Midnight. I should have been out of the house 15 minutes ago, but I had to pull out my handy dandy make up bag to make my face look less scary. I should have left the house at eleven forty-five so that I could be there at midnight. Now it's twelve-o-one and I'd have some explaining to do for being sixteen minutes late. Damnit.
            I escaped into the night through the front door. I do love the drama of a good window sneak out, but tonight I don't have the time. I ran as fast as I could which is admittedly not very fast given that I am about 2000 pounds according to the people at school. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead if I were, but assholes see no logic. The thing is, I know I'm fat so none of it hurts.
           It was twelve seventeen when I finally made it to the meeting place which was just an old alley between the Seven Eleven and the Family Mart. Do not ask me why they put two convenience stores right next to each other.
I know it seems pretty sketchy to be meeting someone in an alley, but this isn't just any old alley. It's the place where Savannah and I met. At midnight. Another story for another time.
When I approached, Savvy was already there, looking up at the sky. At midnight, with the moon directly overhead, Savannah looked like a goddess. Or maybe an angel. The moonlight made her pale skin glow and her made her wavy, dark brown hair shimmer. I had to stop and admire for a few seconds. I promise I'm not a creep.
"Hey, Savvy.", I said, stepping into the light. For Savvy the moonlight enhanced her beauty. For me it would only serve to make the caked-on make up even more noticeable. I kept my head down.
"You're late.", she replied, looking back up at the stars.
"I'm really sorry about that. I should have gotten out of house earlier bu-", she cut me off.
"I don't care that you're late, it's just that you're never late. You are always punctual to the point where it's getting kind of scary. What's going on?"
Now this I could not deny. I am kind of a freak when it comes to being on time. I hate it when I'm late or too early, I have to get there exactly on the dot. Savvy knows me too well. I look up at her, and her eyes widen when she notices the make up.
"Oh my God, Peaches.", she says with just a dash of horror in her voice, "Did he......."
I don't even have to answer. The tears that are now rolling down my cheeks answer for me.
"Come here, Peaches", she said with sadness in her tone. I walked over to her and knelt down so that I could lay my head on her lap. She stroked my hair.
"I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I swear I'll find us a way out.", she said. I couldn't reply because I was too busy shedding tears at a gallon a second. I keep thinking of how lucky I am. Savannah's one in a million and I just so happen to be the winner of an amazing best friend. I still remember when I first met her four years ago. Right in this very spot. We were in the eighth grade at the time.
I had just gone through a particularly bad beating, and I ran out of the house, crying and emotional. It was around 11:55 when I stumbled into the alley. I sank to the ground with my back against Seven Eleven's wall. I cried and prayed. Angrily.
"God? Are you there? No. Of course you're not. You're never there when I need you. You're only ever around to tell me what I can and can't do. Never there to help when my dad is beating the shit out of me, but come Sunday you're there to remind me to pay my tithes and offering. Oh Heavenly Father, what would I do without you?"
"According to your Holy Book, you'd surely die without your God.", said a voice from out of the darkness. I didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded amused. I stood up.
"Who's there? Please leave me alone.", I said in a smaller voice than intended.
"Relax.", Savannah said, wheeling herself into the light, "Only a cripple."
"Don't call yourself that.", I said without even meaning to. She just looked at my face. I knew what she was looking at. Not my face, but the bruises and cuts that adorned it. While she was staring I got a good look at her face. I did not know who this stranger was, but she was beautiful. Dark brown hair, pale skin, blue eyes. I always did have a thing for blue eyes.........
"Who did this?", she asked me with steel in her eyes.
"What's it to you, Stranger. You don't even know my name.", I replied defensively.
"That's because you didn't tell me your name", she said, smirking.
"That's because I'm not really prone to giving out personal information to strangers that I meet in alleys at midnight."
"Okay, but I am. Savannah Marino.", she extended her hand and I hesitantly shook it.
"Serena Thomas." We just looked at each other for a while.
"Well, Serena.", she said after a while, " I would like you tell me what happened to you, but if you don't want to that's okay." I looked at her and saw that her expression had softened. She was no longer smirking, but smiling sadly as if she already knew what had happened and was just waiting for me to say it. And something about her made me tell her everything. About my dad and his alcohol and his AMAZING parenting skills. My mom and her see no evil, hear no evil attitude. She listened attentively, making no noise. When I finished she looked at me and said,
"Can I buy you a cherry cola tomorrow? Meet me here at noon." Then she wheeled back into the darkness. I had no idea who this stranger was, but there was one thing that I was sure of. I would be there at noon the next day.