Strong Enough 2

Chapter 5

I wake up and stretch my arms across the bed. I feel an empty space. Where's Mya? I begin to panic but immediately relax when I see her walk out of the bathroom. She smiles at me. "Good morning," she says softly. She crawls onto the bed, but she's sitting a little too far from me so I pull her closer.

"Good morning," I tell her, kissing her forehead.

"I'll be right back," she tells me. I pout when she gets up and she laughs. I can't help but stare at the way my shirt bunches up at her upper thighs. I bite down on my lip and she catches me staring. She pulls the shirt down before walking out of the room.

It seems like forever until she comes back. She hands me a granola bar and some orange juice. We talk for hours and I end up laying on her lap while she traces the waves in my hair with her finger.

"So are you ready for school again?" I asked her.

"Ugh!" she exclaims and falls backwards on the bed. "I guess that's a no then," I chuckle.

This summer has gone by super fast and I never wanted it to end. I spent almost every day with her and honestly, it was the best summer I've ever had.

...

Mya's POV

This is my second week of tenth grade and its been great so far. I have some classes with Marlon, but it seems like we've been separated from everyone else.

"Hey girl!" Marlon says when I walk up to him. I smile and hug him. "Off to biology!" he beams. I groan and we both laugh.

It's finally lunch time! Marlon and I meet Gabby, Ronnie, and Tai at our table. We talk and laugh our heads off the whole time. Then I feel Tai's hand form into fist underneath my mine.

I turn towards him and see that his face is set in a deep scowl. I look to see what he's staring at. I see a boy on the other side of the cafeteria with the same look on his face. The boy looks like he's really tall, but I can't really tell because he's sitting down. He has dark, short, curly hair and a tan complexion. He also has a thin mustache and long sideburns.

"Who is that?" I whisper into Tai's ear. His eyes turn soft when he looks at me. "Nobody. It's okay, don't worry about it," he smiles and kisses my cheek. I lay my head on his shoulder. I look up and notice that the guy he was glaring at is now looking over at us with an evil grin. I look away from him and focus on my friends.

It's the end of the day and I go to my locker to get my things. Marlon got checked out and Gabby is supposed to meet me downstairs.

I get everything out of my locker and I start to organize it, but I pause when I feel something cold on my lower back. I whirl around and come face to face with the guy that Tai was looking at earlier.

"Hey," he says with a devilish smirk.

"Uhm....hi," I tell him while closing my locker.

"Where you going?" he asks when I begin to walk away. "I have to meet someone downstairs," I tell him.

"Tai right?" he asks. "No," I say. He gets closer to me and I take a step back.

"Oh. But I don't see how you like Tai anyway. He's such a douche."

"No he's not," I say through my teeth. "Calm down. All I'm saying is that you should be with someone like me. My name is Rico by the way," he says.

Well nice to meet you Rico," I say, turning to walk away. "Bye."

I feel him grip my wrist when I try to walk away. He pulls me close to him. "And where do you think you're going?" he asks with a smile. He looks at something over my shoulder and flashes that devilish smirk again. I try to turn around to see what he's looking at but he grabs my face and kisses me. He even grabs my butt! I try my best to escape his grip but he's too strong. I manage to lift my knee and hit him as hard as I can. He falls to his knees and I punch him in the face. My hand hurts but I ignore the pain. I turn around to see Gabby looking at me with wide eyes.

"Wow," she says. "That was awesome!" I pick up my bag and look down at Rico. He's on the floor, clearly in pain, but he still has that evil grin on his face.

Tai's POV

I get out of class and go to my locker. I glance down at my phone and its going to be a while until my bus gets here. I decide to go see Mya and hang with her until I have to leave. I spot Gabby about ten lockers down from me and I walk over to her. "Where's Mya?" I ask her.

"Umm... I think she should be upstairs right now," she tells me. I nod and head towards the steps.

Maybe I should bring her something. She's usually really hungry at this time. I think to myself. I walk to the end of the hall and buy a honeybun from the vending machine.

I go back to the steps and rush to the top floor, skipping two steps at a time. The hall seems empty and quiet unlike downstairs. I spot Mya's sky blue bag and begin to walk towards her, but I stop when I see her and Rico talking.

Why is she talking to him? She should know that I don't like him and she needs to stay far away from him. He's always talking about how he'll take her away from me and I hate the way he talks about her. He talks as if she's just a piece of meat like all these other girls. He thinks that he can 'treat her better' but he can't. He couldn't possibly love her like I do. No one can.

I almost walk over there and break his neck until I see them kiss. My heart breaks into a million little pieces and the room starts to spin. I run as fast as I can down the steps and out of the building.

Why would she do that? Doesn't she love me? Of course she does. But maybe she doesn't.

I decide to walk home instead of taking the bus. I can't believe she did that to me. I thought she understood how much I love her. I walk and try to clear my mind, then I bump into something. I look up to see an old friend of mine.

"Hey what's up man?" he says.

"Hey Deshawn. Long time no see huh?" I say.

"Yeah we missed you man... You should come with me to our old hideout, just like old times." I agree even though I know its wrong.

We get to our old hideout and it's just like I remember it. I see all the people from my past, before I met Ronnie and became a 'decent' person. I see a couple of girls here too. I don't remember any of their names but I do remember the things they did with us in this hideout.

Looking at them make me think of Mya and how they'll never be like her. I try my best to shake her from my head.

"Here. You look like you need this," Deshawn says, handing me a cup. I haven't drank in years and my first sip stings a little. My phone vibrates and I look down to see that Mya is calling me. I'm so tempted to answer but I'm still angry so I ignore her call. I lay back in one of our old beanbag chairs and let the cold alcohol burn my throat.