The Speech Writer Pt. 6

"Mara stop joking around! If I don't get to work on time I'm going to lose my job!" Pearl laughed. Mara was holding onto her leg as she tried to shimmy through the door. "Look, there's food packs in the pantry ice cream in the fridge and a bathroom connected to your bedrorm. You'll be fine!" Pearl reassured Mara trying in vain to get out the door. 

"But I'll be so booooored!" Mara whined. She was just tired but Pearl knew better than to igore her friend's grumpy mood.

"I have a laptop in the kitchen, the password is on the bottom now please let me go!" She argued in the way they always did.

Mara let go of her leg, looking hurt. "Geez Pearl, I didn't remember you being so mean..."

Pearl hook her head. Mean? She was pretty sure she had her memories straight and they used to be worse to eachother. Of cource it was all in good fun but... was Mara's expiriece of their friendship different from Pearls? Was she really just 'the mean friend'? "I'm so sorry I just really need to go, forgive me?"

Mara smiled, but it was obviously a fake attempt at reassuring Pearl that it was all ok. "I've gotta go."

As Pearl rushed to work she looked at her Ace Brace. Pearl's grandpa used to call it a technologically advanced watch. Whatever that was. Ace told her she was late by 6 minutes, and she picked up her pace, racing through the streets.

Only 4 minutes late but- Suddenly Pearl was on the ground. She knew she had ran into someone, but who? Pearl got up off the streets and realized who the stranger was. Or rather, that this person was not a stranger at all. It was a face she knew very well. Manyo.

"Dammit I am sorry." Was everyone turing into her BFF? Dammit was old earthan slang that carried no weight whasoever compared to the new vulgar language teenagers on Mars used today. "Hey, are you OK?" He asked grabbing my arms to steady me.

"I'm fine." I growled back, ripping my arms from his. How dare he show his face in public, hoe dare her talk to her like there was nothing happening between them. Like they wern't in a full blown war. Peal bit her tounge because a) the guards lining the streets were watching a little too closly and b) maybe she could use this to her adantage.

"I am so sorry, I am such a scatter brain today. Is there any way I can make it up to you?" He asked, seeming to genuine. Too- nice? If thats a possible thing someone could be. 

"I'm fine, just late for work. Um, I'm sorry do I know you?" Pearl asked deciding in the moment to play dumb. They started to walk toward her work place.

"I don't recal-" He started but was interrupted.

"No I'm sure-" I stopped as if expiriencing a memory. "Red dust! No way, Manyo?" His name tastes like poison on her tounge but Pearl managed to get it past the mountain that doesn't want it to escape her mouth. "I'm Pearl. We went to the same school? Same year?" What a performance. He's acting like he forgot Pearl the moment they split ways.

"Oh, It's you." He says slowly making it obvoius my name is poison to his tounge. "You're the Queen's little pet." 

"Am not!" Pearl glared at him menacingly before cheering up. "Besides I've changed since then. I'm not going to make fun of your Man bun." She looked up to see that his man bun is no longer there. His jet-black hair is now cut so it sweeps across his head. It's still a little long and it gets into his eyes and he shakes his head when it does and for a bit you can see his dark dark dark dark dark dark eyes before his hair goes into his eyes and his face has changed too. He is not the little boy Pearl remembered, annoying and weird but he is tall tall tall tall tall tall now and his laugh isn't obnoxious but it's a tank rolling by. It gives her chills but it vibrated through Peal's entire being and- and- and- and he was not at all like she expected, evil and hiding in the shadows. It didn't make sence.

"Sorry, couldn't help it."  Manyo smiled showing very white teeth and even they were different and perfect and she couldn't be thinking about him like that. He was blackmailing her.

"So, do you still live on...?" Pearl let's the sentence drop because she actually doesn't know where he lived before. 

"Miller? Nah. I live by the edge of the dome. Shark street?" 

He used to live on Miller, one of the poorest streets in SM-1-1 and now he lives on the street she goes through to visit the aquarium. Pearl shudders at the thought of having walked by his house yesterday and not known. Maybe Manyo was even watching her out of his window. 

"Look I've gotta get going, nice catching up with you!" Pearl started to walk away but Manyo grabbed her hand.

Pearl's heart skipped a beat at the contact partly from fear, party from something she didn'[t want to admit to herself. She looked into thos deep dark dark dark dark dark dark eyes and she was going to faint. Then she realized fainting around someone who wants her dead wasn't a good idea.

"Things are not as you think they are. Believe your heart and not your mind."

Gibberish. Pearl was about to ask 'what?' but he had already let go and dissapeared into the thinning crowd. What a waste of time. At least Peal knew the street that Manyo loived on, that would make things easy. She looked around and found herself infront of that stupid statue. It mocked her, seeing right through her once more. That was another thing she hated the statue for. It seemed to take your secrets and whisper them to you, even if you weren't ready to admit them to yourself. 'Someone is blackmailing you' It whispered 'You are supposed to hate them' 'I HATE YOU!' I thought at the statue

'I'm not the one who met my blackmailer and fell in love with him. Last time i checked, you were the one who made that mistake.'