My Town's Robots (ON HOLD)

Second: Mouth-clamping and Memories

"A--and it's just that I put in so much effort into this relationship! Whenever he comes here in his drunk state, I--I just don't know what to do!"

I've heard that line for the nth time now. That's the number of times Candice's heart has been shattered by Noah, yet she still doesn't wanna break with him.

Candice: She's pretty, has long blonde hair, and she used to be popular. But she wasn't the mean kind of popular. She was the friendly and kind type of popular. Someday last year, she helped me up from the drain my bullies, Jonas and his gang, pushed me in. It was kind of the daily thing, me getting bullied. Candice's "friends" saw her help me up, kicked her out of their clique, and lowered her social ranking. Candice had no friends, so she started to hang out with me. We have been friends ever since, and became really close gradually. Luckily, with her optimism, Candice overcame the cruel fact and the occasional bullying. She would fill me on the latest gossip she heard from the people near her lcoker, and fashion tips, even though I wouldn't really use them. However, all schools got shut down after a new law was imposed: All students had to be home-schooled.

Gently pressing the pack of frozen peas against her bruises, I tried calming her down. 

"Want one?"

"Why do you know my weaknesses?"

I grinned at Keegan as I handed Candice the pack of gummies I brought out with me. Walking over to her shelf, I picked out a Disney movie to play. 

Here's a tip: If a sad, sad Candice appears infront of you, just give her gummies and a Disney movie marathon. She'll turn back to normal after a good night's sleep. Kudos to me spending an unusual amount of  time with her. If not for the hair colour, we might be mistaken for sisters, really.

"Great job, as always," Keegan whispered into my ear.

"Yeah, that's what you always say. Now enjoy the movie."

~~~~~

"Shhh, Candice is asleep now. Don't make too much noise!"

"Oh shut up, Alexa. We done this so many times," Keegan said, annoyed, while arranging the bunch of arm candies on his wrist.

"Yeah, what about the previous time you decided to not care and woke Candice up because her foot was on your face? And then we had to spend another 2 hours to put her back to sleep so that we could leave?"

Giggles erupted from Keegan's mouth as I ran to his side of the bed to clamp his mouth shut. A long, tired groan came from Candice. Keegan and I evacuated her house immediately. Sorry, Candice. No reenactments.

"So, I guess see you next time? Hopefully not for this kind of stuff again, though."

"Mhm. Bye!"

Humming to myself a tune I made up, I walked down the deserted streets. Time check:

1:00AM

Oh mouldy cheeseburgers.

I ran all the way back home. House after house, I halted when I heard an awfully scary and all too familiar voice.

"Where do you think you're going, hmm?"

I froze in my spot.

Stay calm now, Alexa. No, don't turn around. Think happy things. Rainbows. Flowers. Marshmallows. Chocolate.

"Turn around, let me have a good look at you."

Who am I kidding? Run.

My rapid heartbeat and footsteps seem to be in sync as I see my house a few steps away. I've never looked at my home so longingly before. Home. Home. Home.

An iron-like grip clamped down on my right shoulder as my blood ran cold. No.

Turning around, I screamed as loud as I could, hoping that I could wake the entire neighbourhood up for them to save me from this monster.

A hand clamped down on my mouth, and my screams became muffled.

"Well well well. Look at you, no bruises and wounds. I have to get used to seeing that," Jonas' warm breath fanned my neck. I flailed my arms around whilst trying to squirm out of his iron-like grip. 

"Let me go!" My attempt at speaking failed.

Oh please please please send help.

"Jonas, what the hell are you doing?"

Thank God.

Letting go of me, both of us turned around to see who spoke. To say that I'm relived is an understatement.

Vance.

"Ah, Vance. The boy who left for another country, got into a car accident and lost his memory, eh? Why are you back here anyway?"

"I came back 3 months ago, guess you aren't social enough to hear from somebody else? For the record, I didn't lose all of my memory," Vance replied coolly.

"Whatever, stay out of our business."

Vance: My childhood best friend. We've been friends since diapers, and I'm proud to say that I know all of his embarrassing moments and he knew mine. Yeap, past tense. After that car accident that made him lose his memory, his parents sent him back here. They aren't very well-off, either. Lucky for him, he could remember almost everything -- his parents, close family members, where he lives and a couple of names. He could remember those but not me. Right now he only treats me like an acquaintance, forgetting all of our good times playing in sandboxes, Friday movie marathon nights, secret-sharing moments. And it hurt me greatly. I had a crush on him all this while, since we were twelve. Afraid that me confessing my feelings would affect our relationship, I hid them in a diary, never to be seen again.

But now seeing him for the first time in months, everything came rushing back, and it's harder to control it this time.

"Leave, Jonas. Leave the poor girl alone. Why do you do this anyway? Just go," Vance commanded.

Walking two steps closer to me, Jonas' beer-breath made contact with my face as he huskily whispered, "this isn't over." He left.

Letting out a breath I didn't know I held all this while, I looked at Vance with gratitude. I could've been lying on the ground, bruised and bleeding right now.

"I -- uh, thank you, Vance. Thank you very, very much."

"Welcome, Alexa. See you next time." Without glancing back at me, he crossed the road back into his his house. 

"Yeah, see you..." And I hope you remember me when you do, I wanted to say.

~~~~~

Hope you all enjoyed this update! A little filler on the characters (Keegan will have to wait, though. May or may not come as a surprise!) Stay tuned to the next chapter :)

Cheese!