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 Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:55 am
Aria ran as fast as she could to the bus stop, but by the time she had gotten there, it was already gone.
"s**t." she exhaled breathlessly.
Even though it was in the bad part of town, she had to go and check on her friend, Kara. They hadn't really talked much but Kara would call around every two weeks just to say 'Hey' and catch up on things. Aria hadn't heard from her in almost a month. She knew Kara had been hanging around a bad set of kids, and as many times Aria tried to tell her not to, Kara would always relpy 'I'm fine, nothing's gonna happen to me.' She wished Kara knew that eventually something might.
Aria jogged down 134th St. and rounded the corner. She slammed into someone and staggered back.
"Watch where you're going chica." the guy said gruffly.
Aria nodded and continued running to the last place she knew Kara was. She wondered what Dante would say if he saw her back here again.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:19 am
Victoria saw Dante make eye contact with the guy and she shivered. She heard Dante say how long until they got there and she groaned. She didn't feel safe at all, but at least she had Dante with her. She gave him a small smile and glanced out the window, seeing shops and sidewalk sales fly by. She felt Dante settle in next to her and she brushed arms with him. She tried to hide the blush that was creeping into her face. She thought about his friends that she had gotten introduced to today. What were their names? Arra? Aria? Aria and..She couldn't remember the other girls name and felt bad. She hoped that today wasn't the last time she got to see her new friends. She glanced at Dante again and smiled.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:32 am
Dante looked at Victoria. "Something wrong?" as he grabbed her hand. He held it for a minute. After realizing what he was doing he put it down. Whoa now, calm that down. Dante's mind told him. He looked out the window with Victoria for a few seconds and turned his attention to his hand.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:32 pm
"Everything's fine." She murmured, staring into his eyes for a moment. She felt him gently take her hand and her face flamed. She turned her attention back to the window and again she felt him pull it away. She was more surprised then anything. Don't let your feelings get the best of you, she told herself firmly. She leaned back in the seat and looked forward at the back of the seat in front of her. This was going to be a long bus ride.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:47 pm
"I was just making sure. You seemed.....a little on the edge." The gang in the back of the bus began to get loud. He ignored what they were doing. Then he overheard the one say to his friend, "Hey isn't that the punk that was with the guy that Eric stabbed?" Dante became a little edgy at the thought of what he just said. He ignored it and continued to talk to Victoria. "So what type of work do you do?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:08 pm
Victoria heard the boys getting rough and loud, but just like Dante, she tried to ignore it. She noticed Dante growing tense and wondered what was wrong, but she shrugged it off. It wasn't any of her business. She heard him ask her a question. "You mean like a j-job?" She stumbled over the words and immediately turned red again.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:58 pm
"Yeah, like a job........are you sure everything is alright?" he became a little worried. "We can always get off and I'll my mom for a ride." Dante wanted Victoria to feel comfortable. Maybe it the thing with the hand.... he thought as he waited for her reply.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:45 pm
Aria finally found the place she was looking for. It was an old factory where tires were made, but it had been abandoned for a while now. Aria felt memories of this place flooding back; the nights she didn't go home, the people she hung with, just the way she used to be. It wasn't that she was different, it was just that, like Kara, she fell in with the wrong people. Actually more like the wrong person...
Aria walked in and the stench of pot mixed with beer breath filled her nose. She covered her nose and mouth and continued walking. Teenagers lay on the floor totally zoned out, it's too early for them to wake up anyway.
"Kara?" Aria scans the teenagers.
Some of the zombies move slightly to look at her, but when they see she's no one important, they lay their heads back down on the cold concrete. Aria wished she could tell these kids that there is life after high school, but she's looking for Kara right now. She spots a thin light-skinned girl laying a little ways away from her. Aria shuffles over to the girl.
"Kara?" she says again.
The girl moves and looks at Aria. "Ari? What are you doing here?" she coughs.
"You seem sick Kay, come on."
Kara laughs, it's a dry laugh. "I'm good, I told you I was, you didn't have to come looking for me. You know, Loco is still looking for you."
Aria tensed at the name. She hadn't seen Veto since that last summer.
"Come on, we should go." Aria pulled Kara up by the waist -she had lost some weight- and started walking back toward the door.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:50 am
(You both know who this is. I'm gonna go ahead and continue.)
Victoria looked at him and shook her head slightly. "I don't have one." She said softly. "Yes, everything is alright." She glanced back out at the window, tears threatening to spill over. Right, stay happy. No crying. She cleared her throat and said more joyfully, "Everything is great!" She said it clearly as a lie, but she wanted to go to the zoo. "No need for your mom to come. I'm fine." She said it clearly, and the tears slowly melted away. She remembered that she couldn't pay to go to school either, and she almost broke down crying. But somehow she held it in. Don't cry, your brave, she thought to herself over and over. But that was a lie too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:46 pm
"Come here." Dante said holding out his arms. He noticed the tears in her eye and was beating himself up for it. This was the last time he was going to ask a question because he messed up once again. Dante wanted to do anything that he could to make her feel better, and the only thing he could come up with was to give her a friendly hug and a shoulder to let the tears pour on..........if she wanted it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:48 pm
"Seriously Ari, I'm fine." Kara coughed.
Aria rolled her eyes. She had been half-dragging Kara for a few blocks now, but they weren't even close to being a safe distance away from this place.
"You're not fine, you're sick. you probably have a cold from laying on that damned concrete." Aria replied.
"Did my mother tell you to find me?"
"No, I came because I was worried. We're friends right?"
"Yeah, we are. We're tighter than a navy slip knot."
They both laughed at that and Aria breathed a sigh of relief. They were almost at 134th.
"I didn't tell him." Kara looked at Aria.
"What are you talking about Kay?"
"Veto. He asked where you were and why you don't hang anymore. I told him I didn't know, but Ari he's hell-bent on finding you. He still loves you, that's what he said."
Aria was silent for a moment. "Thanks."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:56 am
Victoria blinked, confused when he held out his arms. And then she knew he was trying to comfort her. She leaned over and laid her head on his shirt, breathing in his scent and breathing it out a few minutes later. "Thank you." She wondered why he was trying to make her feel better, but she really didn't care. He was being generous. But she couldn't take advantage of him either. She leaned back and smiled up at him, the tears making her eyes almost sparkle. "Why are you helping me?" The question just came out of her mouth, and she wished she could take them back. Now he was going to think she was rude. "I'm sorry." She muttered quietly, and leaned away from him again to look out the grimy window.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:53 am
"The question you should be asking is why wouldn't I help you. I'm helping you because I can't sit here and look at the sorrow on your beau-" he stopped himself before he said it and blushed a little. He continued, "....on your face. without doing something." He paused and looked at Victoria looking out the window. Why am I acting this way if I hate the sight of compassion? Dante said as he thought. He didn't know what to say. He just looked at Victoria for a minute before turning his attention to the dot on the seat in front of him.
The guy in the seat in front of him leaned over to the walkway. He turned and motioned for Dante to come closer. "Look kid....when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If you just let these lemons turn sour, then you will hate yourself for a very long time." The guy sat back in his seat and Dante did the same.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:17 pm
Victoria felt his stare on her but she didn't turn. When he stopped in mid sentence, she knew what he had intended to say and her face flamed. He doesn't really mean that, she thought to herself, denying it. I'm not at all beautiful. I'm not even average looking. But he had made her smile, and that was enough for now. After she heard someone else talking to him, she snuck a peek at the guy and he was in the aisle. He said something about lemons, and then they both went back to their seats, acting like nothing happened. What's with that, she thought curiously. She pondered this for a bit and hoped they were almost to the zoo. After a few minutes, her neck started aching and she shifted until she was facing forward, and every few seconds she would sneak another peek at Dante to see what he was doing. She wished she knew what he was thinking. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back in her seat.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:27 pm
"That's what I wanted to see." he told her referring to her smile. He sat in silence for a few minutes and the bus turned the corner. He saw the zoo coming up on the right and could see the decorated gates. "Hey are you ready? It looks we're almost there and I think they may have some sort of event going on." Dante was actually excited and you could see it on his face. On the ride there he came up with a plan for when they leave, and it came down to when the perfect time would come.
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