New best friend

My fingers gripped the handle of my pink tricycle. I shook my head furiously, trying to run away from my father's words.

"Michonne, you have to come off that bike!" He shouted when I kept peddling. My feet pushed down on the pedals as hard as I can. But his legs were longer. He was faster.

"Noooo!" I shouted the minute I felt his hands grab my waist. I didn't want to meet the stupid neighbors. I wanted to stay on the bike. Me and Sasha always rode our bike's in the grass. My lips curled down when I thought about my best friend. I didn't want any new neighbors, I hated them already. Last night I wrote it in my diary, it was already written, therefore it was concrete.

My legs kept flailing around in my father's clutch. "Michonne, stop it." He scolded but I knew where he was taking me. I didn't want to go. I had already thrown the frilly white socks in the trash the minute my mother laid it on the bed for me. She also took out a bushy blue dress. I threw that away too.

I pierced my lips when my dad opened the back door; he sat me on the high chair in our kitchen then stretched his back out. "You're getting too damn heavy for this." He muttered. I made a mental note to tell mom he said a bad word.

"Jeff! Did you get her inside?" My mother's voice echoed loudly, traveling downstairs.

"Yeah!" He shouted back. I wanted him to leave so I could run back outside and peddle on my bike. Sometimes he was my king the next he was just a big bully. He regarded me after hearing me huff loudly. "Fix your face, Michonne." My scowl deepened further. I crossed my arms in anger.

"I'm telling mom on you." He looked at me in confusion. He was already dressed down in that monkey suit he always wore.

"Tell me what?" My mother came downstairs; her hands were busy fixing her earrings. When she came into the kitchen she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me.

"Michonne where are your clothes?" She questioned then rushed over to my side. I needed her to be mad at daddy. Not me.

"Daddy said a bad word." I pointed at him. "He said 'damn'!" My father twisted his head at me.

"Never mind that. Michonne what did you do with your clothes?" I looked down at the mud on my white shorts, then up to my sweaty 'tweedy bird' shirt and shrugged.

"Let me tell you, it's in the trash is where it's at." I glared at my father for tattle tailing on me.

"Michonne," She admonished. "You're going to get upstairs and put something on. Whatever you put on is what you're leaving out this house with." My mother reached the other ear, securing the backing of her earing. She tossed her long locs off her shoulders then pulled me off the high chair.

"You spoil that girl. She's just going to wear jeans. You know that's what she wants."

"If it makes her comfortable then why not?"

"This is a 'formal' welcoming party, I don't need to repeat myself, Linda. Just make her wear something decent, I'll be waiting in the car." He said before stomping out the room.

My mother rolled her eyes and pierced her lips. "That was the second dress Michonne." She took my hand leading me upstairs to my room.

"I don't want to go." I admitted when she started rummaging through my closet. The back of her head was shaking and she spun around with a frilly dress in her hand. It was worse than the last one I threw in the garbage.

"Why? I thought you wanted a new friend since Sasha left." I raised my arms above my head and let her pull the 'tweedy bird' shirt over my head. She was being careful not to mess up the locs she retwisted earlier.

"I already have friends. I have Abe, Maggie and Morgan." I told her.

"Well, maybe this one can be your new best friend." My nose bunched up at the thought of replacing Sasha.

"I don't want a new friend! Sasha will always be my friend." I cried.

"Awe, Michonne." Her hand cupped my face and her thumbs wiped the tears from my cheeks. "You'll always have Sasha. Didn't you two make a promise?" I nodded against her hands. "And what was that?"

"We'd write letters but it's not the same," I argued. "She's the only one that played with me. You don't let me play with Maggie, Morgan or Abe." The only time I saw the rest of my friends was at school and sometimes at the park.

"That's because their houses are too far." She told me. Grabbing the white sparkling dress off the bed, she circled her hands around the neck of the dress before slipping it over my head.

"But what if they don't like me?" I asked. Mom fixed the dress on my body.

"I'm sure they'll like you because I like you." She went back to the closet and got out another pair of frilly white socks along with my glossy black shoes.

"But you love me."

"Then they'll love you too. Now hurry put this on before your father has a heart attacked." She poked my side making me smile. "There's that smile I love so much." I took the socks from her and slid them on my feet then jammed the shoes that were a little too tight on after them. She smiled at me again before leading me downstairs.

I kept fidgeting in the spot between my mother and father. Everyone from town was here. I didn't understand what the big deal was. I knew Sasha's house was bigger than mines, and someone else moved into it. Did that mean they were important? They had to be, why else would the entire town gather dressed all fancy. I held onto my mother, my eyes were looking everywhere until they landed on Morgan. He had on one of those monkey suits on too. I laughed under my breath.

Morgan was one year older than me, he was eight yet he acted like he was a grown up. He probably loved wearing those clothes. I pulled my mother's hand trying to get her attention. She stopped her conversation then stared down at me.

"Yes, Michonne?"

"Can I go over to Morgan?" I pleaded; I didn't want to be around my parents. They always talked about business and that was boring.

"Where is he?" I pointed over to him.

She nodded. "Just don't get lost, okay?"

''Okay." I answered already well on my way to Morgan. I stopped a few feet away from him, he had a hand in his pocket sipping a box of juice like it was beer. He didn't notice me and suddenly I had an idea. I trod around a crowd of people and jumped up behind Morgan who squealed. The juice in his hand didn't spill, not one drop landed on him.

"What did you do that for? Michonne?" He looked angry.

I just rocked back and forth on my toes. "I thought you'd drop the juice."

Morgan made an annoyed noise. "My Mom would be angry if I messed the suit up." His hands brushed the jacket off. "It's a rental." He said.

"What's that? A rental?"

"It's- I don't know."

"It's when you borrow something but you have to give it back." Maggie pitched in. I jumped and gave her a big hug. She had Abe towering over her.

"Yeah, it's what she said." Morgan stuttered taking a sip of his juice.

"Hi, Maggie." We were both wearing the same shoes when I glanced down at our feet.

"Michonne I love your dress!" Well, I hated it. Maggie was the girly type so I was sure she'd love my closet.

"Why are we even here? I got a new BB gun to play with." Abe wondered aloud.

"You have another BB gun. That's cool, Mom wouldn't let me near one." Morgan sulked.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Why do you always talk about boy stuff Abe?"

"Maybe because I'm a boy."

"We don't know that, prove it!" We were all huddled in our own little corner. The grownups were paying no mind to our bickering.

Abe furrowed his ginger brows, confused. "How am I supposed to do that?" Maggie was always pushing someone's hot button.

"I read one of my dad's medical books. So I know how boys are supposed to look down there." She said.

"You want me to pull my pants down? That's not a good idea. My dad said I shouldn't do that, ever."

"Then how do we know you're telling the truth?" Maggie folded her arms. I shook my head knowing this wouldn't end well. It wasn't the first time Abe was challenged by Maggie. One time we were around the 'big' slide and she bet her juice box Abe couldn't slide down head first. Everyone knew it was dangerous. There was a deep drop at the end of the slide that always hurt everyone's ankles when we hit the floor. After a kid broke their leg we were told never to go on it again. Of course, Abe just had to have the juice box.

He broke his arm that day.

"Fine, I'll do it." Morgan looked at Abe in shock.

"I want nothing to do with this." He said stalking off with his juice box. I was starting to side with Morgan on this one.

"Abe your dad's going to beat you if you do that." I told him.

"But Maggie-"

"Maggie's just messing with you." Maggie's was laughing, her hands holding her sides. "See, she's just messing with you."

"Damn it!" He growled.

"Ooooh, you said a bad word Abe." Maggie's eyes were wide and my mouth fell open.

"Michonne." My skin jumped at my father's voice. "There you are girl."

"Good evening, Mr. Jones." Abe and Maggie said in union.

He nodded at them before holding his hand out, I took it. "Come on I want to introduce you to our neighbors." My stomach turned. I couldn't protest in such a public setting. I always had to be on my best behavior. He pulled me along with him and we got back to a roundtable. There were six chairs around it.

"Michonne this is Mr. and Mrs. Grimes." I looked at the two foreign faces sitting next to my mom. There was a woman with a friendly smile, she had a pixie cut and I thought it was weird. Most women around here wore their hair long. "Michonne, these are our new neighbors. Mr. Grimes here is also the new Sheriff in town."

I gave her a smile. "It's very good to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Grimes." I told them, my manners kicking in.

Mr. Grimes gave me an amused smile. His eyes were so blue; it was hard to look away at first. "Michonne Jones right?" I nodded. "This is our son, Rick Grimes. Rick this is Michonne." I didn't notice the kid sitting quietly at the table. "I really hope you two get along." Rick didn't even spare a glance in my direction. He sat straight ahead with a blank look on his face. He couldn't even look me in the eyes.

I frowned, deciding I already hated him. Dad rubbed my shoulders and pulled out the chair next to Rick. "Have a seat and get to know Rick, Sheriff and I are going to have a talk." I gave him a glare. He really did want me to sit next to the kid.

Rick didn't turn my way when I took the seat beside him. So I just stared at the side of his face. What else was I supposed to do? His hands were entwined in his lap; he kept tugging at the cuffs of his shirt. "Hi, Rick." I said because I didn't have anyone else to talk to. My parents were already deep in their conversation with his and I couldn't just walk off to find my other friends.

He stopped tugging on his cuffs and I noticed there was a swab of cotton in his ear. "Oh," He sounded surprised at how close my voice was. Then he finally turned towards me.

His eyes were blue too. It was really blue, like his dad's. "I'm sorry; I wasn't paying attention," he told me. I looked at his smooth pale complexion and took in the short curls of his hair. He held his hand out. "Hi, I'm Rick." I shook his hand feeling weird all of a sudden.

"I know that. I'm Michonne." I pointed to the cotton in his ear. "What's wrong with your ear?"

"Oh, that? I have an ear infection, or at least that's what mom tells me."

"How is cotton supposed to help with that?" Rick shrugged.

"I don't know." He looked at me again. "How old are you, Michonne?"

"I'm seven; I'll be eight at the end of the year."

"That's Christmas." I nodded, hating him a little less. "Do you have to choose between Christmas and birthday presents?"

"I do. Mom usually buys me stuff for my birthday but dad always says she spoils me."

"I think I like your mom. I'm eight by the way. My dad never gets me anything for Christmas. Mom usually sneaks me stuff though." Why would his dad do that to him? I glared at his dad over the table.

"Maybe I'll get you something for Christmas. If we're friends that is."

He gave me a wide look. "I'd like that, for us to be friends, that is."

"Then it's settled. We're friends." When I got home I guess I'd have to cross out 'hate the neighbors'.

We talked about everything from that moment on. He told me about his best friend he left, Shane. I told him about Sasha. I admitted that I was going to hate him and he laughed at me. I didn't know exactly why he laughed. Rick told me that he didn't like spiders or chocolate bars. After he said that I started second guessing my dislike for him. But we made back up when he said he loved strawberry ice cream. It was a favorite of mine.

Mom might've been right, maybe I made a new best friend after all.

...

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I inquired. There we were, sitting on our bikes at the end of the street. The house we were in front of was abounded and rumored to be haunted. The only person that was able to talk us into this was, Maggie. And of course, I dragged Rick into this mess he was always so straight-laced and stiff. I thought, maybe this would've let him loose but Maggie never said anything about going inside.

Maggie shrugged her yellow backpack off her shoulders; unzipping it, she revealed a small batch of flashlights. She gave each of us one and looks over to Abe. "Did you bring it?" He nodded, throwing his own bag off too.

"I had to save for a month just to get a new pack of pellets." He opened the backpack revealing a variety of bb guns. "Use it wisely." He warned when we swarmed to his bag.

"You know as the oldest in the group, I'll be the first to state the obvious. This is a terrible idea." Morgan said shaking the pellets around in the toy gun.

"If it's such a bad idea then why are you here?" Maggie asked. "Besides isn't Rick the same age as you?"

"If he's twelve then yeah," Rick mentioned in a daze. He was already obsessed with the toy in his hand. "Abe, what kind of bb gun is this?"

"That right there is a colt python 357." There was obvious pride laced in his tone. I shook my head deciding to pick something random.

"We'll just have a look around and if anything happens we have our bb guns." Maggie rests her bike on the pavement.

"My bb guns." Abe corrected. I might not know a lot but a bb gun wouldn't do much to help us if anything happened. I looked back to the boarded house. Vines were growing along the fence as well as the wall of the house. The paint on the house had faded long ago. I swallowed hard.

"Michonne is with me." Rick stated.

Morgan stopped shaking the toy gun. "Why does she always have to be with you? Maybe she should be with me." My mouth fell open.

"Maybe because I can protect her better than you. I'm her best friend, it's what we do." Rick threw an arm over my shoulder.

"That's right and when we grow up we're going to be cops, right Rick?"

"Right, now if you'll excuse us. We'll head inside now." I didn't want to go inside I had an aching feeling something bad was going to happen.

"Rick and Michonne are always together, Morgan." Maggie said flipping the switch of her flashlight. "Besides you're with Abe and I." Satisfied that her flashlight was working, she led all of us up the grassy pathway. Rick's hand fell away from my shoulder. Turning toward him, I gave him a curious look. In response, his hand moved down to clasp mine.

He could tell I was nervous. There was an entrance in the wall hidden behind a sea of dead plants. I squeezed Rick's hand.

"So we go through here look around and when we get back out we tell everyone at school it's not haunted." Maggie said. "Michonne and Rick you guys can take upstairs and we'll take downstairs."

"Why do we have to do that? There are only two of us." I argued. I was starting to regret coming out with Maggie. She gestured for Abe to move the grass out the way.

"Because the lower floor is bigger. Unless you want Morgan with yawl."

Shaking my head I decided to just go with the flow.

"Relax Michonne. I'll be right here." Rick said giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. To think this all started with me trying to loosen his uptight demeanor. He's always so worried about what his dad would say.

"Alright, I'll go in first." Maggie said. She took a loud audible breath and ducked into the dark hole. We all looked around at each other. On the other side, we heard some footsteps after that nothing else.

"Maggie, are you there?" Morgan shouted.

"Morgan, keep your voice down! We don't need Ms. Smith hearing us." Abe warned referring to the old women who lived next door. It was a miracle she didn't call the police yet. There was a flicker of light and a small cough.

"I'm fine, you guys can come in." She replied. Again we all looked at each other. Then our eyes landed on Abe. He was bigger than all of us so it was the only logical thing. Abe gripped the handle of his bb gun and stuck out his chest.

"I'll see you all on the other side then." He said.

There was a light tug on my arm and I looked up at Rick. "Let's go in."

"Are you sure about this? I know I sort of made you come with us but we could just leave them here. Maybe go back to the tree house." Rick shook his head at me.

"You're scared aren't you?"

"No, I'm not! I'm just worried about you. About what your dad would say if he catches us." I told him the truth that just so happened to have a lie in it.

"Like I said Michonne, I've got your back." He rattled the gun and held onto my hand a bit tighter. He didn't wait for me to protest or make any more excuses. Instead, he pulled me along with him into the hole.

Maggie flashed the light in our faces as we emerged into the dark room. I coughed, the dust from the room invading my senses. Reaching for my own flashlight I turned it on, letting go of Rick's hand when the on switch got stuck.

"Holy crap, this place is creepy." Abe said. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

I looked around and took in my surroundings. The walls were blood red, but it wasn't the most alarming part of the house. There were crosses leading upstairs, they were all turned upside down. Every little step I made, the creak of the wooden floors could be heard echoing off the walls. Filling me with nothing other than dread. The telltale signs of fear were creeping up my spine. Ghost aren't real.

Ghost aren't real.

Something touched my arm and I jumped back, alarmed.

"Hey, calm down. It's just me." Rick looked at me, concerned about my reaction. "We can still go back out." He told me. "This isn't really important."

I shook my head, squeezing the body of my flashlight a little tighter. "It's nothing I can't handle." I lied. Rick gave me another look, piercing his lips.

"If that's what you say." The only thing more terrifying than anything paranormal were clowns. I hated them. I didn't understand where my fear stemmed from but my mother always said it was normal for kids my age to be scared of things we didn't understand. I believed her.

Morgan came in behind us, kicking up dust when he stumbled after standing up. He coughed looking around at us. "This is a bad idea." He said again.

Maggie shined her flashlight on a few dusty furniture pieces. "You already said that Morgan. We're already inside and look." She threw her hand up. "Nothing bad has happened." Abe had his gun hoisted up, ready to shoot plastic petals at anything. "We have guns." She added.

"Yeah, toy guns." Morgan grumbled. Maggie gave him a long look in response.

We were all standing around staring at everything. From the chandler in the high ceilings to the Dracula figures that were along the fireplace. Maggie cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. "Fun fact, there is a reason people think this house is haunted. A few years ago there was a family of four living here. Everything was all petals and roses, until one rainy Sunday. They were all gathered in this very house, watching the exorcists." We all gasped. Everyone besides Rick.

"What's the exorcist?" I wasn't surprised he didn't know what it was. His parents were very straight-laced and strict. Especially his mother. She knew his every move. She wouldn't even allow him to eat green or red Jell-O.

"It's about a little girl who was possessed by demons." I informed him. "But Mom said that movie wasn't real."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "She's just saying that because she doesn't want you to be scared. But the people who were a part of it are dead because of it." I gulped.

"That has nothing to do with this house." Morgan voiced. "Sure, they watched the movie but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, after they watched it the youngest son started chanting these strange words. No one understood him so they ignored it. But later that night, when everyone was asleep. Both of the parents were found dead. No blood, no screams and no sign of struggle. Some say they saw a shadow in the window in that very spot." Maggie pointed to the area I stood in. Eyes wide I quickly dashed to Rick. He was the only one that could make me feel safe. He was my best friend.

My hands latched onto his 'Smokey the bear' shirt. "Now that we're here we'll put the rumors to rest once and for all." She continued.

Abe shun his light on Maggie. "Yeah, we'll be legends after this." Morgan shook his head but didn't say anything to them.

"Abe gets it. Now, Rick and Michonne will go upstairs and we'll stay down here. We have a lot of ground to cover so let's get started." I stared at the crosses along the walls. Out of everything in this out they were the only thing that didn't have an inch of dust or cobwebs on them. The wood still held a glossy shine. My stomach turned but I swallowed my nerves. I have a bb gun and my best friend by my side. I didn't have anything to worry about.

After watching the three of them wander off further into the house I looked at Rick. "We can just go back out the hole, Michonne." He reminded me that there was a way out. But that would just make me a scared coward. I had to go through with this.

Releasing his shirt from my clutch, I waved him off. "Let's just this over with. Hey, maybe we'll find something valuable."

His lips tilted up. "Maybe, then we'll be millionaires. I'd buy you a house with my money." He took my mind off the way the floor sounded every time our feet touched the wooden panels. He held onto my hand as I kept the faulty flashlight in the other one, Abe's bb gun stuffed in my back pocket.

"Why would you buy me a house? I think I'd buy you a house. Maybe I'll by myself a chocolate factory." The creaks got louder as we hit the steps. Despite our banter, my eyes strayed to the crosses we passed. There were six of them on the wall. I counted as we got to the top of the stairs.

"I can get you both. Maybe we can share it." Rick squeezed my hand tighter. He shined his flashlight down the hallway. It was pitch black. I couldn't see anything he didn't have the light on.

"We can't share a house, Rick." I kept the conversation going. We walked pass every room that had the door wide open or completely off its hinges. We peeked inside each of them. Nothing was amiss. They were just empty rooms covered in dust bunnies. I started breathing a little easier.

"Why not? My parents do. Your parents do."

"They're married and we're not, Rick." I stated. "Only married people can share a house. That's what my mom said."

"Well, we can get married." We were at the end of the hall with only one door and room left unexplored.

"We can't do that. We have to love each other and be adults. Only adults can do that."

"Who said I didn't love you? I love you, Michonne. You're my best friend." My mouth fell open and my heart was swelling. I smiled, happiness overshadowing my fear.

"I love you too. But we're not adults." Rick frowned then looked at the closed door before us.

"This is the last room."

"I know. How far do you think the others made it?" He shrugged before letting my hand go.

"I don't know." Rick's fingers closed around the doorknob. "It won't turn." He mentioned.

"Try pushing it. Maybe it's stuck." He nodded then used his shoulder to push against the door. After three solid shoves, the lock gave way and he got it open. Tiny particles covered the room as he pointed the flashlight inside.

"It's empty." I said.

"No, what's that?" There was a small bear lying face down in the middle of the room. Rick took a step towards it and I followed him.

"Is that a-"

"Carebear, it's a carebear." I finished for him as we got closer to the stuffed toy. Bending over he picked it up then sneezed after bringing it too close to his face.

"This isn't valuable, so we won't be millionaires after all."

"At least it wasn't a doll. That would've have been creepy."

"Maybe, at least now, this haunted house thing can be put to rest. I'm tired of people saying this house is haunted every time I go on the swings." I laughed knowing exactly what he meant. There was always an argument about this house.

"It won't hurt that we'll be legends either." We smiled, but that soon died when the door slammed shut. We jumped at the noise.

"Rick, what just happened?"

"The door just closed." We made a dash for the door. Rick jiggled the knob, pulling it open but it wouldn't budge." My skin started crawling and the hair on my arms went rigid.

"Rick?" My voice was frantic but Rick kept his composure.

"I know, I know. I'm trying." He tucked his flashlight under his chin and pressed his foot against the door frame he pulled with all the strength he had.

Crack!

Rick fell off balance but I caught him before his back hit the floor. He was heavy but I had him.

"What just happened?" I asked afraid to know the answer. Rick got back on his feet, picking up the flashlight that fell on the floor.

"The knob broke off." I couldn't say anything. I just went to the door myself, sticking my hands through the empty slot the knob came off of, I pulled but nothing happened.

"We're stuck." I said. I was scared. It was dark and Rick's flashlight looks duller than when he first turned it on.

"We'll scream maybe Abe or one of them will hear us." His voice sounded a little nervous. I nodded.

"Abe! Morgan!" I screamed.

"Maggie! Help!" Rick shouted. The only thing we heard in response was a small giggle on the other side of the door. "Maggie is that you?" There was another fit of laughter. My fear was swiftly replaced with boiling anger.

"Maggie I'm going to shove you if you shut us in here." I growled. The laughter on the other side of the door stopped.

"Are you mad?" Her muffled voice questioned. My fist curled up into a tight ball.

"Of course I am. Thanks to you we're stuck." I shouted.

"I told her not to do it, Michonne." I heard Morgan's voice.

"I thought it would've been funny. Abe, Morgan can you get the door open." Rick shook his head, his brows were furrowed.

"This is ridiculous. Are you okay?" He asked me.

I nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't know Maggie was planning this." There were a few hard bumps against the door and muffled sounds of frustration.

"It won't budge." Abe said loudly.

"So we're actually stuck." I went to Rick and wrapped my arms around him. It made me feel better. He patted my shoulder.

"I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't think this would happen. We'll go and get help." Maggie shouted. "Just don't pee yourselves." I wasn't in the mood for wisecracks. Rick's flashlight got duller and duller until the light started blinking. He knocked it hoping it would stay on but it did the opposite. After the light went off we were enclosed in darkness.

I held onto Rick tighter and felt the tremors. "Rick?" It stopped. "Are you crying?"

His voice was coated with unshed tears. "Dad is going to kill me." He said.

"It was my fault; I'll tell him that, Rick. Don't cry." Sheriff Grimes didn't tolerate anything out of line from Rick. It was a risk even getting him to come here. He wanted his son to be this perfect kid. Didn't let him stay out too late. Go certain places. He only allowed him to come to our house. And Rick had to beg for that to happen.

"I'm not crying." His voice was firm. "It was my choice too Michonne. Don't put that all on yourself."

"But you were going to cry." He huffed.

"Can we talk about something else? No matter what lie you tell my dad the result is going to be the same." I wasn't going to see Rick for weeks.

"You know there is this new kid at our school." I mentioned.

"Is it the girl with the weird face? I saw her a while ago." I shook my head.

"Not her, she was weird though." Rick started to relax.

"I don't know who you're talking about." I was positive he knew exactly who I meant.

"The pretty girl with the long hair. She's in your grade, Rick." It didn't seem to ring any bells with him.

"I don't know but why are you bringing her up."

"I heard the boys in your class. They all said they wanted to kiss her." I said to him. I couldn't remember her name. She was in the 7th grade with Rick and every boy in middle school was gushing over her.

"So? She's just another girl. I've never kissed anyone before. I don't mind." I looked at Rick, squinting, desperately trying to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"You've never kissed anyone?"

"Nope, have you?" My head was on his shoulder as we slid to the floor with our backs against the door.

"No, that's how germs get spread." I say. "It's unsanitary." Rick laughed at me.

"My mom said the same thing." We sat there in the dark talking about everything we thought of. Rick's watch lit up and he jumped.

"Michonne, it's 5:30." I frowned doing mental calculations. If it was 5:30 then we were sitting here for an hour. Did Maggie actually get help for us? Even if she didn't my parents and Rick's parents had to notice that we were missing by now.

"Should we look for another way out?"

"No, dad was off from 4. He knows I'm missing."

"Then what's taking them so long?"

"I don't know. Maybe they don't believe them."

"Really, Rick?"

"Sneaking into an empty lot isn't something my father would expect me to do." I snapped my mouth shut. He was right, this wasn't something my parents would believe either. But regardless, they had to realize we were missing. It was getting cold in the room and I was getting to my breaking point.

"I'm never listening to Maggie again. If she didn't shut that door, none of this would've happened."

"The only good thing is the house isn't haunted.

There was a loud bang behind us and we both crawled away from the door. Bang! I heard the wood splitting and I searched for Rick in the dark.

Bang! I found his hand and crawled to him.

Bang! The door gave way and a dozen bright lights were pointed at us.

"Michonne, thank god you're okay." It was my mother's voice. I cried, reluctantly pulling away from Rick and going to my mother's outstretched arms. She pulled me close rubbing the dust off my face. I saw my father behind her. And next to him was Rick's dad.

"I'm sorry mom." She shushed me.

"Sweetie, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay." She looked at rick then added. "I'm glad both of you are alright." I looked back at my father. The look on his face made me want to stay shut in that room.

"You have to be out your damn mind, Michonne." I flinched at the pitch of his voice.

"I'm sorry." I cried.

"Well sorry ain't enough. You had me out here like a damn fool, trying to figure out where my only daughter is." He chuckled humorlessly. "And there you were all up underneath the Grimes's boy."

"Jeff! She was scared. There's no need to go there." My mother said in an effort to aid me. I knew what I was in for the minute I stepped out my father's car and into the house. He kept quiet on the drive home but unleashed his anger on me the minute I sat down.

"Linda, she is my daughter too. You spoil her too damn much and now look what happened. She nearly got trapped in that damn hazardous piece of shit."

"Jeff!"

"What? Like she ain't heard that before."

"That doesn't mean you should say in front of her. You should be glad she's fine and drop it."

"Drop it!? She needs to keep her ass away from Rick. That boy ain't no good for my image." Frustration welled up in me.

"It's not Rick's fault. Nothing was his fault." I cried in his defense. "It was my idea to go with Maggie and I dragged him there with me."

"I don't care, now the entire street is talking about this. Jeff can't control his kid, how is he going to run for office? Jeff can't even control that girl of his." He said mockingly. "I don't care if it was your fault, Maggie's fault or the damn door's fault." If this was my father's reaction I knew Rick would have it bad.

"It won't happen again." I say. I kept my head down.

"You got that right. I don't ever want anything like this to ever happen again. You got it easy Michonne, your young. Don't know nothing about the real world. Nothing about consequences. And for that, I'll let this go." My father didn't wait for an response. He just stocked up the stairs.

"Michonne, honey." Mom came to my side and I cried on her shoulder.