Page 14 of Toxic Wishes

I just cross my arms over my chest and stare into the distance.

“You can’t scold me not to do drugs if you aren’t eating Abs.”

“I am eating.” The words come out rushed.

He gets up, tossing the blunt to the ground, picking up my lunch bag, and looks inside.

“Oh really?” He raises an eyebrow at me.

“You’re not my mom, like you told me.” I start to twirl a strand of my hair, which is up in my ponytail, my nerves getting the best of me.

“Look, I’m sorry I got short with you yesterday. I was just on edge that day. My brother keeps pushing football, and my dad-well it doesn’t even matter.”

“It does matter, Blake,” I say, uncrossing my arms. “I’m sorry, I care, but that’s what friends do. They care about eachother, talk about stuff that’s bothering them.”

He lets out a long sigh. “My dad and brother didn’t see me in the hospital on my birthday until I was released, which in that case they were forced But they promised to make it up to me and we all would do something, together, just the three of us. Soon, my brother is getting drafted to the NFL, and once that happens my dad will be too busy tending to his favorite son, and have no time for me. Then the day of the party, my dad and my perfect brother called me last minute to tell me plans changed, so we would have to reschedule again. So I said fuck it, and threw a party and I didn’t clean up as a huge fuck you to all of them.”

“Oh, Blake, I’m sorry. If I had known, I would have brought you a cake.”

He turns to face me with an are-you- serious-right-now-look, causing me to bite my lip.

“What? My family always has cake on our birthdays, no matter what. Even if we don’t do dinner or anything.”

“Why, it’s not like you would eat it.”

I look away in embarrassment because he’s right. I would take two bites and say I’m done.

“I’m sorry. That was a dickish thing to say.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, tugging at the roots.

“It’s just, on top of my dad and brother forgetting all about me, my dad is planning on getting married to this new woman now, which means they are selling that house and buying a brand new one since my dad can’t fathom the idea of living in a house where she had sex with her ex-husband.”

“Did he really say that?”

“Not to me, but I heard him talking to my brother.” Hey says.

“Oh, that sucks.”

“Yeah, and it may mean I’ll have to live with my brother full-time since I’m not eighteen.”

“Why can’t you live with your dad?”

“Because my stepmom isn’t a fan of me. She thinks I’ll be a bad influence on her son and her beloved twin daughters, who are not only thirteen but not my type.”

My heart swelled with satisfaction. Hearing those words gave me hope that Blake still considered me his type. Which meant he found me attractive.

“Why do you say that?”

“They are stuck up, future hoe bags that will probably lose their virginity within a year, two tops. Attention whores. Not my jam, Abs.”

“Oh,” I release the strand of hair. I’ve been twirling so fast that my fingers are starting to hurt.

“Why, who is your type? I’m sure you have a crush on someone in this school.” He nudges my shoulder playfully.

You.

“It’s not like he even knows I exist. So what’s the point in telling you?” I say instead.

“Oh, come on. With that hair, I’m sure he does.” He pulls a strand of hair from my ponytail, and it bounces straight up.

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