Sacrifice

Chapter Eighteen

It's Valentine's Day. That morning, Crybaby was halfway out the front door when she remembered the gift she had for Angelita was still in her room. "Shit," she gasped and turned back around to get it. She picked it up off her dresser and ran to the door again, closing it quietly and then running to the bus stop. She was almost late, but the bus stopped a few seconds after she got there. She entered the vehicle a bit out of breath and sat down next to Angelita. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Angelita said excitedly and gave Crybaby's cheek a kiss. "You're so cute," Crybaby said. Angelita smiled.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Crybaby said softly and placed her gift on Angelita's lap. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a set of two necklaces, both silver. One had a key on it and one had a heart. The heart had a small hole in the middle for the key to be inserted, and when it was, it would open. "Put the key in," Crybaby said. Angelita grinned and put the key inside the heart, and it opened up to display a small photo the two girls took together on the night they escaped K-12. Angelita gasped quietly and looked at Crybaby.

"You can have whichever piece you want," Crybaby told her. Angelita held the heart necklace in her hand and kept looking at the photo. "I'd love to keep this one," She smiled harder.

"Then it's yours," Crybaby grinned.

Angelita turned to Crybaby and hugged her, "This is so perfect, baby. I love it. Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome, Lita."

"Here's your gift," Angelita said as she broke the hug. She got Crybaby's gift that she'd been keeping between her leg and the bus wall. "It's not as good as your gift, though," she said in a slightly nervous tone. Her gift was a thick, hard covered book with tons of photographs, inside jokes, quotes, love notes and more meaningful pieces filling it. Crybaby smiled as she flipped through the pages, reminiscing about the memories behind every page. On one page there was a drawn picture of a clear container with blue liquid in it, making Crybaby giggle as she thought about it. "It's amazing, Angelita. This is just as good as your gift, if not better."

"No, stop," Angelita smiled, "I love you. I'm so glad I have you."

"I love you too," Crybaby said.

The bus arrived at the school and the two waited for an opening in the line of students and then began getting off. "Hey, you know everyone wants to get together later, right?" Angelita mentioned.

"Who? Everyone?" Crybaby asked doubtfully.

"Our friends. All five of us."

"Five? Really?" Crybaby scoffed.

Angelita chuckled, "Six."

"When did we make these plans? Where was I?" Crybaby asked as she thought back.

"Maybe you were in an ice cream truck," Angelita said and shrugged.

"Shut your mouth," Crybaby laughed and playfully shoved her. They shared a few seconds of laughter before entering the open space of students waiting for the bell. "Angelita! Crybaby!" They heard a voice call out. Crybaby looked around for someone they knew. Angelita noticed Celeste approaching them and tapped Crybaby's shoulder. Crybaby then spotted Celeste as well, her stomach turning as she walked up to them. Angelita smiled and they greeted her.

"Hey! Happy Valentine's Day," Celeste said as she hugged the two of them, "Guess what?"

"What?" Crybaby and Angelita responded in unison.

"It took a while, but I found some people," Celeste winked.

"No way. Holy shit, I haven't seen them in so long," Crybaby smiled.

"I know, right?" Angelita agreed.

"Well, they're here. Let's go before the bell rings," Celeste started leading the way. The three of them soon joined Magnolia, Fleur, and Ben waiting for them by a staircase. "Oh my gosh!" Magnolia cheered as she went to hug Crybaby and Angelita. "Maggy!" Angelita laughed joyously. They hugged one another and then hugged Fleur. "Wow, really? I'm last?" Fleur joked. "Stop it," Crybaby chuckled.

"We really do have to catch up," Fleur said, looking at everyone.

"Hell yeah, we do. Luckily, we have some time later," Magnolia said in a sing-song voice.

"It's a school night. Are you sure today's a good idea?" Ben asked, receiving a mixture of nods and confirmations. He looked at everyone and stopped when he made eye contact with Angelita. She managed to give him a small smile with a nod, which surprised him. Angelita was slowly feeling less of a need to be Ben's rival now; she knew Crybaby was hers. He looked at Crybaby and they held a playful stare for a few seconds without anyone else noticing. Crybaby cocked an eyebrow during the stare and the two couldn't contain their laughter any longer. The bell rung. "Oh, damn," Celeste said.

"Where are we meeting?" Crybaby asked the group. They paused for a few seconds before all saying something along the lines of "Blue Moon Plaza" at the same time. "We decided on 4:30. That should give everyone long enough to get ready after school, get there on time to do some stuff, and make it home at a decent hour too. Is that good for everyone?" Celeste asked everyone. They all confirmed again. "Sounds great then. See you all later," She smiled and waved as she turned away. They all smiled and waved back at one another before going their separate ways.