Friends Forever

[TheBouquineuse]

It was January 2nd, and a clever person would say that it had been the coldest day all year... well, someone who wanted to be clever and was exceptionally bad at it. The courtyard was full of small children just back from Winter break, running around and playing on the green plastic coated playground. They almost all resembled little Eskimos, bundled up so tightly. The three children in the middle of the yard formed a circle of sorts, inviting no one else to even try joining them.
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I dare you to eat gum,” The tallest one said with a smirk, leaning against the frame of the monkey bars. “From under the bench.” She was a rather skinny Latina girl, wearing a flannel coat that was way too big on her. She looked over at the two boys across from her, directing the dare towards the tiny blonde one on her right. The boy on the left with a shock of red hair and too many freckles to count almost went green at the prospect. 'What a baby,' she thought with mild contempt. This was a game that they had played everyday before break. Maria had gotten the idea from playing truth or dare with the other girls. But they were all stupid and never picked dare. So she'd started playing with the boys. They were tons more fun anyway and didn't cry when she hit them. Plus, they always picked dare.
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Ryan bit his inner cheek and looked up at her, his big blue eyes wide. He looked to the ground then back up at her “But... I'm not s'possed to”
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“Baby,” she said quietly, rolling her eyes.
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Elliot laughed, despite the fact that the word wasn't really funny. He was always kinda annoying like that. "Baby," he echoed.
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“Fine,” he lashed out, backing away from the two. “I dare you to make her cry,” he pointed to a smaller little girl, sitting all by herself on one of the benches, “Then you get in trouble too.”
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She shrugged nonchalantly, her coat falling from her shoulder. She shrugged it back on and pulled it tightly closed to hide the sparkly pink sweater underneath. “Okay, but first you gotta eat the gum.” She walked over to the bench on the opposite side of the playground as the other girl and got on her knees, her dark ponytail nearly touching the ground as she craned her head to see underneath the bench. Not so surprisingly, there was an abundance of gum underneath the green plastic. She picked out the biggest piece and gave it to Ryan. And when she stood up, her and Elliot looked at the other boy with anticipation.
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It took a few minutes, but the blonde actually did eat the gum, and after a few seconds of a very pained expression, he swallowed.
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“Eww,” Maria said quickly, her face scrunching up in disgust. She stuck out her tongue and fake-gagged. And then, as they usually did after a disagreement, she smiled. “I never told you to swallow it, but that's awesome!”
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Eliot, the quieter of the three, looked up from the ground. He looked absolutely disgusted and impressed at the same time. “Now you have to push her,” she reminded Maria, pointing over at the girl across the playground.
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Of course, Maria didn't like to hurt girls. Her mom had always told her that hurting people was really mean, and her uncle always told all of the boys that hitting girls was even meaner then hitting boys. But she could never, ever say no to a dare. That would make her a baby, and she was NOT a baby. “I know stupid,” she snapped. Her jeans had grass stains now, but that was okay. Elliot and Ryan always had dirty jeans.
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Now, crossing the playground could be dangerous at recess, but she'd always found that running made it safer. Then she was wouldn't be bumped. And so she ran, full speed across the courtyard, dodging one girl just hardly.
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“Hi,” she said loudly, sitting next to the other little girl. She poked her shoulder and smiled. “My friends wanted you to know that they like your hair. It's really,” she paused for just a second and shoved the other off of the bench, as hard as she could, “really ugly.” And at that she stood up and stuck out his tongue before turning to run back to her friends.

[MurderVictim]

Ember sat, alone as was usual for a new kid, shivering slightly. Her jacket was thick and fluffy, brand new as a Christmas gift from her mother. Yet, it was hardly enough to fight against the bitter cold. And judging by a few other classmates she watched play a sort of ball game, seeing them shiver, she wasn't the only one. Sighing, she ran a nervous hand through her hair, gazing around the yard. Everyone had someone to play with, even the teachers who were keeping an eye on the children were talking together. It seemed as though she was the only one alone, and that brought another sigh past her lips. She wasn't very good at talking to people at her old school, and figured it'd be the same at this one. Well...Hopefully she wouldn't be picked on.

Her mismatched eyes had trailed to the small group across the yard, her nose scrunching up a bit when she saw the one boy chew gum from under a bench. Ew. However, she quickly looked away when the girl walked over to her, not exactly sure what she was doing. She didn't say a word, until the other girl sat down. "Umm...Hi." Something like this had never really happened to her. Other kids normally left her alone...Or teased her. Generally, no child was randomly civil to her. A smile actually graced her face when she said her friends liked her hair...But, of course, that smile vanished when she was shoved off the bench. She fell against the chain-linked fence behind her, scraping her hand in the process. And as if that wasn't bad enough, she clearly heard the insult, watching as the other girl ran off.

Now, Ember was sensitive. But she never liked to cry in public. Normally, it just got her picked on even more, so she had built up the habit of just holding it in until she got home. Yet, this was all too much. A couple kids were staring, even laughing, and the teachers weren't doing a thing. They didn't even see it. Biting her lip, Ember began to cry, not even bothering to pick herself up.

[TheBouquineuse]

By the time she reached the two boy's, Maria's eyes were bright and her face was flushed. She looked up at them, expecting to see approval. Not that she needed approval.... but... she wanted them to remember that she was just like them. She wasn't some weak little girl who tagged along all the time. However, she didn't see anything even close to favorable. She saw something that was more like... like she was bad. Ryan was looking at her like her mom did when she hit her sister. Elliot was smiling, but it was the kind of smile that made Maria's stomach curl up like she was about to be sick.
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“What?” she asked, her voice high pitched and too loud
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Ryan looked down at the ground, then over to a small group of teachers, then back to the little girl who Maria had just pushed. “You made her cry,” he whispered, looking extremely uncomfortable at the prospect of a girl crying. They cried too much and Maria didn't really get it. They should just fight back! Girls were just weird.
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“Well you told me to!”
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Elliot smirked, “Your gonna get in trouble,” he said, his voice lilted as if he were singing. His eyes lit up at the prospect.“But I didn't do anything, so I don't have to!” And then, as the red-head almost never did, he actually walked away from Maria and was followed by Ryan who looked back and shrugged apologetically. Maria looked down at the ground and kicked at the frozen dirt. They were stupid. Ryan was stupid and Elliot was mean and the girl who she'd pushed was a cry baby. She straightened her neck and swirled around, her mouth set into a hard, angry frown.
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The entire exchange between the friends had taken less then a minute and the cry-baby was still on the ground. Maria found no reason not to go over and make her stop. And so she did. She pulled her jacket closed again and ran across the playground.
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“Stop it!” she snapped, looking down at the cry-baby. And when that didn't work in less then a second, she got on her knees kinda like her mom did whenever she was hurt. She bit her lip and shook the other girl's shoulder. “'Scuse me?” She mumbled, “I'm sorry...” She sat down on the ground next to the cry-baby. “You shouldn't cry,” she lectured, “You should go to your friends and make them push me. That way we're even... and you don't have to tell. 'Cause if you tell, then I have to stay in tomorrow and I can't play, and that's worse then being pushed.” Without pausing to take a breath, Maria reached over to the metal fence and swiped her own hand on one of the sharp parts. A few tiny beads of blood formed but never fell, as she wiped her hand on her jeans. “Now we're even more even! It didn't even hurt though, so you really shouldn't cry. That's just stupid.” She stopped and finally took a breath, biting her lip nervously.

[MurderVictim]

Ember quieted when she heard the other girl snapped, looking up at her. She let the tears fall down her flushed cheeks, sniffling, though seemed to have stopped crying. When the other girl spoke, she merely blinked, listening to her words before shaking her head. "I-I don't have any friends." She had only just moved there, obviously, and that day was her first day. The only people she really knew at that school was the teacher, who wasn't out there at the moment, and the principal, who had introduced himself when her mother brought her in to see the classroom late in the break. But...well, he was the principal. He wasn't her friend, no matter how friendly he was, and Ember knew that. So, she truly had no one to stick up for her. And even then, she wouldn't want them to hurt someone just for her. That didn't seem right to passive, innocent Ember.

Her eyes widened when she saw the bully scrape her hand against the fence, flinching as if she had physically felt it. Her hand was throbbing, still sore, so she could only imagine how painful doing it on purpose was. But, clearly, she was confused. Straightening herself up, leaning against the fence, she looked at the other girl's hand, concerned. "Why would you do that? Why would you hurt yourself like that?!" Her eyes flicked up to her's, as though the answer to her questions were plastered there. She just...couldn't understand. That was clearly painful. She was bleeding! How could she just do that and not care?

[TheBouquineuse]

When the other girl stopped crying, Maria practically sighed in relief before looking around to make sure that no teachers could have possibly seen that she'd even been crying in the first palace. She was glad to see that they were still huddled together in front of the school building, exchanging what looked like a cigarette, but could have easily been something else, as smoke would have been hard to see past their breathes. They would be furious if they knew that Maria was causing anymore trouble. For some reason, they didn't really like her, and they didn't really like her family. It was probably due to the fact that she was what could only be considered a trouble-maker. And the fact that her mom could only be what was considered an enabler to her trouble making, claiming that the other students always must have started it. Oddly enough, Olivia, Maria's younger sister, never received the same treatment whenever she got into trouble (which was really almost never). The favoritism was clear, and she had always been afraid to ask; Why do you like me better if I'm such a pain? After all, Her mom would obviously deny it.
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Perhaps this was why she hadn't quite cut down on her mischief, but had tried to keep it away from the eyes of teachers. Poor Olivia was only 5 and didn't notice how much better Maria was treated. And being the older sister that she was, she wasn't about to let her ever see it.
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Maria really didn't consider the cut to be anything too extreme. She'd done worse on dares before. Once she'd even tried to climb a barbed wire fence near her house. And well... that had not ended well. She'd been wearing makeshift gloves that had torn halfway up. And so the way down had been the most excruciatingly painful moments of her life. As a matter of face, nearly 20 stitches were required just to fix up her hands. The fence had been removed the next week. The state had cited it 'a danger towards children.' Maria had always wondered if maybe her mom had made them do it. She was only 7; in her eyes, a middle aged woman who hardly knew English had that kind of power... if the woman was her mom.
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This tiny cut... this was nothing. And so she really didn't understand the concern in the others eyes. She was acting like Maria's mom or something, and she didn't appreciate it. She raised her eyebrows and glanced down at her hand, then back up the the other girl. “Honest? This doesn't hurt!” She wiped her hand on her jeans again, wincing. Okay, maybe it hurt a teeny tiny bit. But only a baby would cry over it. Or a girl... but she wasn't really a real girl. Well... she was a girl and everything, but not like the crybaby in front of her. When someone treated Maria like a girl, she felt kind of icky and really mad.
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Maybe you don't have any friends because you're a cry-baby. She was going to say that, but it seemed like maybe it would make her get in trouble. Instead she shrugged and looked back across the court yard for Elliot and Ryan. They were laying across the monkey-bars, something that the teachers always got mad at them and her for. Apparently it was dangerous or something like that. They were having fun all by themselves. Without her. Maria bit her lower lip and looked back towards the other girl. They were jerks anyway. And they were scardey-cats. Real friends got in trouble with you. Maybe she could actually be friends with another girl. Her mom would probably like that. She took a deep breath, watching it disappear into the cold air. She scrunched her face up in thought, and just a little bit of disdain at being friends with a girl. “If you don't tell on me, I'll be your friend.” She finally said it, with almost 100% sincerity. “And I can protect you if anyone else is mean... so you shouldn't say no unless you really are stupid.” She paused. Maybe this wasn't the best way to go about this... “And I really do like your hair.”

[MurderVictim]

Ember didn't understand this girl. She was so...different. She wasn't like the girls at her old school, who played together. No, she played with the boys. Ember didn't even know girls could play with boys, at least in a nice manner. And judging from how her homelife was previously, a view such as that should have been expected from her. Her older brother...Such a monster he was. He was cruel to her, hated her, made her cry numerous times. All the little girl knew was that he was gone now, and wasn't coming back for a very, very long time. In fact, that was part of the reason why her parents decided to move: To give their daughter a fresh start somewhere. She didn't understand why it was such a big deal, but perhaps that was for the best.

Snapping from her thoughts, her eyes widened at the other girl's offer. "R-Really?" There was such relief in her tone, surprise and confusion, as well. "Sure!" She smiled, quickly wiping what remained of her tears from her face. "And thanks! I like yours, too." With that, she sat up. "I'm Ember...What's your name?"

[TheBouquineuse]

Well duh, Maria thought at her first question. She'd never really gotten why people said really when someone said something. She didn't like lying and so never lied... anymore. She used to lie a lot, but then her older brother had caught her telling kids that her name was Danny and that her parents were really rich. It had been a silly lie at first, but then it'd gone on for nearly a month... and then it hadn't been silly. Her brother, Rodger, had pulled her to the side and talked to her. He hadn't gotten mad, but he'd been really upset. He'd told her that it was okay if she wanted to be called a different name, but lying about her who her mom and dad were was mean, because they were nice people and they were proud of her, so she should be proud of them. Well, it had made Maria feel bad, and so she had told him that she'd never lie again. And now, even when he was off in college and she was way back here, she didn't lie.
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She looked over towards the fence, then looked down at the ground. She wasn't supposed to lie... it was bad. But... her name sucked so much. It was girly and stupid and her mom was a jerk for giving it to her. A big fat mean jerk. And she didn't like her very much at the moment. “It's Maria,” she mumbled, nearly incoherently. She looked up at Ember's face, and finally noticed her eyes. “Neat!” She exclaimed, moving a bit too close to her. “How'd you do that?” She cocked her head to the side and smiled. “I mean your eyes. They're really cool!” This time she was serious. When she'd complimented her eyes, it hadn't been a real compliment. Her hair was cooler then Maria's, but in order for it to be 'cool,' it would have had to been bright green or something. But now... her eyes were just really, really neat.

[MurderVictim]

Ember smiled. "That's a cool name." But her voice cut off when her eyes were mentioned. Almost instantly, as though out of habit, she covered the one blue eye. She had noticed that not many people had blue eyes in such a light shade, but many had brown eyes. So, she covered the more unusual of the colors. She didn't like her eyes. Not a bit. People teased her for it, told her it was weird, and called her a freak. She didn't want Maria to, too. "They're, umm...Just like that." With her palm pressed to the right side of her face, she side-glanced to the ground. She remembered, once, a boy at her old school accused her of wearing contacts that made her eyes look like that. She had no idea what he was talking about, but knew he was basically calling her a liar. She was no liar...And it hurt to be called one.
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"You, umm...really think they're cool?" Ember looked back up at Maria, letting her hand come away from her face a bit. It still covered the one eye, but it wasn't pressed against her skin like it had been. She didn't think anyone would think it was cool, considering no one else had aside from the random stranger who saw her with her mom.

[TheBouquineuse]

Maria hated it when people said that she had a cool, or pretty, or nice name. She hated it so much that she wished she could just hit them or something. Her name wasn't cool. It just wasn't her. If it hadn't been for how bad she'd felt when she'd first knocked Ember down, she would have pushed her again just to see her cry. Maybe it made her a mean person, but hurting other people was the only way that people stopped treating her like a weak little... dandelion (she really did hate dandelions, they grew everywhere and never granted her wishes). Maybe it wasn't always worth it, with the getting in trouble and what not. Her mom would always tell her that if she had a problem, she should just tell her. But every time she went to... the words would stick in her head and refuse to leave her mouth. She really didn't even know what was wrong.
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“You say uhm a lot” Maria pointed out, just a bit meanly. It was better then hitting her. “And yea, they're different from mine. And they're different from anyone else's, so I think they're awesome. Plain brown eyes are kinda boring.” She rolled her own 'plain brown' eyes and stood up. Sitting around here talking was boring, and recess was ending soon. It was never long enough, only 20 minutes. That wasn't nearly enough time to actually have real fun. She really did hate it. It wasn't as bad as lunch (being 20 minutes as well), but it still sucked.
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“Hey,” she leaned down and grabbed the hand that was covering Ember's eye. “You're not gonna be a cry baby anymore, right?” She tried pulling the other girl up. “Let's go on an adventure! School is boring and the teachers are even boring-er. There's a hole in the fence over there and if you crawl under it, we can go into the woods and find cool stuff!” She was way to enthusiastic about the idea and was actually smiling; not a malicious smile either, as she was used to. “Unless you're a baby of course.”

[MurderVictim]

Ember bit her bottom lip at Maria's observation. She looked down, not having realized she 'umm'd' that much. She supposed it was just a habit, especially when she was nervous or unsure of herself. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Maria pulled her to her feet, steadying herself before straighting out her jacket. An adventure? She had never really been on one of those...But it sounded scary, like it could get her injured and in trouble.
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Her parents hated her getting in trouble, especially her father. He was always so distant from his daughter...It made her feel as though she did something wrong, like he didn't love her like he did her older brother. But her mother didn't seem to notice, and when she partially did she passed it off as her dad being tired and unable to keep up with a young child. "He loves you. He just shows it differently than I do," her mom always said, following it up with a hug or kiss on the forehead. But...Ember was having a hard time believing that, not that she'd admit it. What if she actually got in trouble? Her father would be furious with her. And her mother...What if she got so mad she'd start acting like her father?
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Yet, she didn't want Maria to think she was a baby. She had already seen her cry, and that was bad enough. Looking to the hole in the fence, then to the adults who were still too busy talking to each other to actually do their job. This was the perfect chance. "Let's do it," she said with a smile, though she was clearly nervous.