Julianne stared at him from a distance. He wore a tracksuit, casually sitting on the bench. She felt her knees wobble. She tugged at Jacques' arm. "I think we should go back."
"Are you serious? After I made a mockery of myself-"
"Jacques…"
"We ditched class for this!"
"I know but, I can't face him!"
"Why?"
"Because I…"
She spotted a speck of platinum blond hair. There was only one person she knew that had that hair color.
"What is Peyton doing there?" She cried.
"Relax Julie, he won't hurt you."
"I'm leaving…"
She stomped away. "Fine, I'll just have to tell Mr. Heathrow you skipped class!"
She paused, slowly turning back. "You wouldn't dare."
Jacques had an annoying smirk on his face. "I could."
"It was your idea!" She whined.
"That's just too bad." He grasped her shoulders with his hands. "Listen, Julie, if you don't face your fears, they'll haunt you for the rest of your life."
"Peyton isn't a ghost," she asserted.
"That's not the point," he said, rubbing his forehead, "You've gotta confront him, and we're here to help you do it!"
"I hate you so much."
"Same here sister. Now are you coming or are you gonna stand there looking like a dog who lost its bone?"
She shrugged. "Fine, I'll come."
She walked cautiously behind him as they approached the court. She could see their faces clearly, Laurent's eyes seemed brighter than usual, sparkling with mischief. Peyton's eyes seemed duller than usual. She dropped her bag on the bench next to Laurent. Staring at both of them, she said, "What's going on here?"
Laurent got up from the bench and stood next to Peyton. Peyton remained mute but hissed when Laurent shoved him in the side.
"I'm truly sorry for what I did, Julie. Please forgive me," he murmured.
"You call that an apology?" Laurent mocked. "Put some effort into it!"
"I just said I was sorry!"
Laurent punched him in the jaw. Julianne hollered. "Did you guys bring me here to watch you fight?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Laurent said, "But it seems Peyton can't apologize properly!"
"It's fine, I forgive him, now stop this madness!"
Laurent grabbed Peyton's collar, punching him again. She watched Peyton stumble to the ground. "You may have forgiven him, but I didn't!"
Jacques rolled his eyes. "Talk about drama."
"What do you mean? He hurt me, not you!"
"Get out of here Peyton," he said to the stumbling Peyton. He found his footing and quickly ran off.
"What was that for?" She shouted.
"He was supposed to apologize," he explained, "But he fucked it up, like always."
She rubbed her left shoulder. "You didn't have to."
"I didn't do it for you, I did it to get a good laugh, but that didn't happen."
She looked around the empty park. "So now what?"
Laurent scratched his chin. "I don't know."
"Since we're on a basketball court, how about a game?" She suggested.
"Don't tell me you play basketball."
"I do, I'm good at it."
Jacques retrieved a basketball from his bag. "Luckily for you, I came with a basketball. I always have it in my bag."
"What would you need a basketball for?" She asked.
"You never know when it can come in handy," he shrugged.
"What would you need a basketball for?"
"To lay basketball silly!"
They started the game. There were no teams since they were just three. They paused when Laurent's phone rang. After a few minutes of pondering, he decided to pick up the call.
"Hello," he said in his cocky tone.
"Where the fuck are you?"
"Chill Tiana, besides, my phone is on loudspeaker so…"
"I don't care! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"
"I know, it's just that…"
"Be here in five minutes."
"Tiana, I-"
The beep from the other end made him realize she hung up on him. Seems everyone is hanging up on him mid-sentence.
He stuffed his phone into his pocket. "I've gotta go."
"What happened?" She asked.
"My cousins are at the airport, I was supposed to be there an hour ago. My sister's already mad, so I should get going."
They packed their things up and left the park.
Rachel and Jack were at it again. She felt her headache come back with full force. She took sluggish steps up the stairs, not stopping for anything. She threw herself on the bed face first. The headache subsided, and she became more stable. She took a bar of chocolate from her secret stash in her drawer, picked up her books, and walked to the table, in an attempt to read. The plan flopped because thirty minutes later, she dozed off.
The sound of tapping on her window woke her up. She ran her hands through her disheveled hair and straightened her pajamas. She held a baseball bat in her right hand as she cautiously walked towards the window.
"Hi Julie," said the person behind the window.
She opened the window, letting him enter the room. "What are you doing here Laurent? Aren't you supposed to be at the airport? Wait, were you watching me?"
"Doesn't matter," he said, slumping on her bed.
She looked at the tree he had climbed. She finally closed the window. "You haven't still told me why you're here."
He stared at her mischievously. "I believe you remember what happened last night.
She ran her fingers through her hair once more. "How could I forget?"
He leaped off the bed. "Good," he said, walking towards the window, "We're leaving."
"What?" She cried, "I can't leave! I've got stuff to do!"
"You didn't seem busy when you were drooling on your notebook."
"I was trying to read," she said through clenched teeth.
"I said you would have to do terrible things if we were friends. We are leaving."
"I'm in my pajamas! What if Rachel comes here?" She whined.
"We'll worry about that later, come on!"
"I have exams."
"Worry about that later."
She stomped her feet before marching off to the closet. Since it was late, she wore black clothing, just like he did. Black pants, black shirt, black sneakers, and a black woolly cap. She was tempted to change her underwear to black before she came back to her senses.
"I'm done!" She said, marching out of the closet.
"Good," he said, "Let's go."