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Post by LARK MARIE HARPER on Nov 18, 2011 4:37:43 GMT -5
 Damned pride. Damn it all to hell. It was a hard pill to swallow for some, and easy to toss away for others. People that did not understand pride normally treated those with said personality trait as though they were unapproachable. Standoff-ish. Aloof. Cold. To those who carried that aspect, it was something to be proud of, to stand up for. It was the ultimate defense mechanism. It kept you safe from vulnerability and helped build a skin tough enough to handle the harshest of words. With pride came anger. It was a refusal to back down, and not hold back. You had the drive to prove yourself, even if it was not necessarily needed at that particular moment in time. It made you stubborn, and distant from other people. All of these traits meshed into one created the soul that sat on the freezing cold swing in the empty park. The Hollow was quiet this time of year—students were at home with their families celebrating the holidays, or out of work to socialize for a period of time before going back to the grindstone. Lark had neither of those. Her family was off doing whatever the fuck they were doing—not that she cared, her parents were practically dead to her. A job was not really in the works at the moment because Lark had a hard time balancing school with other activities. It made her highly irritable, which was not good in a work environment.
Today was different, however. Lark’s thoughts and mental ramblings were not even focused on home life or the lack of financial standing. No. The war at school was embedded in the forefront of her mind, and refused to relocate itself elsewhere. The words that Altair spoke to her were like a dark cloud looming over her head; her own element was at her back, waiting to strike. They had their pitchforks and torches (metaphorically speaking of course), ready to take down the girl who associated with the traitor of their element. What they failed to understand was how far back the duo truly went. It was beyond elements, beyond alliances. They had their differences, their squabbles, their fights, but their friendship would always remain a solid wall of concrete and steel. At least, it would to Lark. That was why it hurt her to have Joshua tell her that he was not fighting to help her; no, the brunette could have easily taken on both of those boys without any hitch and did not need a helping hand, but to hear him say those words stung none the less. Lark wiped her nose as it burned in the cold winter air; it was better to be here than anywhere else. Nothing was all that safe anymore. Not until the damned war was over. With pale, cold fingers, the girl reached into her cargo pocket and pulled out her phone. The contacts held within were very few, but they meant more than anyone could ever know. Josh…Sam…Jack…even Altair.
I need to talk to him… But pride continually shoved the thought away with a steady hand, unwilling to allow Lark to push that text button next to Joshua’s name. Was it pride that held her back? Or the confrontation with the fire graduate? A fire elemental she may be, but there was no way in hell she was going to further jeopardize their friendship over something so empty and idiotic like the war. Josh already told her not to go around shouting that they were friends—and of course she hadn’t—but calling him up to discuss this may give him the feeling that she was. I want to handle this on my own! She screamed at herself, running a hand through her dark hair. It was best for only one of them to get in fights than both of them. It was not abnormal for Lark to get herself into a scuffle, anyway. But she and Joshua both? That would only solidify any hunches they had in the first place. Josh would not involve himself unnecessarily of course; Lark would be the same way. So, she decided against her sense of loyalty and stubbornness and decided to silence their friendship until the war ended. No meeting up to say hello, no mentioning of the other’s name, and always…always deny that you are affiliated with the other person in any way. It damn near killed Lark to tell Altair that she was not friends with Josh—her protective, loyal tendencies almost decked the blonde where she sat, but refrained. Texts or calls should be safe enough when they were in a place away from observant eyes and malicious glares, but even then it needed to be limited.
Sighing, Lark finally pressed the text button on her phone. She stared at the blank text screen for a few moments, worrying her lower lip slightly in thought. Shaking from exposing her hands to the cold, she finally texted him. “I’m at the park. Meet me. Need to talk…” The word ‘need’ made Lark flinch; it was a word rarely used by the brunette, and for good reason. There were few things in the world she needed, and to state that she desired something made her feel open and weak for reasons even she could not explain. It simply bothered her. Wrapping her arms around herself, Lark sat on the swing and stared at her shoes, listening to the eerie silence surrounding her.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 18, 2011 5:32:00 GMT -5
The meet was very awkward, very tense. It almost felt like fucking visitation as he bent down and wrapped his arms around his sister sister, her smaller limbs closing around his neck in a grip that felt tight enough to break bones. She was crying even though she tried to hide this from him--older brother intuition as well as the tell tale sniffling gave it away. It wrenched his hard so hard that it almost winded him for a moment, stealing his breath and making him unable to form the 'hello' that he'd been intending to speak. There was a few pulses of awkward silence as the little girl pulled away and the small family of four cleared throats and shifted positions. It was Annabel who broke it, staring up at her elder brother with watering eyes. "Are you coming back for Christmas?" It was not filled with accusation or even pleas as she spoke, bottom lip quavering as the blonde sniffed again and rubbed at the base of her nose. She was maturing, growing up. Now she understood Joshua was not as perfect as she'd once thought, disillusioned by his years of lies and the amount of times he'd left without saying goodbye. He exchanged a brief glance with his father, who nodded. "Yeah," he said, his voice abnormally soft. "Yeah, I'll be there."
His baby sister now knew what had happened--though not why--to remove him from the house. It had been Patricia who'd filled her in on Joshua's request, using her skills at bending the truth to make it sound like Joshua was just having a rough time at school and had moved in with Nell for 'personal reasons'. She did not know about the fight, about how her own father had thrown her beloved sibling from the house. She knew about Nell, unfortunately, because of a particularly loud-mouthed friend whose mother watched the news. That had been an awkward conversation, indeed. Neither sibling brought it up again. "Come and have something to eat," suggested Donovan. "We were just sitting down." He felt like a guest in his own home as he lagged behind the group of three, especially as Annabel was more quiet and melancholy than was usual for her. He would be staying with Nell for a few months, he'd already told his parents and Annabel, too. Not only did he need the time to accept the damage his father had done to their relationship but he needed to support his girlfriend through her ordeal. He'd learned the hard way that the trial coming to a (happy?) end did not mean happiness for the girl herself.
His phone rang halfway through dinner, The Kooks filling the silence that had previously only been broken by the clatter of silverware against plates. He felt uncomfortable when they all looked at him, even though they looked away and went back to their own devices almost immediately to save him the embarrassment. He would have checked it if it were Nell but as 'Boombox' had not been the song he knew that it was not. Upon reading the text and realising it might have been urgent he regretted this slightly and decided that he would cut the visit short. He saw the disappointment in Annabel's eyes as he broke the news and the subtle frown on his mothers, but Donovan merely nodded and looked away. It feels like things will never be the same. He sent a text to Lark: 'Sorry for the wait, family dinner. I'll be there soon. It occurred to him a bit late that he'd told her he wasn't talking to his father but he couldn't be bothered explaining how they'd 'made up' if you could even call it that. Upon reaching the park he gave a strained sort of smile. "What's up?" he asked. "Need something?" Despite his callous attitude and occasional arrogance, he was always there for his friends. Always.
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Post by LARK MARIE HARPER on Nov 18, 2011 12:27:48 GMT -5
A feeling churned in Lark’s gut as she received a text from Josh. He was with family. She was not quite sure if it was guilt, or bitterness, or jealousy that nestled in her heart as she read the words, but the emotion was not very positive. Lark wanted to text Joshua back to tell him not to worry about it—that it could wait—but she could not bring herself to do so. That would mean apologizing and bringing her guilt into the light, which was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. There was enough of that without adding this situation to the pile. He’s going to be angry at me…isn’t he? Was the first question that ran through her mind, not really sure if anticipating Josh’s reaction was at all fair to him. Maybe the reaction would be neutral, and they could just agree on this silence ordeal, and be on with it. Then he could get back to spending time with his family and all would be well again. Well, at least for him. Lark brushed the hair out of her face; the hand she used was scarred from the fight with one of her own element. Had it not been for Sachiele it might have looked even worse. Lost in thought, Joshua’s voice was almost startling. Almost.
The brunette looked up to see her good friend. He had somewhat of a smile on his face; something that she was not entirely accustomed to. Lark smiled for a moment in response, then it vanished into thin air as though it never existed. Quickly she shoved her injured hand into her pocket before standing up. God he was tall. “I uh…” For once the smart ass could not even think of how to start the conversation off right. Was that even possible? She ran a hand through her hair as if to release the tension building up, then slumped her shoulders as she looked past him and towards something unknown. “I talked with Altair about a week ago.” Lark blinked, still unsure of what to say. He walked away from his family for this. What a waste of time she was. It made her heart twist up in sheer regret. It was not felt often, but when she felt it there was no denying its existence.
With a sigh, Lark shoved her hands in her pockets and shifted her weight before taking a few steps forward. Josh was now to her left, but her dark gaze focused straight ahead. “She said that our entire element is against me now. One of them decided to run his fuckin’ mouth about seeing us, and he’s told everyone. Tim says he’s going to jump me.” Her jaw locked as her emotions raged within, unsure of which one to feel first. Anger, pity, guilt, regret, embarrassment, fury…they all writhed around in her stomach trying to get out. Instead, Lark’s face hardened to keep them at bay as best she could. Josh did not need to see any of that. As if by impulse, she turned her head and looked up at him, a very different look in her eyes. Fear? Concern? Who knew. “I denied us being friends to Altair. I’ve kept to myself a lot lately. But obviously it’s a bit too late for that.”
Now all of this seemed so small and finite in the big picture. Joshua had his family to attend to, and Nell. What was she? Nothing. Absolutely fuckin’ nothing. Lark pulled her head back and looked at the ground, for once feeling completely vulnerable in front of her close friend. This was not a normal occurrence. Without the girl’s consent, her lower lip twitched slightly. “I’m not…I’m not asking you to protect me. I don’t want anything from you.” Her eyes fell; after the incident in the hallway she felt it unfair to ask anything of him at this point. Her voice was quiet and rather calm considering how angry she felt. It made her wonder why she even pulled him away from his family in the first place if she did not want anything, but then again nothing she did ever made much sense to begin with. “I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on us not “being friends” for a while. Until this blows over. You can go on with your life and I’ll go deal with the mother fuckers.” Even if they do come at me in a group. For a brief moment, a smirk passed over her once stoic features; even though she did not want a fight, the sadistic part of her would almost enjoy it after all of the shit they put her and Josh through. It faded quickly. Even if Joshua was not willing to fight to protect her, it was not in Lark’s personality to reciprocate that. She would protect Josh. That was simply who Lark was. After a moment or two of silence, the girl turned her attention back to the fire graduate. She quickly wiped at her nose to try and visibly remove the emotion from her face, but it was difficult. Her nose was numb. She wished the rest of her would go numb too, that way none of this would ever bother her and she wouldn’t be so…so…afraid of taking on so many fire elementals by herself. Numb so maybe she would not even feel this fear. She hated fear.
[Lark in this state is so hard to deal with. XD Wanting to actually reveal emotions that were necessary versus keeping up her hard ass persona. Haha.]
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 18, 2011 17:30:32 GMT -5
Altair. The mention of her name immediately made his gray eyes harden and glint like steel, an anger simmering in their depths. He hated the girl even though he knew that she was a friend of Larks--she had attacked Nell without reason and Joshua had fought and won against her because of that. He could blow off people attacking him because he didn't care so much (he usually provoked them anyway) but Nell? No, that was not alright with him. She was a pacifist and he was willing to bet that she didn't start half the fights she got into. Probably didn't start any of them at all. Fire elementals were ruthless and of all the ones that Joshua intensely disliked Altair Bennett ranked amongst the worst of them. It wasn't like he willed death upon her or anything but hate was a strong word and he was going to use it. "Oh." He couldn't think of what else to say. He might slip into sneering and jeering about Altair and accidentally offending Lark in the process if he was not careful about this. She had never openly questioned his friends in other alignments so he was going to try and extend the same courtesy toward her by not bashing Altair. Openly. His own mind was currently a list of all the things he would do to that girl if she touched Nell again. He'd threatened the Bennett sisters to tick Altair off, of course, but he had no quarrel with the now-dead Syria or the Thunder triplet, either. It had been a ruse to anger her (which had worked). If they fought, they fought each other.
His friend was not looking at him as she spoke and Joshua did not attempt to force her. It seemed that the subject was somehow difficult and he could respect that talking about some things was better done when you did not look at the person you were speaking with. He did not consider it rude because it was a tactic often used by Josh himself if he were ever forced to say something unwillingly. It was like your pride took more of a glancing blow and less of an open wound if you did not stare the issue directly in the eyes. He did not like to hear of the Fire element and how they were turning on Lark. She was loyal to him but she was also loyal to them. She wasn't trying to protect Nell or Devin or the Earth element like he was. He was defending Water as well by default. He'd been iffy about that at first but found that his issues with the Waters were slowly starting to melt away a little. The years of anger were being pushed aside in favour of the war. He could not spend his time hating people that were supposed to be his allies. He also couldn't spend time liking people that were supposed to be his enemies, as Lark explained. "Jump you," he repeated. He hated the word. It immediately caused a reaction in side of his mind--remembering the scars, the gang, waking up in the hospital black and blue with bruises and covered in bandages. The scars. It wasn't like that with the Fires but he couldn't help his mind from going to it. "That's not good," he said. He didn't like that. "Has he tried yet?"
It did not hurt him as much as it had likely hurt Lark to hear that she'd denied the friendship to Altair. He'd told her that they should be doing so all along, that they shouldn't publicize their traitorous friendship. It had not been because of them but because of the alliances. Lark hadn't understood that--or hadn't accepted it, at any rate. Now it seemed she was being forced to. "Good," he approved quietly, nodding. "Protect yourself." He did not want his friend to put herself in danger for his sake, did not feel like it would be fair for Lark to take the heat when he himself was laying low and denying everything to his own side. It was a little different for him in that he'd be a traitor to both sides if it was found out and have absolutely nowhere to go but he didn't view it like that. He did not see himself as more or less important than a friend, no matter how he came across to other people. "I would, though, if you did," he pointed out off-handedly. He did not realise that Lark had taken their parting words the last time in a way she was not meant to, else he might have realised what that comment might cause. He really would protect her if she asked. However, his own pride understood hers and made him hold back until the time came where she wanted it. And if Lark tried to help him he was going to get upset about it. He didn't like being helped unless he agreed to it, after all. They were similar in that respect.
He was surprised that she even had to ask the next question seeing as it had been Joshua who had suggested they deny all ties during the war in the first place. He had not expected Lark to assume he'd changed his mind or something. Unless she means something different? He frowned for a moment as he pondered this but couldn't really think of anything. "That's what I've wanted from the start," he pointed out. It was not because he considered her any more or less or his friend than anyone else but because it was putting them both in danger to be seen with one another. He blinked thoughtfully and asked, "Does that include... this...?" He gestured around to indicate their quiet meeting in the park. They were alone and unseen but then again, they'd thought they were safe before as well. His tone betrayed no sort of emotion or regret because there was none. Yes, he agreed to this. Yes, he thought it was a good plan. Hate Altair and the rest of the Fires though he may, he didn't want them to target his friend.
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Post by LARK MARIE HARPER on Nov 18, 2011 21:58:06 GMT -5
The silence. It was normally a long awaited part of Lark’s day; a time where there was no stress, no drama, no bull shit. Just her and whatever it was she was doing without having to worry about anyone else. No worries. But this, this silence was eating her alive like a parasite. His one word response put her on edge instantaneously, and wondered if this really was not the opportune time to discuss this issue. It could have waited. It could have waited. No matter how many times those four words resounded in her head they never once sounded true. Lark was in danger, and she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. For once in her life, the girl felt completely and utterly helpless. It made her knees feel weak, but gained enough resolve to stay as emotionless as possible. Josh of all people understood why she avoided his gaze, or looking in his direction in entirety. It only made matters worse, at least for someone like her. Finally as though the silence could no longer stand to be impermeable, it shattered as Josh repeated her words. Yes, jump her. That was exactly what Altair told Lark, and coming from Altair it was not an empty threat she was eager to pass around. The girl was always itching for a fight and could care less who it was with, even if it were with Lark in the end. Her loyalties to her friends were not as powerful as Lark’s and Altair would turn on her in an instant if given any reason to do so. Lark swallowed hard.
“Yeah, jump me.” Lark replied, putting the words out in the open for the third time during the conversation. It was not something she took lightly; in fact, Lark knew it was as real as anything in this park. It was almost tangible. She shuddered slightly at the image of her own element attacking her in the hallway and beating her senseless, completely and totally unable to fight back against the multitude of students. All physical wounds would heal eventually, but that would not erase the memory. It would never truly go away in entirety. Josh’s stating of the obvious almost made Lark angry; well, no shit Sherlock! It was not good at all. There was no way in hell any of this had a positive outcome. “Don’t remind me,” Lark replied bitterly, eyes dark and full of malice. It happened every so often, where her anger truly came through; she went eerily silent, jaw locked tightly into place. Slowly but surely she was reaching that point, and it was something Lark could not control. It was nothing towards Josh, and even her subconscious knew that tiny detail. Her hand instinctively flinched at his question; no, they hadn’t yet, but damage was already being done. I deserve it for being a hard headed idiot. She scolded herself, unwilling to admit to it out loud. It was a brief, faint recognition of her idiocy, but nothing more.
Slowly, Lark pulled her hand out of her pocket and examined it thoroughly before glancing at Josh and displaying the injury with narrowed eyes. “No. But the scrapes with those bastards are getting more frequent and less predictable. The pussies. Can’t fuckin’ take me one on one so they resort to this shit.” She spat viciously, immediately retreating her hand and stuffing it aggressively into her pocket before pacing back and forth a few times. Lark was no longer affected by the cold; her fury was enough to stave off the thoughts of being chilled by the biting wind. After a few minutes of pacing, Lark could feel the edge of her anger dissipating enough to think clearly. Now was not the time to fume and yell and get angry. This was about protecting Josh, and their friendship. That was priority number one. The girl had a hard time refocusing her attention to the matter at hand, but did so with a heavy scowl on her face. Soon, most of her fiery temper had been placated for the sake of their meeting. She brought him here to discuss things, not blow shit up with massive fireballs of fury. Sighing, Lark dropped her head and put her good hand against her forehead. “I’m trying to, Josh. I’m trying. You know me.” It was hard to admit that the problem had not been solved. That she was trying. It should already be taken care of! This should not be happening.
As soon as another flare of anger began to surge into her being, Josh’s voice brought her back to earth. Very few people in her life had the ability to do so; Josh being amongst those few, along with Jack and Samson. They of course did not know about this. Lark was not going to admit that it was a welcomed comfort to know she could be calmed by someone’s voice. Like she was some sort of fucking animal. Of course, sometimes she acted like one with her temper, but it was always deserved without fail. Lark looked up at him and blinked, expression fading into a state of sheer neutrality. Did he just…offer to help her if she asked for it? That was unexpected. Her mouth twitched into a half frown as she spoke, voice rather low and hollow. “If you say so.” Neither of them accepted help unless it was asked for; it was one of their kindred personality traits. In her own way, that reply was a mixture of gratitude and acknowledgement that he offered his services. Lark was not prepared to take him up on his offer unless absolutely necessary, but she had to face facts—she was in deep shit. No one else was going to bail her out. But you don’t want Josh involved, remember? Lark scolded herself. There was that tiny detail. This could be handled without his help. It had to be done alone.
“I know it was what you wanted. But not what I wanted.” Lark retorted hotly, her neutral expression resorting to its original Lark-like state. “I was just too stupid to see what it was really doing.” Anger welled up into her heart again, but this time it was at herself. An open confession to being an idiot? To making a mistake? What a fool. She hated herself. This was exactly why she did not keep a lot people around, let alone let them get too close. It exposed weakness. Even though it was not Joshua’s fault, it frustrated the girl none the less. She grunted in agreement at first to his question before turning her attentions on him again. “Yeah. It does.” She made somewhat of a hissing sound to contain herself. “I fucking hate this.”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 19, 2011 3:23:19 GMT -5
Joshua lapsed into a tense silence as he considered the idea of Lark getting jumped. He couldn't get rid of the countless images that flashed in his minds eye, taunting him. It made him feel almost sick but he did not respond, not even when her tone turned bitter. It set him on edge a little that she was getting so touchy but once again he had to remind himself that they both had temper problems and that this wasn't exactly a ridiculous thing to be angry about. He was sensitive to the subject of jumping because he'd been jumped twice now and he was scarred physically and mentally by the experience. He'd never told Lark where the scars were from, why start now? He instead just gave a nod to show he'd heard. Not yet. Was it inevitable that Lark's element--that their element--would take action in the end? Joshua, as a Fire elemental at heart, though so. He had been a part of them, he'd followed blindly, he'd led them once, too. He understood how the element worked. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. He was most afraid for Lark thanks to the fact that they attacked in groups. It wasn't going to be just one on one any more. He was willing to bet that it Tim could gather up a couple buddies and rile them up enough with stories of how Lark was a traitor then it would take no time at all to locate and attack. Sometimes he wished that he didn't know how they operated so he could take comfort in the fact that she'd been safe so far but a combination of knowledge and pessimism made this impossible.
He believed that she was trying, he really did. Sometimes trying just wasn't enough when you went to a school like theirs. It was normal in a lot of aspects with it's academics and the curfew and such but once you got past the formalities of a high school you essentially delved into the unknown. The 'politics' of the Academy were simple in theory but complicated in actuality. Siblings from different elements were usually tolerated but friendships were expected to crash and burn in favour of whomever you were naturally aligned with. Relationships? If you wanted to stay in the good books of your side you stuck with people from your side. That was where Josh had stepped out of line and he'd paid for it by being excommunicated. He didn't want the same thing to happen to his friends just because they were friends with him. "It's break, now," he sighed. "At least we have time before we go back." The winter holidays were only going to be a very brief reprieve from what was going on, however. It was only a month until they were pushed back into the fray. He almost envied those graduating and getting out of there. He was going into his junior year of college and would have liked to be able to concentrate on his work rather than worried about his friends being attacked and the alliances hounding him.
He tried to ignore the anger coming off his friend in waves, convince himself that the anger was because of their situation rather than because of him. If he thought Lark was angry with him their personalities and temperaments were going to clash again and this 'friendly' conversation was going to turn into another argument. He did not need to be arguing with Lark on top of all the other bullshit that he was handling at the moment. Joshua sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yeah." He hated it, too. He hated having to hide. No matter which side he'd have chosen there would have been consequences, would have been people whom he could no longer keep in contact with. He'd favoured his girlfriend and best friend over Lark and the other few on the side of Fire and Thunder, something that could have potentially caused problems. Lark didn't seem to hate him for making the choice but he probably would have accepted it if she had and just cut ties. His loyalty to friends was strong but it was not worth getting down on his knees and begging. His pride wouldn't even allow him to plead, let alone to throw himself in front of someone and go for desperation. Pride was a bastard, it really was. "So do you want me to leave?" It was a direct question and said without bitterness. If she wanted this to be strictly no-contact, would they start now? He wouldn't hold it against her. He had a family to be getting back to, anyway.
Family. Huh. "If you ever need anything, well, there's always my house," he said after a long pause. He'd hardly ever invited anyone there. If they had to be careful, though, it was a safe bet. Of those select few that knew where he lived, most were his friends. He didn't like to flaunt the wealth of his parents or his background because Josh wasn't necessarily a pretentious person. He'd told her about things being tense at home on a whim the last time they'd hung out but had not gone in depth. He was back home now and he was going to pretend like nothing was wrong. He didn't like anyone to know that the perfect life he sometimes pretended to have was a façade--that he fought with his parents, that he hurt his sister with his actions, that he was often confused about what he was doing with his life there. "I mean, we can't use it like a bunker but I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind if we met up for something important." Oh, Donovan might. He would probably consider it cheek that his son had decided to remain living with Nell and yet use his home as neutral ground to meet with people in secret. Josh didn't allow himself to care.
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Post by LARK MARIE HARPER on Nov 19, 2011 18:39:40 GMT -5
Lark wanted to break down and allow herself to—dare she say it—be human. She wanted to scream, to cry, to be just all out emotional and not give a shit that anybody saw to relieve the tension that she felt quaking inside of her. Oh, but the prideful brunette would never allow any of that to happen, especially when around other people. It simply would not happen. In fact, denying herself that moment made her angry. It was always anger. So much of it. Half of the time she did not even know what the fuck she was angry about. Lark was a bomb whose fuse ranged with whomever she was with at the time. With Josh, it was fairly long compared to that of someone like Altair. Jack’s was of course the longest—that always went without saying, even though she did not quite understand why. Lark emitted an exasperated sigh, allowing the hair to fall into her face. “Yeah, I know. But it will go by fast. They’ll be waiting for me.” Her eyes narrowed instinctively at the thought; her muscles were preparing to fight them all, even if it meant a trip to the hospital. All the while she will tell them that they were full of shit and she was not acquainted with Josh, even if by then it would be of no use. Lark figured that it was no use even if she were to tell them. Fires had a temper that was nearly uncontrollable, and if you set them off it is hard to stop them. She knew it all too well, being one herself. The pain would be brief enough, though. She had to keep telling herself that. “And I’ll take them all on.”
Quickly the girl looked up and stared at the sky for a few moments while the silenced lingered between them as it always did; the clouds were heavy and threatening snow. She shivered, but kept it as subtle as possible. She revealed enough of herself today, no need to continue it by shivering and acting all weak over the stupid weather. His next question bothered her more than the cold; it was as though she was going to walk away from him forever. That was not the case, but even so the thought of telling him to leave sounded final. With a brief flicker of sadness in her eyes, she turned and looked at him. There was no anger, no irritation, no nothing. Just…nothing. “I pulled you away from your family. You should go back.” Lark smiled at him, if not for a bit of reassurance in her statement before looking at her shoes again. Her toes were beginning to get rather cold, considering she had two pairs of socks on. Stupid winter. At his offer, however, Lark gathered the strength to glance at her friend, this time with a different expression on her face. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied with a nod. It would not be in her nature to accept help or solace during any of this, especially from the one they accused her of being friends with. What kind problems would ensue then? Lark did not even want to dwell on what could possibly happen.
Something important. What would be considered important? Just wanting to talk to him was not important enough, she figured. Their conversations were rather quiet but even so they were not unpleasant and Lark enjoyed his company despite some of the quarrels they had in the past. Neither of them was going to change, so they had to make do with what they could given who they were. Despite that, she enjoyed his presence. It made her feel comfortable. Not many people made her feel that way anymore. Unfortunately that would not be a luxury anymore, but on an as-needed basis. Lark did not want to jeopardize themselves any further than they already had, and decided that the only time she would go to Joshua was for emergencies only. “That works for me,” Her voice was flat and emotionless as the wind pushed against her face. “Importance only of course.” Lark’s eyes became distant as she looked past him again. “If you don’t mind…exchange a text with me every few days? To make sure we’re both okay. If I don’t respond in twenty-four hours well…” Lark trailed off and thought for a moment. “Let’s just say that it’s not because I’m ignoring you.” She did not expect full cooperation, but it would put her mind at ease to ensure that he was okay. At this point, the brunette could care less about her well-being; there was not much it was good for in the first place. If there was no response in twenty four hours then odds were she was laid up in a hospital bed. With a curt nod, the girl brushed past him and started to walk away, leaving no more room for discussion. No going back on any of this now. Someone had to deal with the bastards at the school, and she knew it was to be her. It was the only way.
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