Page 22 of Pit

“Tessa, that wasn’t you. It was her being intimidating. She preys on . . .” I trail off.

“The weak,” she mumbles.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“It’s fine. I am weak. Girls like her,” she sighs, shrugging, “I’m just not like her.”

I place my hands on her shoulders, and we both stare out over the field. “That’s not a bad thing,” I tell her.

“I should be able to handle women like her,” she says, her voice laced with anger. “But I can’t. It doesn’t matter how old I get, I just can’t. I freeze up. And with all the practise I’ve had, it shouldn’t be so hard.”

“You were bullied?” I guess.

“Most of my life,” she admits.

I shouldn’t care, but her words make my heart ache for her. “Let’s get back to the house. I’ll make sure Ebony keeps her distance.”

She shakes her head. “You go. I want to sit out here a while.”

I smirk. “Nice try, Te.”

She turns to me, rolling her eyes and sighing. “Where am I going to go?” she asks. “It’s just fields. I won’t run. Get King out here to babysit.”

I grab her by the hand and continue forward until we get to a clearing and I sit down. “I’ll stay out here with you for a while. You could do with some sunshine on that pale face.”

After a few seconds, she lowers beside me. “Thanks.”

“School was shit for me,” I tell her. “I wasn’t bullied, but I just didn’t fit. Me and rules don’t get on.”

She smiles and her whole face lights up. It’s almost as cute as when she comes. “I can imagine.”

“Bullies are usually making up for something lacking in their own lives.”

She scoffs. “If you knew how many times I’ve heard that.”

“Doesn’t make it better,” I guess, and she shakes her head. “And now, you’re here with me.” She nods again. “It doesn’t have to be all bad.” Her eyes meet mine. “We don’t have to make it harder by fighting all the time.”

“You’re gonna kill me.”

“It hasn’t been decided officially,” I say with a shrug.

She scoffs. “If your boss called you right now and gave you the go-ahead, you’d do it.”

I run my tongue over my lower lip and stare out across the horizon. “It’s just how shit works in my world.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

“It does, Te. No loose ends.”

“I’m not a loose end, Pit. I’m an actual person with feelings.”

Up until last night, it’s not how I’ve allowed myself to think of her. When she was just the enemy, a threat to me, it was easier. But now, I’ve seen her come, I’ve tasted her, and I’ve seen her fear and want to irradicate it. If she was to name every person who bullied her, I’d have no problem teaching them a lesson.

“How?” she asks, breaking my thoughts. When I look at her blankly, she adds, “Are you going to do it?”

Slitting her throat was the obvious choice, but I don’t tell her that. “How do you want me to?”

She pouts thoughtfully, picking at the blades of grass beside her thigh. “I’ve never thought about it. Something quick,” her eyes light up, “or in my sleep.” She nods as if confirming that to herself. “Yes, in my sleep.”

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