Tweetie

46

"There he is..."

"Does he look threatening to you?"

"I don't know... He's just kinda... stood there..."

"I mean, I'd be worried if he was hovering there," Hazel said, strangely confident as they approached.

In truth, Ryan had expected her to be much more timid in this sort of situation, he thought she would hide away even a little. The confidence was refreshing.

They both stood on the corner of the street beside a shop, watching Ricky lean back against a wall, texting on his phone alone.

It was too quiet, school was still going on and unlike lunch, the streets weren't riddled with the chatter of kids. Barely any adults wandered around, either deciding to stay at home or at work for the day. So, it felt lifeless. It was nothing but them, the void buildings that seemed more like stage props with how little life there was in them, and there was Ricky, his face lit by the blue light of a phone.

"Did you have something planned?"

"Nah, I was just gonna come here and hope for the best," Ryan shrugged, approaching the boy confidently while Hazel followed a little behind. Her steps were slowed as she glanced around her surroundings in search of anything odd. Though, through the dull light of the sky, shadowed by dark clouds, it was a little difficult to do. "But, uh, promise you'll try to calm me down if he tries anything?"

"I promise," she nodded, reassuring him of her words with a smile before they finally reached Ricky's sight.

Ryan buried his hands in his hoodie pockets, his posture relaxed and calm as he limped towards the smirking boy and Hazel continued to search around, her eyes adjusting to the dim light of the dark day while she stood beside Ryan.

"What d'you want?" Ricky immediately pushed himself away from the low, crumbling wall, his walk slowed. "I ain't done nothing to you, James. It's her I want, not you." He said his last name as though it was mocking, spitting it like he didn't want the taste on his tongue. "Or are you here to confess your undying love for me? I doubt your girlfriend would appreciate that. But, hey, I won't say no if she wants to join! Just means more action, right? Ooh, I can already imagine it."

He was mocking. Beyond mocking, really. Hazel didn't have a clue why he would be so crude. She didn't appreciate it, and it honestly made her feel a little gross. She admittedly didn't see the appeal in it, relationships and romance, sure. But sex? She never even thought about it, why force her to hear something like this when it was never a concern to begin with? Though, this wasn't really the time to be questioning her sexuality.

"C'mon, Dick," Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance at the boy's very presence, "you can't keep harassing Robin, she's my friend, y'know."

Hazel turned, her head at a tilt as she took note of how Ryan didn't seem to want to call her 'Tweetie' to anyone who wasn't his or her friend.

As Hazel watched, she noticed how Ricky seemed to furrow his eyebrows, his gaze turning from left to right, moving from the side of the building they stood beside and then towards an alleyway only a couple of feet away from them.

Immediately, Hazel began to move towards the building, her head tilted as she moved around the scene casually, unfazed by anything that might happen.

"A friend? Hardly," Ricky scoffed, "she's manipulating you, y'know."

"Trust me, she's not."

"How would you know?"

Hazel glanced back every so often, ensuring the boys weren't getting too riled up, but, it seemed Ryan had a good handle on his anger and soon enough, she found herself stopping by the side of the building, her head at a tilt as she found a girl stood, her hair dyed silver but slowly fading to blonde over time. Hazel recognised her as Misty, Amelia's friend.