Strong Enough 2

Chapter 12

"Ow!" Tré yells as I put ice on his eye. "Be still," I tell him and he obeys.

I still can't believe that our dad punched him. My mom has gone back to her old self. She stopped talking again and she can't seem to look at Tré without tearing up.

I walk downstairs and see her with her coffee mug, staring blankly at the wall. I don't say anything, I just walk out the door and head to school. I decide to walk to school alone today and try my best to clear my mind.

I walk into school and see my best friends. They smile as soon as they see me and I instantly feel a little better. I look to Marlon and he's grinning from ear to ear.

"You seem happier than usual today," I tell him.

"I've met someone," he says dramatically.

"Really! Who?" I say equally as dramatic. He points to a boy walking down the hall towards us. He has dark hair and beautiful bright blue eyes. He's shorter than Marlon- about my height I think.

"Mya. Gabby. This is Nathan," Marlon says when the boy gets to us. "Hey!" Gabby and I say simultaneously. He smiles and says, "Hi. Nice to meet you." He grabs Marlon's hand and we all head to class.

...

At lunch, Marlon, Nathan, Gabby, Ronnie, and I find our table and sit to eat. I feel kind of lonely today. I haven't seen Tai all day.

We talk and laugh but my mind is still on Tai. Maybe he's sick or something. Hopefully he's okay. Then suddenly, I feel a strong arm wrap around me. When I look up, I see Tai's dark brown eyes.

"Hey," he says and puts his arm behind his back with the other one.

"What's that?" I ask with a raised brow. He pulls a McDonald's bag from behind his back.

"I know you don't like school lunch, so I brought you a little something, something." He sits down next to me and I hug him. He kisses my forehead and I hear hundreds of "Awes" around the cafeteria. We both roll our eyes and he hands me the bag. I look in the bag and I see that there's only enough for me to eat.

"You didn't want anything?" I ask him.

"Nah. I'm not hungry. I just want you to eat," he says. I smile and dig into the food.

After school, Tai walks me home, as usual. I can't help but stare at him during the entire walk. It's hot outside and he's shirtless. He catches me staring and smirks at me.

"Oh my gosh Mya! Stop it," he says, trying to sound like a dramatic girl. He covers his chest with his arms and swats my shoulder. I bust out laughing and he swats me again.

When we get to my place, we decide to sit under my favorite tree.

"Why do you like this tree so much?" Tai asks, picking off a flower and putting it in my hair. "I used to spend like everyday under this tree. Well my mom, Tré and I did. My mom use to braid my hair here and sing to me. And we all use to play tag here. This use to be base..." I trail off and I start to tear up. I miss the old days. When all of us were happy. Before he started to destroy our lives.

Tai reaches over and wipes a tear from my cheek. He hugs me and I bury my face into his chest. I look up at him and attempt a smile. He pokes the dimple on my cheek and chuckles.

We stay this way for a while until his phone goes off. He pulls it out of his pocket. He looks down at it and frowns. "You okay?" I ask him. "Yeah," he says. "But I have to go."

We stand and he walks me to the door. He kisses me. "I love you," he says with his face just inches from mine. "I love you too," I tell him. He lets me go and walks away, leaving me standing in front of my door.