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maggie urban.
"Do you guys want to hang out after school today?" Mike asked Johnny, Taya and I as they all surrounded my locker at the beginning of our last period.
"I don't have anything better to do, so I'm down for it," I said. I watched Johnny throw my book bag over his shoulder. I closed my locker after him and locked it.
"Sure, sounds like fun," Johnny said, "we can all go to my place and have a movie night, or a game night, or play video games," he suggested.
"Oh, yes!" Taya happily said.
"Works for me. I just have to text my mom and ask," Mike spoke. Johnny nudged him with a grin.
"Are you a mommy's boy?" Johnny teased. Mike looked up at the boy with a face full of confidence. I looked at Taya with a smile on my face.
"Yeah, of course. My mom is my best friend," Mike responded. I felt my heart melt. I looked at Taya again with my eyebrows furrowed and a look of adore on my face.
"Awe, Mikey Poo!" Johnny grabbed ahold of Mikes cheek. Mike smacked his hand away with a smile plastered on his face.
"You're a mommy's boy too!" Mike teased back, "how you love making fry bread with her. And that four brother soup?"
"Three sister soup," Johnny corrected. He folded his arms across his chest and smiled, "Yeah, yeah, shush."
The four of us walked to Johnny's house, messing around as we walked. Mike carried my bag, though I insisted it could carry it all.
I don't think I'd ever get over the fact that Mike Vitar, who I've crushed in for the longest time, who stared in on of my favorite movies, is now one of my best friends.
He cared for me so much, and I will never get over who amazing her treats everyone around him.
We eventually got to Johnny's house. We followed him to his basement which was out little hang out spot.
We threw our bags in the corner, but before we could do anything else, Johnny forced us to go back upstairs with excitement on his face.
I looked at Taya confused, rushing up the stairs with them all. Johnny took us to his dinning room table. On the table sat four glass plates, a sharpie on each one of them with our names on it.
I took a seat where my plate sat, which was beside Mike. Johnny and Taya sat in front of us.
"What is this?" I questioned.
Out of no where, Johnny's mom came into the room with a plate of her famous fry bread in her hands. She set it between all of us and have us a smiled.
"Johnny had told me how things have been hectic at school and how there's been a lot going on," she started, "so, you guys are going to go do what my friends and I did when things were rough. You guys are going to write in sharpie on your plates what is bothering you, and then I'll drive the four of you somewhere you wish."
I suddenly thought of an idea, "Oh! What about up there on Locust Road?" I suggested, looking around at my friends.
"Yeah, yeah! There's that bridge up there that drops to the train track!" Taya excitedly said.
I smiled wide. I grabbed a sharpie from the middle of the table and began to write.
I knew this was going to be a night full of tears and screaming and laughter. I wasn't prepared to cry. I hated crying, yet I did it a lot.
Soon, we all started to write. I poured my heart on onto the plate. It was a sloppy mess considering I couldn't write with my dominant hand, but it's be in pieces by then end, right?
Around and hour later, we were all finished. The sun was beginning to set and Johnny's mom decided to drive us to the bridge. I sat in the back with Mike beside me, and Taya in the other side of him.
Mike and I repeatedly kicked the back of Johnny's seat to purposely ignore him, and well, it definitely worked.
We soon got to the bridge. We all piled out of the car where Johnny's mom stayed.
We headed to the edge of the bridge a started down. The wind blew my hair back while the sun shines in our eyes. I slightly smiled.
I back away from the edge and took a look of all my friends. I sighed.
"So, who's going first?" I questioned. Taya immediately rose her hand.
She brought her plate up to her face and looked at it carefully. She then lifted it up high in the sky.
"Screw your, Dillon. Screw you, Tamera. Screw you, Mrs. Sandifer for giving me an F on our English essay. Screw you dad for being an arrogant asshole to my brothers and I," she started to shout, "screw myself for feeling the way I do about myself, worthless, ugly, fat, a waste of space," she started to cry.
I frowned while my heart broke. I hated that she felt that way. She suddenly threw the plate off of the bridge with full force. We heard it shatter onto the gravel below.
She turned to us and immediately came to me for a hug. I hugged her tightly with my arm, trying to comfort her.
"You're beautiful, Taya. You're not a waste of space. You're an amazing person and have so much worth in this world, I promise," I whispered to her. Her sobs seemed to die down. She pulled away from me and gave me a weak smile.
"I love you, Mags got bags full of rags," she sniffed out a small laugh. I gave her a reassuring smile.
"I love you too, Taya," I told her. She smiled backed away from me and headed to Johnny who placed his arm around her tightly in a supportive way. I felt myself start to smile too.
"Are you next?" Johnny asked me. I sighed.
"I mean I guess," I nervously spoke. I looked down at the plate in my hands, seeing myself start to shake. I started to walk forwards. When I got to the edge of the bridge, I stared down. It was a long way down from where I stood, "I don't really know what to say," I started. I paused for a second, "it's all been rough lately. I feel like since my mom passed, things took a change for the worse. I... I don't know why Dillon treats me the way he does. I mean, I get he cares for Tamera, but why does he have to be such a jerk? What I did was wrong, I know, and I feel bad for it everyday..," I started to tear up, "but they way he treats me makes me feel like the shit on the bottom of his shoe and I can't stand it. I thought things were getting better. I truly did. But then the shooting happen, and now every time I hear a loud bang, I become terrified," my voice cracked.
I looked down at the dirty barrier keeping me from falling over the edge. I set my plate down on the flat suffrage and slowly pushed it off the edge. Seconds later, the plate fell to the gravel below, shattering into pieces.
I stayed in my spot with my eyes closed, tears falling from my eyes. I felt someone place their arms around me. Scared, I quickly turned around. Mike stood there with an apologetic look on his face. I immediately apologized.
I wrapped him into a tight hug starting to cry. I was still freaked out from that night at the mall. Every little thing scared me. It hasn't been bad until recently, and I didn't know what to do about it.
But when I was in Mike's arms, I felt safe. He held me tightly and secure and comforted me, even when I fell to the ground. He sat with me, patient as can be, stroking my hair and careful that he didn't hurt me.
