After school we go outside and get in Annie's car. Before we could pull out of the parking lot to go and have some ice cream at our favorite take-out place, Quentin comes running out in front of the vehicle.
"You fucking retard! What in the bloody hell do you think you are doing!?" Annie yells out of her window.
Runey gets out of the car and walks toward Quentin.
"What the hell Qi?" He puts his hands up in surrender.
"I just want to talk."
"You said plenty enough when you stuck your tongue down Angie's throat." She's about to start punching. Her fist is in the air about a foot from his face.
"In his defense, his tongue wasn't even on my lips," I counter.
"Shut the fuck up Angie," she warns me with the voice of hell and a smile on her face when she looks at me, telling me I'm not helping.
"I'm sorry ok?" He tries to walk toward her, but she takes a step back and throws her fist back like she means it.
"Don't, Quentin. I'm done."
"Please, just give me one more chance. I'm sorry I screwed it up."
I can tell that he means it. His eyes are dull and kinda red around the sides, like he's been crying.
"It's ok Rune." Annie yells through the window, "He means it."
Runey stands there a bit longer, contemplating. When she makes up her mind she throws her fist back and punches Quentin. I see blood shoot from his nose and he holds it. Then she spits on the ground next to him.
"I'll think about it."
He gets back up and nods to her. She apologizes and goes to hug him. He gratefully takes the hug. I thought the punch looked gnarly but he took it as he deserved it. Then the cars behind us honked and Runey ran back to the car and got in. We did a burn-out out of the parking lot and drove off.
*****
We get to Shelly's Ice Cream and Goods and sit at our favorite booth. I look over at the wall and smile. When we were in 4th grade we bought a sharpie and wrote our names on the wall. The owner, Shelly, didn't even care and gave us all free ice cream. She even took the sharpie and wrote her own name on the wall. We all laughed and talked about life and had a good time.
Shelly, by the way, is Runey's mom.
"Runey! You're here! How was school girls?" Speak of the devil, she's here.
"It was good mom," Runey looks down at the table and avoids eye contact with her mom. "I punched a kid in the face."
"Well good for you sweetheart. What did they do this time?" She sits next to me on the opposite side of the table as Annie and Runey.
"He kissed Angie right in front of me, and he knew that I had a thing for him."
"Well," she looks at me, "Did you kiss him back?"
I shake my head. I would never kiss Quentin. He's the friend type, not boyfriend material. He would never be able to handle me. I'm just too overly emotional and I overthink things way too often. No one knows this about me though. It's usually just late at night when no one is around.
"That's good then, I won't have to kill you for hurting my little girl."
"Oh shut up mom, you know you love her more than me," Runey exclaims.
Shelly just laughs and gets up from the table, later she brings us our favorite ice creams. Vanilla for Annie and Runey, chocolate for me.
When we finish our ice cream we head back to Annie's car.
Annie turns on the radio, and Love me like you do comes on. We all look at each other and then in unison we start belting out the words. When the song is over we laugh.
YOU ARE READING
Never About Me
Teen Fiction"It's a bad day, not a bad life." That's what Angela Suden thought before her life got turned upside down. Her friends are great, but are they hiding secrets? Her family SEEMS normal, but maybe it's just HER normal. Normality isn't always what you...
