A Clean Slate

Alleyway

After a while of making out, the coast is finally clear. I go up first and Ace follows me shortly after.

"Come on" I say as I walk down the alleyway.

I take a left turn in one of the smaller alleyways and stop in my tracks. "Do you have your phone?" I ask as I turn to him. He nods and pulls out a cracked phone that looks like it hasn't worked in ages.

"Very funny" I say as I roll my eyes at him. "What do you- those fucking bastards" he says as he looks down at the phone.

I pull out my phone that's in perfect condition and unlock it. "Do you know anyone I can call so they can come pick us up" I ask. He nods and snatches the phone out of my hand. As he types into my phone I notice how small the phone looks in his hand.

He puts the phone up to his ear and I hear the line pick up. "Hello" I hear a muffled voice say from my phone. "I need you to come pick me up" Ace says in a demanding tone.

I've realized that his tone changes when he talks to other people. It makes me question if I'm seeing the real or fake side of him. I know that I see his real side but deep down I still wonder.

I snap out of my thoughts when I feel Ace poke my shoulder. "What" I ask as I look up at him. "Two things" he starts. "My friend is coming to pick us up. He will be here in 20 minutes." He pauses and leans against the alleyway wall. "Second, what's up with you?" he asks. I stipend up and he sees that. "What do you mean?" I ask

"You don't go unnoticed by me. I've noticed that you have trouble concentrating and the day your dad came over to our house he told me that you overthink a lot." He looks at me seriously as he says these things. "I- I have GAD" I stutter. "I've learned to control it a lot better tho" I say as I feel a tear run down my cheek. I smile and quickly wipe it away.

I see his eyes fill with concern and sadness. "I didn't mean to bring that up,'' he says as he looks down at his feet.

"It's ok, you were going to figure it out somehow." I say as I rest my body against the wall.

Silence fills the air for a while. I hate silence. "I've had it ever since I was five." I say as I break the silence. "I went to thirteen different therapists and all of them failed to help me with it." I clear my throat as I feel a lump form in it. "I found out that if I keep myself busy it pushes it away." I pause and take a deep breath. I try to speak but nothing comes out. I look up at Ace who is focused on me and I give him a fake smile that I know he knows is fake.

I know that if I continue it will bring up the memories that I've kept hidden from myself.

I hear my phone ring and Ace answers it.

A couple minutes later he hangs up. "He's at the fountain." He says as he walks out of the alleyway and takes a left. I catch up to him and grab his arm. I yank it back and he turns to make eye contact with me. "Fountains that way" I say as I point behind me. "Unless we want to go to the clocktower" I say as I eye him curiously.

I see a smile appear on his face as he rolls his eyes at me and starts to head the right way to the fountain.

I catch up to him once again and walk beside him. So far he's not treating me differently which I love. Usually when people find out about my GAD they treat me differently, they start to take more notice of my presence and give me more attention.

As we near the water fountain I see two people start to make their way towards us. I quickly push Ace into another alleyway. "What the" he says as he looks at me with confusion. I see the two people walk by us a minute later. I see them look at us and they quickly scurry away.

"Stay right there" I say as I walk backwards. I place myself right where the two people were and look into the alleyway. All I see is Ace's dark figure. "Ok you're good" I say.

"I thought there was going to be a completely different outcome." He says as he walks out of the shadows. "Like what" I tease as I walk down towards the fountain that I can now see. I look back at him to see him open his mouth but nothing comes out. Speechless I like that. I smirk then quickly turn around and speed up my walking.

As I near the fountain I feel a hand grip my shoulder and im tugged into their embrace. Ace wraps his hand around my waist. He leans down towards my ear. "You'll find out at home." Hotness takes over my body and I feel my cheeks flush red.

Ladies first he says as he pulls open the car door. I hop in and he follows me in shortly after.

"What the hell happened?" the driver said as he turned around to face us. "Diego," he says as he extends his hand out to me. I grip onto his hand "Malia" I say as he shakes our hands. "So I'm guessing this is the finance?" he says as he turns around and starts to put the car into drive.

"Yep" Ace says as he smiles. This is the first time I've ever seen him smile in front of someone other than me so it's quite a sight to see.

Diego and Ace talked the whole car ride. Once we got to Ace's house I quickly hop out "thanks for the ride" I yell as I run into the house. I hear both of them chuckle. I like this Diego guy. If he hangs out around the house more I know we will become close friends. Well at least I hope.

I run into my room and towards the bathroom. I immediately turn on the shower and strip. I see that my dress is covered in blood. My god I looked like this? I turn to the mirror and see blood smudged all over my face. I sigh and hop in the shower.

****************

I giggle at the tv as Stiles pulls one of his iconic lines of sarcasm. I love him.

"What are you giggling at?" I hear Ace's husky voice say as he walks in the room. "Stiles" I reply as I look at the tv.

I freeze as I realize what I'm doing. God, I'm in deep shit. "I'm sorry" I say as I give him a sheepish smile. I grab the remote and pause the show.

Sorry not sorry. 😁 Guess I'm just cruel.

I created an Instagram for them the user is:      maliaxxace_vinceair

Also I was having trouble with my account that has my TikTok for this book so pls let me know if somethings wrong with it.

Anyway good morning/night. Thanks for all the reads and support btw. I appreciate it.