A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Nineteen : The Friend's Remembrance

"H-How did y-you . . . " I stuttered like a fool with wide eyes.

"I always knew that you had taken this from my apartment. I saw it peeking through your pocket and now on this desk. But I didn't know that you would start pitying me because of this," he rasped, his nostrils flaring and dimples faintly appearing.

I couldn't take him seriously with those innocent dimples, but I suppressed my smile.

"I'm not pitying you--- " My words died down when he was about to storm away. I quickly grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "No, I'm not letting you walk away like that. After this much progress, I don't want to go back to square one. I won't let you push me away."

"What do you want?" He seethed in anger and I craned my neck to match his height.

"You're going to ask me that?" I demanded and scoffed. "I want you to stop pushing me away. I want you to let me in. I want to help you get better. I want you to listen to me and accept my care. I want you to be happy."

He stared at me, his sea-coloured eyes gleaming and his eyebrows furrowing as if he was still trying to comprehend my words.

"And I'm not pitying you, Logan, this isn't pitying. This is a concern, this is care, this is friends," I whispered while gingerly holding his hand and leading him to the bed. We sat quietly and I continued, "Why would you think that I pity you? I care about you. I want to help you, but not out of pity. Don't ever think that. I want to help you because I care about you. There's a difference Logan, there is. I care about you, I really do."

I placed our joined hands on his thigh and he turned rigid.

"Come on, relax now," I said softly and his body eased. I could feel his shoulders sagging and his fist unclenching. We sat beside each other in silence, giving him some time to relax. After a while, I looked down and suddenly started to laugh which confused him. "Logan, your fly is open!"

His gaze momentarily flickered towards his pants for confirmation before he shot up from the bed. His cheeks flamed as he tried to pull the zipper which seemed to be stuck. My laughter echoed in my room until suddenly, the door flung open.

"Maa wanted to know if you wanted to order food," Gemma drawled and her gaze darted between a struggling, red-faced Logan and giggling me. She gave me a perplexed look. "What's happening?"

Jamal appeared from behind Gemma and he looked somewhere between amused and surprised. "Holy shit, you two were doing the nasty!"

"What does that mean?" Gemma asked curiously and Logan turned his back towards them, still fighting with the zipper.

"Sex, Gemma," Jamal replied bluntly and Gemma's eyes widened like saucers.

I quickly shook my head and butted in, "No, we weren't doing anything of that sort--- "

"You slut!" Gemma burst out unceremoniously and charged towards Logan. Logan who was oblivious to all this and lost in his own brave battle with the zipper, almost toppled over the bed when Gemma pushed him with force. "Don't touch my sister, you slut!"

"Slut, oh my God, Gem." I rushed towards her as she tried to shove him again. Logan had managed to get up and zip his pants. He dodged my sister's attack as I grabbed her. "Gem, stop! We didn't have sex! We didn't! And everyone having sex aren't called sluts!"

"But Mackenzie in our class had sex for the first time and her friends are calling her a slut," she protested while I dragged her away from Logan.

"Well, calling someone slut isn't appropriate or nice."

"Then why does she smile when her friends call her a slut if it isn't appropriate?" she demanded and my doubt evaporated, realization sinking in. Kids these days used certain terms for fun and didn't mean them, but it wasn't applicable in all cases. Gemma could have called any girl who was sensitive a slut, thinking that it was an appropriate term and harmless when in reality, the girl would have been devastated. In this case, Mackenzie was called a slut by her friends in a teasing manner. However, I could only imagine the consequences when the teasing would exceed its limit.