"You okay?" A girl's young voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It had been two days since I'd said goodbye to my Flock and left them with their families and it was safe to say I wasn't taking it well.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied quietly.
"No, you aren't. You look like you want to cry." She argued. I sighed but didn't answer. She sighed, too, and sat down on the bench next to me, giving me a good view of her. She was wearing a blue jacket that looked like it had seen its best days several years ago. Why she was wearing in freezing New York weather was beyond me. On her head, she was wearing and white and black striped hat with a pom-pom on it. She had a black scarf around her neck.
"Honest. I'm fine." I argued back. I'd been lying a lot recently. To my family, to complete strangers, especially to myself.
"No, you aren't." She shot back. I glared at her and she glared right back, her greyish-blue eyes filled with steel.
"You wouldn't understand." I murmured, my eyes dropping back to my lap.
"Try me." She whispered. And so I told her. Not my entire life story, but the events of the last few weeks. I didn't realize I was crying until she handed me a tissue and he scarf.
"Here. I won't need the scarf, it fogs up my glasses." She said as she pressed them into my hands. I looked up at her quizzically and saw she had dark blue glasses perched on her nose. How did I miss that?
"I was cleaning my glasses on my jacket when you first looked at me." She explained, as if reading my mind. I nodded and wrapped the scarf around my neck.
"It looks better on you than it did on me!" She said with a laugh. I smiled. She beamed back at me.
"Here." She said suddenly, taking off her hat and offering it to me. Her short brown hair was unruly after being under her hat for so long and some of it stuck to her head where she had sweated because of the built up heat.
"No, thanks." I said.
"Take it. I have plenty." She persisted. I hesitated and she laughed again.
"I don't have lice. There may be a little dandruff, but that's what happens when it's cold." She said, her smile still lighting up her face. I took the hat and pulled it on.
"So, random girl I met on the street, where you headed?" She asked me.
"Arizona, probably. My mom and sister live there." I answered.
"Nice. I'll be leaving in a couple days to head back home to South Carolina." She said.
"Cool." I replied, thinking That's where Fang lives...
"Yeah, it kinda is." The girl got a wistful look on her face. Then recognition flashed through her eyes.
"Hey, that guy, Nick, does he live in South Carolina?" She asked.
"Why?" I asked back, suddenly paranoid.
"Because, he sounds a lot like this new guy in my history class, whose name is also Nick. Tall, skinny, dark hair and eyes, tannish skin, doesn't talk much, right?"
"Yeah." I answered in shock.
"So you must be Max. That's the only thing he's told me about his past, that you were one of his closest friends." She said, once again laughing.
"Really?" I said, kinda hurt by the way he described me.
"Yeah. He said it kinda regretfully, like he wishes he had the guts to tell you how he actually feels before he left."
"Huh." I responded, still shocked that this complete stranger knew Fang. Small world.
"Yeah. You guys should get back together. I doubt all of you are handling the distance well." She said as a tall man appeared in the flying snow.
"Ashley, come on. We're going back to the hotel now." He called to her.
"Coming, Daddy!" She called back before turning to me, "Call them soon, okay? I'll tell Fang you say hi." She turned and ran towards the man and disappearing in the snow. Only one that was on my mind: How did she know I was talking about Fang?
Me: My first one-shot...
Max: Yeah. Not bad.
Me: Yeah. To all of my darling readers: The idea for this came from a story called Growing Up and Away. It's by Raven-Rach and is located here on this fabulous website.
Max: I'm pretty sure if Fanfiction was a god/goddess, you'd worship them.
Me: You know I would!