Girl Who Cried Wolf

Danger

"Uh, why are we here?" Tillie asked as Tyla parked the car outside the front of the apartment complex.

"Because our apartment is in there," Tracey answered and Tyla felt her cheeks flush. Now the whole school's gonna know she doesn't live in a house like everyone else.

"Oh, I didn't know you lived in an apartment," Tillie said and Tillie nodded and hummed.

"It ain't so bad, come on," Tyla said and lead Tillie, Tracey, and Kassandra up the metal stairs to their floor and fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

Tracey and Kassandra squirmed in past Tyla's body and rushed to their bedrooms.

"Uh, welcome, I guess," Tyla said keeping the door open for Tillie. The moment Tillie entered, she closed and locked and bolted the door, trying her best to keep any embarrassment from her face as Tillie looked around.

"It's nice, are your parents at work? Do you need to call them and let them know I'm staying?" Tillie asked and now Tyla couldn't keep the nervousness away. Her face must be as red as a tomato now and her hand reached up to rub at the back of her neck.

"Nah," was all Tyla said and collapsed onto their ratty couch. Tillie sat down tentively besides her then pulled out her health folder and the robot baby box.

"So, I looked at the baby earlier," Tillie started and opened the box and dumped everything out. Instead of something like a doll inside, a bunch of metal and plastic and a mop that looked something like a wig was inside. "And I don't know what to do. I guess we have to build it but there aren't any instructions."

"I think it's supposed to come together. Someone must've broken it," Tyla explained then picked up an oddly bent piece to prove her point.

"Should we try to get another from Mrs. Garcia tomorrow?" Tillie suggested. Tyla almost laughed at the look of panic stetching itself on Tillie's face.

"And miss a whole day of data? No way. I can fix it," Tyla said determinedly. Picking up a couple of pieces and examining them.

"Okay, knock yourself out," Tillie said, not seeming to believe her very much. She relaxed into the couch and stared at Tyla, Tyla pretended not to notice. "I have a couple questions for you..."

"About?" Tyla asked, too involved in what she was doing to look at Tillie.

"You." Tillie said and Tyla sighed. "I mean, I've heard all the stuff they say at school. But they must've left out a lot of stuff..." Tillie didn't expect Tyla to snort then.

"Yeah, a helluva lot," she said and Tillie smiled nervously, not sure what Tyla meant by that.

"Like your siblings for instance, I didn't know you had little siblings."

"I know. Really only Auburn and you know now and I'd appreciate it if you didn't go telling the whole school," Tyla seemed annoyed which also didn't make since to Tillie.

"Why would you care? I thought you loved the attention." Tyla snorted again.

"Hate it, actually. And I don't want to drag Tracey and Kassandra into it. I don't give a crap what sort of things they say about me but if they start calling Tracey or Kassandra sluts, whores, take your pick-" Tyla started off angry but by the end of her sentence she had to close her eyes and bite her lip.

"They- they won't do that would they? I mean, they aren't-"

"They aren't and I am, yeah I know. You don't have to say it," Tyla said and Tillie realized how kind and open Tyla had been to her previously. She drove her here, tried to be friends, even tried to fix the robot, which can't be easy. But now, she seemed to close off, which Tillie wasn't expecting. Tyla doesn't seem to care who knows that she's a prostitute at school. She doesn't seem to mind the insults, one of the rumors is that she enjoys them. Maybe Tillie was completely wrong about Tyla.

"I'm gonna go outside and call my parents, let them know where I am," Tillie decided was a good scapegoat. She stood up and took her phone out of her pocket.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tyla said as she got closer to the door. Tillie's hand was already unlocking the deadbolt.

"Why not?"

"This isn't exactly the safest neighborhood. Just standing outside, alone and distracted on a phone, isn't a good idea." Tyla said and Tillie fixed the deadbolt. Backing away from the door.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, they won't get you in here. I got locks on everything and there are knives in the kitchen and some in my room. You can call your parents in the bathroom or something," Tyla said and pointed to a door Tillie assumed was the bathroom. She slipped inside and dialed her parents.

This was going to be one interesting week.