I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its characters
I do own Anne Marshall
Tess Carver belongs to Celebrityfan
Chase and Dylan Enheart belong to I heart Lyoko
Tess's POV
Clementine walked over to Kenny's table and sat with Kenny, Chase, Sarita, Dylan, and Walter.
I smiled behind her back. She gets to reunite with an old friend!
I see the slightly hurt look on Luke's face. With a sigh, I reach over to him and patted his hand. "Luke..." I said, staring pointedly at him. Luke turned around and looked into my eyes, giving me a look that made me squirm mentally.
"I wouldn't blame her..." Anne said as Luke, Nick, and I looked at her. "She JUST reunited with an old friend, after all. I would wanna sit at their table if I'd ever knew him."
I playfully scoff. "Gee, thanks..."
"Do you think we can trust him?" Luke asked. I raise an eyebrow. What's he getting at?
Anne nodded. "If Clem can trust him, then I can too."
I already knew I could trust Kenny. "I think he's an OK guy..." I said, eating more of my food.
After a moment of silence, Luke said, "Walter told me that his family died..."
I stopped eating. Kenny told me about it earlier...
Anne's eye widened in shock. "What...?" she asked.
I decided to speak up. "He lost his wife and son in the same day..." I said, ignoring the looks of shock from the group.
"That's horrible!" Sarah said. Luke nodded sadly. "A thing like that can hit a guy pretty hard..."
Anne closed her eye.
I looked at Nick, who had closed his eyes. He's probably thinking about Marie and Pete right now... I rubbed his shoulder to comfort him. I look over Luke's shoulder, and I see Kenny and Sarita talking to Clementine about... Something...
Anne leaned over to whisper to me. "Whaddya think they're talking about?"
I shrug in response. "I don't know... Let's go find out."
Nick, Luke, Anne, and I pick up our bowls and head over to Kenny's table just as Walter and Sarita move to sit at ours.
"Hey, Clem!" Anne greeted as we sit down. Nick and I sat together next to Clementine, Dylan, and Chase while Luke sat next to Kenny on his left and Anne sat on his right.
Kenny said, "Hey there."
"Hey," Luke replied.
"Hope you like the food."
Anne smiled at Kenny and said, "It's great!"
Kenny chuckled at her and said, "You must be Anne."
Anne nodded and ate her food.
"Peaches and beans!" Kenny announced. "Great for nutrition, not so great on the way out, I tell ya."
Nick, Clem, Anne, Luke, and I look at him in disgust as he laughed at his own joke.
Anne gagged and dropped her spoon. "Dude... I was EATING." she complained, pushing her bowl away from her.
"Sorry... sorry. So... It's Luke... and Nick. Luke and Nick. I gotta say, you two sure do look like a match!" said Kenny.
Luke and Nick stop eating to glare at the man. I choke on my own breath, trying not to laugh. Anne quietly snickers while Chase smirks and Dylan holds back a smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke asked, slightly offended.
"I'm just saying that you two look like good friends, that's all." Kenny replied. I snickered at the two's reaction before explaining to Kenny, grabbing Nick's hand with mine. "Hate to break it to ya, but Nick's actually my boyfriend."
Kenny's eyebrows shot up. "Oh! My bad..." he apologized.
"So." Luke began. "What's your plan here? Hold out till the winter?"
Kenny shook his head as he replied, "Actually, we were thinking about moving on up north. Ever heard of a place called Wellington?"
Clementine nodded. "Christa and I were going there." she said.
Anne rose an eyebrow and looked at her. "Isn't that the lady you were with?"
Clem didn't get a chance to answer as Kenny said, "Supposed to be a big camp near Michigan."
"Michigan?" Nick repeated.
"You got a hearing problem, kid? Yeah, Michigan! Think about it; fresh water, lots of land, and cold ass winters so the walkers get slow!"
"Sounds like bullshit." Nick said. I looked at him, placing a hand on his arm. "Nick..." I warned.
Anne spoke up, "Guys, look. Let's not fight. Let's just sit down and eat."
Then things settled down for a few moments before Kenny turned to her and noticed the bandana around Anne's eye. Shit!
"What's with the bandana?" he asked.
Anne stiffened, dropping her spoon again. "I don't wanna talk about it..." she muttered, looking away.
Kenny's face softened and he said, "Hey, it's okay, kid. You can just take it off and set it-"
Anne cut him off by shouting, "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, OK?!"
The whole room went silent, their stares directed at Anne.
Anne clenched her fist and muttered an apology before she walked away from the table, grabbed her guitar, and went upstairs.
"...What was that about?" Chase asked.
"Is she okay?" asked Dylan.
I jumped up to go after her, but not before glaring at Kenny.
"Anne, wait!" I called, running after her.
Anne's POV
Once I was out of their sight, I ran through the hallway. I gritted my teeth.
Why?! Why couldn't he just ignore it?!
I ran into a room and slammed the door shut. I leaned against the door and clutched my head. The memory of that night appeared in my mind again...
No, Anne... just don't think about it...
My eye wandered over to my left arm and I subconciously placed a hand on it.
It's over... don't think about it...
I sat down on the bed and held my guitar in my lap. I stared at it for a moment, then I remembered a song from a show I used to watch.
Humming the tune, I pick up my guitar and began playing it.
Tess's POV
I ran up the stairs, searching for my friend. I looked around in frustration, blowing my hair out of my face.
"Ugh! Where IS she?!" I asked myself.
I was about to give up and head back when I heard the strumming of Anne's guitar, followed by her singing voice. It came from a small room.
"Cultivate your hunger before you idealize
Motivate your anger to make them all realize
Climbing the mountain, never coming down
Break into the contents, never falling down
My knee is still shaking like I was twelve
Sneaking out the classroom by the back door
A man railed at me twice, though
But I didn't care
Waiting is wasting for people like me
Don't try to live so wise
Don't cry cause you're so right
Don't dry with fakes or fears
Cause you will hate yourself in the end."
I follow the sound of her voice. The further I walk down the hall, the louder Anne's voice gets. Her voice sounds sad, and slightly tearful... I never heard her like that...
I stop in front of a door and crack it open slightly. I see Anne sitting on a bed strumming her guitar with her eye closed. She has a sad, distant look on her face. I watch from the doorway as she sings the last verse.
"Don't try... to live so wise...
Don't cry... cause you're so right...
Don't dry... with fakes or fears
Cause you will hate yourself in the end
Don't try to live so wise
Don't cry cause you're so right
Don't dry with fakes or fears
Cause you will hate yourself in the end
Cause you will hate yourself in the end
Cause you will hate yourself in the end
Cause you will hate yourself in the end..."
I decided to speak up. "That's a... really sad song for a bright girl like you."
Anne didn't do anything when I spoke... no reaction.
After a moment, she looked up at me. "Hey Tess..."
"Hey..." I replied as I closed the door. I took a seat next to her on the bed she was sitting on, and all was quiet for a few moments.
Finally, Anne decided to speak again. "Sorry I blew up in Kenny's face..."
I shook my head. "No, Anne... it's not your fault..." I replied as Anne stood up and walked over to a desk.
"T-this bandana... it hides SO much..." Anne said as she sniffled.
What she did next made me jump slightly.
Anne roared and swept everything off of the desk onto the floor in anger. I sat still, silent. How much sadness was this girl bearing?
She sniffled again as she spun around and yelled at me.
"I've suffered SO MUCH! BECAUSE OF-" She ripped off her bandanna and shoved her bangs away from her eye, much to my surprise, showing me the blood red eye that she kept hidden for who knows how long... "THIS!"
She glared at me. "You... you have NO clue... absolutely NO CLUE what it was like for me... when I went to school... every day, these kids would... bully me! Whenever they got the chance, they'd pick on me! Beat me up, spit on me, call me names..."
I remained silent as Anne started to yell louder.
"Every. Single. Day, the kids would... I had to put up with them my entire life since Preschool! I even told my parents, I begged them to help me! But what did they do?! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Whatever they came up with, they were fucking stupid and weak! They didn't know these kids, I DID! Those pieces of shit were wrong in every way possbile!"
Anne stopped to punch the wall in anger.
"... I started to cover my eye with my bangs, hoping that it would all stop, but it didn't. It only made it worse. They started calling me 'Emo' and 'Cyclops'... A Cyclops, Tess! It got so out of hand one day... I had to go to the hospital because of those lunatics. They beat me up in public, to a bloody pulp! I would've died, but someone called the police, and they got arrested... and I was stuck on my ass in a hospital bed for two months... I was put in a coma... I didn't wake up for about five weeks... That's when I started wearing the bandanna..."
Anne then turned to me, tears in her eyes- Yes, BOTH of her eyes. She tearfully said, "Those people down there... They have NO IDEA what it was like for me! YOU! YOU don't know what it was like FOR ME! YOU-! Y-you..."
I knew she was reaching her peak, so I quickly jumped up and held her in my arms as she started to cry really hard.
"Sshhh..." I whispered, rubbing the girl's back soothingly as she hugged me back tightly. I rocked her back and forth as she sobbed into my chest, letting all of her emotions out; Rage, Hatred, Sadness, Frustration, Desperation...
"It's okay... Just let it out..."
Anne only sobbed harder into my chest.