"Mercy –"

"No, I'm not done here, Molls," Mercy snapped, keeping her furious gaze trained on the cheer team. "I am sick to death of listening to you ridicule and belittle that girl for something as fucking shallow as looks." With that, Mercy reached up and pulled her ponytail over her shoulder. "You think having short hair makes a girl ugly?"

Stunned, I could only watch as Mercy used the scissors in her hand to hack off her long, glossy ponytail.

I gasped and covered my mouth.

"Well, how about y'all watch your wide receiver pant after my short-haired ass all day, every day until graduation," she taunted before tossing her beautiful hair at their feet. "Choke on it, bitches."

Having said that, Mercy turned on her heels. "Come on, Molls." Hooking her arm through mine, she powerwalked away, and for once, the mean girls had nothing to say.

"I can't believe you just did that," I croaked out, wide-eyed. "Merc, your long hair…"

"Pssh." She batted a hand in the air. "Hair is temporary. It'll grow back."

"I think they might think you're a tad batshit," I offered, in complete awe of this strong-willed girl I was lucky enough to call my friend. "But I think you're great."

"Goddammit to hell, Six!" Tossing his helmet on the ground, Rourke stalked towards us. "You just can't be stable for a single day!" Shaking his head, he pointed to the cheer squad and then to Mercy's hair. "Fuck!" Closing the space between them, Rourke roughly yanked his girlfriend against his chest. "That was so fucking psychotic, I swear, I've never been harder for you." Squeezing Mercy's ass, Rourke snapped his teeth at his girlfriend before pulling her in for what I could only describe as a vicious kiss.

Feeling acutely uncomfortable by their PDA, I quickly hurried away, only to stop short when Daryl blocked my path, freshly showered and ready to leave.

"What happened?" His gaze flicked from my face to our friends mauling each other. "What's with Mercy's…" He pointed to his own hair. "Did she…"

"She was making a point," I offered, leaning up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "You were amazing out there."

He grinned wolfishly down at me. "That was just practice, Dolly."

"I know." I beamed back at him. "But you were still amazing."

Chuckling, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. "My own personal cheerleader."

"Ew, gross."

My response only made him laugh harder. "Come on, Dolly. Let's go home."

Home.

"Sounds good to me."

36 Molly

"Is your heart set on a specific college after high school?" Daryl asked on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

We were sitting at my kitchen table, and when the long-awaited question finally came up, my entire being snapped to attention.

"I, ah…" I had my spoon halfway to my mouth when the topic finally came up. "Huh?"

"College," he clarified, swallowing a mouthful of Cheerios, as he watched me carefully from across the table. "Do you have any specific plans?"