Phoenix Howell- Goodbyes and Hellos

The Second Day of School

To Tyde: I'm still so sorry for lying to you. I was afraid. I love you.
I sent the message to Tyde praying that he would finally text back. I had been trying to reach him since last night. My heart beat fast when I heard my phone vibrate.
From Tyde: I don't feel like talking quite yet. Just be ready for me to pick you up.
Shit, he's still mad.
I got out of bed and started to get dressed. I put on a white cropped tee, a floral vinyl jacket, ripped black jeans and black canvas shoes. I grabbed my bookbag and headed to where I heard noise coming from. I found Dan and Phil sitting in the gaming channel room talking about a new video idea and munching on cereal.
Dan stood from his chair and walked towards me.
"Nix, can we speak for a second?" He said, putting his hand on my shoulder and guiding me down the stairs back to my room.
"Are we going to have the 'cigarettes are bad, don't get cancer.' Talk?" I asked.
"Cigarettes are bad, don't get cancer. That's very true. I guess I don't really have to talk about it. Just be careful, okay?" Dan said.
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you need a ride to school? Are you and Tyde-"
"He said he would drive me."
"Alright. Get some breakfast. Love you." He said.
~
I was sitting on the step out front when Tyde pulled into a parking space outside of the flat. He got out of his car and walked over to me, helping me up from the pavement. He opened the passenger seat door and helped me in before getting back to his seat.
I stayed quiet, not sure if his helping me meant he had forgiven me.
"Phoenix?"
"Hm?"
"I love you." He said.
"I love you so much." I said back.
"I know, and I'm so sorry. I acted like such a dick. I never should've just left you outside. I was an asshole. I was just mad, I didn't like that you lied to me. I should've understood your feelings though. All the anger that you've ever seen has been fueled by your father. You had a right to be afraid of anger. I'm so sorry." He said.
"I shouldn't have lied about it." I said quietly. My eyes filled with tears.
"Phoenix, are you okay?"
"Yeah, it just hurts a little." I lied, pointing to my stomach.
~
I was sitting in the same spot during break, sketching just as I had before when Aleigha and Gracie sat across from me at the table, just as they had promised.
This time Aleigha was dressed in a black and white shirt and leggings. Gracie was wearing a white button down shirt and a black skirt.
"Whatcha drawing there?" Gracie asked, leaning over the table to look at my sketchbook. I quickly covered it. "Uh-nothing."
Aleigha reached across the table and grabbed it from me.
"Its personal. Please just stop." I pleaded.
She looked at the sketch for a quick second before handing the book back.
"Sorry, I didn't realize."
"It's okay."
We talked for a while before Gracie had to leave for her English Literature class. This left Aleigha and I alone.
"Want to take a walk? Sitting at this table is tiring me out." Aleigha asked me.
I put my stuff back into my messenger bag before getting up from the table. We walked to the track which was just outside of the courtyard. We left our stuff on the benches outside the track.
"So Tyde is your boyfriend. Howell is your last name. Any relation to Daniel?" She asked.
"You know my brother." I said, a bit disappointed. I was unsure if she was talking to me to be my friend now or to get to Dan. She lit a cigarette and took a drag.
"Dan is my little sister's big crush right now." She laughed and shook her head. "He's all she talks about." She handed the cigarette in my direction.
"No thanks." I said, "Tyde's got a thing about smoking and-"
"And he got pissed yesterday. I saw you two fighting in his car." She said.
"He wasn't too happy with me."
"Well..that's his problem." She said. She pulled up her sleeves. It was quite hot out today.
"Yeah, I'd rather not anger him though." I said.
Aleigha swung her arms as she walked. Every time that her left arm swung out something caught my eye. I looked closer the next time that she moved. Her arm was puffy and red. From just below her wrist to about the middle of her arm was covered in burns and scratches.
My immediate thought was that she must've done it to herself. The cuts must've been covered up by her sleeves before. It was too soon to say anything about it, i had only known her for about a day. I tried to ignore it for the time being.
~