Running With Scissors

We were sitting in the nearest coffe shop in a both near the back. It was dark and warm, but we still grasped onto our coffee mugs as if it were a substance we would die without. I was sitting across from her and we'd been silent since we arrived. I finally gained enough courage to look at her and ask, "So... What's up?"

Her thumb slowly began caressing the handle of the mug, but she never looked up. "Turns out everything we ever thought was wrong," she started. "We thought you were the weak one. We all thought we would be okay on our own. We were young and stupid. We lived in our heads, Ace... Life isn't a fairytale."

"Okay... Please don't give me information I already know... Cut to the chase."

"After you left, things turned typical again. Good things started to leave, things started to change. Life became a blur. That fall, Ashley... She made up rumours... Horrible rumours about things I couldn't control. I gave it all up for you, and she hated me for it. So she did what any enemy would do- She humiliated me in a way that branded me as a whore. She twisted the facts around and turned it so that I was the bad guy."

"You mean..."

"Yea- the incident at the cemetery."

"Jayde... I-"

"And then... It turned out Angel wasn't as strong as we thought he was."

I began to feel sick. "What do you mean by 'was'? Angel is strong... He... He did so well. In his program. He..." I began to mumble, getting lost in useless words.

"Angel hung himself two years ago." She had said it so blaguely. So carelessly. So casually.

"No, no, no! He couldn't have- No, you're lying! He's alive! No... No."

She gave me no time to greive, but continued along with her story. "And then Ashley's bidding began to take it's toll. Guys started doing things... showing me things... getting me into things. My parents finally opened their eyes and noticed a change in me. I wasn't their little girl anymore. So they did what any good parent would do. They kicked me out. Living on the street with no self-respect isn't a good thing, Ace. Especially for a girl."

"No..."

"Yes. If you don't want to hear it, then leave! You're pathetic anyways... Or you know what, don't leave!"

I looked up at her. I knew I was pathetic. I could feel the sting in my throat to prove it as I muttered curses in my head.

This couldn't be happening. Not to this girl. Not in this town. Not to my best friend.

"I... I want to help you," I stated.

"I think you've already done enough, don't you?"

"It's not my fault... It's not my fault," I muttered.

"You were the only thing that gave any of us any hope in life. You never stayed in contact so we figured you had given up. So we all slowly brought down our own defences..."

"Jayde... I'm sorry! Just let me do something... please. I can help... I can- I can give you money... I can fix anything that's broken."

"You still have that shit drilled into your head?"

"No... I mean mechanical things... Please. Please."

"I thought you only wanted coffee."

"God damn, Jayde... please just stop... I'm going to move here. Get a job. I can help you. Please just... let me help!"

"Oh yea? Can you help Angel?"

I looked up at her through my pathetic eyes and saw her glare. "Please," I whipered. "Take me there."