Give Me Something to Believe

Taking turns going down the slide the two teens felt like kids again. Throwing silly insults at each other Cherry and Blue couldn’t help but laugh. And they needed it after the past few days of complete and utter bullshit.

Realizing she was hungry Cherry offered to pay for lunch. Blue would have disagreed but he hadn’t had anything to eat since the other day at McDonald’s. So they head out to the sandwich shop just down the street.

Ordering their sandwiches they found themselves a table in the corner where they’d be able to see everybody. Sitting in silence for a few minutes Cherry finally decides to ask the question that had been bothering her all night.

“How come you don’t come back to school?”

Thinking for a moment Blue shrugged. “Never really thought about it,” he whispered, eyeing an older couple a few tables away.

“What’s wrong,” Cherry whispered, noticing how uncomfortable he was.

“My mom and her boyfriend, I think, they’re over there and they’re watching us,” he told her quietly trying to shrink into his seat.

“You wanna leave?”

Blue nodded picking up his sandwich and scouting out of the seat. He often thought about this moment. He could only hope it wouldn’t be as bad as his fantasies.

Walking towards the door with his head bowed Blue cursed when he bumped into something, or better yet, someone.

“Blue, why don’t you come say hello to your mother and I?”

Looking up to the man he bumped into Blue glared. This man didn’t get to steer him and neither did his mother. “Fuck you,” Blue seethed pushing passed him and walking out the door.

Trailing after him Cherry flipped off the couple who were now whispering feverishly to each other. She couldn’t believe that they would be like that. Hopefully Blue wouldn’t be too pissed.

Finding her way to the park without Blue she realized he had already come this way. She spotted him on a swing, his sandwich sitting untouched on his lap.

“You okay?” she asked, sitting down beside him on the next swing.

“I thought about that moment so many times,” Blue admitted staring off into the distance. Shaking his head he looked over to Cherry. She was lucky. She had her father, a roof over her head, people who actually cared. “Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?”

Thinking for a second Cherry shrugged. She pulled out two cigarettes and handed one to Blue. “I hope. I don’t want to be stuck here forever. Not with these people.”

Nodding Blue took a drag of his cigarette. The nicotine felt so good running through him. He only wished he had a joint.

“So how come you live with Danny?”

Giving her a sidelong look Blue just shrugged. “I don’t have to pay any bills, his parents do all that. It’s easy,” he said, but the way he said it was easy made Cherry feel like he was just telling himself that. Looking away from her so she wouldn’t see the pain in his eyes he silently thought about his current living situation. He hated it. He hated Danny.

Nodding Cherry continued to watch him. “Oh, I know, how long have you been playing guitar?”

Picking up his head he smiled. He loved his guitar; more than anything in the world. “Since I was eight.”

“Who’s your favorite band?”

She smiled as he listed a few bands that she absolutely loved as well. “But my favorite is Motely Crue.”

“Fuck yeah,” Cherry shouted. “Looks That Kill, that song is just, I always blast that.”

“Kickstart My Heart,” Blue shared. It was perfect for him.

Spending another hour or so at the park Cherry decides she should probably head home. Her dad would probably be a bit upset with her for getting suspended and he’d probably give her a high-five for breaking the asshole’s nose.

Looking over to Blue she smiled, “Want to come to mine for dinner? My dad could be a chef in a five star restaurant if he wanted.”

Shaking his head Blue thought about Danny. He’d probably be unhappy that he wasn’t there yet. He also needed to make a stop to pick up some greens. “Gotta get home to Danny.”

“Oh, alright, see you tomorrow?”

“Probably,” Blue said and started off in the opposite direction. Cherry was becoming one of his best friends. Hell she probably would be his best friend.

Looking after him Cherry wondered why she thought she saw a glimmer of, she wasn’t quiet sure what it was, in his eyes. She wondered what kind of hold Danny had over him. Walking away herself she couldn’t help but smile when she fantasized about punching Danny in the face and breaking his nose.