AN:

Hey, kids, I'm alive...barely. If you don't remember what's going on (which is probably all of you) I'm going to give you a quick reminder.

Basically, Mercy (that blond chick Ashley is friends with) didn't tell Ash about a dance competition without telling Ashley, and Ash gets REALLY mad about this. Do you want more detail? Go read chapter 26!!

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Monday came quicker than it should have.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm and got dressed in my running clothes before bolting out the door, screaming a quick goodbye to my mom, to meet Jaxon outside my house like I did every other Monday morning. Only this was no ordinary Monday, and I suppose Jaxon could sense it as we ran the normal route with the other runners. My joints felt stiff like I was some creature made of ice, my movements slow and limited. Yet inside my mind, I was filled with the dark fires of rage and betrayal.

As I changed into whatever my mom packed for me to wear to school the prior night in the locker room, I thought about what I would say to her once we met in science that day. For some reason, in my mind I pictured the room going silent as I screeched insult after insult as I did with Jordan and Marissa. With her signing her stupid excuses back to me, as the class watched wondering what had torn the two of us apart. The way they did when Jordan and Marissa left me all that time ago.

I thought all about what I would say to Mercy.

I let Jaxon walk me to class, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, as I rested my head against his chest. "What's wrong, Raindrop?" His voice sounded far off, like I was underwater, or someone had stuck large cotton balls in my ears so I couldn't quite hear him properly.

Yet my lips moved anyways. "Nothing," I said, my voice just above a whisper. A complete and utter lie, that I knew Jaxon could, without a shadow of a doubt, see through. I suppose, even though we had only known one another for just a few weeks, he knew me better than I knew myself. Yet, I still was so...so blind to what he looked like. And that just about destroyed me on the inside. 

"Okay," he said back to me, accepting the lie rather than pushing me for details. That was when the unthinkable happened. Or perhaps it was thinkable since Jaxon was, technically, my boyfriend, but I was still unprepared for it. Soft, warm lips against my cheek, that was still frozen from the cold air outside. Jaxon had left go of me by the time my brain had processed what had happened, but I could still sense his smile. "Hope your day gets better," he called to me before disappearing into the sea of people flooding through the hallway.

He had kissed me. 

On the cheek, but a kiss was still a kiss, no matter where it was planted. I stood alone in that hallway, an island in the sea of people who I would never see, nor want to see, my cheeks stained a cherry red, and suddenly feel a whole hell of a lot warmer. I was so astounded I near tripped when I entered science that day. By the time I made it to my desk, I still hadn't recovered, and I hardly even realized it when Mercy grabbed my hand and began to sign.

Your cheeks are really red. Are you okay? She signed, but currently, my embarrassment outweighed my rage at her and all my anger died out as I responded.

Yeah. Fine.

The class went by in a blur. Several new students had joined our class, but I only recalled a couple of names. The two Isabellas, a Renee that Mercy said hello to, a Liam. Mercy mentioned how they had come from some fancy private school that was closing down after a teacher molested a student. I didn't ask how she knew, but I made a good guess. She must have met someone from that private school at her stupid dance competition. For the rest of class, I listened with a half ear about how DNA replicated itself.

When our teacher finally shut up and declared the class over for the day, Mercy grabbed my hand and began to sign. Hey, Ash! How are you today?

Don't you hey Ash me. Where were you Friday? I asked the question, already knowing the answer, rage boiling up underneath the words. 

Um. Somewhere... Why are you angry? She signed back in response. God, Mercy was a bad liar.

Because Eve said you were at a dance competition, I signed in response, letting my rage show. Is it true? I asked. Mercy was fidgeting nervously now, as the silence stretched out between the two of us. I could see her now, blue eyes avoiding my own. Blond hair pulled back in a ponytail like it was that day, that seemed like a lifetime ago when she let me feel her face. I knew Mercy, and right now, I knew I didn't trust her.

Um...Yea it's true... I don't know why you're so angry though, she finally responded.

Because Mercy...you didn't tell me.

Well yeah, you were just kinda um... she trailed off as if searching for the word, busy all week and I-I didn't think to bring it up cause it's not a big deal, really. Her fingers had slipped and it sounded like a stutter. She was going quickly, even quicker than usual.

Yeah, it kinda is, I signed back, and I could practically hear the snarl in my words as I signed them. I could hear our voices, despite the fact that I'd never heard Mercy's. And for just a moment I could have sworn a caught a glimpse of her, in my mind's eye, like I had opened my eyes for the first time in a very long while, before squeezing them back into the eternal darkness I wallowed in. We've known one another since like a year now and it still feels like you don't trust me! I continued, knowing I sounded like a bratty little kid. I mean I didn't even know you liked to dance!

Well, I mean, I just recently started dancing, she responded, defending herself instead of just admitting defeat. She should've known by now, I alway got the last word, I was always the victor of any argument. I had to be.

So? It's not like I left out any details about cross country, I signed, my nails digging into Mercy's soft flesh of her hand. If she felt it she didn't show it.

It's just...I have trouble trusting people... 

Another lame excuse.

And I don't? I snapped, my fingers tearing away at her hand like vultures pulling the last scraps of rotting meat from a long dead corpse. My last friends left my ass in the dirt after I went blind! I continued, my lips pulled in a sneer and my eyebrows pinched together in anger. I knew my eyes would be two flickers of hazel flame, as I glared at her. I imagined her eyes as a frozen as winter, looking at me coldly. Don't you think I worry about that happening again?

Well, I've never thought of you as the type of person who needed others approval! She snapped back, her fingers seemingly to grow colder in my palm, as she signed that in slow purposeful movements. But your father never threatened to kill you when you were five! I was just five!

Yeah, I know that! I signed in response. Unlike Mercy's cold and slow and purposeful hand movements, mine were the exact opposite. My fingers were burning and the rubbed against Mercy's hand so quickly it was a miracle she managed to understand what I was saying at all. But I thought we were past the whole "I don't trust this strange girl in my classroom" phase!  I signed, clenching my teeth and narrowing my eyes as continued. If you don't trust me with the little things like this then I know you'll never trust me with anything important!

I am past that "phase"! She responded, sounding exasperated. You're the one being so weird about this. Besides you have been so busy with Jaxon and cross country, I didn't tell you so you wouldn't worry!

Worry? I spat back as if the word was made of venom. Now I'm worried what other secrets you've been keeping from me. And...And..I can't trust someone who keeps secrets. I signed and felt Mercy tense slightly as I did so. Someone who locks away their emotions and hides their real face from the world. I was never going to be hurt by anyone like Jordan and Marrissa again, and I was going to make sure of it. 

That was when I heard the little click that came before the bell, and Mercy started to sign once more.

I understand, but just my life is so crazy right now. Listen I sorry-

"No, you listen to me," I snapped, speaking aloud for the whole class to hear. This was something they all needed to know. "I don't want your apology. I don't trust words that can so easily be disguised as lies. I want to know that you're going to change," I said, glaring directly into where Mercy's eyes should have been, anger clearly showing on my face. "Until I have that...I don't think we can be friends."

That was when the bell rang and I stormed out of class, leaving Mercy sitting at her desk just as silently as she was the first day I met her, a promise to her dying as I whispered it to no one but myself.

"This is war, Mercy Rawson."

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AN:

Dedicated to Certified_Mermaid for she helped me write this chapter because I was so uninspired. 

Sorry that I'm such a mess kids.