Page 1 of Depraved Favors

Chapter One

Peyton

Winter Break

I watch as his fingers brush her elbow before he moves behind her and rests his hand on the back of her chair. She bites down on her lip and glances at him under her eyelashes, then laughs before turning back to her tray of food.

The longer I analyze the actions between them, the faster my stomach turns. My eyes lift to meet Caroline’s over his shoulder. She holds up her soda in a salute with a pitying smile and shrug. She’s the one who warned me about them, after seeing my best friend and boyfriend being extra chummy in the library.

I turn back to the two most important people in my life. Any other day, I would find their closeness endearing. I’d think I was lucky that they’re such good friends. Now I’m trying to remember all the times Jacob would choose to sit next to or near her over me.

I never cared before, never thought twice about it. We were a close-knit unit. Brit has been my best friend since middle school, and Jacob and I have been dating since freshman year of college. That’s nearly four years together, of our entire existence being entwined. I’ve attended all his fraternity events, all his football games. I gave him my virginity, which I didn’t really care about, but I feel like it means something that he’s the only man who has touched my body.

My chest aches as I stand abruptly from the table, my hip catching on the corner of the tray before slamming back down. They both grow quiet as I grab my backpack and storm out of the cafeteria without a word. I wipe furiously at the tears that escape, and I’m almost to the bathroom when I’m tugged back. Jacob’s face twists in confusion, and I shudder at his firm grip on my arm.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me.

Usually the familiar scent of him is comforting, but right now it feels like he’s suffocating me. I push him off of me, crossing my arms so he can’t try to grab me again.

“I’m gonna leave for the day. Gonna check on my mom.”

I don’t miss the flare of annoyance in his eyes, and he runs a hand through his hair as he sighs. “Can’t you call your dad? It’s just this is the first day in a while that I don’t have practice and you’re not too busy.”

Guilt stabs me in the heart, and I know I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mom for the past year and a half. But I feel it’s understandable considering she’s fighting cancer. Her latest scans have come back promising, and they’re going to slow her treatment, but she’s not in remission just yet.

“I know. I just?—”

“Hey. What’s going on?” Brit walks up to us, and an agonizing fury roars back in my chest when her hand slides across my boyfriend’s back before she stands next to me. “You okay?” The touch is too familiar, something a girlfriend would do. I’d never touch someone else that way.

It sickens me. My throat aches and my mouth waters with the threat of vomiting right then and there. I feel foolish and naïve that I didn’t catch the obvious signs before someone else pointed them out. I step farther away from Jacob.

“I’m going home. I’ll catch you guys later.”

“So you’re going to come back to Jacob’s apartment later?” she asks, her eyes watching me with concern. Now I suspect that concern is only about getting caught.

I shake my head. “Nope, you two have fun.”

Jacob sighs, and Brit lets out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, right? If you’re not going, then I’ll probably just do some last-minute shopping before I leave.”

My boyfriend stares at me, not objecting to either of our plans, and I stare back. I don’t know what he sees, but his eyebrows dip down and he frowns.

“Text me when you get home, then,” Jacob finally says. He moves to kiss my forehead again and I stand still, my heart hammering away with anger or despair. I can’t tell anymore.

I nod and turn away from them before they can say anything else. The walk to my car through the college campus is a blur, and I barely remember driving home.

My father looks up from his newspaper as I hurry through the door. His eyebrow tics as I throw my backpack onto the floor, rushing to the stairs. I pause on the bottom step. “Is she awake?”

He nods, and I smile before stalking upstairs.

“Hey!” he calls after me and I stop, glancing over my shoulder. His glasses have fallen to the middle of his nose, staring at me from above the rim. “It’s a little early to be home from school.”

I twist my mouth to the side. “I just really needed my mom.”

His eyes soften, and he waves at me to continue before heading back to the kitchen. I knock on their bedroom door before opening it without waiting for a response. My mom looks up from her book and smiles.

“My sweetheart, what are you doing here?”

I collapse onto the bed next to her, inhaling the soft scent of her. I didn’t know how much I would miss it till her room smelled like a hospital room. Plain sheets to combat the constant vomiting and other things that couldn’t be helped from her chemo treatment. Though I never told her, the stripping of her colorful blankets and mismatched pillows made it feel like her room was dying with her.

---