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Patrick takes a deep breath, I guess it helps him stutter less with the way he tries to calm himself down. “They are all bullies and love to pick on others who a-a-are not in their ci-circle.”
“Who’s they?”
I already know the asshole who threw the ball of paper at him, and it’s probably the same one throwing things at my back.
“C-conner plays football and is the quarterback. Tyler, Chris, and Ky. The p-popular girls in the cheer squad. It’s a tight group.”
I turn my head to my right and close my eyes briefly, remembering the promises we made.
“Will you promise not to be a bully when you go to school?” I ask.
I had jumped the fence again for the fifth week in a row with the understanding that Ky and I would hang out three times a week. The sting of my back reminds me not to make sudden movements as I sit cross-legged on the old blanket on the grass. Lying down, I break the stick in my fingers into tiny brown pieces taking in the smell of grass, flowers, and trees. Ky placed two flowers with the little white petals I love so I can make my wishes near me on the blanket. I never even knew those flowers existed.
My mother’s house on the other side of town doesn’t have grass that smells like fresh earth, or have any types of flowers in the yards. It’s just the scant remnants of brown, dried-out grass that looks like flames have torched the ground, and all that is left is dirt that makes you sneeze and dirties your shoes.
“I promise,” he says when he looks up at me with his dark eyes. His eyes are so dark they are almost black. Just like his hair.
He reminded me of my all-time favorite movieCry Babystarring Johnny Depp that we had on VHS tape. Maybe because it was the only thing I could watch at home because the TV screen was all white and fuzzy every time you tried to change the channels. But still, it was a great movie.
Ky looked like he was growing into a young Johnny Depp. Every time I would watch it on the old VHS my mother had in my room, the tape got stuck and it was the only movie it would play. The first time I saw the movie, it reminded me of a boy I met wandering on the edge of town, hoping I could get a glimpse of how the more fortunate people lived when I jumped the fence and came face to face with a boy. A boy who listened to everything I had to say. There were times when he was lost in thought, the expression on his face would go blank and then he would look like he was worried. I always wondered what worried him. He would never tell me, and I would never ask. He didn’t ask where I came from, or where I lived exactly. I think it was obvious I didn’t live down the beautiful tree-lined street filled with expensive homes that he lived on.
“I promise. Especially you. I could never bully you, Rubi. If anyone tries to bully or hurt you, I’ll beat them up.”
I smiled at that admission, looking down at my dirty fingernails from breaking the twigs into tiny pieces. My real-life protector. I know he was just a boy my age. But it was nice that there was someone who was willing to take on that role. I looked up and his dark eyes would follow the movement of my fingers as he watched me make a mess on the blanket.
“Promise?”
“I promise. Always.”
“Hey, are you okay?” Patrick whisper-yells.
My eyes quickly opened, and I realized I was trapped in one of my memories, one of the good ones, at least. “Yeah.”
I see him stiffen, and his head lowers like he wasn’t just talking to me. It’s then I realize what caused that reaction when I feel the bench vibrate as someone sits to my right.
My head angles and my heart begins to beat like a drum in my ears. My stomach clenches in knots, and the scent of his cologne makes me aware that he is real. That he is next to me.
Ky.
His lip curls into a sneer. “I want to make it clear that just because I’m friends with Tyler, doesn’t mean it applies to you.”
“It’s nice to see you, too, Ky.”
Even though he is being a total dick to me right now, it doesn’t change the fact that he is even more gorgeous now than when we were younger. I knew even as a young girl that he was going to be drop-dead gorgeous when he got older. He’s dark and intimidating, and for the first time being around him, I’m nervous. I’m nervous because this is not the same Ky I knew. The Ky I knew would never make me feel inferior. He would never make me feel the way he is right now. Alone.
Funny how the people you want to change don’t, and the ones you least expect to change, change for the worst. In the end, they leave you disappointed. It is like a personal betrayal hoping their heart was in the same place as yours.
“Wish I could say the same.” He gets close and my muscles tense waiting for the blow I know he is going to give me. “I didn’t come over here to say hi or reconnect. I came to make sure you get the message from me and not from anyone else. Stay the fuck away from me and my crew, that includes Tyler. You have done enough simply by showing up out of the scum you came from to fuck with his life. No one wants—or needs—you here.”
My eyes dart in his direction. Anger simmering in my veins from his words. Words that pierce me inside replaying in my head. The change in him. I knew just by looking at him today that he had something dark lurking inside of him. My ideal guy would never be a person I couldn’t stand the sight of, but like everything in my life, everyone I’ve ever known has left me with hurt and disappointment. I can’t change people, and I won’t be able to change what he has become. Someone who doesn’t want me around.
“You know you can’t hurt me any more than other people have. I can see that you have changed…and not for the better.”
He chuckles and lowers his voice so no can hear his next words. “You don’t have to play pretend, Rubi. I know you’re just a pathetic loser who was probably only trying to get something out of me back when we were eleven, but realized the only thing I had to offer was a conversation by a tree in my backyard. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. You’re like an unwanted rat looking for the next home to rob. Am I right? Isn’t that what you are into? Stealing.” I suck in a breath trying to contain the anger I want to unleash. He doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know me or know what I have been through. If he only knew I had to steal just to survive, but he doesn’t care. Nothing about this Ky is the Ky I knew all those years ago.
I didn’t mean to steal… I have a list of all the things I stole so when I get a job I can pay it back.
It was for things like food and for clothes that I didn’t have. It was pure survival. I got caught, but so what. I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would get caught again. It’s getting harder to steal with cameras and technology. I didn’t look like I belonged in the store to begin with. My threadbare shorts and t-shirt I was wearing looked like I stole clothes from a five-year-old. When I changed into the new clothes in the fitting room and walked out, the stupid lady in the changing room alerted security, and they called the police.
