Becoming "Forever Yours"

Ch. 7 Girl Code.

Damn it all, I was antsy. Leaning off of her locker, I stalked my way down the hall towards her friendly duo.

"What's up, girls. Seen jolly ol' Saint Nic around?" For some reason, instead of Cole's scent, I could smell one of Margot's little clone's scent lingering.

Strange.

They looked at me like deer in headlights for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"She's, uh.. gonna be late today." Nancy nudged Gina for her to continue.

"Yeah, her mom's back in town. Guess they're catching up."

"You guess?" I inquired further.

Gina gave me a knowing look. "Cole's not the most forthcoming of persons, I'm sure you've gathered that much by now."

"Touché, but you're her friends right. You would know, not have to guess." I poked even more for information.

"Girl code." Nancy said without hesitation. I liked her for her bubbly personality, as Gina came off more guarded and snappy.

I appreciated it when it came to Cole, she would need it. Even I could see something fragile in her. She would need solid friends.

"And that's suppose to mean what to me?" I smiled, shaking my head. "This 'girl code'?"

Gina rose a firm brow. "That even, hypothetically speaking, if we do know.. We. Ain't. Telling. You." She smiled.

"Mm.." If I weren't on the receiving end of the beautiful yet bitchy side of Gina, I'd say we would make great friends. "Fair enough." I smiled. "Tell her I'll see her in English, yeah?"

Gina simply stared at me with her sharply arched brow and Nancy bobbed her head up and down with a fierce excitement.

"Ladies." I spun my helmet around my hand and nodded, turning on my heel to head to the cafeteria.

I'm assuming her and her mom aren't the closest two. I would think so because they're spending time together after she's coming back from a trip, but by the look on the girl's faces.. I don't think that's the case.

"Clay, hey, Clay!" I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Margot's voice.

I kept walking.

Why wouldn't they get along?

"Well there's a first for everything," I could hear one of her friends, April, whispering with a laugh as she spoke to their little posse, "Guess this is the first time you can consider yourself ignored, Mars."

What kind of trip was she on that she couldn't take her daughter?

"Shut it." She snapped back, then the sound of her footsteps fell into a pattern behind me. "Hey, deaf girl." She tapped me on the shoulder with a high-pitched giggle.

"I'm busy, half-pint. We'll talk later. Got a lot on my mind today."

"Ugh, me too!" She touched my shoulder again. "Yesterday, there was this annoying, son of a god know's what, that I almost had to-"

"Margot, darlin'.." I leaned down to be face to face with her. "Move." I nodded back towards her awaiting ensemble.

"I don't understand.. I thought we were.. cool?"

"Me too. Until you picked on the wrong girl."

"I never.. you.." Then realization dawned on her, I could see it on her face. "What do you care? You don't even know her. I do, I know that girl. Even regretfully called her my friend, that bit-"

I quickly turned to her. "I think you should go back to your friends now.. Margot." I would hate to hurt the girl for speaking ill of her in front of me, simply because I couldn't control myself.

Apparently, Cole hadn't come to school until after our classes together. Which in my opinion seemed pointless being that she'd already been away for majority of the day. But either way, I was happy about it. That meant that, someway, I would see her.

But as the day neared its end for school, I feared it would be the one day I needed to see her most.. I wouldn't. But then..

"Heard you were looking for me. Even started a little tif between queen bítch and you." She chuckled softly. "Now why would you go and do something stupid like that?"

I closed my eyes and smiled, then turned my head up to see her. "Come. Sit with me."

She made herself comfortable on the bleacher bench, peering over at the lessening rays of the sun. "It's a beautiful day." She sighed.

"And why do I get the feeling you haven't enjoyed it like you should've?"

"What did they say to you?" She shook her head. "I'll kill them."

"You're friends are just that." I looked over at her with a smile. "Friends. I don't think they would've cracked for Jesus."

She laughed and I found it to be one of my favorite sounds. A smile on her, was surely one of her better faces. Though she seemed always down and out. An annoying, constantly nagging part of me wanted to do anything to change that.

Why?

"Say, wanna go for a ride?" I offered again.

"It was because of me.. wasn't it?" She looked down from the view to look at her hands as they fiddled in front of her. "That you got on Margot's bad side."

I leaned my head down, wanting her to look at me. "Margot got on my bad side, she's lucky all I did was dismiss her."

"Don't hurt her, 'kay?"

"What?" I couldn't contain my surprise. "Why do you do that? Protect even the ones that hurt you?" I thought about the smell of Margot's friend on one of her friends, hoping it didn't mean what I thought.

"It's none of your business." She closed her hands tightly in front of her.

"So you tell me. And yet, I still find myself curious to know."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Lucky I'm no cat."

"Do you not take anything seriously?" She finally looked up at me, those deep brown eyes so sad, so soulful.

"I take you seriously."

"Why?" She run a hand through her full head of hair, seemingly tired. "Why me? Margot would love to have your attention. Hell, I'm sure anyone here would. But you keep bothering me."

"Isn't it obvious?" I slowly reached my arm out, using only the smallest of touch to lift her head up to face me again. I wanted to see those eyes when I said it, I needed to. "I like you.. doll."