⌜ chapter two ⌟

"What's Cory's problem?" Letty asks as she walks over to Shawn in the school hallway.

"Maybe you'd know if you stopped avoiding him and Eric." The younger boy says. "Did they really​ not know that you can get like that?"

"Get like what?"

"Protective." He pauses. "Aggressive."

"I am not aggressive." She argues.

"You were starting a fight with Harley Keiner."

"Go to class, you little twerp." She nudges her brother and then walks away from him.

After school that day, Letty heads over to Eric's like she promised a certain tiny blonde she would. She's about to leave with Morgan and her mom when she feels something running down her side, causing her to immediately freeze.

"Hey, uh, can I use the bathroom before we go?" The brunette quickly asks, and Mrs. Matthews looks at her.

"Yeah, of course, sweetie." She nods, and Letty quickly grabs her backpack before making her way up the stairs.

She closes the bathroom door behind her and then lifts her t-shirt so that she can see her left side. The cut that she got the night before is bleeding again. She quickly cleans it up and grabs one of the big Band-Aids from her backpack and replaces the old, bloody one.

She then heads back downstairs to join the others. "Okay, I'm ready." Letty says as she walks into the kitchen, her backpack slung over her right shoulder. "Sorry about that." The brunette says, and Mrs. Matthews shakes her head.

"It's fine. Are you alright?" She asks, and the teenager nods.

"Yeah, fine."

"Scarlett." The girl sitting at the kitchen table with Eric gets her attention, and she looks over at her.

"Hi, um... Rebecca, right?" Letty asks, though she knows exactly who the girl is. The two of them don't exactly like each other...as in, at all.

"What are you doing here?" Eric asks, and his best friend looks at him.

"I promised Morgan that I'd watch her at practice because I can't make it to her next game." She tells him, and he nods.

"Oh, that's cool." He nods. "I haven't seen you around lately."

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy. Work takes up a lot of time for me now."

"Okay, Morgan. Soccer practice." Mrs. Matthews tells her youngest, regaining each of their attention. "Remember what we learned last week?"

"Don't kick the coach." Morgan says, and Letty chuckles as the blonde walks out the back door.

"So, Scarlett. How is everything?" Rebecca asks, and Letty looks back over at her.

"Everything's just fine. Thanks for asking." She looks at the door and then back at her. "I better go, don't want to make them late."

"Of course."

"Bye, Eric." The brunette says, and he smiles as he waves briefly.

» » » « « «

Letty yawns as she pulls her long, brown hair into a ponytail​, tying it up as she walks back behind the counter at work. Someone walks up in front of her, and the tired brunette looks at her, finding that it's Rebecca.

"Can I get you something?" Letty asks.

She's currently working at the poetry place and it's required that she's nice to the customers, even the ones that she doesn't like. So, as much as she hates it, she has to be cordial to Rebecca.

"Coffee." Rebecca says, and she walks over to the coffee pot. Letty just made a fresh pot a few minutes ago.

"What size?"

"Medium." She tells her, and Letty pours her a cup. "You know, I had a good time with Eric. I get why you like him so much." She says.

"Yeah, he's a good guy." Letty says as she sets the cup in front of her. "That'll be four ninety-nine — creamer and sugar are on that table over there."

"He's a really good kisser too." Rebecca adds as she picks up her cup, and Letty doesn't say anything. "It's too bad that his little brother walked in on us in their parents' bedroom."

"Can I get you anything else or will that be all?" Letty asks, ignoring what she's saying about Eric.

"No, that's all."

"Then that'll be four ninety-nine." She repeats, and Rebecca then gives her the money that she owes for her coffee.

"Hey, babe." Miller gets the girls' attention as he was over to them. "When are you out of here again?"

"Half hour." Letty tells him, and he nods.

"Can I get a coffee while I wait?"

"Do you have six bucks?" She asks, and he grumbles about having to pay his best friend when he does everything for her as he pulls it out of his front pocket.

"I want my penny back." He tells her, and she flips him off before going to get him his large coffee like he always orders when he walks her home.

"It's Miller, right?" Rebecca smiles at him, and he looks down at her for a moment.

"No." The blond returns his attention to Letty. "Hey, so, what are we doing this weekend?"

"That depends." His best friend says as she rings up his order. "Is it just the three of us?"

"It's generally easier that way."

"Then I'd say we're probably doing what we always do." She tells him as she gives him his coffee and his change. "After my shift at the market. Jason isn't busy, is he?"

"He has us. Who else is he gonna hang out with?" He quirks an eyebrow, and she smiles sarcastically at him.

"You are the only one with no other friends, Mill." She retorts. "We have other people that we hang out with."

"You two have Matthews." He argues, and she shrugs.

"Still more than you have."

"You don't have to get all bitchy on me."

"Go away, Miller." She tells him. "I'm still working."

"I'll wait where I always do." He then turns around and walks away from the two brunettes.

Letty looks back at Rebecca and raises her eyebrows. "Can I help you with something?" She asks, and the other girl scoffs before walking away from her.

Miller looks up at his best friend when she walks over to him, finally able to leave after shift is over. The pair leave the poetry place after dark, and they're walking down the sidewalk. He lets the brunette have a drink of his coffee, and she smiles as she hands it back to him.

"Hey, uh... Thanks for that before — with Rebecca." She says, and he glances at her for a moment as he takes a swallow from his cup.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Miller shrugs, and they continue toward the trailer park without another word.

At school the next day, Letty's sitting at a table in the cafeteria during lunch, and her best friend sits down with her. "Hey." The teenage girl smiles at Eric.

"Hey." He greets unenthusiastically, seeming rather bummed out.

"What's wrong, Eric?"

"Rebecca dumped me." He tells her, and her eyebrows furrow as she turns in her seat to face him.

That doesn't make any sense given what she was saying yesterday. Unless she was just trying to get under Letty's skin, and doesn't actually like him. If that's the case, that really sucks. It's one thing for people to screw with her, but to hurt Eric to do it... That's not right.

"I'm really sorry​." Letty says, and he shrugs.

"It's not a big deal, I guess." He says, and then starts eating from his tray.

"It's her loss. You can do way better anyway."

"You really think so?" He asks as he looks back at her.

"No, Eric, I don't think so. I know that you can do better." She tells him, her dark eyes looking into his much lighter ones, and he smiles. "You deserve to go out with someone who sticks around for longer than one day. You'll find her eventually."

"Thanks, Letty." He says, in a better mood now, and she smiles.