Whoever was following her was either an amateur, or making sure she knew she was being followed. Judging by the way they stayed out of sight when she glanced back while moving to the side to let a lady with a dog pass, Daniella was leaning towards the former. And as she ducked into the park, her suspicions were proven correct.
Any one of her father's men would have instantly saw that for what it was, a way to end this quickly and corner the stalker out of sight from the public. But this person followed her in, growing steadily more sloppy when it came to masking footsteps. Someone from that damn school. You really had to go and piss those boys off, didn't you? What was done had already been done, though, and now Daniella had a choice to make, as she came to a stop to look up at the leaves of a tree. Fight back, win, and out herself as someone who knew more than they should about fighting? Or get her ass kicked, stay out of sight best she could, but make it harder to run when they found her?
Both. Both was decided on, as the stalker lunged for Daniella, and she dove out of the way in time to avoid being body slammed into the ground, but let herself get clipped in the jaw, once they had righted themselves. And look at that. The boy she'd pissed off.
Jen stood there, at a distance where he wouldn't be seen, watching how it went down. When he saw how Daniella dodged the blow he knew right away that she was able to take care of her just fine and that she definitely might of had experience fighting.
Someone set their hand on his shoulder, to which Jen freaked and swung his arm at them, he felt his fist make contact with skin and bone. The guy stumbled back. "Ah screw you man. Stop being so paranoid" Brett rubbed his jaw, moving it around so the pain would be less. "What are you doing anyways? I didn't know you stalked cute girls" that earned Brett another punch to the face. His nose started bleeding. "Fuck! Chill out! I'm messing with you! God hell…" he held his nose, though he knew that Jen didn't use his full force or his nose would of been broken by now. "No" Jen growled. "There was someone suspicious following her so i though I'd help if things went south" Brett raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you aren't the suspicious dude trailing her?" Jen gave him a dirty look, to which Brett held his hands up defensively and backed away a bit. "Okay sorry, I'll stop"
(Also, i forgot to ask, is it okay if i have Brett as a side character? Cause i don't have much to write without him XD)
((He's totally welcome as a side character!))
It was harder than she'd have liked, making sure not to hit anywhere too smart, or full on flip her attacker over her shoulder, but Daniella managed. Mottled with bruises and a swelling eye, she had the boy down with one last punch, strong enough to hurt the hell out of her wrist, but also to knock him clean out. Her stance had changed, her demeanor no-longer hunched over like she was trying to make herself invisible, much like the way she'd changed when interacting with the boy last. Paired with the slightly too casual way she wiped at the blood with the sleeve of her hoodie, she almost seemed to be a different person.
"God-fuck. I don't have time to fight pissy highschoolers." She spoke out loud, unaware of the eyes on her. "I could pick the lock on someone's front door. Grab some cash and get on the fucking road before-" She cut off, shaking her head. The trees have ears. You should focus on setting your nose.
Brett gasped. "She's a theif!" Jen elbowed him in the stomach. "Will you shut the hell up? And stop making dumbass jokes, she's a fucking girl a frikin school girl, how the fuck could someone like her-" Jen was cut short with the look Brett was giving him. "Are you stupid? She just fucking drop kicked that boy, she could probably beat your ass."
"She didn't drop kick him, she just…" Jen trailed off, trying to think of a way to finish the sentence.
"Beat him up?" Brett said said, almost laughing at how oblivious Jen was.
Jen scowled. "No, but like she could have took classes to fight or something…" he muttered, looking at Daniella and how she looked oddly different now that the boy was on the floor, passed out.
"So now you're covering for her? I though you were going to find her secret or something since you thought she was off" Brett huffed. Jen looked over to Brett. "I don't know what to think anymore and if you really think about it-" Jen bumped his shoulder as he turned to go. "It's none of my business." He said walking off with his stuff.
(Ahhh! Okey! Thanksss ! 😆)
Noise drew Daniella's attention before she could reset her nose, and the speed with which she jerked in the direction of the sounds caused a sharp wave of pain to pass through her head. That had been a bad idea, but she wasn't exactly focusing on that. No, she was focusing on the sounds of an argument, and then the sounds of movement.
Stepping away from the boy laying unconscious on the floor, she moved silently towards the source of the noise. A trick picked up from years on the run, being able to keep her footsteps silent. In a matter of short moments, she was standing behind the two as the familiar back of Jen's head started to walk away. "Lurking, how seemly. Is that part of the Southern hospitality, or..?" Daniella's words were sarcastic, and could almost have been taken for a joke, if not for that same chilling and sharp smile that she'd had on earlier.
Jen froze in his tracks and Brett seemed to turn to stone, petrified, he had not seen her coming and Daniella just popping up right behind them made a shiver run up Brett's spine. "D-Daniella! A-ah….I didn't hear you coming our way ummm, we-" he glanced at Jen. "I came to the uhh park, to um. Play." There was a long silence that followed after that. "With my brother…." he said eventually and tried walking away slowly from the situation. Jen turned around to face Daniella. "I wasn't lurking, and especially not stalking you of all people. I came to drop Brett off at his house" he said, nodding to a house across the street from the park, though that was a lie. "Besides sweetheart, not everything is about you" Jen said smoothly. When it came to lying jen was an expert, he showed no surprise in his expression or tone, it was more on the verge of being casual and almost monotone, unfazed.
"I never suggested you were stalking me." Daniella said, raising an eyebrow slightly at Jen. Her eyes didn't leave his, as she'd judged him the biggest possible threat, making it obvious that she wouldn't try to stop Brett. "And don't call me sweetheart." Just the word itself brought up more than she wanted to deal with right now. Hands on her arms, gripping tight enough to bruise, a reminder- "Nothing's ever really been about me, so don't worry. I don't need you to tell me that." That was true. She'd only ever been a small piece of anything, a pawn in her father's games, in life. Everything had a bigger reason, one she was barely a part of.
Jen sighed and threw his hands up in the air defensively. "Alright, you got me. So what? I was following you? I mean, i saw that guy following you and i though you might if been in some trouble so i was gonna help." Jen glanced over at the passrd out guy and shoved his hands into his pockets. "But it looks like you can manage them on your own. I've never seen a girl take out a guy like that before. It's…" he trailed off and looked away. "It's impressive." He stated firmly.
Jen chuckled at the 'dont call me sweetheart' thing. "Alright. I won't, sorry bout that" he sighed and shifted the weight of his body into the other leg. Jen seemed a little shocked at the bite in her tone, though he knew it was his fault for having said those thinga to her. He also seemed a little guilty with himself for saying so many harsh things to Daniella and singling her out right away on her first day of school, even though she had done nothing wrong. He looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked back at her. "Look, I'm sorry we haven't gotten along. I know its been mainly me making this difficult because i don't trust you but….what im trying to say is that i want to make up for it, even if it's a shitty excuse to just keep an eye on you. But. Um. Do you have anywhere to go? If you don't you could come over to my place. It's nothing special but it's something. You don't have to though. You're choice." He adjusted his backpack that was sliding off of his shoulder, getting ready to leave because he was about 99% sure that she was going to turn him down. Hell, for all he knew, she did have a home and he was just assuming she didn't.
Daniella's first instinct was to turn Jen down. In fact, he mouth opened to do just that, but she paused. She hesitated, because he wasn't far off. She had nowhere to go, at least not with a shower and some sort of cover from possible rain, though the heat right now suggested she wouldn't have to worry about that. Her plan had been to sneak into the school's locker rooms, for Christ's sake.
"I won't hesitate to do what I did to him, to you, if you make any sort of move." She warned, her voice and face matching emotionless voids. Her shoulders, however, stayed tense, indicating that she wasn't as collected as she appeared to be. It looked like an olive branch, but Daniella knew he could change his mind at the drop of a hat. People were people, after all, and that's what they did. Played games. "But…fine. I want your word, though, that this isn't some trick of yours." Don't trust any sort of promise, but always get the promise first. At the very least, you can use the guilt.
Jen shook his head, hands still in the air. "It's alright, even if i did have ulterior motives, it wouldn't last as a secret for long. If i did, i would have already acted out on it" Jen wasn't sure if being honest was the right choice. Where he came from deceit played a huge role and though it never ended well, it was always of convenience. He scanned her figure, looking at how tense she was- the same way he'd get when there were police men or cars around. In a way, he related. "I promise this isn't a trick. I only expressed my interest for you because you're not like them. Just by looking at you I can tell. If you think I'm going to do something then I'll be sorry to disappoint you cause that definitely isn't the case. I just….i thought…" he trailed off. i thought you looked like me, someone who had the look of a troubled person on their face, someone who had something to hide. I wanted to expose that. Though Jen wouldn't admit it, he turned and walked away, half expecting Daniella to follow him. "You can stay in the shack. It's not much but it does the job of feeling like a home." He said, hoping Daniella wouldn't mind.
Daniella hesitated for a split second, before forcing her feet to move. She followed him, reminding herself that this was entirely out of necessity. But the truth, what she was refusing to acknowledge, was that she was tired. Literally, sure, but she was also tired of running. Of fighting and losing and barely scraping by, of always looking over her shoulder, and of living on her toes. This would take the edge off at least one of those, hopefully.
She went to shove her hands into her pockets, before remembering her nose, which was likely already re-mending itself at that exact moment. Noses worked quick. Sighing, Daniella reached up, adjusting her hands on her nose to reset it. "A home, huh?" She mused, before snapping her nose into place with a loud and sickening crack. "Haven't-" She paused, searching her pockets for a bandana and using it to block the new flow of blood. "-had one of those. In a while." The 'in a while' seemed tacked on as an after thought, as opposed to part of the sentence itself. She'd never had a home.
Jen's expression softened at what Daniella said, it even softened and warmed his heart a little. "Yeah, i feel you on that one…its hard to find one, so when you can't, you just gotta make one" Jen said, almost with authority, as if that had been exactly what he had done and he was talking from experience. "It gets tiring doesn't it? Running from place to place, hiding for the fear of getting caught" he let out a muffled laugh, as if it had been a joke. "But anyways, i hope you like it there" he said referring to his small 'home'.
(Imma go ahead and skip to when they get to Jen's place if you don't mind)
Jen opened the door which didn't creak much considering that he had just fixed it. He sighed deeply in relief as he put his bookbag down. The shack was located right outside of some woods in a green grassy field near the town, beside it was a small well from which water could be hauled out of, but it hadn't been in use for years. "Sorry if this seems a tad creepy. This is just the place I live in and i can't really afford to live in an actual apartment like the rest of the people" he explained as he threw his keys on an old wooden table that looked just as old as the shack did. The small place used to be a long empty hall like structure, but newer wood indicated that Jen had done some construction on it.
In fact, he had. He had build two small separate rooms, a functioning shower, sink, toilet, electricity, ect. Jen had rebuilt the whole thing from the inside but didn't bother to change anything on the outside, considering that he wanted it to blend in, so that people thought it was the same old abandoned shack, it almost looked like a cabin. It had taken him near a year to finish the 'remodeling'. He was pretty ashamed to live in a place like this, but it was the best he could do. "Make yourself at home" he said eventually. "You can take the room to the right, there's a bed in there that i managed to score at a yard sell and it's pretty new, cheap pice" he smiled to himself.
Daniella didn't comment on the appearance of Jen's home, more just relieved to maybe, maybe have a place to stay for a bit. There was another plus side to having somewhere to stay, and that was that it was usually harder to be cornered. Without a place, she was easy prey, to lure into an alley or to scoop up off whatever bench she was sleeping on, and that was something she was never going to let happen again. The scars around her wrist itched with the memory, and she slid her sleeve up just enough to trace them with her finger as she spoke.
"You live alone." Not a question, not asking for any answers or anything to follow up. Just a statement, observatory at most. Her brown eyes, covering a truth that she didn't want to acknowledge right now, flickered around as she stayed near the door, taking in every exit she could see from right there. Anything that could be used against her, and anything that could be helpful to Daniella. Nothing felt off quite yet, but she wouldn't stop being wary. "I'm not taking your bed, am I?"
"Yeah, I live alone. Doesn't mean that you can kill me and get rid of the body" he said, a casual tone to his voice, though he was joking. He looked over at her as he went through his book bag for the homework he had to do. "Ummm no, there's another room. It used to be for Brett since he didn't have a place to stay and begged me to make room for him here, but you cab take it since he doesn't come by anymore." He took out his binder and some pencils and got to work. "Oh also, tomorrow's Saturday so I just wanted to give you a heads up that I'll be waking up early to go to work. You can make yourself at home while I'm gone….just don't do anything too crazy like set the place on fire." He said as he looked down at the sheet of paper, frowning at his English assignment.
Good. That meant she wouldn't owe him even more. Daniella slowly made her way further into the room, sticking to the walls almost like a wary animal. She was playing with her matchbook again, brows furrowed slightly. "I wouldn't kill you here. Not if your friend knows where you live. You'd be found too quickly." She, however, wasn't joking. Or at least, not quite. She definitely wouldn't kill him here for that reason, though she had no plans on killing him at all.
"What are the rules." She finally spoke again, about twenty minutes later, appearing once more from exploring the shack. She had entered completely silently, forgetting that doing that and then speaking tended to scare people. "Places I can't go, things I can't do. Things I have to do." That last one sounded innocuous enough, but there was something in her tone and posture that suggested it meant more than just doing the dishes every other night.
"Well that's reassuring. I'd also stop going to school so that would be enough to raise suspicion." He said plainly. It was weird to be talking about his own death, but Jen didn't fear it. It was just another friendly topic to talk about. Jen stopped writing all of a sudden as she spoke up. He frowned. "Rules?" He questioned, as if he he'd never heard the word before. He shook his head. "There are no rules Daniella. You do what you want. You don't get in my way and I don't get in yours, simple." Jen found it a little suspicious at her small uncomfortable movements. "So what happened?" He asked suddenly. "I've noticed everytime I tease you or say something off, you tense up. That time when I told you I was on to you, then I called you sweetheart which you didn't like, and now. With the rules thing. It's obvious to see that something has happened to you before, but I can't quite put my finger on it." He looked straight at her eyes, a sharp intense look in them, like he knew. He did that whenever he wanted to get something out of someone, the truth.
Daniella froze, the matchbook in her fingers slipping and hitting the floor. It took her a moment to crouch to pick it up, and she used that time to organize her thoughts. Lying, the way she usually did, wouldn't work. He would see right through it, and it would make things worse. The only thing she could think of was offering calculated bits, in a way that would keep him from gaining too much.
"That's a complicated question with a complicated answer." She said carefully, as she stood back up. She had stopped bleeding, but she still looked like she was carrying the adrenaline of the fight with her. "And I can't just give things away." She was proposing a trade. Secret for secret, scar for scar, story for story.
Jen's eyes softened as he looked away. "How about this. You tell me what happened and I'll answer whatever you want to ask me- honestly." He said completely serious. He glanced at her to see her reaction. "And hey, if it's that serious that you can't tell me because it's a sensitive topic- don't. I know im an asshole but i won't go that far. Im not such a prick to the point where I'll force something out of you" he said casually.
"And just to lighten to mood a little, I'll tell you something I've kept with me all these years." Jen's eyes settled on his hands, spacing out a little- a pained look on his face. "I was forcing into labor in my home country. I've killed before." Jen didn't exactly know why he was saying this. Maybe it was the heavy guilt that he carried all these years that were finally starting to weight down on him and tear him apart and he just needed to tell someone- anyone- even this stranger just to get it off of his chest.
Jen laughed suddenly, a sharp pained laughed. "Forget it, it's stupid, I'm stupid" tears started forming in his eyes from thr laugh. He got up. "But yeah. I'll be out tomorrow. So you get the whole place to yourself. Imma go finish this in my room so i don't bother you anymore" he side smiled.
(And uhhhh heya my dude, so like, school is coming up for me in a few days and i can't afford to keep up with notebook and an ap class at the same time, so I'll probably be out for a long time. This means that I'll drop by once or twice a month, I'll probably be like this- on and off- for almost a year, since i gotta figure out the whole college and job shabang, so yeah, I've decided to get my junk together and focus on that right now)
((Np my dude! I totally get it, and should be doing the same once school starts for me. I'll look forward to the responses, but focus on your work, and best of luck))
That hadn't been expected at all. Jen's willingness to trade, or the information about his past he'd given up as part of that trade. "I've killed before." Daniella had almost written him off as a fairly normal, if wary, high school student, when they'd first met. He'd thrown that out of wack enough with his ability to see through her and her lies, and this didn't help put things into focus either. She watched him stand, still categorizing the information as she listened to him continue to speak. And then he was heading for the door, and it felt…wrong, not offering up something of her own.
"There's no…simple tragic moment for me." She said, her eyes on the spot he had vacated as she brought her matchbook out, fingers running over the slightly worn book. "Because I can pick out the things that were good, and count them on one hand. You…want to know a lot, but I can't tell you all of that." Daniella grew quiet for just a moment, knowing she had his attention enough to not worry about him leaving just yet. "Sweetheart is what my father used to call me. His…friends-" Business associates, hitmen, body guards, extra manpower, anyone willing. "-picked up on that. It was their favorite name to use when he would lock me in a room with them after I made him mad."
Jen froze in his steps when he heard Daniella start to speak. He turned and shoved his hands into his pockets, something he did when he was especially shy. Hearing Daniella say that she had almost never had a good instance in her life made Jen feel for her, he knew what that must of felt like. "Hey…you don't have to-" He quickly stopped talking as she continued. The last line was like a blow to the stomach for Jen, it caught him off guard. Did she just hint at being sexually abused? Jen kept silent, not sure how to react to that. He shouldn't have stuck his nose into her business, but he just couldn't help it when he saw someone so familiar to himself.
"I-" He started but couldn't continue right away. "I'm sorry." He said stiffly, not really knowing how to comfort someone who had that kind of past. "I'm sorry for what happened to you and I'm sorry for being inconsiderate of your feelings." He bowed a little, blushing because he wasn't used to apologizing for his actions, but he felt like he needed to in this situation. "But hey, try to get some sleep now. It's getting late." Jen stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, not knowing what to do with himself. "umm goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully." He said quietly at the end.
"You don't need to apologize." Daniella said, waving off his apologies figuratively, with a shake of her head. She flicked open the matchbook, counting the matches left, then the spaces where ones had been. Then she did it again. "Curiosity is natural. Even if it's dangerous." She looked up, her eyes looking as haunted as they should for a moment. "I've got nowhere else to go, so I'll likely still be here. Better than sleeping on a bench."
She turned, brushing her hair back from her face as she lit a single match, letting it burn down to her fingers as she walked to the room he had offered her. She hadn't mentioned his apology about what had happened to her, as though trying to avoid that thought. Pretending the memories didn't exist. "I wouldn't hope though. It never gets anywhere, and when it comes to me…I'm not a person you want around."
Jen was left speechless as he headed off to his own room. The girl was definitely an intense one.
As soon as he got to his bed he began to do his homework, which would usually take hours for him to do since he took advanced math classes, sometimes he regretted it.
Jen ended up going to sleep at two am, not being able to keep his eyes open, but a phone call startled him out of his sleep. He groaned and picked up his small flip phone, taking the call. "Yes?…" Jen said in a tired voice. "J-Jen." It was Brett. "What do you want at this ungodly hour? It's about to be three am for fuck's sake Brett." Jen said, annoyed to have been woken up. "So you know that other friend of yours?" The way Brett was talking seemed really odd and off to Jen. "What's going on dude? You seem really out of it." Jen said getting up, starting to put his finished homework in a folder, he had passed out while doing his homework. "Can you meet me tomorrow at our usual place?.." He asked, his voice shaky. Jen frowned. "Our usual place?" He said quietly. "You mean that really obscure apartment like thing behind that coffee shop?" He asked, confused. "Yeah! That's the one." He said. "Okay…" Jen said, not really thinking much of it, then the phone call dropped.
(Heya wanna skip to next morning?)
((Sure thing! You got something planned?))
(uuuh!! sorta ahaha, not sure if it's good enough but i can try to stirr some drama up! Tho, I'll have to answer in the morning cause it's getting late over here)
((Gotcha! I'll jump to morning then, waking up time or whatever))
