night, now I want to help you. Besides, I won't eat all that pizza by myself. I can always share.”

I opened the door to the driver's seat but didn't get inside. I thought about her offer. It was tempting but was I really that desperate to put off buying groceries?

As another wave of hunger hit me, the answer was yes. Yes, I was.

I closed my door back and locked my car again. I began to walk past her, back into my house. “Are you gonna go get it?” I asked.

Lola smiled and went back into her house to get the pizza. A couple minutes later she was inside my house with three boxes. We sat on my couch as she began to lift the lid off one of the boxes then froze. “Do you like pepperoni?”

“No.” I said with a straight face.

Lola closed the box back. “Sorry, they're all pepperoni.  I should've asked first.”

I glared at her as if it was her fault. “Great.” I muttered. I flipped the box open and took a slice, picking off the pepperoni.

It amazed me that no matter how mean I was, Lola never called me out for it. I mean, she was nice enough to bring me boxes of pizza & here I was being rude because it had pepperoni. If I were her I would've lost my cool long ago.

But then again, I wouldn't even be sharing in the first place.

I picked off the last piece of meat before looking at her. “Why are you so nice to me?” I asked.

She seemed taken off guard at my sudden question & swallowed her bite of pizza. “What do you mean?” she asked with a smile.

“That!” I snapped, gesturing to her face. “All I do is be a jerk and you just laugh & smile it off like it's nothing. There's no such things as killing people with kindness if that's what you're doing. It's way easier to just use your fists.”

Lola laughed at my outburst. “Like I said,” she said, sobering down. “It doesn't hurt to have another friend.”

But what if you don't have any friends in the first place? The bitter voice wanted to speak out but instead I kept it inside.

“I don't want friends.” I said instead.

“What you want isn't always what you need.” Lola smiled.

I wanted to argue that I didn't need anyone but instead dug into my food, keeping it at that.