Page 8 of Only With You

I deadpan, pushing away from the wall, and amble to the door. “Do something like that again and I’ll smother you in your sleep.”

“Super kinky, I’m into it,” he jokes, then raises his hands in surrender. “I won’t do something again without your permission. But I really wasn’t kidding about the memes. Stop being astronzo,and get on it from time to time.”

Rolling my eyes, I slip out of his room and step into mine. Heading straight to my bed and lying on my back.

Saint is childish and stupid at times, but he’s kind of grown on me. Which is why I didn’t punch the shit out of him.

I debate whether I should delete the app or not from my phone. I couldn’t believe he created the account when he texted me the password and username until I downloaded the app and got in.

Pulling my phone out my pocket, I get on the app and instantly get bombarded with notifications. I don’t bother with them and click on my profile in the bottom right corner. I cringe at the stupid picture Saint uploaded, but I don’t ruminate on it because I delete it.

Then I click on the following to see who he followed again. Like he said, there’s only fifteen. They’re either people I’m close to or acquainted with.

Exiting out of that, I finally tap on the notifications. They don’t stop coming in, and I don’t pause to check who’s followed me. I just scroll for a few more seconds before I get bored and stop. But as I’m about to exit out of the app altogether, I hesitate when I see a name pop up.

@julianna.sparks, who you might know, is on Instagram.

I don’t know what I’m doing or why I do it, but I click on her profile. Everything looks exactly how I pictured it’d look like. Generic blonde hair, smile, and aesthetic. Nothing worth looking through.

Shutting off my phone, I lay it next to me and stare up at my ceiling.

I don’t like people in general, but my hatred is reserved for a few. My father, his family, and the Sparks girl.

There would’ve never been an issue, but freshman year, she hit my car. When I stepped out to make sure she was okay, she was only concerned about her Range Rover. Then had the audacity to pin the blame on me as if her shitty driving skills were my fault. The cherry on top was how she regarded my car with a belittling look.

I wish I could say that was the only time I had an encounter with her, but it wasn’t. Now, I’ll unfortunately be seeing her more because she’s living with Polly and Gabby.

It sucks that she has a shitty attitude. I wouldn’t shoot my shot even if she didn’t have one, but she has nice tits. It’s hard to ignore them when they’re there, and they’re hard to forget.

Not that I’d be able to forget anything. I have hyperthymesia. Many people say it’s a blessing, but truly, it’s a fucking curse.

3

JULIANNA

“I’m prettysure I’m going to fail again,” I grumble, propping my elbows on the table. Letting my head hang, I raise my thumbs at my temples and fingers to the crown of my head.

“There, there.” My best friend, Eloise Cano, but I call her El, softly pats my hair.

She chuckles as I swat it away and look up.

El dips a french fry into the massive pile of ketchup on her basket. “Why are you being so negative? We just started school three weeks ago.”

I’ve only known El for a year, but I’ve never been more sure of a friendship in my life. She’s a year younger than me, a junior, but that doesn’t matter. We met last year in this same spot at Benny’s, the diner she works at.

I stumbled upon this place by accident. I was craving hot chocolate after work and most places were closed except this diner. I came in and met Eloise because she was my waitress. After I put my order in, she said, “You’re about to drink the most bomb-ass hot chocolate you’ve ever had in your life.”

It wasn’t, but she was the coolest person I’d ever met. Because it was a slow night, she sat across from me, shared abasket of french fries and chicken tenders, and talked until it was closing time.

“I took my first test of the semester this morning, and I was the last one out.”

“You know finishing last isn’t a bad thing.”

“I know it’s not, but after the exam, some people stuck around to discuss their answers, and let me just say, my answers were nowhere near theirs.”

I sigh, looking down at my hands, feeling embarrassed.

“It’s okay. It’s only the first exam and the beginning of the semester. Don’t stress.”

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