The Girl In The Suit

Tasha

I step out of the car and I say goodbye to my mother and we all thank her. We walk to the cinema, my hand in Gabrielle's and Anne and Gemma following behind. I know something's up with them, and not something good. I might ask Gemma after the movie.

We go in and pay for our tickets, popcorn, drinks and Gabrielle and I's favourite, Sour Patch Kids. 

When we get to the door of cinema 5, Gabrielle suddenly shoves us in.

"Jesus Christ, Gabs, what was that for?", I whisper.

"Guess who came here to see The Lego Movie 2 with his son."

The girls snicker.

"The Fucking Lego Movie?!", Anne questions.

"My dads here! And sos Pat!", she whispers.

"Oh, fuck.", I say. I then put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We can still enjoy our film, and you're staying at my place tonight. Don't worry about them. OK?" I give her a forehead kiss and put my arm around her.

She smiles at me. "OK. I'll try."

"That's the job." I smile at her and ruffle her hair, which is in a black bob.

The girls smile at us, and then at each other. If those two aren't together, I really don't know why.

We sit in the second row from the top and the ads begin. Gabrielle gets closer to me and I feel the same butterflies I did when I first met her. She was listening to music through headphones, in the front seat of the family car. She was 12 then, and I was 13. She just stared at me and did this little lip bite, and her face went red. Then, Pat hit her, and I gave out to him when she started crying. Their mother asked him to switch places with her, so she was in the backseat with me. Then, I put my arm around her, and I whispered in her ear, "I'll protect you from him, and everyone. I promise." And she smiled at me. And Pat put in his earphones and rolled his eyes. 

Ever since then, I've been keeping my promise. I keep her safe from everything. Pat, her dad, dickheads, everyone who hurts her. I just can't bear harm coming to her.

When the movie ends, we're the last ones out as we stay behind to listen to the songs. I text my mother to tell her that we're ready, and she picks us up a few minutes later. I get into the front seat and the girls go into the back. Gemma and Anne fall asleep, they're exhausted. I noticed Gemma nodding off for a second in the cinema before Anne shook her awake.

When we get to my house, Gabrielle wakes up the girls and we go inside. Just when I'm searching my drawers for a pyjamas that might fit Gemma, Anne's phone dings.

"Shit, girls, I'm sorry, we have to go. My sister needs us back.", she says. "Thanks so much for the night out though, I'll text tomorrow and we'll have to meet up with you and all the girls during the week."

"Oh, that's OK, do you need a drive back?"

"Its OK, we'll be able to walk, I'm just a few houses down."

"OK. Talk tomorrow."

"No bother."

And they walk out of the room and down the stairs. I just stare at Gabrielle.

"Everything OK?", she asks.

I sigh. "Just worried. You know, about them. They seemed great at the disco and they just seem down today."

"Same. But I'll tell you what. They'll tell us what's up when they're ready. They've just met us. They won't be telling us everything right now. I was the same with you at first but now I tell you everything. Just give them time."

I smile at her. "OK."

We then get into the bed, and we fall asleep instantly. Well, Gabrielle does. I stay awake to watch her sleep for a few minutes, because she looks so beautiful. I then nod off, and I have the best dream.