Diana

15
Niall’s P.O.V.
It was a good thing Diana came into Marcus’s house when she did. I was about five seconds from losing control and beating him up. I just couldn’t believe he’d hit her! And Diana didn’t tell me. I still wanted to leave an impression on Marcus though. I pretended to get ready to deliver a punch. It was satisfying to see him cower like he did. I smiled slyly and headed to the door.
When Diana and I got into her Aunt and Uncle’s van she glared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt him,” she raised her eyebrows.
“And I didn’t!” I whined.
“I meant physically and mentally!”
“Well how else could I get him to stay away from my princess?”
The corners of her mouth twitched. I could tell she was fighting a smile now.
“I don’t know! Not like that though! And don’t lock me in a tower either!”
Her smile broke through.
“I’d never dream of it!” I laughed. “If I did that, I wouldn’t get to see you!” I gave her my best sad puppy face.
She laughed now too. “Okay. Just go back. I’m tired.”
“Okay.”
I started the car and began driving back to her cousins’. I knew the way now so I didn’t have to ask Diana. We rode in silence the whole way.
When we got back I got out and started towards the front door. Then I realized Diana hadn’t gotten out yet. I went over to her door and looked through the window. She was asleep. I smiled and opened her door quietly. I reached across her to unbuckle her and lift her into my arms, bridal style. I used my foot to close the door and ambled up the driveway. I glanced down to see her, still asleep. We went inside and upstairs. Her aunt, Jackie, saw us and ran over. She was about to say something but I put a finger over my lips and nodded to Diana. She nodded in understanding. I set Diana down in my bed, so she wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. I pulled a blanket off for myself and got comfy on the rug.

Diana’s P.O.V.
I woke up and wasn’t sure where I was at first. I thought back to the last thing I remembered: in the car with Niall. I sat up and looked around. I was in Niall and Dan’s room. But no one else was there. When I looked down I noticed Niall, sleeping on the floor. I glanced at the clock, 1:37 in the afternoon. I did a double take; it still read the same thing. I got up quietly and went to the girls’ room to get changed.
When I arrived downstairs, my cousins, aunt, and uncle were there. But there was someone else too. Before I could properly take her in, she ran up and hugged me, almost knocking me over. “Neala! I missed you!” she squealed.
She let me go and took a step back to see me. She had straight, waist length, brown hair and hazel eyes.
I smiled awkwardly. “Hi! …Uh… Do I know you?”
She let her gaze drop. “Uh, yeah, I’m Macey… We’re sorta best friends.”
My jaw dropped. “But… Janice.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What about Janice?”
“She’s my best friend!”
Macey laughed so hard she doubled over.
“Janice? Your friend?” she had tears in her eyes from laughing. “That’s a new one!”
When I didn’t reply, she must have realized I was serious.
She nodded slowly. “She might just so happen to be our enemy.”
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “But… That’s not what she said.”
“You’re gonna believe her?”
“I don’t see why not.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll show you why not. Let’s go upstairs.”
We went up to the girls’ room in silence. When we got there I shut the door and waited.
She took a deep breath, and then began, “We met in third grade when Janice was hogging both of the swings on the playground. You saw that I wanted to swing too so you came over to me and we made a plan. You distracted her while I took over the swings. We started talking on the swings at recess every day. After a while, you invited me to your house for a playdate. After that we went to each other’s houses every day after school.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Fast forward a few years and we had to go to different middle schools. So we begged our parents for phones so we could still talk every day. We got them and actually did talk every day. I went to the same school as Janice. Later, we got to go to the same high school. That’s where we are now. You’ve been with Marcus for a year. He’s nice enough but you only stay with him because you don’t want to be on his bad side.”
I cut her off. “What do you mean he’s nice enough? He was awful.”
“You’ve seen him since you got back?”
“Yeah, he was at the funeral. He took me home with him.”
Her jaw dropped. “He what?” she said, practically a whisper.
“Marcus took me home with him,” I repeated.
“What did he do there?”
“He started kissing me and then he got mad when I didn’t want to so he slapped me. Then he got all nice so I forgot about that for a while. Then he took me back here.”
“He was never that bad to you, Neala!”
“Well what was he like before?”
“Well… He was always a little shady and used you for homework answers. But never anything like that!” she looked shocked.
“So… He took advantage of me not remembering him… Just like Janice… How do I know any of this is real? How do I know you’re really my friend and you’re not just faking it like you said Janice was?”
She bit her lip. “Well…” Then her face lit up. “I have my texts with you!” She pulled out her phone. “Here.” She handed it to me.
On the screen were dozens of texts she’s sent… me.
‘I miss you. Please come back,” was the last one. It was from week ago.
“Why didn’t you keep trying to reach me?” I asked.
“I found out your phone was at home… Your mom was reading them all,” she blushed.
“Oh…” I turned back to the phone.
There were months of texts going back to chatting about school and farther. My last text to her was “I’m gonna do it. I’ll be back soon.” I’d been planning going to the concert for months.
“You really are my friend,” I grinned and gave her hug.

Notes

Sorry for the late update (again). I hoped you liked this chapter! Remember to vote, comment, and subscribe so you don’t miss anything! And thanks so much for almost 5,000 reads! That’s just insane!