"So, Wills," Scott smirks at me, taking his attention off my friend. "How were those pills?"
"Pills?" Mercy glares at me. "What pills?"
"Fuck you, Scott," I hiss at him before turning to face Mercy. "I know it's your birthday soon and I bought something from Scott to make sure we had a fun night."
"Oh?" Her eyes glitter with interest. She always loved anything forbidden, though neither of us has tried more than a puff from a joint. "What did you get? When are we taking it?"
"We're not," I groan. "Raphael caught me with the pills and smashed them."
"That's hilarious," Scott laughs out loud.
"Fuck off, Scott." I look at him murderously before switching my attention back to Mercy. "Can we get rid of this idiot and talk alone, please?"
"Alright, alright." He raises his hands and gets up. "I got somewhere else to be, anyway. See you bitches later."
He walks off and slams the door closed on his way out, making me roll my eyes.
"Seriously, Mercy? Why that guy? I hate him so much. His dick must really be magical."
"Speaking of magical dick." She leans over with a conspiratorial expression. "How's Raphael doing, besides the pill smashing?"
"He doesn't want me doing anything my parents wouldn't approve of."
"Is that so bad? Nox and Dove are pretty cool."
"But it means I'm not allowed any fun at all," I whine. "I wanted you to have an awesome birthday."
"It'll still be awesome." She blows me a kiss over the table. I notice a ring of bruises around her wrist and furrow my eyes at her.
"Mercy, what happened?"
"Oh this?" She laughs it off like it's nothing. "You know my mom. Sometimes she gets a bit... you know."
"Do you want to come stay with us for a while? Nox and Dove wouldn't mind at all."
"No, it's okay." Her firm smiles closes that chapter for good. "Have you told them about Parsons yet?"
"No," I sigh. "I'm still worried what their reaction will be."
"But you still want to go?"
I shrug. "I don't know. Things have changed... because of Raphael. Do you still want to go?"
"Wherever you go, I'm going," she smiles.
"You're so sweet, Mercy. We gotta stick together, you're right."
"Why don't you ask Raphael about Parsons?"
"What about it?"
"I don't know." Her eyes glitter with mischief as they meet mine. "Maybe he'll come with us."
"I doubt it, his business is here..."
And yet Mercy's words have given me a ray of hope I hadn't expected.
To be honest, I've completely pushed the thought of NYC aside since I met Raphael. Everything has been about us lately, and I've practically decided not to leave, anyway. Even things at home have been better, despite Dove and Nox finding out about Raphael. They've been understanding and kind. I should treat them the same way and tell them the truth about Parsons. And yet I can't bring myself to have that conversation with them.
"You should at least mention it to him," Mercy concludes, calling over the waitress. "What do you want, Wills?"
We order and wait to get our croissants and coffee before jumping back into the conversation.
"So, about those pills," Mercy grins. "Are you going to get some more?"
"I don't know." I rip away a piece of the flaky dough. "I don't want to go against Raphael's orders."
"God, he's not your dad, Wills."
I flush deeply. If only she knew.
"I just don't want to break my promise to him. And seriously... I don't want to take E in Scott's shitty basement with his mom upstairs and one of his gross friends feeling me up."
"Wow, way to be honest." Mercy sets down her cup and crosses her arms defensively, instantly making me regret my words. "I'm sorry my boyfriend isn't as classy as yours."
"Come on, Mercy. You know I didn't mean it that way."
"How did you mean it, then?" She huffs in frustration, pushing her hair back. "I know you don't like him, but that's no reason to think you're better than him."
"I don't think that. At all." I stare at the plate before me. "Sorry."
"It's fine." She glares at me, sticking her tongue out. "You know I'm sensitive about him."
Fuck yeah, I do. She always gets either crazy jealous of insanely defensive when it comes to Scott. And contrary to Mercy's belief, my problem with the guy isn't the fact that he's not from a good family, it's the fact that he treats Mercy like shit, hangs out with bad people and, the worst of it all, I'm pretty sure he's cheated on my best friend with at least two different women.
"There's something else," Mercy finally mutters.
"What's that?"
"You know how you told me about Nox breaking his parole?"
"Yeah." I cringe at the thought. He had to spend a night in jail because of me. "He was in violation of it by threatening Raphael."
"He was in jail when you were younger, right?"