A Ballad for the Lost

twenty-five

Neither mine nor Ellis' mum could believe what had happened.

"Wait...let me get this straight....you were attacked?"

I sighed. "Mum, it's okay, Kade was right around the corner."

Mum looked at Kade and smiled. "Kade, dear, I owe you my gratitude. If you had not been out there, who knows what could've become of my darling Mary Jane."

"You don't have to thank me," he grinned, "it was the right thing to do."

"Well aren't you the hero now?" A voice spoke bitterly from the door.

We all snapped our heads around, and I think it was a surprise to us all. ".....Leo?"

He laughed. "Miss me?" There was a long silence. "I didn't think so."

"What is your problem?" I demanded, wondering where his bright smile and optimism had disappeared.

"Oh, I only want to state your obvious prejudice against me and toward Kade that none of you have seemed to catch up on. Since we met, I have been nothing but kind to you, MJ. Yet you never liked me. From what I've heard, Kade was quite a jerk when you two met—"

Kade butted in angrily, "I beg to differ, but—"

Leo had so much anger stored inside him, I didn't know who he was anymore. "Don't interrupt me!" And then he turned back to face me, picking up where he left off. "We both saved your lives, and yet here you are, all over him. Mary-Jane, please explain to me what I have done for you to hate me?"

I was furious. "Before when we first met? Nothing. But now you've done plenty." I glanced at Kade quickly, before meeting Leo's eyes which were slightly taken aback. "And you should know that I'm not 'all over' Kade, but I certainly would rather his company over yours. Thank you for confirming my preference, you many leave now."

Leo stood up and clenched his fists, but it seemed as if he'd finally realized that anger would only make things worse, and resulted in his vexed departure.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, looking back at the two puzzled mothers in the room that I had completely forgotten about.

"What was that about?" Ellis' mother; Heather asked.

Mum smiled. "I'd recognize that look anywhere. It's the devastating look of jealousy."

I groaned. "Great." And then my eyes laid on the watch around my wrist. "I'll deal with that later. Right now I'd better get to work."

"Oh," Mum grinned, exchanging glances with Heather. "Yes, you'd better be on your way."

"Do you think you can drop me?" I asked.

"Sorry love, I've got some work to do. You'll have to walk." The grin on her face was getting wider and wider. Something was obviously going on. I decided I'd focus on that later, as I would be late for work.

____________________________

"Hey," I said at the sight of Anya, "so sorry I'm late, I didn't have a ride so I had to walk. I'll get right to Peter's room."

"Actually, no. You're not working with Peter today." Anya smiled.

"Wait...I'm not?"

"No. I'd actually prefer if we could talk in my office."

I nodded, confused. "Y-Yes, sure thing."

____________________________

"So I've been thinking," Anya leaned into the black leather chair behind her desk, "I know kids your age are looking for work experience for resumes and stuff, and since your work with Peter is extremely impressive, I wanted to offer you a job as an intern in my hospital. You can still work with Peter if you want."

I gasped. "...are you serious? Of course! I'd love to!"

"Fantastic. You will receive thirty-six dollars an hour, and your work hours will stay the same."

"Um...thirty-six dollars an hour? That's...one thousand forty per week and...five thousand seven hundred sixty per month...I think. Whoa, that's a lot of money. You don't really have to pay that much, I'm really just here for work experience and—"

"MJ, I can't hire you and pay you less than the salary of other interns, that's illegal! I'll lose my job!" She laughed. "And besides, you won't be a high school student forever. You'll need to money to get yourself into a good university or college after you graduate."

I stood up and hugged Anya over the desk. "Anya, you're the best!"

"I know, baby. I know."

____________________________

Once I returned home I thought about how I'd tell Mum what happened, but as soon as I opened the door, she, Ellis, Heather, Kade and some other random guy jumped from out of nowhere and yelled, "surprise!"

I gasped. "W-What's going on? I don't understand, I...."

Mum walked up to me and pulled me in for a hug. "Anya called me yesterday about this, so me and Heather prepared for a surprise party to celebrate!"

I smiled, thanking her and then walked up to Ellis. The random guy was standing by her side. "Did you know about this, too?"

"Not until you left," she chuckled and then turned to the guy by her side. "MJ, I'd like you to meet Kale, my boyfriend."

My mouth dropped in exclamation as he extended a hand for me to shake. I shook it...maybe a bit too hard.

"So we finally meet," he greeted.

I nodded. "Yeah, Ellis has told me about you, and I'm glad to see you here."

"You too, you know, you seem pretty chill. I'm sure we'll get along." He smiled.

"Yeah,

I'm sure we will."