We walked into Costco. I held my head high and ignored the looks people gave me. Sheelin had a wicked look on her face, and I mean wicked like mischievous and sexy, not like those potheads who say 'cool, man' every other word. I'm not saying all potheads are like that, but there is always /that/ one. And Lamai. Poor Lamai. She hid behind us and hid her face from everybody. I felt sorry for her; I remember the stares people gave me and all the crap I took from them. As we waited in line, I turned around and held her face in my hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked, peering into her eyes. Unfortunately, I couldn't read her emotions."If it's about standing out, get used to it," I didn't mean to be mean, so I added, "A not-well-known singer once said 'All the world's a judge'." She cracked a smile as she got the reference. Emilie Autumn to the rescue, "Are you going to let them judge you?"
"No" she said fiercely," She responded, her eyes glowing.
"Good," I said, patting her cheek, "Then head high and flaunt your stuff," Winking, I turned around and stepped up to the counter and got our pizzas. We walked out of there confident. If this were in a movie, then we'd be walking out in slow motion, hair streaming in a light breeze, knowing looks upon our faces. But I don't think anyone was filming us, so I'll just have a great image of what I think we looked like.
We drove to the park in silence. We weren't mad at each other, but we were afraid that every time we opened our mouths, our stomach would growl. We arrived on time and saw that there were people milling about, waiting for us.
"Let's leave the pizzas in here and just go out there and do this," Sheelin said. I nodded and we got out. Sheelin had a boxful of candles, more than enough for everyone, but you never know.
"Why does it look like there are more people here than usual?" Lamai asked, panicking.
"Because there are," I said. When I swept the faces in the crowd, it dawned on me that people outside The Lakas were here. Then I spotted a pair of eyes that were locked onto me. The man made his way through the crowd, coming straight towards me. I tensed my muscles. Luckily, there wasn't much fabric holding me back, so I was free to punch all I wanted. It looked like the Phantom of the Opera was coming to get me. His half full face mask prevented me from identifying any feature. When he came within an arms length of me, I was ready to bash his head in, but the next two words that came out of his mouth froze me in my tracks.
"My lady," he said.
"What?" I asked in confusion, letting my guard down, "What did you call me?"
"My lady," he murmured, "Mila Balangue; my lady," He slowly removed his mask, and I could see his face in the light of the full moon. Josh.
I resisted the urge to run into his arms and instead asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, seeing as how I am one of the Lakas now, I assumed I was invited. That, and Facebook told me 'L4L meeting at the park. Be there.'
"What's wrong?" I asked, peering into her eyes. Unfortunately, I couldn't read her emotions."If it's about standing out, get used to it," I didn't mean to be mean, so I added, "A not-well-known singer once said 'All the world's a judge'." She cracked a smile as she got the reference. Emilie Autumn to the rescue, "Are you going to let them judge you?"
"No" she said fiercely," She responded, her eyes glowing.
"Good," I said, patting her cheek, "Then head high and flaunt your stuff," Winking, I turned around and stepped up to the counter and got our pizzas. We walked out of there confident. If this were in a movie, then we'd be walking out in slow motion, hair streaming in a light breeze, knowing looks upon our faces. But I don't think anyone was filming us, so I'll just have a great image of what I think we looked like.
We drove to the park in silence. We weren't mad at each other, but we were afraid that every time we opened our mouths, our stomach would growl. We arrived on time and saw that there were people milling about, waiting for us.
"Let's leave the pizzas in here and just go out there and do this," Sheelin said. I nodded and we got out. Sheelin had a boxful of candles, more than enough for everyone, but you never know.
"Why does it look like there are more people here than usual?" Lamai asked, panicking.
"Because there are," I said. When I swept the faces in the crowd, it dawned on me that people outside The Lakas were here. Then I spotted a pair of eyes that were locked onto me. The man made his way through the crowd, coming straight towards me. I tensed my muscles. Luckily, there wasn't much fabric holding me back, so I was free to punch all I wanted. It looked like the Phantom of the Opera was coming to get me. His half full face mask prevented me from identifying any feature. When he came within an arms length of me, I was ready to bash his head in, but the next two words that came out of his mouth froze me in my tracks.
"My lady," he said.
"What?" I asked in confusion, letting my guard down, "What did you call me?"
"My lady," he murmured, "Mila Balangue; my lady," He slowly removed his mask, and I could see his face in the light of the full moon. Josh.
I resisted the urge to run into his arms and instead asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, seeing as how I am one of the Lakas now, I assumed I was invited. That, and Facebook told me 'L4L meeting at the park. Be there.'
