We Come Alive 4

"Goodnight,..."

Thursday afternoon, while most people were heading home for the day, Mila was walking to the gym for cheerleading practice. The hallways were empty since she was running late and every other student was long gone from the high school.

Mila checked her phone for the time before sprinting down the hallway seeing she was later than she thought. The second Mila turned the corner, she was on the floor. Mila fell with a thud and feeling her head hit against the tile hallway floor.

"Oh my god?! Are you okay?!"

Mila blinked her eyes opened as she groaned. She looked above her and saw a boy kneeling down in front of her. He was tall, brown, with dark brown eyes and long dark brown hair. She could tell he was big, he wasn't fat but he also wasn't extremely muscular. He was just naturally big like he was mixed with both fat and muscles. His hair was puffy in a ponytail on the back of his head. His hair was so long it almost resembled a girl's.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice was deep with bass to it.

Mila let him help her up and hold onto her hands incase she fell again. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just bumped my head."

The boy slowly let go, but than smiled when Mila could pick up her stuff by herself. Mila looked at the boy and saw he looked familiar. He had a little stubble across his jawline connecting into his sideburns. She knew he was a football player since he had on a practice jersey along with some sweatpants and slides.

"You're Mila, right?" The boy wondered.

Mila nodded her head. "Yeah..." she trailed off, trying to remember him. "I'm really sorry, I'm absolutely terrible with names."

The boy chuckled and just nodded his head understanding. "It's alright. I'm friends with Clover and Diego and them. I'm Loto, but everyone just calls me Lo."

"Oh yeah!" Mila gasped, remembering. "Loto Fatu. I remember. You bumped into me before...you're pretty good at that."

Lo chuckled nervously, but nodded. "You're the only person I see to have this issue with, if I'm honest. Where you heading? Maybe I can walk you."

Before Mila could reply, he grabbed her bag from her hand and started leading her to the gym. Mila smirked to herself and followed behind him. Lo ran his free hand against the wall as he walked and every once in a while looked back at her.

"There's a game tomorrow night." He pointed out. "What're you doing after we win?"

Mila looked taken back as they got to the back gym doors. "Nothing...why?" She asked confused. "What're you doing?"

"Taking you out." Lo smirked. "Why don't we go get something to eat or catch a movie? Just me and you. A date. Let's go out on a date. Wanna go out on a date?" He blabbered on before just giving her a big smile.

Mila giggled at her nervousness, but nodded. "Yeah. I'd really like to." She smirked, but it dropped when she looked back at his practice jersey when he handed her stuff over.

"Wait..." She whispered. "We can't. I'm Diego's ex girlfriend. Doesn't that break some type of football players code? Jaguar code?"

Lo shrugged as he used his left forearm to lean against the wall. "Diego probably won't mind. If he doesn't, he'll say something."

Mila nodded once than walked inside while Lo ran off to the football practice so he didn't get in trouble for not being where he was suppose to be.

~**~

That evening, Manny walked into her and Clover's shared room after putting a load of laundry in the washer. Tonight was one of the rare nights that Clover wasn't out all night with Dante, who had just been released from the hospital last night and was now living at his dad's house.

Manny walked into the room and sat on the bed next to Clover who was laying down holding an envelope in her hands, looking like she was deciding whether to open it or not.

"What's on your mind?" Manny wondered, using her hands to hold up her body weight as she leaned back.

Clover kept twirling the envelope in her hand. "I made out with Ricky...two or three days before Dante got in his accident. It's eating me alive." She said with no emotion, but Manny could see the emotion in her eyes.

"What's that?" Manny wondered. "College letter?"

"No." She sighed, showing her best friend the front. "Dante wrote me letters for our anniversary. For when I needed to have his thoughtful words while he was deployed. Who knew it'd last for a week, not nine months? This is the one he wants me to open when I need him to tell him he loves me."

Manny used her hands to drag her body weight back to the headboard and leaned against it. "When're you gonna tell him?" She whispered.

Clover shrugged, using all her strength not to cry. "He'll be so disappointed in me." She whispered, her voice shaky. "His life's been ripped away from him and it's just gonna be another thing to hurt him."

"Open it. Open the letter." Manny encouraged. "Maybe it'll help with your choice."

Clover carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the white paper with her boyfriend's handwriting written on it. It was short, but she could already tell it was going to be meaningful.

To, Baby Girl
Okay so, I don't even know where I could begin to tell you how incredible you have been.
I know that being with you means that we will be able to get through anything.
And I...I just...I love you so much.
I'm so proud of you for everything you've accomplished in the last year and I am so incredibly happy that I get to call you my best friend, and I could never ever have imagined having a better friend in my life.
Thank you for being my best friend.

Clover broke down into tears as she clutched the letter to her chest. Manny rubbed down her hair as she let Clover silently sob by herself. Clover rolled onto her stomach, letting the letter fall to the ground as she cried into her pillow.

~**~

Meanwhile at around midnight, Ricky was sitting on the front porch of his home while everyone inside was fast asleep. Ricky checked the time on his phone and let out a small chuckle. It was 12:08 am, the prime time for when Ricky use to get his best advice.

Ricky looked out at the dark streets in front of him and let out a deep breath. "So, what do I do?" He asked aloud. "How do I not be a shit ass father like you? Huh? Stay sober? Not hit my kids? Clean up my act now and maybe it'll make a difference then?"

Ricky chuckled to himself when he didn't hear a response. He just rubbed his hands together slowly as he looked around at the shadows.

"I read your letter you wrote me. As much as I wanted to, as much as I said it, I never did hate you. I never hated you you dead beat, soulless, useless, son of a bitch bastard. You taught me to be a man, you forced me to be a man. I had no option. I had to protect what was mine and I will always be proud of that."

Ricky sighed as he looked down at his bare feet than to the shadows again. "I could really use some dumb drunken advice you'd give me. Maybe it be worth something this time. Tell me what you did wrong so I don't become a fuck up like you. I don't wanna mess up my kid and take away his childhood like you did mine."

Ricky waited a couple seconds in silence before standing to his feet and walking back inside.

"Goodnight, dad."