Pursuit of Happiness

As I walked I passed by her house. I knocked on the door. A lady opened it.

"What?" She said.

"Is Emseralda home yet?" I asked.

"Whats your name?" She asked.

"I'm her friend, Justin." I answered.

She looked back and yelled, "ESME! Some guy named I'm her friend, Justin is at the door! Come downstairs!" She looked back at me, "Come on in."

I walked in and there were still a lot of boxes unpacked. Esmeralda walked down the stairs and her mom walked back up them.

"Why are you here?" She asked, "Sit. Do you want something to drink?"

I sat down, "No thanks, I just wanted to ask you why you didn't wait for me."

"Well I kinda just wanted to get home."

"I'm sorry for what Daisy did, she gets like that when I'm around other girls. She's just jealous. Are you okay about it?" I asked.

She sat down next to me on the couch, "Yeah! I'm fine, just felt a little bad but I'm good."

"Grea-"

"Kay Esme, I'll be home-" her mother interupted.

"9 o'clock, yeah I know," Esme said. Her mom walked out.

"Where does your mom work?" I asked.

"Uhh, she, well, shes a hooker..." Esme looked down.

"Oh.."

"Yeah, umm well you should leave now," she said.

"But what if I wanna stay."

"But I have to do homework."

"But I wanna be with you!"

"But you'll be with me tomorrow."

"But I can't wait until tomorrow," I protested making a sad face.

"Too bad," she said getting up and pulling my arm.

"I'm not getting up."

"I'll drag you if I have to!" She said pulling me even harder.

"Please let me stay," I said as she stopped pulling.

"No." She pulled even harder making me fall face down on the floor. "Oops!" She grabbed both my arms and pulled me. "Come on!!!"

"No!!" I said.

She let go, "Fine! You can stay."

I got up, "oh yeah! Thanks." I hugged her.

She hugged back and started laughing, "You've gotta be kidding
me...."

We walked upstairs into her bedroom. She sat on her bed. I looked around in her room. She had some things on her walls and some pictures on tables. "Where's your dad?" I asked turning to her.

She was doing her homework and then looked up at me, "He died."

"I'm sorry.."

"Its okay," she said as she looked down and continued working,

"Hey, isn't your dad going to get mad because you're not home early?"

"Um no, I hope not..." I said as I sat down on her bed infront of her.

"How about you go, I don't want you to get introuble because of me," she said putting her pencil down.

I stared at her, "I don't care if I get in trouble, I wanna be here.
With you."

"If you think I still feel bad about what happened with your ex, I don't."

"I know, but I like spending time with you," I smiled and laid back.

"Its not ladylike to have a guy laying on your bed when You barely know them," she said.

"Who says we're doing something bad though? Plus aren't we supposed to stay just friends?"

"Yeah but guys have dirty minds," she replied as she wrote something down.

"Don't tell me you've never thought wrong about someone or something?"

"I have but-"

"See, girls are just as wrong minded as guys."

"Okay we are. But talking about girls, so you still feel something for Daisy?"

"Not at all," I replied and sat up, "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," She answered.

Why would she ask me that? Its weird and sort of random.
A few hours passed and we contined talking about eachother.
"And I told her to stop but she wouldn't so I broke up with her," i said.

She closed her book, "How could she cheat? Like I'd never do that, mostly not to someone like you."

I smiled at her. She laid on her stomach and kicked her legs onto some pillows.

"Are you done?" I asked.

She nodded then looked at the clock and gasped, "Justin! Its 8 already! You should go. You're gonna get in so much trouble."

"Oh shit."

"Call your dad," she said.

I took my phone out. 15 texts, 30 voice mails, and 40 missed calls. I called him back. As it rang I hang up. I know what he would say...

Esmeraldas Point Of View

I saw Justin hang up then think to himself. I asked, "Why'd you hang up."

"Do you mind if I stay here? For the night?" He asked looking down.

"Umm, are you sure thats what you wanna do? Wouldn't it be better to just face him?"

"No, he's probably really pissed," he ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay you can stay here. Where do you wanna sleep? We have an extra room but theres no bed and its sorta crowded. The couch is really unfomfortable do you want to just stay here? On the floor?"

"Sure, whatever works for you," he said.

I got up and walked over to one of my boxes. I took out a quilt I had made out of different fabrics. Then I took out a blanket and some sheets. I placed the quilt down and put the sheets and blanket over it. I put a pillow down too.
"The quilt is pretty thick so it'll get rid of the hardness of the floor," I said.

"Thanks."

"Do you want to brush your teeth or wash up?"

"Um sure."

I showed him the bathroom and gave him an extra brush. I also gave him a white shirt and my dads old pjs.

"You don't have to do all this," he said.

"I want to. I know what its like to not wanna be home because of fucked up parents or what not," I smiled and walked out of the bathroom. I waited until he finished. He walked out with a towel around his waist. I was laying on my bed watching tv. I stared at him. I got up and walked over to him. I noticed he had scars on his chest.

"How did this happen?" I asked.

"Oh I fell down when I was a little boy," he said looking down.

I touched his scars. I didn't believe him. They are far to deep for a fall.

"Oh, well get comfortable, I'll be out in a minute," I walked into the bathroom with my pjs in my hand. I closed the door and turned the shower on. I took my clothes off and walked into the shower.

Justins Point of View

I put the clothes on and dried my hair with the towel. I heard the shower turn on. I slowly walked to the door and slightly opened it. I could see Esmeraldas reflection through the mirror. Wow, her body's amazing. She continued showering then suddenly she turned the shower off. I noticed I've been watching her for a long time. I quickly closed the door and walked back to her bed. A few minutes later she walked out in some shorts and tanktop, drying her hair, "You hungry?"

"Sort of," I answered.

"Cause I'm starving! C'mon lets go downstairs."

We walked downstairs.

"What are you hungry for?"

"Anything," I said.

"How about pizza!" She took out a box from the freezer.

"Sure," I said as I sat down on a stool.

We talked while the oven heated and then she put the pizza in. She sat back down infront of me.

"Hey Esme, I thought you would be as-l- oh I see whats going on here, you guys are going out!" Her mom came in and inturupted us.

"No we're just friends but he needs a place to stay. Don't think wrong mom. Do you want some pizza? Its cooking," Esmeralda said.

"Mhmm yeah I believe you, and no thanks I already ate. I'm gonna go sleep night," she walked upstairs.

Esmeralda shaked her head, "My mom is a- you know... But she's sometimes too much for me, she really wants me to have a boyfriend and have kids and all that stuff... I guess its because she never had a real family, just me. I worry about her.. But she wont stop what she does."

"At least you can tell she loves you..." I said.

"You think?"

I nodded. She took the pizza out of the oven and placed it on the counter. She took a slice and placed it on her plate. I took a slice and bit it. I blew out, it was burning my mouth but I kept chewing.

"Careful! Its hot! Why are you always in such a rush to eat?," she asked.

"I love food!" I said with a mouthfull of pizza.

She laughed, "I can tell."