I sat on his bed, I couldn't help but let a single tear trickle down my cheek. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket... That's his seventh just since I've been here... Who knew how many he had smoked before?... Or how many he'll smoke after...
"You know..." He hissed as he took a deep drag out of the man-killing substance, "He can't lay a finger on you... He hasn't... Right?" He coughed slightly. Why did he have to smoke inside? It was gross enough that he was doing it in the first place, but in his own home?...
I immediately intercepted the tear and looked Wally in the eyes... And then lied to his face...
"No... He hasn't yet. He's only yelled at me, but that alone is scary enough..." I looked out the nearest window and sighed, "I don't know what happened... I haven't changed that much, no more than a typical teenager at least... I guess I just can't live up to his expectations anymore..."
"You shouldn't have to..." He blew a cloud of smoke out of the corner of his mouth... I didn't want to be in the room with him while he smoked... but I couldn't bring myself to leave either...
I whimpered, "I don't want to go home..."
And I knew I could rely on Wally, and that if he had a say in the decision, he would give me a place to sleep. But there were complications, mostly parental reasons... Some other things factored into the equation too... So instead of addressing these issues, he rose from his desk chair and and tossed his cigarette out the window. "I don't care if you don't want me to..."
My eyes bulged, "No! Don't call Abby, don't tell anyone what I told you! I should go home, I'm not bothering Abby with this right-"
And then I saw a side of my good friend that I hardly ever saw, "NO!" He shouted, he slammed his fist against his desk. I know he didn't mean anything but this sudden outburst struck fear into my heart. I froze and looked at him, mouth ajar, "You know you can't stay here, and you know I'm not letting you go back to your house with HIM!"
I stuttered for a minute, then whispered, "D-don't yell at me..."
"You don't know how to help yourself!" He screamed, storming over to me, "And that's why you come here all the time, you need someone to give you a clue about how you can think more for yourself and not just for other people!"
"Wally... Please..."
"Well I'm not having any of it! Not this time! I'm not letting you go back home, I'm calling Abby and you're going to spend the night there!" His face was red with fury, he was never like this... He would get mad... But this was unlike anything I have ever seen... "She's one of our best friends, and she has a right to know!"
He was right... She did have a right to know. Know why I haven't been the same since the beginning of the year. Know why I don't go to school sometimes. Know why I haven't laughed in months... But I wasn't ready for this.
This is my life, my decisions to make, my pain to bare... I wasn't going to let someone else tell me what to do, even if he had my best interest in mind. "Wally... Stop... I'm not going to Abby's... And I know I can't stay here..."
Wally started wedging his finger nail in between his upper front teeth, his nervous habit when he hasn't smoked in a while or his most recent smoke had been disposed of early. "You know my parents..." He said awkwardly, he was trying to avoid the real reason why I couldn't spend my night here.
I grew a little flushed and scowled a little, "Yeah..." I hissed bitterly, "I also know how Rachel is..."
This caused my australian friend to blush, "Stop it Kuki, you know this has nothing to do with-"
But I knew whatever he said next would be a lie, "Wally!" I interrupted, much to his frustration, which was evident in his eyes, "It has everything to do with her... I know she doesn't like it when I come here..."
Knowing I had cornered him into telling the truth, he sighed, "Kooks, she just doesn't understand... We both know this isn't what she thinks it is... But you know how she gets, she doesn't trust me for whatever reason..." He gave into his urges and whipped out yet another cigarette...
I knew I was being unfairly cruel to him. I knew he genuinely had no problem letting me stay, all the more reason I was upset he was only turning me away because of her. I just wish he knew that his relationship with Rachel was unhealthy. Yes, I do realize that people change, but what Wally's done since he started dating her... It's not natural. Before Rachel, he never actually failed classes, instead he came very close... Now he does. He never got into a fist fight despite his attitude... Now he does. And old Wally would NEVER have even touched a cigarette... Now look at him, he's halfway through his eighth in two hours...
But I digress. There's no chance he's ever going acknowledge that he's changed... And I have to accept watching him do this to himself. "I'm going to leave." I replied bitterly, hoping that it would get a reaction out of him.
He grabbed my wrist and glared at me. "Don't do this Kuki... Just call Abby..."
I struggled and broke free of his grasp, and then stormed toward the door. "I'll do what I want. And I want to go home." He went after me but I slammed the door and made my way down the stairs. His little brother Joey was doing homework in the kitchen and saw me leaving.
"Bye Kuki!" He said childishly. How I envied him, not having to worry about real problems and his biggest issue is what's for dinner...
"Bye Joey." I hissed as kindly as possibly, there was no need to drag him into this. And then I saw Wally leap down the last seven steps or so to try and intercept me, but to my luck he forgot something...
"Is that a cigarette?" Joey cried in horror as he looked at his older brother.
My friend's eyes bulged and he gave a look of horror to his younger sibling and stuttered stuttering, "I- uh... Shit... Don't tell mom! I'll be right back!" But it was far to late, as I only heard that last part through the closed door to his house and I was on my way to my car. Despite the rain I was determined to not return home so I started the engine and sped off down the street. It was dark but I could make out Wally in my rearview mirror, standing helplessly by his mailbox...
I guess I should find a park or somewhere to stay for the night...
I was determined to actually attend school this thursday as I already skipped monday and tuesday... Looking back, I would have chosen to go one of those days instead of today, but I can't help it. And I can't miss more than three more days this quarter or they'd notify my parents... I drove to school in the same outfit I had on last night, thankfully I changed between school and Wally's house so people wouldn't see me in the same clothes.
I made my way into the building and went to my first class... The class I have with Rachel... Hopefully Wally didn't tell her I was there last night... That would be the last thing I needed.
Taking my seat, I removed my books from my bag and began to listen to the lecture the teacher had prepared for us today. It was boring, as usual, and I instead sat there with my thoughts. Thoughts of fear and loneliness that could never truly be solved. I didn't trust anyone except for Wally... But I couldn't depend on him fully because of Rachel... Maybe he was right, I really don't know how to help myself...
The bell rang and the class immediately rose to their feet and scurried out of the room. I did the same and was on my way to my next class until I heard a voice...
"Kuki!" I turned to see Rachel making her way to me... Shit...
Still, I couldn't help but kind anyway, "Oh! Hi Rachel." I said somewhat cheerfully, managing a smile, albeit fake.
She didn't smile back, or laugh. I'm guessing that meant she was angry at me... "Were you at Wally's house last night?"
Damn it! I'm not sure how she knew, but I still wouldn't willingly admit to it... I looked at her and did what I do best nowadays, lie... "No, I wasn't..." I said almost bitterly, but I tried my best to avoid an awkward fight with Wally's girlfriend.
But instead of calling my bluff and getting angry, she gave me a concerned look. "Oh... I was kinda hoping someone had heard from him, I tried calling him last night but he didn't answer, and no one I've asked knew where he was."
Relieved that she wasn't here to scold me, I relaxed much more, "Oh no!... Have you tried calling his parents? Maybe he just wasn't feeling well." Now I too was starting to worry about him...
Rachel laughed at my suggestion, "Of course I haven't called his house, they'll think I'm some sort of crazy stalker if I called just to find out he was in bed early or something!" She paused as my phone started ringing. This startled me too, I took the phone out of my bag and say it was Wally trying to call me... Speak of the devil... Then again if I told her this was him she'd probably break my face out of jealousy... "Is that him?" Rachel demanded, not as friendly all of the sudden.
Not one to start telling the truth in a situation like this, I continued to lie, "No.. No, it's my sister." I ended the call and put my phone away, smiling to try and cover for my guilt. "She can be a pain in the ass sometimes!" I replied jokingly, but Rachel still seemed skeptical.
The girl gave me a suspicious look, but quickly let it go, "Tell me about it! My brother can be a bitch too, I swear he tries to get me in trouble sometimes with calling me during class. And luckily before I had to try and give my fib some substance, the bell rang and Rachel looked at me, "Well, anyway, I'll see you at practice later!"
Situation avoided... Barely...
I immediately went into my bag and pulled my phone back out, with a text message from the blond kid himself... I looked at it and it said, hey... if ya see rachel dont tell her about last night, thanks
That seemed to be pretty obvious already, but I'm just pissed because it's like he's embarrassed to be around me... Yet, I'm not really capable of staying mad at him... I don't have anyone else... Maybe I really do need to learn how to think for myself... This was going to be a long day...
A/N I wanted to write a drama. It offsets the humorous One Happy Island I'm also picking back up so maybe you can expect actual updates from me now. I've been working on this one for a little bit and only got back into Island because I didn't want to make a reappearance on FF without giving the older story some more meat. So just a few things to note is I know that everyone is a little out of character, but this is a prologue and there will be much more story for everyone to act a bit more normal. Give me your thoughts, good or bad. I can take it.