Losers Never Win by Black Ghost (suggested reading TXT) 📖

warm, comfortable, and safe; something that she hasn’t felt in years. She let out a tired yawn before realizing someone had their arm around her. Serena jumped to her feet in a heartbeat and spotted Cain before her.

            “wha-what are you…” Serena paused in mid sentence; a vague memory of Cain entered her mind. She rubbed her eyes surprised to know that what she thought was a dream, was real. Cain actually did sit next to her. “How did you find me here?”

            Cain scratched his head as he slowly got to his feet. “I came out to take a smoke when I heard someone coughin’. Come to find out, it was you,” he explained.

            Serena cleared her throat, folding her arms. A mix of emotions dashed up her spine. She was embarrassed that someone found her like this, and angry but yet glad that Cain stayed with her.

            Serena wiped her eyes. “Look, this is weird. I…”

            “Why do you do it?” Cain interrupted, staring at her. Serena looked like she didn’t know what he was talking about.

            “Do what?” she asked.

            “Use heroin?” Cain answered. “Why do you do it?”

            “I don’t use Heroin!” Serena lied, getting defensive.

            “I know that scent from anywhere,” Cain replied. He got closer to Serena, making her take a step back. “You aint gotta lie to me.”

            Serena jerked her head away from Cain, scrunching her face up. “What’s your problem!” She shouted. “I don’t even know you; and you don’t know me. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Cain lowered his eyes, glaring at the cement roof.

            “Because… I can’t,” Cain told her. He raised his head and locked eyes with Serena. The two stood there staring at each other in cool silence.

            “… Why?” She wondered, changing her demeanor from angry, to sensitive and curious.

            Cain clenched his teeth preparing himself to tell her the truth. “When I look at you . . . I see me,” he confessed. “I see how I was when I was a little’.”

            Serena tensed up, not knowing how to feel about what he said. “Quit lyin’,” she snapped, trying to brush off the impact of his words. “Quit actin’ like you care…”

            “I do,” Cain replied.

            Serena shook her head in disbelief. Making herself think he was lying. “No you don’t,” her voice was filled with conflicting emotion and she tilted her head to the ground, looking tearful. “No one does,” she mumbled.

            Cain gently placed his hand under her chin, raising her head back up. “I do,” he calmly repeated, looking deep into her pained eyes. The resistance Serena built up in her loosened, and a single tear ran down the side of her face. Cain used his finger to wipe away her tear.

            Serena didn’t know what to think. She blinked lightly as Cain released his hand from her and walked away. Part of her wanted to call out to him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. So she stood there quietly and watched as he headed back inside the building.

Chapter 9

The next morning, Cain awoke to the sound of his alarm clock. He swiped it off the nightstand and on to the floor, knocking the batteries out. He did that everyday he woke up. Cain sat up in bed and rubbed the crust from his eyes. Another school day lie ahead of him, something he hated.

            He slid out of the bed without making the sheets and headed straight for the shower. He spent less than tens minutes washing himself and about thirty seconds brushing his teeth. After Cain finished getting dressed, he crept down the stairs and out of his home. When he walked through the door he was surprised to see Serena standing around the front of the building with her book bag on. She held the straps of her backpack and glared at Cain as he closed the door.

            “Hey…” Serena greeted, giving Cain a light wave.

            “What up,” he replied. Without saying another word, Cain continued on his way to school. He noticed Serena walk briskly to catch up with him. She lingered behind by a few steps, but remained close to him. “You followin’ me now?” Cain asked with out stopping.

            “No,” Serena quickly answered. “Just, didn’t, want to walk alone.” Cain shrugged and kept moving forward. “So . . . what’s your first class?”

            “My first class?” Cain repeated, sounding like he wondered why she asked such a question. “It’s math. You?”

            “Um, history,” she replied, walking a little closer to him. He watched her glance around the area, looking nervous. Cain couldn’t help but crack at smile at her. Serena acted like a lost little kid in a big city. It was hard to believe that someone so shy and timid could be on heroin. Still, he was kind of glad she was warming up to him.

            “Who yo teacher? Ms. Kate?” Cain asked. Serena nodded her head up and down quickly.

            “Yea! H-how’d you know?” She wondered.

            “I didn’t,” Cain shrugged. “Good guess, I guess.”

            “Yea… I don’t really like her class though,” Serena added, thinking about her mean classmates. “I don’t really like this school.”

            “Me either,” He agreed. “Everybody here’s stuck up.”

            “I know,” Serena said. “My old school was… okay I guess.”

            “What school was that?” Cain asked, turning to Serena. She felt his eyes on her, but didn’t have the courage to look into them.

            “Fairfield,” she muttered.

            “Oh yea? Man I went to Kindle Wood,” Cain proclaimed. “I was like the only white boy there. Everybody else was either, Black or Mexican.”

            “Really?” Serena exclaimed; her black eyes appeared to glisten in the morning sun. “Kindle Wood was our biggest rival,” Cain watched as she smiled brightly. It was like her whole sadden demeanor did a complete turn around. Her skin seemed smoother and her eyes glistened. Serena really was a pretty girl; she just never let it show. Almost like she were ashamed of it.

            They arrived at their school shortly after. The outside of the school was surrounded with cars, students, and teachers. The first bell hadn’t yet ringed, but would soon enough.

            Cain took a quick glimpse at the overly packed setting and continued forward to the front doors. Serena however, kind of slid behind him, walking slowly and looking around constantly. Her behavior changed when they reached the inside of the school, she seemed to slid back into her ‘shell’.

            Cain held the door for Serena and came in behind her. “Com’ on, I walk to yo class,” he offered. Serena nodded her head, looking nervous again.

            He led Serena through the packed hallways. As they moved through the crowd, they felt the eyes of many staring at them. That made Cain’s demeanor change as well. His aura switched from relaxed and laid back, to something hard and intimidating.

            Serena’s eye moved around sheepishly. She noticed that people weren’t staring at her like they did before. It seemed as if they were giving her some kind of misguided respect. She glanced up at Cain who had his head held tall while cruising down the hallways; the scowl on his face made many look away. Serena moved a little closer to him, feeling secure and even the smallest bit brave.

            When they reached her class, the late bell was a few minutes from ringing. Serena stopped at the front of her class, standing in the doorway. She didn’t want to leave Cain’s side, but had no choice. With her arms folded and head lowered, Serena bit her lip shyly.

            “Guess, I’ll see you later,” she spoke in almost a whisper, making Cain strain to hear her.

            “Yea,” He nodded. “See you at lunch,” Cain watched as that rare beautiful smile grazed Serena’s face for the second time today.

            “Yea… I guess so,” she replied.

Chapter 10

Later that week on Friday night, Serena crept up the hall stairway to the top floor. It was time for light’s out in her group home, which meant she could ‘get away’ for a while. She gently opened the door and tip toed on to the roof. Serena made her way to her usual spot behind the air conditioning vent when she stopped dead in her tracks.

            Cain sat on the ground before her smoking a cigarette. He moved his eyes in her direction, noticing her shift her hands behind her back. Serena didn’t want him to see the bag of heroin she clung tightly too.

            “Cain…? ” Serena spoke nervously, surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?” She wondered.

            “Nothin’,” he replied. “I came out here for the same reasons you did,” Serena looked at him slightly confused. “I had to get out that building, wanted some air.” He took a drag from his cigarette and flicked the remainder of it on the cement tile. Serena slipped the bag of heroin in her pocket and took a seat next to Cain. Over the past few days she has grown quite fond of him, and enjoys being in his presence.

            “I know what you mean,” she added, wrapping her arms around her knees. “But I like this place better than my last one.”

            Cain turned his gaze to her. “How come?”

            “Because… I didn’t really get along with some of the girls there,” she said, making light of the real situation.

            “I had that same problem at every home I’ve been too,” Cain stated. “Doesn’t matter where you go, there’s always gonna be that one person who pushes yo buttons.”

             “I guess,” Serena agreed. “My only problem here, is that their so strict.” She rubbed her nose and thought about all the rules her group home had. “The classes they force us to go too has to be the worst part.”

            Cain sat quietly listening to Serena talk. She spoke on how much she disliked the drug classes and the drug tests. She told him how the head of her house was so hard on them. As she talked though, Cain remembered when he saw her while she was high. That picture of her shivering on the ground was etched into his memory.

            “Why do you do it?” He asked, cutting her off.

            Serena stopped talking in mid sentence. She knew what he meant, but decided to play dumb. “Huh? Do what?”

            “Why do you smoke heroin?” Cain repeated. “You never answered me the last time I asked you.”

            For a good minute Serena didn’t