Clammylaugh

"Sissy, I brought you a gift."
He shuddered in fear the moment he heard her voice. Whenever he heard her voice, he knew nothing good ever came out of it.
"Please, not today." His voice made it obvious he was scared.
She laughed, then touched his shoulder. He flinched, but she held him down.
"Please." he said in almost a whisper.
*****
"HI." she waved at him.
"You must be the Riley everyone's talking of, right?"
He was left dumbfounded, hearing her say she had heard about him. Everyone who had heard about him made sure to keep their distance, so just why was she trying to start a conversation with him?
"If you are doing this to become popular, then you are very well welcome to be my friend. But if you are just naive, I would advise you to keep your distance." he said to discourage her.
"We do have something in common. You get bullied, so you hate bullies, while I hate them just because they are bullies."
"Hating them does not change the fact that you will get bullied if you befriend me."
"Then I will have you watch me kick their asses if they try messing with us."
"Are we friends now." she asked after they both laugh at her former words.
"We are, as long as you are ready to kick some ass."
"Bring it on."

In Search Of Home

As soon as she got out of the taxi, Natasha saw two hands in the air, waving. Looking closely, she saw Riley with his right hand above his head, while the other hand belonged to Julian. She waved back at them with a big smile on her face.

Starting off with her normal tomboyish walk, Natasha took a stop, noticing the glances she received from passersby. She took a deep sigh when she saw a middle aged Chinese woman walk past her and say something in her language.

'Does she really think I do not understand what she said. And just what century does she think we are in.' Natasha mumbled to herself.

She took some steps forward, stopped, then turned to look in the direction the woman went.

"Does she think she is a boy?" Natasha said mockingly.

Ignoring the stares she received, she approached her new found friends.

She said as she sat on the seat in between Riley and Julian. They all exchange pleasantries, ordered some foods and picked up their glasses.

"Let me make this toast." she smiled as she looked at each and everyone of them give their approval.

"When I first joined the school, I found nothing interesting, since I was in a period of grieving." she took a pause and a deep sigh followed.

"I lost a very dear friend of mine to a similar occurrence, so, when I was given another chance, I wanted to change myself, do better at protecting my friends, but I failed again." a sad smile showed on her face.

"I failed so badly and gave up hope, considered myself nothing but a failure. I was going to run from it, just as I had done before. But I didn't, thanks to my uncle and one of his subordinates, all thanks to them, I could get determined and could find a solution instead of just wallowing in despair. And just when I thought I was alone, you three" she said as she smiled at Julian, Max and Tharn

"You three proved to me that I was not the only one who wanted to get rid of bullies, especially those seven. You gave it your all, which I appreciate. You risked your safety, went against the sons of great men in the business world.

To Richard." she said as she turned her gaze to him

"I want to say thank you, for being a good caring big brother to us all and for supporting us till the very end. To Riley."

A drop of tear came out of her eyes.

"I want to say thank you, for being my friend, for trusting me, for giving me a chance, and for not leaving me. Thank you Riley. "

Tears came rushing out of her eyes, and Riley was doing his best to hold back his tears.

"Come on now." Richard said as he stood up

"This is such a happy moment. As much as I will like to see what we all would look like while crying, this is a moment we should be happy, smiling and laughing."

"Meeting us might be a great occasion for you, but trust me, meeting you is definitely the best thing that has ever happened in my life. And I am sure each and everyone of us here wouldn't be here today if not because of you. You brought us all together. We all have a reason to thank you. "

The trio also stand up, with big smiles on their faces.

"So I believe this toast belong to you, Natasha." said Julian as he raised his glass higher.

"No, I would not have been the Natasha I am today if I didn't have you guys by my side. So I guess this toast is to us all."

Tharn suddenly shouted as he raised his glass.

They all shouted as they all raised their glasses, clanged them together, and gulped it down all at once.

"Well, we gotta make do with the orange juice, since we are still underage." Max said as he laughed out loud.

"You can order beer if you want to big bro."

"No thanks. I will like to keep a clear head, since I have to ride back."

"Enough talking, let's eat while the food is hot."

To Our Friendship