Feet pounding, Nooshy was like a relentless force, not stopping for anything, her tears flying out of her eyes. She reached the apartment complex, bawling, speeding up the steps to the fourth floor. Years of dancing and running from people had strengthened her so that when she reached her apartment, she was barely panting.
She lay her head on the door, thinking to herself, 'Get yourself together. Who are you to break that easily? Stupid Andy. Stupid world.'
fumbling with her keys, she managed to open the door. Slamming it shut, she drew the curtains, wiped off most of her running makeup, and changed into her PJs. Then, surprising even herself, she did something she hadn't done in years.
She opened her dresser and pulled out a worn little wooden chest. Nooshy reached inside and uncovered a little purple ipaw'd.
Gently, as if it was made out of glass, she plugged her headphones in and sat on her bed, wrapping a blanket around her, covering her head like a hood.
The playlists that she scrolled past all had silly names on them. Nicknames.
Ooshy's happy tunes, Ooshy cat's sleepy beats, Mommy's road trip playlist, Daddy's favorite songs.
With each one she cried harder. Going past the one she wanted, she started to look at the ones from over 19 years ago.
Cat's cleaning melody, Will's playlist, they went on and on. Coming across one titled 'My baby's songs' curiosity struck the young lynx.
Clicking on it, she realized they were all her favorite songs from when she was little. Biting back a wail, she immediately clicked off of it.
She went back to the one she wanted, called Nooshy's melancholy music. The first song played and she lay wrapped in her blanket, allowing herself to sob as the music washed over her. The music was turned up so loud, she barely heard the furious knocking on her door.
Pausing the music, she screamed at the door, "CAN'T A GIRL BE SAD IN PEACE!?"
The knocking paused, then persisted.
"Come on, Nooshy. Open the goddamn door!"Ash yelled.
"We just want to make sure you're alright." Rosita called.
"We've got smoothies!" Gunter attempted to use the treat as persuasion.
"Ice cream smoothies! With chocolate!" Meena tried to help.
"GO AWAY! Nooshy's not here right now, she's lying in her sorrows with a really good soundtrack. Come back next week."
They stood in silent shock for a few moments until Porsha broke the silence.
"She's never gonna let us in." She moaned.
"Johnny, any ideas here, or.." Buster trailed off.
"I have a key to her house." Johnny blurted out.
"Seriously? We've been standing out here for thirty minutes and just now you're telling us you have a KEY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Ash complained.
"Do you have a plan for this? We can't just all go barging in to her apartment." Meena pointed out.
"I think Johnny should go in, and then the rest of us will follow." Porsha said.
"Good idea." Rosita said with approval.
"Johnny, you cool with that?" Buster asked.
"What? Why me?"
"Because you're her best friend. In her currant emotional state, you're the one she will actually talk to." Ash explained.
She and Porsha exchanged snickering glances as Johnny went inside.
He stood in the frame of her bedroom doorway, shocked at the sight of his friend in such a state. Nooshy looked up and shrieked before realizing it was him.
"Johnny!" She said, frantically wiping off her leftover makeup, snot, and tears. "How did you get in here?"
He waved a key in front of her face.
"How dare you abuse the power of the key." She growled.
"It was that or watching my best friend shut down and sink into depression."
She looked away, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. He sat next to her on the edge of her bed and waited.
"Hey, when did you get that?" He said, motioning to the purple iPaw'd.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" She snarled.
"Not touching it." He put his hands in the air.
"Sorry." She looked down, ashamed.
"Want to tell me about it?" He asked gently. She took a deep breath and began her tale.
"We were street performers. My mom, dad, and me. We had a license and everything. Dad could play any instrument, and Mom sang like an angel. So it only made sense that when I was born, I was a dancer.
My parents loved my dancing, but they taught me bits of their own trade, as a safety net. Dad taught me to play a lot of instruments, but my favorite was the drums. Mom taught me to sing, but I could never sing like her. I did find I was good at rapping, and that I wasn't horrible at singing.
We would go out, my dad on a guitar or some such, my mom singing and me dancing. My dad would try to teach me a few moves from time to time, but I was such a quick learner, I would often end up teaching him!" She gave a wry little laugh and moved on.
"The day I lost them, I was about nine. We were walking home from an afternoon's work, and a guy came out from an alley or something and tried to hurt my dad. When he missed, he pulled out a gun, causing my dad to yell at my mom and me to run. We did, but I looked back. I heard the shot, and I watched my loving father fall to the ground."
She was sobbing at this point, but forced herself to continue.
"I screamed, but my mom just urged me to go faster. We were so close. So close to escaping when my mother fell. I begged her to get up, but she gave me the iPaw'd and told me that she loved me, but I had to go. I watched her die. I watched the only two people I had die." She was practically wailing now.
Johnny sat in shock, not sure how to process the events that destroyed his best friend's life for good.
Having no idea how to make her feel better, he scooped her up in a hug, murmuring, "It's gonna be ok." in her ear.
She sobbed into his shoulder, feeling a weird sense of peace now that someone other than her knew her secret. The others came in and joined the hug, having heard everything. After awhile she stooped crying, but it took awhile to coax her to let go of Johnny.
She felt safe and warm in his strong embrace, and it reminded her of being loved.
Wait…loved? What was she thinking? Johnny didn't love her! Not like that!
'Stupid Andy, messing with my head!' She thought.
"Wait, so who was that Andy jerk?" Porsha asked.
"Yeah, was he a family member?" Ash added.
"An old flame?" Meena guessed.
Porsha and Ash noticed how uncomfortable Johnny looked after Meena's comment. Nooshy, however, recoiled in disgust.
"Andy? No, gross! I've never had a boyfriend. Andy and I were best friends growing up, and then his dad started getting rich, and soon he started to think he was better than everybody.
He started to treat me bad, and when I tried to ask why he was doing this, he said, "I'm not going to hang around a dirty little street rat. I have my place and you have yours, dancing on the street to make a living." And thus, the nickname street rat was born. Any how, I'd like to think I'm much more successful them him now. I've got friends, food, and a really fun jobs. Not to mention a new best friend, who is much better then Andy ever was."
"You're much better off then him!" Rosita agreed.
"Why though? Why did he do those things to you?" Gunter asked.
Her eyes hardened and her fists clenched. "Because he could."
Her voice was cold, sending a shiver down the spines of those who heard her.
"Because he had the power to. Just like with my parents. That guy didn't know who they were. He had the power and want to hurt them, so he did. Just. Because. He. Could."
Her voice started to shake and the others sensed she was going to be hysterical if they didn't stop it. Nooshy felt someone grab her hand, tentatively, as if they weren't sure she would like it. Looking down, she saw it was Johnny, who then wrapped her in a hug.
"You can't let the past affect your future." he told her. "I'm here for you...we all are."
Nooshy felt the tears come to her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall.
"Another thing, " Rosita looked her in the eyes, locking her motherly gaze on her's. "It's ok to cry. It's not a bad thing, just a way of letting the sad out."
Nooshy gave a little nod and buried her face in her best friend's shirt.
"Let it all out." he whispered soothingly.
After a bit, she was all cried out, and was thoroughly exhausted.
"Noosh….I hate to tell you this, but you have to let go now."
Johnny murmured. There was no response, so Ash prodded her.
"Hey!" Johnny yanked her away from the porcupine protectively.
"What? She's asleep."
"What?" They all chorused.
"She really can fall asleep anywhere." Meena said in surprise.
"Umm, who's gonna get her off of Johnny?" Gunter asked.
"Leave her there." Porsha shrugged.
"WHAT?" The others cried.
"Look, if she's holding something, she'll just hold on tighter. Watch." Porsha attempted to pry the lynx's paws off her friend, but the paws only grasped tighter.
"She hates letting go of things. The only other option is to wake her up." After about an hour, they managed to get her to let go.
Gently, Johnny lowered her onto her bed for the second time that month.
"Come on, let's skedaddle before she wakes up."
Rosita ushered them out the door as Johnny rubbed his neck and groaned.
"Girl has a REALLY strong grip."
"You probably make her feel safe. She loves you." Meena smiled.
"What? No!" His face burned.
"Well, yeah, you're her best friend!" She said with a secret smile.
"Oh yeah, right. I'm gonna go. Good night everyone!" He ran off before anyone could respond.
Ash and Porsha, who had been observing the whole scene with interest, caught up to Meena and tugged on her shoulder. She looked to see them smirking.
"You ship?" Porsha snickered.
"Ooohhhh yeah." Meena giggled. The three laughed all the way back.
Thx so much for the reviews!