She'll Never Be Alone

As I placed the phone back into the cradle, I smiled.
Feeling Philip's eyes on my back, I spun around.

"Yes?", I asked sweetly.

"Who the hell is Ville?!", he blurted, his face stern.

"Just a new classmate.", I answered simply, keeping the sweet smile on my face.

Shrugging it off, I started walking away, but Philip wasn't done yet.

"Oh yeah?!", He said, stopping me in my tracks."I don't recall your classmates being 16 and 17-year old's.", he said, sarcasm evident in his voice, gesturing madly with his hands.

"Phil, for your info, he's only 14.", I said, spinning around to glare back at him.

"Well, his voice surely didn't sound like a 14-year old's!", he said hotly, starting to get on my nerves.

Having a very protective 18-year old orphaned cousin was no fun.
Ever since Phil's parents died in a car crash 6 years ago, he had lived with us.
Having no man at home after my dad passed away, it was nice having Phil around.He always took care of me, comforted me, made me forget how I missed my dad.
His only flaw was that he was so damn protective!
I told Ville my dad died in a car crash...
The fact that I lied to Ville dawned on me.
Telling the same fabricated lie to everyone made me tell it again unnoticed, like a druggie's hundredth drag of a cigarette.
So what?I lied to everyone, even my best friends.Why not Ville?
Somehow, lying to Ville made me feel very guilty.I swallowed the lump that had formed in throat.
So what if I had lied to him?
Trying to convince myself that it was no different than all the other times I lied, I started walking out the room.

"Who gave you the impression that I was done talking?"

Philip
His voice bringing me back to reality, I turned, heaving a sigh.

"Sorry. Zoned out."

"Again I repeat, that was not the voice of a 14-year old.", he reminded me sternly.

"I know.He has a deep voice.", I said, a memory of Ville's husky voice on the phone replaying in my mind.

"You know what?", he hedged."I think you're lying to me."

I stared at him as he folded his arms in front of him, a defiant look on his face.

Mum, who passing with a basket of laundry, stopped on her way to the bathroom.She backpedaled and stared at us, standing 5 steps away from each other and shooting daggers.

"Um, is something wrong, kids?", mum asked hesitantly, eying Phil and I.

Unfolding his arms, he pointed an accusing finger at me."Your daughter just talked to someone on the phone who she claims was her classmate.I bet my whole CD collection that guy was no classmate because he sure as hell sounded older than 14!"

I cocked my eyebrow at his ferocity, as if he deeply wanted to get me into trouble.I turned to face my mum and uttered one word.

'Ville."

Her once worried expression smoothed out into relief.Wedging the laundry basket higher up her hip, she turned to Phil.

"Ville is her classmate, Phil.", she told him, a knowing look on her face."His voice is just a bit deep.That's all."

Phil looked flabbergasted.His mouth slightly ajar, he looked from me to my mum, as if he never dreamed I'd get away from that.

Turning to face him fully, I did my best Peter Pan-pose and put a sickly sweet smile on my face.

"As much as you would like to think, Philip...", I said, hitting the second 'P' hard."I'm not that same 8-year old girl you need to worry about anymore."

Still staring at me, his jaw muscles moved, like he was trying to say something, but it never came out.
My eyebrow's rose, daring him to say anything.Finally his shoulders slumped and his mouth closed.
Muttering incoherent words, he stormed out of the living room and into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Mum shot me a look , then said, "When do you need to be there?"

"Seven.", I replied shortly, shifting my weight from foot to foot.

"Okay.Ready in 20 minutes.", she said, rushing away to get done with the laundry.

"Okay." , I called back , running to my room.

Opening my wardrobe, I started sifting through my clothes.

A skirt would look cute.
No,not in the mood for girly today.
Then wear a converse with it!
No, no skirts.
How about a dress?
Hell no...
Torn jeans...?
Torn jeans it is.

Grabbing my favorite pair of faded-blue jeans off the hanger, I layed them out on the bed, and went to close the door.
Stripping, I donned my jeans and grabbed a simple neon top from the top shelf of my wardrobe, slipping it on.Walking to my dresser, I ran my brush through my hair a couple of times, deciding to leave it down for this outing.
Some thick eyeliner and purple eyeshadow and my make-up was complete.Slipping into my socks and shoes, I glanced at the clock.
It glowed 6:35.
Rushing, I grabbed my black hoodie from the hook behind the door, made sure I had my wallet, phone and keys, and ran outside.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
FF 25 minutes later:

Mum dropped me off 5 minutes ago, and I was nearly one minute away from Candy Mix, where I was supposed to meet Ville.
Wondering if he had made it yet, I took a turn around the huge stadium and started toward the small shack.
A tall black figure was pacing backward and forward in front of it, an unfamiliar figure.Being a regular club-goer, I knew most people down here, and that wasn't one of 'em.
Ville.I thought, sighing into the cold night.My hot breath made a small cloud, that slowly rose till it disappeared.
As I got nearer, I could make out what was the now-still figure wearing.
Blue jeans, boots, a black beanie and a black hoodie.The figure had it's back to me, so I didn't know for sure if it was truly Ville.
Finally arriving behind the unknown person, I took a breath to say hi, when he whipped around to face me.
I was met with Ville's warm eyes, his smile touching them.

"Hey.", I said brightly.

"Yo!", he exhaled jokingly.

"Been waiting for long?", I asked, wondering if he arrived early.

"Nope.Just a couple of minutes.", he smiled again, showing a row of pearly-white teeth.

We started walking, going around the football stadium several times.

"So how do you like the club so far?, I asked, shrinking further into my hoodie for warmth.I hadn't thought it would be this cold out.

"It's nice.", he smiled, then seeing my expression , he added, "Hey, you could borrow my hoodie if you want!"

I stopped him as he started to unzip it.

"No , no.Mine will have to do.", I shrugged my shoulders, showing him I had one on already."Besides, I don't want you freezing to death.", I chuckled lightly.

"If you call this-", he motioned with his hands."-cold.Then never go to Finland! This is just like a chilly summer night in Finy.", he looked at me, laughing, and continued taking off his hoodie.

As the sleeves slipped down his arm, I gasped.
He's wearing a sleeveless top.
Oh my God.
He's going to freeze.

My breath caught as I noticed something on his left arm.

Oh my God!
It's beautiful

Starting from the very top of his arm till his wrist ran a complicated leaf design.Black vines interwined and formed curves all the way down.
It was a simply beautiful tattoo.

Finally able to get my lungs to work again, I moved to his left.
He watched me with delicate eyes.

"This is beautiful.", I whispered as I traced the complicated curves with my finger.

"Thanks.",he smiled.I felt him flex his muscles and I noticed he was tense.

I drew back my fingers , afraid he was uncomfortable with me touching him.He instantly relaxed, handing me his hoodie.
Donning it above my own, I zipped it up, and felt the immediate warmth.
A fresh smell rose.
It smelled like the forest, leaves and fresh dirt.I inhaled deeply, loving the refreshing sensation.
I was wearing Ville's hoodie.
A faint blush appeared at my cheeks as the corner of my mouth inched up.Looking down at the hoodie, I was met with a very lovable face.

"Jack Skellington!", I exclaimed, making Ville jump.

I was surprised Ville would be wearing a hoodie with the face of one of my favorite characters.

Chuckling at my excited expression, Ville said, "I take it you're a fan ?"

Nodding vigorously, I examined the white face of Jack, smiling up at me.
Ville's next words shocked me.

'You can have it."

Looking up at his face, thinking he was joking, I saw he was totally serious.

"What?No, I wouldn't take this wonderful hoodie from you.It's yours.", I said, shaking my head.

"I have another one.Plus, this is kind of getting tighter on me now, and the other one is a size bigger."

My grin got wider and wider as I stared up at his face.

I've only known him for a day and he gives me a hoodie.
And the best part is, it's a Jack Skellington hoodie!

I internally did a little dance in the honor of my childhood hero, Jack.
Thanking Ville profusely, I grabbed my phone from my back pocket as it began to vibrate.
The 'Friends' theme song blared as I checked the caller ID.

Serena Calling It said.

I flipped the phone open.

"Hey!", I said excitedly.

"Yo homie!", she joked."How are you?"

"I'm great.Dude where the heck are you?School started days ago!", I said, referring to her being absent for the past first week.

"Out of town.I'm back now.Where are you?"

"Club with some friends, whom by the way I want you to meet.", I said, glancing up at Ville.

"Okay then, wait for me in front of Candy Mix.I'll be there in five.", she said quickly, then abruptly hanged up.

"Bye.", I said into the disconnected phone out of habit.I put the phone back into my pocket.

Turning to Ville, I excitedly said, "We're waiting for my best friend.I want you to meet her.She's awesome!"

He nodded slowly, clearly nervous as we started walking back to Candy Mix.

This should be fun.