House Of Pain | Marko

six

"Hey, Greta!" I called out to my best friend, but I hadn't noticed that she was with the boys, minus one of them. Marko was missing. The three all looked at me with cautious glares. I still had no idea why they disliked me.

"Poe! What's up!?" Greta cheered from beside David. They seemed to have grown close and all I could do was support her and be happy that she found someone.

"Well, I was going to ask..." I trailed off after thinking about it for a moment. "You know what? Never mind. Maybe another time."

I started to walk off, but Greta called me back, "wait, where are you going? What did you want to ask me?"

"It's not important." I gave a small smile. "Where's Marko?" The three boys all shared glances before looking back at me with cold stares. The big, bad David was the first to speak up.

"You better stay away from him, Portia. If you don't, you're gonna wish you listened to me." David growled out. I just raised an eyebrow up at him before shifting my eyes to Greta.

"He's on the beach." She responded. David shot his head in her direction and let out a groan for she had sold his brother out. I mumbled a thank you before heading towards the beach.

The sand was soft and not at all crunchy like it usually was. I hiked up and down the sand in hopes of spotting the colorful jacket of Marko's, but I was unsuccessful for the time being.

A few people ran past me, laughing, and I smiled to myself at the joy the town was brining them. Santa Carla was such a great place. I loved it here.

The wind pushed my hair behind my head as I walked further down to the shore to see if I could find Marko. The waves crashed along the shoreline and it was like music to my ears.

Sooner or later, I noticed Marko sitting in the sand a few feet from the water. I carried myself over to him and plopped down in the sand beside him. He turned to see who had joined him and greeted me instantly at the sight.

"Hey, Portia! Sorry, no cotton candy tonight." He gave a fake frown and I let out a giggle.

"Don't worry about it." I giggled once more. "Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for what you did. I didn't get the chance to last night, but I meant too. Jordon is a bit of a handful."

Marko, Greta, and I had watched a movie and played a few card games to take my mind off of Jordon's attack that occurred the night before. We got carried away and the thought of giving gratitude left my mind as the night went on.

"You knew him? Poe, I thought he was a stranger trying to kidnap you!" Marko shouted.

"Well, he technically was kidnapping me. I ran away a week ago, but he just so happened to find me. I knew I couldn't trust my so-called friends in Nevada. I guess that's what I deserved." I gave a shrug. "Jordon's my ex-boyfriend-" I then paused before continuing. "Well, boyfriend." I corrected myself. "I'm trying to make him my ex. It's not exactly working out."

"Your boyfriend!? Portia, I'm going to kill him." Marko started to get defensive. I widened my eyes at the sudden change in his demeanor. "He shouldn't put his hands on you like that!"

"No, no." I tried to calm him down. "Karma will hit him eventually. Just let it go, Marko. I can take care of it myself."

That was a lie. I had been trying to take care of it myself for the past weeks, months even. Truth is, I needed help. And I needed help badly, but I didn't want to drag anyone else into our mess.

"Hey, Marko." I then said. "What are you doing anyway?" I tried to change the topic.

"I was just admiring the birds. I love the beach and watching the pelicans and seagulls fly over the water as they head home for the night. It's truly fascinating. Birds are so cool." Marko started to explain as he gazed out at the ocean. "I love drawing them too. They're truly magnificent creatures."