A/N: inspired by the song, “Must have been the wind.” By Alec Benjamin
Justin jolted awake when he heard a crash in the apartment above him.
He rubbed his face trying to wake himself up, at first he thought he had been having a nightmare or dream of some sort.
That was until he heard another crash from above him and the voice of someone yelling.
“Great! You made another mess! That’s all you’re good for! Just making messes!” The voice said.
Justin then heard the voice say, “I’m need a drink, I expect this cleaned up by the time I get back.”
Next, he heard the what he presumed, the front door slamming.
Right after he heard again what he presumed, a woman now sobbing.
Justin glanced at the time, it was just after 3:30 am, far too early for anyone to be awake.
But Justin was too worried about the girl above him to just go back to sleep.
Instead, he got out of bed, and put on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt that his brother left the last time he stayed at Justin’s apartment and went out the door.
As he was walking to the elevator, Justin stopped himself.
“Wait, why are you going to help her? You don’t even know who she is.” He thought to himself.
Justin immediately shook that thought away as quickly as it came. If this girl really was in danger, he wanted to help. Growing up, all he ever wanted to do was help people, which is why he was currently in medical school studying to become a doctor.
Justin got into the elevator to go to the second floor, where the apartment was located. Of course at this time of night, the elevator was completely empty, which made Justin feel more uneasy than he already was.
By the time he got out of the elevator, he was second guessing himself.
Is it really a good idea?
You don’t even know what’s happening.
You could be just jumping to conclusions.
Justin willed his mind to shut up as he approached the apartment door.
He knocked twice before the door opened a crack. The girl that answered the door seemed to be shorter than the average person. Her left eye was covered by her long, brown hair and she seemed to be wearing a black sweater dress that had little white stars all over it.
Justin couldn’t see much of her, but what he saw, he thought she was beautiful.
Justin cleared his throat, “Uh, hi miss.” He started to say,
The girl interrupted him, “Please don’t bother with formalities, just call me Celine.”
Justin nodded and started again, “Right, Celine. My name is Justin and I live right below you, on the first floor. I heard some crashing going on up here and I just wanted to make sure if you’re alright, I’m currently a med student so I can help you if need be.”
Celine suddenly went rigid. She smoothed out her dress and didn’t make eye contact with Justin.
“I think you must have been dreaming or your ears must be playing tricks on you.” She said, grabbing a zip up sweater, putting it on, and zipping it up to her chin.
“Thank you for caring Justin, that’s really nice of you but I’m afraid I must go back in.” She said, starting to close the door on him.
“But wait-“ Justin said, grabbing the door.
Celine closed her green eyes for several minutes, as if to calm herself, she then opened them and gave Justin a hard glare, one that almost made him flinch.
“Look I really wish I could tell you about the noise, but I didn’t hear a thing, it must have been the wind.” She said harshly, slamming the door in Justin’s face, leaving him slightly shocked.
“I told you this was a stupid idea, it was just your sleep deprived brain.” The voice in his head said, “it’s your day off, go get some actual sleep.”
Justin got back into the elevator and went back to his apartment.
As Justin was getting ready to go back to sleep, he couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t just the wind.
“You really have no idea?”
“No.”
Benjamin stared at her, shocked beyond belief.
“You’re telling me that the last five years just suddenly left your head?” He asked bitterly.
He felt his heart sink when she shook her head.
“Grace come on, we met in fifth grade, you had just moved and were terrified of meeting new people. We became friends soon after, we started dating our second year of high school, I proposed to you, we’re supposed to get married tomorrow! We even have matching tattoos!”
Benjamin showed his wrist to her. There, was a tiny infinity sign, he hoped she remembered at least that.
Instead, Grace looked back at him, fear in her eyes.
“You’re crazy! I don’t know who you are!” She yelled.
“Grace, I didn’t mean to scare you, but just listen to me-“
“No! Get away from me right now or I’ll call the police!” She threatened as she ran away.
“Grace, wait!”
Grace ran until she was out of his sight. Just to make sure she wasn’t crazy, she looked at her wrist.
She stared.
There on her wrist, was an infinity sign. Just like the one the man had shown her.
She was walking home, tired from a long day of work. As her heels clicked the dark city side walk, that’s when she heard her name being called.
At first she didn’t think much of it, assuming that she was just hearing things, she just wanted to get back to her apartment.
Then she heard her name being called again. She walked faster. She then saw a shadow of someone behind her, the call of her name getting louder.
She ran into an alleyway, trying to get away. But when she finally turned around to confront the voice, no one was there.
Confused, but also relieved, she just assumed that yet again, she must’ve been hearing things, she’ll blame it on the lack of sleep.
For the duration of her walk home, she heard nothing and saw no shadows.
She finally opened her apartment door, but just to make sure, she locked all three locks on the door.
She then walked over to her home phone to hear what messages she missed throughout the day, half of them made her roll her eyes. They were just her friends who were trying to hook her up with a guy named Rich.
Just as she was listening to the last message, the shadow came back. It lurked and made sure it wasn’t noticed.
Then it lunged.
She screamed.
A/N: I wanted to do this prompt a bit differently...
“Hunt down the traitor and bring them back to me alive.” Sergio demanded, without looking up from the letter he had received.
Carlo and Emilio immediately nodded and chirped, “yes boss!” Before storming out of Sergio’s father’s office room.
Sergio’s father, Adriano wouldn’t be home tonight, he was hosting one of his ‘business meetings’ as he liked to call them. But with Adriano being a mafia boss, how business oriented could they really be? Sergio wondered. But it didn’t matter, with Adriano and Sergio’s mother, Valentina not being home. He could set his plan into motion.
It didn’t take long for Carlo and Emilio to return with the traitor. Carlo and Emilio’s father, Leonardo also wouldn’t be at the mansion tonight. Being Adriano’s second in command, he had to accompany the mafia boss to whatever meeting was being held.
“We found her, boss.” Carlo piped up as he thrusted the traitor to the ground.
“Ow Carlo! Watch it!” The traitor in question spoke. She turned to Sergio.
“Sergio, what’s going on? I was practicing my Italian!” She exclaimed. “And then all of a sudden Carlo and Emilio rush in, tie my hands behind my back and tell me that the ‘boss wanted to see me’ what gives?!” She added on.
Sergio stood up from the black leather chair he had been sitting in as he walked around Bianca, who was still on the carpet ground.
Sergio shook his head, “My dear sister.” He said, dramatically, “I never thought that you, of all people would betray me like this.”
Bianca looked at her older brother as if he was crazy. “What are you talking about?” She asked.
Emilio kicked her leg, “Silence traitor!”
“Ow! Emilio! You are taking this role way too seriously!”
Sergio bent down to where Bianca was on the floor, “I think you know what I’m talking about, Bianca Alessandra Francesca Esposito.” He said, sliding the letter to her.
Bianca peeked at the letter and sighed, “Seriously? Is that what this is about? Sergio, you know I was joking.”
Sergio shook his head, “Then where is it.”
Bianca hummed, “I’m not telling you.”
Sergio cocked his head, “And why’s that sorella?”
Bianca shrugged, “I might’ve told you if you hadn’t tied me up, fratello.”
Sergio stood up and sighed, “Well, I guess you leave me no other choice.”
Within fifteen minutes, Carlo, Emilio and Sergio had Bianca stuck to a chair, her mouth bound shut.
Not being able to speak, Bianca kicked her brother in the leg.
Sergio shook it off, “If you just tell me where you hid my Halloween candy, I might let you go..”
Bianca shook her head.
Suddenly their fun was cut short when a call of, “Sergio Adriano Giuseppe Esposito! Just what do you think you’re doing to your sister!?” Reached the children’s ears.
Sergio turned around to see the furious face of his mother in the doorway to his father’s office. Behind her was Adriano clearly trying to hold in his laughter at what he was seeing. Next to him was Leonardo, looking as if he regretted his life choices.
Sergio quickly went to explain himself, “Mamma, I know this looks bad but, I was just doing what papà does, I was questioning the traitor and why she did her actions.” He said, gesturing towards his tied up sister.
At this, Adriano laughed out loud, while Valentina sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“My god you two are so alike.” She muttered more to herself as she went to untie her daughter.
When Adriano calmed himself down, he asked his son, “What did your sister do exactly.”
“She hid my the rest of my Halloween candy and she won’t tell me where it is!” Sergio complained.
Adriano shrugged, “Well, I suppose that would be a good reason to tie someone up for questioning...”
“Adriano!” Valentina called, glaring at her husband.
“- but, it was still wrong, Sergio, don’t do it again.” He said, winking as he handed Sergio a twenty dollar bill for his efforts.
Sergio took the money and sighed dramatically, “I’m sorry mamma.”
“Tell that to your sister.” Valentina replied.
In the most sincere voice, Sergio said, “I’m sorry for tying you up Bianca, you’re still my favorite sister.”
Bianca rolled her eyes, “I’m your only sister, idiota.”
“Bianca...” Adriano prompted.
Bianca huffed, “Fine, I forgive you.”
“And?” Adriano prompted again.
“And the rest of your Halloween candy is in your violin case.” She said, leaving the room.
Sergio smiled and patted Carlo and Emilio on the back.
“Great job boys, you both get a raise and you get to have a sleepover as a reward.”
“No they don’t.” Valentina said, “they’re not spending the night.”
Sergio turned to his mother and made his brown eyes big and desperate, “Please mammina?”
One look at her son and she knew she was gone.
Valentina gave in, “Fine, just don’t stay up too late and don’t make too much noise.”
The three boys cheered.
Two hours later, they went and retrieved Sergio’s Halloween candy and watch horror movies and find new ways to terrorize Bianca. An hour after that, they crashed from a sugar rush.
But hey, victory is sweet.
A/N: there is a swear word in this one, just to warn you.
“Whatever, at least my dad didn’t leave me.”
As soon as the words left Peter’s mouth, he instantly regretted them, more so after he saw the flash of hurt go through Margo’s eyes before they hardened in anger again.
“How can you say that?!” She yelled, “Peter, I don’t open up to people ever, and this is why, because it always comes back to bite me!” Her hands where clenched into tight fists at her sides, to keep from shaking.
Peter silently cursed himself. Him and his stupid need to constantly have the last word in any argument he ever had.
He didn’t even know how this argument started, Margo had been staying with him in New York for a few months now, she was currently attending the same college that Peter was going to, just different classes. A few hours before the argument, Margo had gotten a call from her mother saying that she needed her back in Arktown now. Peter didn’t understand why Margo wanted to go, considering her mother had never done anything for her, Peter had pointed this out to Margo and it all went downhill from there he guessed.
He snapped out his stupor when Margo spoke again,
“So you really have nothing to say, do you?”
Peter desperately wanted to try to find the words, he just couldn’t. The adrenaline from this argument finally starting to wear off. When he looked up at Margo, he saw silent tears streaming down her face.
“Margo I...” he trailed off, still unsure of what to say.
Margo huffed out a pathetic laugh as she grabbed her set of keys off of the kitchen counter.
“How typical of you Pete.” She said right before she slammed the apartment door.
Peter sat in stunned silence for a minute before he kicked the foot of a chair out of anger.
“Shit.” He swore to himself, pulling his short black hair in frustration. And to make matters worse, this was the night he was finally going to confess his feelings for Margo.
“Nice going Pete.” He said to himself.
He had no idea how he was going to fix this.
A/N: surprisingly, this wasn’t meant to be for Halloween, it just turned out that way! Sorry it’s a bit shorter than my other works!
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
Carey chuckled at the question. She was covered in blood and had a nasty gash against her left temple.
“What does it look like to you?” She asked the man, who had parked his car on the side of the rode to come to her aide. ‘A true gentleman indeed.’ She thought, bitterly.
The man chuckled and tipped his hat, “Jus’ thought I asked, jus’ in case you weren’t dressed up or anythin.”
Carey studied the man. Yes, he would do just fine.
“You know what? I’m not doing too great,” she lied easily, “I could use a ride, I’m just going right outside of town.” She said, tossing her blonde hair to the side.
The man looked at her for a moment before he said, “Well, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t help a lady in need?” He opened his truck door as Carey climbed inside.
As soon as she closed the truck door, the man took off driving.
Carey looked at him, a gleam in her hazel eyes, “You’re such a kind soul, might I know your name?” She asked him.
The man tipped his hat, “Doug, and you are?”
She smiled as she pointed to a deserted spot on the side of the rode, “Carey,” she said her name first, “right here is good to pull over.”
Doug gave her a confused look, but obliged as he pulled the truck over.
As soon as the truck parked, Carey gave him a gleaming smile, showing her off her bright teeth, when she did, Doug let out a gasp.
Carey licked the blood off of her fangs as she remarked, “I’m really sorry to do this Doug, I really am. You seem like such a sweet soul.” She grabbed the back of his neck, causing Doug to let out a sort of strangled scream.
“What-what are you?” He stammered out.
Carey giggled, “I think you know that answer yourself, partner.” She winked as she leaned towards his neck.
“This will be quick in painless if you don’t squirm, I hate having squirmes when I’m hungry.”
As she sank her fangs into his neck, Doug’s screams filled her ears.
The rain was pouring as Madison walked into his apartment.
He was exhausted after he pulled a twelve hour shift at the hospital and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed.
But of course, his phone just had to ring.
“I swear, if it’s the hospital...” he muttered to himself, he just wanted at least eight hours of sleep before he had to face the world again. He loved his job, he really did, but man was it exhausting.
Not even having the energy to be polite, he answered his phone with a harsh, “what do you want?”
The reply he got was not what he expected.
“Look, Michael you can’t ignore me forever, we have to work together next week and I’m not working with someone who’s giving me the silent treatment.”
Shocked by the voice at the other end of the line, Madison cleared his throat, “uh, what?”
“Michael, don’t play dumb with me, I said I was sorry. Can you just forgive me or whatever? I’ll pay you back, stop being dramatic.”
For some reason, this voice sounded so familiar to Madison, he’d heard this exact voice before, he just didn’t know who it was.
“Michael? Are you there? Please answer, I’m at a payphone and I have like ten minutes left on the dumb thing.”
This time, Madison decided to answer properly.
“Look man, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I don’t know a Michael so I think you might have the wrong number.”
There was silence from both lines for a moment before the other person spoke up.
“O-oh, my bad man, I’m sorry. This might sound a little weird though, but I think we’ve met before.”
“You know what, I was just thinking-“ suddenly, as if a bombshell dropped in his brain, Madison realized that this person sounded a lot like...
“Wait a minute, are you Noah? Noah Con?
“Maddy?” Noah asked, a sense of awe in his voice. Madison knew that it couldn’t be anyone else but Noah on the other line since no one else called him Maddy besides Noah.
“Yea,” Madison answered, “wow, I haven’t spoken to you since...” he trailed off. Madison and Noah had been friends since they went to preschool together. That changed during their junior year of high school when Madison had started to have feelings for Noah. Madison got scared that Noah didn’t feel the same. But at that same time, Noah had been ignoring Madison anyway.
“Since junior year of high school, yea I know.” Noah said, “look I’m really sorry about-“
“Don’t be.” Madison interrupted, “it’s no one’s fault, we just grew apart I guess. I mean I guess I could blame myself since I cut you off after I discovered that I had feelings for you.”
“Wait, you- you liked me?”
Madison paled. Crap, he had said too much.
Madison quickly tried to fix the situation by saying, “I mean I guess I did, I don’t really anymore.” He tried to lie.
“You’ve always been a bad liar Maddie, you must know that by now.” Noah replied smoothly. Madison could feel Noah’s smirk on the other line.
Suddenly, the line cut off.
Madison had completely forgotten that Noah had been using a payphone.
Madison sighed, well, at least he wouldn’t have to explain his feelings to the person he had been crushing on since eighth grade.
Madison was just thinking of what to do next when he got a knock on his door.
Madison opened the door, and couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
Outside Madison’s door was Noah. His dark brown hair pulled back into a small bun which was damp with the rain water.
Madison crossed his arms over his chest.
“Do I even want to know how you got here?” He asked.
Noah shrugged, “does it matter?” He asked, “after all, you’re the one who just confessed over the phone.”
Madison rolled his eyes, “How did you manage to even find a payphone?” He asked.
Noah shrugged again, “as I said, does it matter? Now, are you going to let me in or not?”
Madison let Noah in as Noah asked, “have you really been crushing on me this entire time?” He asked, straightforward as he always was.
Madison blushed, “I mean yeah, I just didn’t want to make things awkward between us.”
Noah leaned close to Madison. “It wouldn’t be awkward if I felt the same way.”
Madison felt himself lean in, but he suddenly stopped, “What about Michael? The guy you were trying to apologize to?” He asked.
“Oh, him?” Noah asked, “forget about him, we weren’t together anyway, I was trying to apologize to him after I stole twenty dollars from him I have yet to give back.”
Madison laughed again, “Just kiss me, I’ve been waiting this long.” He said.
They pulled in for a kiss that tasted like rainwater and coffee.
Noah pulled back and licked his lips. “Okay listen, if I’m going to be your boyfriend, we’re gonna have to find you a better coffee brand.”
Madison laughed, “We can find me a better brand over a coffee date.” He suggested, winking.
“You read my mind Maddy, you read my mind.”
A/N: I really need to start following prompts correctly. Lol, but anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
A/N: there’s a few Italian words in this piece so here are the translations, Amore mio: my love Caramella: sweetie/sweet Figlio: son Caro: dear Tesoro: treasure I kind of want to make a part two out of this.. let me know if I should!
The gunshots from the downstairs room didn’t startle Valentina as much as they should’ve, but they did startle her neighbor, Laura who was visiting.
“Shouldn’t you go down there or something?” Laura asked, shifting in the bar stool nervously.
Valentina just waved her hand, “I assure you that everything’s perfectly fine, would you like some more wine?” She asked, already pouring some into a very expensive looking wine glass.
Another gunshot rang from downstairs. Laura flinched and then shook her head.
“Would you like some water then?” Valentina asked.
“Water would be great.” Laura said, smoothing down her dress.
Valentina snapped her fingers and a servant came with a gold tray.
“Would you like regular or sparkling?” Valentina asked Laura.
“Regular’s fine.” Laura responded, eyeing the servant.
Valentina poured Laura a glass of water and handed it to her.
“Thank you, Oscar.” She said to the servant, handing him a one hundred dollar bill.
When Oscar walked away, Laura asked, “So what does your husband do exactly? To my knowledge, I assume he owns some hunting store, with all the gunshots I’ve been hearing.”
Valentina shrugged, “Something like that you could say, I’m not entirely sure..”
With one final gunshot from downstairs, Laura seemed to have had enough as she stood up from the stool, clutching her purse.
“I should go, it was nice seeing you, Valentina.” She said in a rush, practically running out of the mansion.
Valentina huffed a took a sip of her wine. Leave it to her husband to scare people off without even being present.
Deciding she should probably go see what was going on downstairs, she walked down to the mansion’s huge basement, what she saw, was turning to be a typical sight to see in the house.
She saw her husband, Adriano standing by a human target lighting a cigarette, next to him, was their son, Sergio. Both men were watching Valentina’s daughter, Bianca. Bianca was holding a gun practicing on the target.
“What’s goin on here?” Valentina asked, her Italian accent coming out a bit.
Adriano took the cigarette out of his mouth and walked up to his wife.
“Amore mio!” He shouted, “you’re just in time, Bianca wanted to show you what she’s learned.”
“What are you teaching her exactly?”
Sergio piped up, “papà’s teaching her how to deal with the boy that’s been picking on her at school!”
Valentina raised an eyebrow, “James?” She asked her daughter.
Bianca nodded, “I’m gonna teach him a lesson.”
Valentina shrugged, “Very well, show me what you’ve got.”
The family watched as Bianca shot the gun three times in the same spot perfectly.
Bang
Bang
Bang.
The room was silent for a bit before Valentina spoke up,
“Great job caramella, but maybe next time, I would advise to aim for more of the chest area, rather than, you know the private parts.”
Adriano nodded, “Your mother’s right. I would also recommend to do it after school, you know, so you don’t get into as much trouble doing in the school...”
Valentina looked at her husband, “As if that would make it any better, her father is a mafia boss you know.”
“That reminds me, the boys and I have a meeting tonight.”
Valentina gave her husband a look, “Last time you had a meeting here, Leonardo tracked blood all over my marble flooring...”
Adriano put his hands up, “I promise he won’t track blood all over the house again.”
“Or you or any of the boys.”
Adriano nodded.
“And I’m coming tonight too, right papá?” Sergio asked.
Adriano laughed and patted his son on the back, “Of course figlio, you are getting to that age after all, being fourteen after all. That’s how old I was when I joined my first meeting.”
Valentina looked at both of them, “Seriously? No Sergio, you are not joining the family business, you are going to college and becoming a doctor.”
Sergio looked at his mother, “Aw come on mamma, please? Just one meeting? I promise to get back on my studies.”
Adriano looked to his wife, “Come on dear, you know you won’t be able to stop him.”
Valentina finally gave in, “Oh alright, but I expect you to not make this a regular thing Sergio.”
Sergio smiled and ran up the basement stairs, “I promise mamma!”
Adriano laughed, “He’s going to be a great member, I can guarantee.”
As much as Valentina wished her son wouldn’t be part of the ‘family business,’ she couldn’t deny the inevitable, “Just, promise to keep him safe for as long as you can.”
Adriano kissed his wife’s hand and forehead, “I promise I will protect him and our family with my last dying breath.”
Valentina kissed her husband, “I know you will, caro.”
“Papá!” Bianca suddenly called, “Are you going to come help me more?”
Adriano turned to his daughter, “I’ll be there in a minute tesoro.”
Valentina kissed her husband’s cheek. “I’ll go get dinner ready.”
Even though their life could be dangerous at times. Valentina lived for these ‘normal’ moments with her family. Sure, she could have a normal life. But honestly, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
A/N: If you couldn’t tell by the title, this piece was loosely based off of the song ‘I hate u, I love u’ by Gnash with Olivia O’Brien. I’m not very good at writing sad stuff, but I hope you like it!
Brandon never thought he’d be back here.
He was sitting on a large rock that served as a bridge that went over a small stream, though only no one ever came here.
Well, except Brandon and one other person.
He missed her, his best friend, Lola. But he couldn’t go see her. Not after what had happened between them.
When Lola and Brandon first became friends, they vowed that they would never fall in love with each other. That obviously didn’t go the way they’d hoped. Brandon just had to go and mess it up by letting his true feelings slip. Though Lola felt the same, she said that she couldn’t be with him and had ignored the countless messages and phone calls Brandon had left her.
Brandon was snapped out of his thoughts when a voice spoke to him, a quiet “hey.”
Brandon looked up and saw Lola. She had on a jacket that was too big on her, the front of her hair pulled back by her signature butterfly clips, letting the rest of her frizzy curly hair loose and free behind her.
After not speaking to her for almost a year, she still looked the same.
Brandon looked away from her, “You shouldn’t be here.” He told her.
Lola sighed as she sat next to him, “I know.” She said.
They were silent for a while before Lola spoke again, “Brandon, do you regret this?” She asked.
Brandon looked in her direction, but didn’t meet her eyes.
“I won’t lie.” He said, “I want to hate you, I really do, but I just can’t. I miss you, I miss sitting here with you at midnight drinking soda cans that we stole from that old gas station, I miss passing notes to you in class, I miss ditching school with you for no good reason, only because we are young and stupid and have our whole lives ahead of us, I miss it all, Lola.”
Brandon finally met her eyes. Lola’s eyes were brimmed with tears that she refused to let out.
Lola turned to look back at the horizon and the setting sun, “You don’t think I miss it either?” She asked, “I messed up and got too attached to you Brandon, I told myself I wouldn’t fall for you, and yet I did.”
Brandon longed to reach out and put his hand on her shoulder, but he refrained from doing so as he said, “Why don’t we just try, you know, being a couple?”
Lola smiled sadly, “You know we can’t.”
Emotions that Brandon hadn’t felt in that almost year were now starting to surface again. “Why not?” He asked a little desperately.
“Because Brandon, you deserve someone who will be by your side, someone who will always put you first and recognize your bad and good days. I honestly can’t guarantee that I can be that person for you.” Lola answered.
Brandon just now noticed the bag that Lola had with her. “Are you planning on running away?” He asked.
She nodded, “I can’t be here anymore...”
“Lola you don’t have to run, we can figure this out, just please stay.”
Lola shook her head, “What do you want from me Brandon? I’m a cowered and I believe that anybody l, especially you, could actually love me, like mother like daughter I guess.” She laughed pathetically.
Lola stood up from the rock, “I came to say goodbye.”
Brandon wanted to stop her, he really did. But he just couldn’t, that’s what he gets for opening his heart, he supposed.
Knowing that Brandon wasn’t going to look at her again, Lola sighed, “Just... I just hope you find happiness Brandon, and I’m sorry I couldn’t give that to you.”
As Lola walked out of his life for the second time, Brandon finally let the tears he had been holding fall.
A/N: I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of this one, let me know what you think! I wrote this during algebra class. As I’ve said before, inspiration comes randomly! Lol
The rain was pouring as Karam slammed his front door shut. He could hear his mother and younger sister yelling at him to come back. But he wouldn’t listen. He had had enough.
It started out as well as it could’ve gone, moving from Syria to America, leaving everything he knew behind. Until his mother married an American man. That’s when things took a turn.
Karam’s stepfather, Josh had only married Karam’s mother for money that she barely even had to begin with. There had been many times Karam had caught Josh stealing money out of his mother’s purse, probably to buy cigarettes, Karam assumed. Josh also treated Karam and his younger sister like servants, never caring for their well-being.
Josh had taken it too far tonight. He had been going on to the family about how Karam’s father must have been a lowlife and how bad of a father he must have been. Karam had heard enough as he stood up and told Josh just exactly what he thought of him.
In response, Josh had slapped him across the face. Leaving a big red mark on Karam’s face. Karam had turned to his mother for help, but she had only looked away.
Hurt and angry by Josh and by his mother’s way of handling it. Karam marched upstairs, packed everything he could fit into his backpack and left. Which leads him to where he was now.
He kept walking until he got to the heart of San Francisco. though Karam lived only twenty minutes outside of the city, he had never been until now.
He didn’t know exactly where he was going, but he knew one thing, he was never going back home.
Karam then heard the sound of someone, or something walk behind him. Karam whirled around ready to tell whatever it was to leave him alone. But then he stopped.
Behind him, was a small little dog who had sat down when Karam had stopped walking. The dog was now looking up at Karam with big black eyes.
Karam gave the dog a stern look, “adhhab beyda 'ayuha alkalb!” He said, waving his hand.
The dog didn’t seem to understand since it only tilted it’s head. Karam rolled his eyes and tried the sentence in English instead of Arabic, as if it would even work.
“Go away dog!” He said.
The dog still didn’t seem to understand the full sentence, but it must have understood the word ‘go’ as the dog stood up and wagged it’s tail.
Karam sighed in frustration, “I don’t have the energy or time for this.” He muttered to himself.
In the corner of his eye, Karam saw a stick, an idea popped into his head.
Karam grabbed the stick and waved it in the dog’s face. The dog started wagging it’s tail even more and doing little hops. Karam would be lying to himself if he didn’t think this dog wasn’t cute.
Karam threw the stick and as soon as the dog went after it, Karam resumed walking, pleased with himself.
“Sometimes I’m so clever I scare myself.” Karam said to no one in particular.
Karam found himself at a subway station, this looked like a good place to spend the night,since the subway trains stopped operating around this time. He had packed enough money to buy a subway ticket in the morning. It was perfect.
Karam had just sat down on a subway bench when he felt something drop at his shoes.
He looked down and saw the same dog, panting harder this time.
Karam threw his head back on the bench “allaena.” He swore in Arabic.
Karam picked his head back up and looked at the dog.
“You’re not going to give up, are you?” He asked the dog.
The dog only tilted it’s head once again.
Karam gave him a small smile. The dog was pretty cute....
Ah, whatever.
Karam gave in, “Alright fine, you can come with me. I guess I could use a little adventure buddy.”
The dog seemed to understand that as it wagged it’s tail and spun in a circle. Karam huffed out a small laugh.
“Of course, you need a name.” Karam put his elbows on his knees and thought. His friends had dogs, but they all had generic names like Rex. Karam felt that this dog was special.
Special....
“How about Mumayaz?” He asked the dog.
The dog did another spin and lay down at Karam’s feet. Happy with his new owner and spot next to him, Mumayaz fell asleep quickly.
Karam smiled, “Mumayaz it is then.” He said closing his eyes.
Tomorrow was going to be difficult, the subway probably wouldn’t take Karam and Mumayaz far, they were going to have to do a lot of walking, probably go to bed hungry most nights and be homeless for a while. But at least they would have each other.
Man’s best friend after all.
