I'm lying on my bed scrolling through my messages and through social media. It's been four days since I've been out of the hospital, and I've been healing at home. I put my phone down and stared at the ceiling. "I'm tired of staying home," I said to myself. I rose up and carefully got out of bed. Even though I'm better I still got to take it easy. I walk into the bathroom and check out my face in the mirror. My right eye was slightly bruised and red, I grabbed my medical kit and started cleaning my healing wounds.
Flashbacks from the fight intrude on my mind. "I should have fought back harder." I thought to myself. I look at myself one more time then put the medic kit away. I grab my favorite hoodie out of my closet and head downstairs. When I reach the bottom of the stairs I see my Dad on the couch watching TV. I walk passed him to the kitchen to grab a snack. I look in the cabinet to find one bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos. I grabbed the Doritos, walked back into the living room, and sat on the couch. I opened the bag of chips and started eating. "How are you feeling?" I eat a chip, "I'm feeling better..." I remember what my therapist said about spending more time with my Dad.
Mom walks through the door from work. "I got your medicine, David." She hands me the medicine then kisses Dad on the cheek. I get up from the couch to throw away my chip bag and put my medicine away. Before I could go back into the living room my phone rang. I pull my phone out of my pocket to see Erica on the caller ID, I answer the phone. "What's up?" I could hear how eager she was. "Do you want to hang out? I haven't seen you for a few days." "Yes, where do you want to meet?" I could hear crowds of people talking in the background. "Meet me at the Santa Monica Mall, I'm already here." "Okay." I hung up and headed upstairs to get my backpack then I went back downstairs to put my shoes on.
"Where are you going, David?" Mom said. "I'm meeting with Erica." She quickly stops what she's doing and says. "You're still healing, you need to stay home and rest." I finished tying my shoes and I stood up. "Mom, I'm fine I'll be back." She sighs loudly and I walk out the door. I picked up the bike from the ground and hopped on. "Ouch! My ribs." I whispered to myself. I rode as fast as I could to the Santa Monica Mall. Deep down inside I'm mad at Erica for what happened but she'll always be my friend. I cross several strange people and stoplights.
I could see the large structure of the Santa Monica Mall, with spotlights, music, and people. I placed my bike in the bike area and headed out on foot to find Erica. I carefully look for Erica through the crowds of people. "David!" I hear in the distance. I see Erica running towards me with a stuffed animal in her hand. "I got this for you." She hands me the stuffed animal. "Thanks.." I half smile. "You're face is looking better." She holds my face to check the bruises. "You know it was your fault I'm like this." She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "It's not my fault, I was trying to get you to make new friends." I scoff and walk off to the Nike shoe store.
Erica follows me in the store. "Bro... I'm sorry okay, what we really need to worry about is that girl with the pretty eyes." I bend down to look at blue and black Nike shoes. "You mean Aaliyah..." She smiles and looks around like she's looking for her. "Are you and Aaliyah dating? Because she looked pretty protective over you." I sigh. "Why does it matter to you?" Erica doesn't say anything and stares at me while I try on shoes. I put the shoes back on the rack and then waited for a response, but she didn't say anything. "What store do you want to go next." We walk out of the store and look around. "Do you want to eat because I'm hungry?" I nod my head and we walk to the turkey leg stand. We both ordered a turkey leg and sat down on a bench outside.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"So...What happened to the guys that almost killed me." Erica takes a bite of her turkey leg and through her chewing she says."I'm... not friends with them anymore, because why would I still be friends with somebody who beat up my best friend."
I smirk at her comment then continue to look around scoping out the mall. I see a group of kids riding hoverboards while eating snow cones. "What are you thinking about?" I quickly get startled when she speaks. "Oh... nothing just scoping out the place." Erica lays the turkey leg on the napkin and wipes her mouth. "Have you ever kissed a girl before?" I jumped up out of my seat. "I'm not kissing you, Erica." She grabbed me by my arm hoodie and forced me to sit back down. "Stop being a big baby, David." I heavily sigh. "I'm a 14-year-old, that never had a girlfriend, so no..." A grin slowly forms on her face as she stands up. "Follow me!" I knew she was going to do something stupid but I wanted to trust her this time.
I stood up and followed her. Erica walks out of the mall, around a corner of a building, and into an alley. "Where are we going?" Erica stops, looks back at me, then pulls me close to her. Erica's eyes glistened as she stared into mine. She wraps her right hand around me and pulls me closer. When our lips touched, I could feel how warm and soft her lips were. Erica pulls away while breathing heavily. "What was that for?" Erica looks down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry..."
My phone rang unexpectedly and I answered quickly not checking who was calling. "David, it's time for you to come home. It's time for your medication." I nervously look at Erica, which is freaking out inside. "Okay, Mom I'm coming home." I hang up and stare at Erica. "I got to go home." Without a word, she pulls me in a warm hug. "Okay...Um... be safe." I nod and we go in our own directions.
When riding my bike home thoughts intrude my mind. "That kiss was amazing...Oh my gosh, do I have a crush on Erica... Did she always have a crush on me?" Deep down inside I was freaking out. "What if Aaliyah finds out?"
When I get home, I throw my bike down and run inside. When I get inside I overhear my Mom and Dad arguing in the kitchen. "You let that boy do whatever he wants!" Dad yells. "He's just a teen boy who needs fun and not stay at home all the time!" I slowly walk into the kitchen, when they spot me the freeze. "Where were you, son?" I walked near the cabinet to get my medicine. "I was at the Santa Monica Mall." His tone deepens, "With who?" I look at Mom who is nervously standing still not moving a muscle. "I was with Erica..." I grab a water bottle from the fridge and take my medication. "I don't want you hanging out with her anymore." I almost choked on the medication on the way down.
"No way! She's my friend!" My breathing sped up as my Dad walked closer to me. "You will learn discipline in this house!" I can smell a waft of alcohol on his breath. "You were never there for me Dad! So why listen to you? You weren't even there when I was born!" Dad grabs me tightly by my arm as I stand my ground. "Honey! Stop it!" My mom yells. He listens and aggressively lets me go. "I'm done living here!" I went upstairs, grabbed my backpack, and left out the front door.