Erasure

6

"You okay, little Mally?" Maya asked as if she was teasing me. "Little Mally" was a dumb nickname my parents and other idiots would use to tease me, abuse me, use me. I didn't realize for long that I was on the ground, crying. Gregory tried to hold me but I got up and yelled "GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE REST OF THEM! YOU HELPED THEM! YOU'RE ONE OF THE MANY DUMBASS REASONS WHY I CAME HERE! AND NOW YOU ACT AS IF YOU'RE INNOCENT!"

"Mallory, I was forced. I was going to be treated much worse if I helped you. Everyone stopped once they heard what you did. I'm here now, aren't I?" He explained, trying to calm me down. It didn't work. "Only because I forgot. Only because she made me forget!" I said, emotion drained from me besides anger. I pointed to her but when I went to look at her, she was gone and Wendell was untied. "Maybe I should do it again. I don't want to remember anymore. Why would I want to remember the torture I was given by the people who claimed to be my friends?!" I started to get closer to the edge with every word that came out of my mouth. "Mal, please. Everything will be okay.... just move away from the edge... please."

I could hear the panic in Wendell's voice but I didn't care. "Oh and where were you? You claim to be my "best friend" but where were you?! Where were you when I needed you most?! I don't care that you're here now, you should have been here the first time!" I was officially standing on the edge. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. I was scared. I wanted to, trust me, but I knew that I got involved, you would've gotten hurt worse. That's why I wanted to be by your side and protect you now. So please just move from the edge, Mallory." "And look at how that worked out." I stepped back and turned around to face him when Wendell pulled me by the collar and kissed me. I tried to refrain to show that I was strong and still pissed but that didn't last long as in seconds, I melted into it. He stepped back so we were both standing on the cliff.

Once we stopped, I looked around for Gregory and he was standing just near the edge. He just smiled and did a tiny wave before calmly saying, "You guys deserve to be happy but someone has to continue the loop." And he jumped. I tried to run and catch him but I was too late. I fell to the ground where he was sitting and started crying, mumbling "he'll be okay, he'll be okay, he'll be okay." Wendell sat down next to me and held me as I sobbed.