by Chloe Walsh
The laughter that Daryl had been desperately trying to hold back escaped him. "Fucking…your…sister!"
Daryl's laughter caused me to laugh uncontrollably right there with him.
"Step," Rourke corrected with a huff before hissing, "And fuck you both for laughing. Yeah, that's right. I can hear you in the background, Peterson."
"What do you want me to do, man?" Daryl chuckled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands.
"I want you to get your ass over here and help me put this damn fire out," Rourke huffed. "And bring your little sidekick with you."
"Hey –" I began to protest, but Daryl was quick to defend my honor.
"Girlfriend," he corrected, tone hard now. "She's my girlfriend. Call her anything else and we're gonna have a problem."
"So that's why you didn’t answer any of my calls!" Rourke accused down the line. "While I was being dragged over hot coals all day, and needed your help, you were too busy getting balls deep in your real best friend to pick up the damn phone." He huffed out a breath. "Whatever. Just get over here asap – and bring your girlfriend."
With that, Rourke hung up.
"Jesus Christ." Sighing heavily, Daryl rubbed his jaw. "That guy is such a –"
"Needy little bitch?"
Daryl grinned. "You took the words right out of my mouth."
35 Molly
The drama surrounding Mercy and Rourke's not-so-secret affair was on the tips of everyone at school's lips for several weeks after homecoming, which, in any other circumstance, would have taken the heat off me.
Problem was, I was dating the QB1 of the varsity football team. The same football team that had made it to the state championship playoffs this year. And the same QB1 that not only was homecoming king, but football royalty around here.
Yeah, our decision to go public with our relationship had caused more than just a tailspin at school. It had all but rattled the damn foundations.
To be quite truthful, none of the attention or hushed whispers and stares seemed to bother Daryl in the slightest. He was either completely oblivious to the world around him, or he was so used to being looked at that it had become second nature to him.
Me, not so much.
I didn’t like the attention that came with being Daryl King's girlfriend. I didn’t like the constant rumors and I liked the way the cheer squad taunted me even less.
Yeah, the mean girls had upped the ante at school, and I, legit, couldn’t walk ten feet down the hallway alone these days without having some backhanded compliment or cruel jibe thrown my way.
Still, he was worth it.
The looks.
The stares.
The jealousy.
The rumors.
The nasty girls.
Being with Daryl was worth it all.
"I swear to god, if those bitches point at us one more time, I'm going to lose my shit," Mercy growled, as she sat cross-legged on the grass near the football field, carefully cutting out one of her mother's sonogram pictures to put in the scrapbook she was making.
We were waiting for the guys to finish their afternoon football practice session before heading back to my house – the one place Rourke and Mercy could be alone together since their parents had enforced some major house rules.
"Ignore them," I replied, waving a hand in the air. "That's what I do."
"I'm not nearly as saintly as you, Molls," Mercy tossed back, flipping the cheer squad off. "Do you think I could get a few good punches in on Britt's plastic face before her cronies jump in and give me a beatdown?"
"I guess," I replied with a shrug. "But if you wanna hit something plastic, aim for her boobs."
"A tit punch." Mercy snickered. "Nice."
"So, how are you and Rourke doing since your parents laid down the law?"
"Fine, I guess," Mercy huffed out a dramatic sigh. "It sucks being under surveillance 24/7, but it is what it is, you know."
"Yeah." I winced, shuddering at the thought. "At least you know they care, though," I offered sympathetically. "They're doing this because they love you and they don’t want anything bad to happen."
"What, like Rourke knocking me up?" Mercy snorted. "We're not that stupid and I'm not my mom."
I laughed along with her, to be a good friend.
"Jerky?" she offered, snapping off a piece and tossing it onto my lap.
"Why not?" Shrugging, I popped it in my mouth only to immediately regret my actions when the taste and smell caused my stomach to roll. "What the hell –" Heaving, I twisted onto my side and spat the contents onto the grass. "That has to be the nastiest damn thing I've ever tasted in my whole life." Stomach rolling, I clutched my side and dragged in several slow, calming breaths until I felt like I wasn't about to hurl my lunch up. "Oh god, the smell is still in my nose." Pegging my nose with my fingers, I grabbed my water bottle and took a deep drink, trying to rid my senses of the evil jerky.
Mercy eyed me curiously. "I know I'm not stupid, but are you?"
"Huh?"
"You're not pregnant, are you, Molls?"
"Pregnant?" I gaped at her in horror. "No, Merc. I can assure you that I am definitely not pregnant. I just happen to have a sensitive stomach."
"I heard the rumors –"
"Those were stupid rumors that Daryl spread just to piss me off!"
"Man, I would go nuclear on Rourke if he even thought those awful words, let alone joked about it," Mercy laughed. "Talk about tempting fate."
"Are y'all still set on going off to school together next year?"
Mercy and Rourke had plans, big ones, that they built on every day. They had both applied to the University of Colorado in Boulder, and planned on moving out there as soon as we graduated.
"Yeah," she replied, setting down the scissors and retrieving a glue stick from her pencil case. Slopping some glue on the back of the sonogram, she carefully placed it inside her scrapbook. "I know Rourke can be an asshole, and hell, so can I at times, but he's my asshole, and I'm his asshole, and I want to be with him, Molls. I'd pretty much follow him anywhere at this point. Even though technically he's the one following me considering CU was my first choice."
"Well, that's great," I replied, smiling. "Y'all can both be assholes together and live happily ever after. Hey, and who knows, maybe in a few years after you guys get married, y'all can make some mini-assholes of your own."
Mercy grinned. "What about you and Daryl?"
I squirmed, uncomfortable. "What about us?"
"Got any plans for after high school?"
"Um, no." I shrugged. "Not really."
"Well, Daryl made a commitment to Alabama State, right? There's a full-ride scholarship waiting for him out there?"
"Yeah, he's going to Alabama next year."
"And what about you?"
"Me?" I shook my head and turned my attention to the field. My eyes immediately trained in on Daryl who was running drills with his teammates. A wistful sigh escaped me. "I don’t know."
"Don’t you think that you guys should talk about it?"
I shrugged again. "I'm not sure."
Mercy stopped what she was doing to stare at me. "You are a closed book when it comes to that boy."
"Huh?"
"Give me something to work with here, Molls." Smiling, she leaned over and nudged my arm with hers. "Tell me something real about you and Daryl. You never tell me anything. I had to find out you guys were dating from Rourke of all people. Give me the inside scoop for once."
"You want to know something real?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "Tell me a secret."
I stared at her for the longest before turning my attention back to the field to where practice had just ended.
Daryl had stripped off his jersey and pads, and was laughing at something Mason was saying.
"See that?" I whispered to Mercy, pointing to the large patch of scarred tissue on Daryl's shoulder, the one part of his beautiful body that was marred with imperfection, which just so happened to have shi
elded the one part of my body that hadn't been scorched in the fire.
Mercy squinted her eyes. "That big scar on his shoulder?"
I nodded. "A curtain rod fell on top of us when he was trying to pull me out of my bedroom window the night my house caught fire."
Mercy's eyes widened as she absorbed my secret. "Are you saying…" Shaking her head, she turned to look at me. "Are you telling me that Daryl saved your life that night?"
Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach and nodded slowly. "I was already pretty badly burned up by the time he reached me." A shiver rolled through me as I recalled the pain-filled memory. "I couldn’t see a thing; the smoke was everywhere. In my nose. My eyes. I was blinded in that room. But I could hear his voice. I could hear him calling out to me as the flames lashed at my body like a whip." Another shiver racked through me. "Anyways, he found me and pulled me towards the window, but when we tried to climb out, the curtain rod fell on him. It was coming right for my face – that much I could see. And Daryl? Well, he covered my body with his – he took the full brunt of that pole right down on his shoulder. It was fire! I could tell that it was burning him. I could smell his skin cooking like mine, but he didn’t let it fall on me. He just kept on pulling at my body, hoisting me up and pushing through that window until we were both out," I finished, my words barely more than a broken whisper. "So, yeah, he saved my life."
Mercy clutched her chest. "Oh my god."
Turning my attention back to the boy on the field, I smiled to myself. "I always knew that I loved him, but it wasn’t until the night of the fire that I realized I would never not be in love with the boy across the street."
"Whoa," Mercy breathed, eyes glistening. "I'm not much of a crier, but right now, I want to keel over and bawl like a freaking baby!"
"Please don’t," I said, chuckling nervously. "We really don’t need to give the cheer squad another thing to gossip about."
As if right on cue, Britt and the rest of the cheer team all laughed and pointed in our direction. They were supposed to be practicing one of their peppy dance routines, but clearly, we were far more entertaining.
"She looks like the lovechild of Freddy Kruger and Edward Scissorhands," one of them shouted, and I knew that particular jibe was directed at me.
They all erupted with laughter.
"And that hair?"
"I know. Does she want to look like a boy?
"I guess anything is better than looking like an overdone steak."
"Ugly bitch."
"What a troll."
"He's only fucking her because he pities her."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. They used to be tight before she got all mangled up."
"Ew. I don’t care how tight they were. I don’t know how he can stand to touch her."
"She's so gross."
"Daryl's a good guy. He's probably helping that reject tick off some of her bucket list."
I was supposed to hear this.
They wanted me to know what they thought of me.
My face flamed with heat and I hated my body's response to humiliation. How I longed to have one of those resting bitch faces like Mercy, or the ability to turn to stone.
But I didn’t.
I was a human being with human reactions to shame.
My eyes watered and my cheeks burned.
"Say that again, bitches," Mercy snarled, jerking to her feet, and giving the girls exactly what they wanted; a reaction. "I fucking dare you!"
"Mercy, don’t!" I called out, scrambling to my feet. "They're not worth it."
"Like hell." Furious, my friend grabbed the scissors off the grass and stormed towards the cheer team.
"Oh shit," I choked out, hurrying after her. "Put down the weapon, Mercy. Please. Just put down the scissors–"
"You think having short hair makes her less attractive?" Mercy demanded when she reached the girls. Bold-faced, she squared up the entire team, wielding the damn scissors in her hands. "You think a few burns makes her less beautiful? Let me tell you something, if I had a dick, I would be sticking it inside of that girl –" She paused to point her scissors wielding hand at me. "I would fuck her all day long before I even thought about sticking it inside any one of you. Wanna know why? Because you whores are ugly. That's right. Each and every one of you are rotten from the inside out."
"Mercy –"
"No, I'm not done here, Molls," Mercy snapped, keeping her furious gaze trained on the cheer team. "I am sick to death of listening to you ridicule and belittle that girl for something as fucking shallow as looks." With that, Mercy reached up and pulled her ponytail over her shoulder. "You think having short hair makes a girl ugly?"
Stunned, I could only watch as Mercy used the scissors in her hand to hack off her long, glossy ponytail.
I gasped and covered my mouth.
"Well, how about y'all watch your wide receiver pant after my short-haired ass all day, every day until graduation," she taunted before tossing her beautiful hair at their feet. "Choke on it, bitches."
Having said that, Mercy turned on her heels. "Come on, Molls." Hooking her arm through mine, she powerwalked away, and for once, the mean girls had nothing to say.
"I can't believe you just did that," I croaked out, wide-eyed. "Merc, your long hair…"
"Pssh." She batted a hand in the air. "Hair is temporary. It'll grow back."
"I think they might think you're a tad batshit," I offered, in complete awe of this strong-willed girl I was lucky enough to call my friend. "But I think you're great."
"Goddammit to hell, Six!" Tossing his helmet on the ground, Rourke stalked towards us. "You just can't be stable for a single day!" Shaking his head, he pointed to the cheer squad and then to Mercy's hair. "Fuck!" Closing the space between them, Rourke roughly yanked his girlfriend against his chest. "That was so fucking psychotic, I swear, I've never been harder for you." Squeezing Mercy's ass, Rourke snapped his teeth at his girlfriend before pulling her in for what I could only describe as a vicious kiss.
Feeling acutely uncomfortable by their PDA, I quickly hurried away, only to stop short when Daryl blocked my path, freshly showered and ready to leave.
"What happened?" His gaze flicked from my face to our friends mauling each other. "What's with Mercy's…" He pointed to his own hair. "Did she…"
"She was making a point," I offered, leaning up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "You were amazing out there."
He grinned wolfishly down at me. "That was just practice, Dolly."
"I know." I beamed back at him. "But you were still amazing."
Chuckling, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. "My own personal cheerleader."
"Ew, gross."
My response only made him laugh harder. "Come on, Dolly. Let's go home."
Home.
"Sounds good to me."
36 Molly
"Is your heart set on a specific college after high school?" Daryl asked on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
We were sitting at my kitchen table, and when the long-awaited question finally came up, my entire being snapped to attention.
"I, ah…" I had my spoon halfway to my mouth when the topic finally came up. "Huh?"
"College," he clarified, swallowing a mouthful of Cheerios, as he watched me carefully from across the table. "Do you have any specific plans?"
My heartbeat steadily rose in my chest while I contemplated how to respond. "No," I finally came right out and said. "To be honest with you, I have no idea what I want to do with my life after high school."
"No?"
I shook my head. "Not a clue."
"I've already committed to Alabama State."
"Yeah." I set my spoon back in my bowl and sighed. "I know."
Finished with his cereal, Daryl chewed on a slice of toast, clearly deep in thought, before asking, "So, there ain't anyplace you've got your heart set on going?"
"Nope." I shook my head. "I haven't thought that far ahead to be honest."
He stared hard at me for the longest time. "Do you think Alabama State might be somewhere you could be happy?"
My breath hitched and I froze on my seat. "Are you…" I expelled a puffy breath. "Are you asking me to go off to college with you, Daryl?"
"I'm asking you to consider it," he replied, keeping his green eyes locked on mine.
There it was.
There it freaking was!
My pulse skyrocketed. "You want me there with you?"
"It's your decision, Molly," he replied. "I don’t want to coerce you into doing anything you don’t want to do. I don’t want be that guy to you –"
"But you want me there with you?" I pressed, heart pounding now.
"Full disclosure?"
"Always."
"Yeah, I want you there with me." He leaned back in his chair and gave me his full attention. "I can't even contemplate the notion of leaving you behind next year – for a game, no less. The way I'm feeling, if it's a choice that I've gotta make between Alabama and you, then there's no choice to make at all. It's you. Every damn time."
"Well…" I blew out a shaky breath, so incredibly touched by his heartfelt words. "I'm not sure if attending Alabama State will make me happy, but I know that you do, and that's enough for me."
"Molls." A slow smile crept across his face. "Are you saying what I think you're saying…"
"That I've already applied and been provisionally accepted because I'm a freaking academic genius? Or that I've become one of those depressingly cliché teenage girls that follow their football-scholarship-yielding boyfriend off to college?" I nodded. "The answer is yes to both, D."
Daryl just sat there, gaping at me, with a look of pure wonder on his face. "We're really doing this."
I smiled back at him, feeling both nervous and excited. "I guess so."
Choking out a laugh, Daryl rose from his seat and rounded the table, not stopping until he was crouched down in front of me. "Goddamn, I love you hard," he said, cupping the back of my neck. "Fuck." Pressing a hot, drugging kiss to my lips, he pulled back to grin at me. "You just made my life, baby."
