Sold

I just sat there on the swing, staring at his slowly moving form. Wh- what did I say? I saw him slowly turning around, and when he noticed I was just sitting there on my swing, my cotton candy dangling in my hand, he chuckled and motioned me to come with him.

I looked back over to his swing and saw his cotton candy was just sitting there on the ground. So, I picked it up and put it in the trash bin along with my own. Then, I walked up to him.

When I was at his side, I put my head down, and just watched my feet moving as we continued walking.

“I wasn’t ignoring you.” Justan broke the silence, causing me to look up at him with confusion in my eyes. “I just don’t know how to answer your question, and I was tired of sitting on the swings.” I sighed and looked back down at my feet. “Can I ask you a question?” I blinked a few times at the ground, then nodded slowly, still not looking up at him. “Why are you acting so different?” His footfalls ceased, and a pair of black shoes came into my view as a large, yet gentle hand lifted my head. My eyes instantly connected with his, and I was at a loss for words.

“I- I really don’t know.” I said, my small voice returning. I was frightened, I’m not exactly sure what of, but I was. “I- I just -”

“Hey, Justan! What’s up dude!” An all but familiar voice called from behind me. Justan’s gaze followed the voice and a smirk grew to his face.

“Give me a second.” He whispered to me, and I just nodded at him. I was thankful that I was interrupted, now I didn’t have to answer anymore questions. And so, I just stood there, waiting for Justan to come back so we could do whatever else he had planned. “Hey, Lillith! Come over here!” He called out to me, and I did as I was told, my head still watching my feet. Right, left, right, left, right, le- Four more feet came into view and I stopped. “Matt, this is Lillith. Lillith, this is my buddy Matt.” I slowly lifted my head and I had to force my eyebrows not to scrunch up in confusion. I’ve seen him before. He smiled at me and after a few more seconds it grew.

“Wait! Lilli?!?” He asked, sounding really excited. “Little Lilli Cartwright?! Is that you?!” My eyes widened at him in horror. How the hell does he know me?! I couldn’t help but be scared. I mean, if he was one of my dad’s friends, I definitely didn’t remember him, and I really didn’t want him around me. I slowly made my way behind Justan, who looked a lot more confused than I did.

“You, know her?” He asked, pointing a thumb at me.

“Yeah, dude. Her mom and my mom use to be friends, and I used to hang out with her all the time. Until I moved about 3 or 4 months later. Haven’t seen her since I was about 6 years old.” My eyes widened and I ran out from behind Justan and jumped on Matt.

“Matty? Little itty bitty Matty?! I didn't even recognize you!!!” I said in astonishment and he picked me up in a large bear hug, spinning me once, like he use to always try to do. Except now, he could do it with no effort at all.

“Yeah, it’s me. And, I ain’t so itty bitty anymore.” He laughed. He was really .... different. He didn’t look like a jock like I expected him to. But, he sure as hell was hot. I use to have a huge crush on him, he was the cutest little boy you could ever see. He was short too, always got picked on because how short he was. Now, he was helluva lot taller than me. Probably around 6’2, and I was a shorty at about 5’ 4. He had dark hair with red and orange it it on each side with bangs that hung in his face. I think I saw some purple in his hair, but I couldn’t really tell. He also had snake bites, and he was wearing eyeliner. Guess he grew up a bit. I giggled as I thought of how he use to have the blondest hair, and how he was so small. But, his eyes, he still had those gorgeous sea foam green eyes. I loved his eyes.

“Look at you!” I laughed. “You’re hot!” I poked his cheek and we both started to laugh at my choice of words.

“Glad you think so. And look at you! You .. well ... I don’t know how to compliment you in a gentlemanly manor, and I don't want you kicking my ass again.” I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“So, glad you don’t have to endure her shy streak.” Justan laughed, tickling me, which caused me to laugh, then Matt started laughing.

“Lilli, shy?! Right, that’s less than likely.” Matt laughed and my cheeks flushed.

“Actually, I’m a lot different than you would remember Matt.” I said in a small voice.

“Huh? Why would you be different? You had such a great life, and -”

“My mom’s dead Matt, she’s gone. She ... she left me here...and my dad...he...he..” My voice got choked up and I just shook my head. “I- never mind. I’m just not the same Matt.” I whispered.

“Hey, don’t cry!” Justan said in a panic, pulling me into his chest. “What did your dad do?” He whispered to me, but I just shook my head again, telling him that it wasn’t the right time to talk about it. Plus, I knew he already knew. I mean, he had to know. He bought me.

“Oh, hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry sweetie.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and start laughing at him.

“Matt, you’re such a dork.” I mumbled into Justan’s chest.

“Hey! I’ll have you know....yeah, okay, you’re right.” He said, sighing toward the end, causing me to laugh even more.

“You know Matty, I thought you were going to grow up to be some big ole’ jockey.” I smiled at him after I pulled away from Justan, wiping at my eyes with my palms. His face contorted in disgust and he scoffed, causing me to laugh again. “Didn’t your mom want you to be a jock?” I asked, remembering how she use to make him run laps and play football with me.

“Yeah.” He laughed. “See how that turned out?” I laughed lightly and shook my head.

“Looks like all those weekends throwing football was for nothing.” I shrugged and he shook his head.

“Nah. We got to play together, so it was cool. Not to mention how funny it was when you would tackle me.” We both started laughing, and I looked over at Justan, who looked a bit uncomfortable. Like he wanted to say something, but he just couldn’t. I don’t know how I understood that, I just ... did.

“Okay Matty, me and Mr. Justan here are going to talk. He owes me explanations, and I owe him an answer.” I smiled over at Justan, who’s face lit up and nodded at me. I turned back to Matty and hugged him. He returned the hug and I pecked his cheek.

“Alright, have fun Lilli. Glad you found someone! Later Justan!” He smiled as he walked away.

“We’re not -”

“Alright, later Matt!” Justan cut me off. What the fuck?! “Okay then, Miss. Lillith. It’s time for your explanations. Let me tell you, I really didn’t expect that.” He chuckled as we began walking on the little trail thingy again. Oh, believe me, neither did I.