Page 48 of Science Project

Jace’s eyes snapped open, and he zippered up his pants. “I need to use the bathroom.”

When he slammed the door closed, I sat back on my heels and stared up at the ceiling through teary eyes. Thank God.

If Jace hadn’t pulled away, then I might have. Because all I could see in my mind was Akio’s expression last night.

Those sad eyes. His frown.

A tear fell from my eye, and I quickly pushed it away before Jace came back.

I couldn’t have him see me like this. I couldn’t have anyone see me like this.

After twisting around to sit on my ass and lean against the couch, I stared emptily at the wall and wrapped my arms around myself. All I wanted was to be normal. For once. Allow myself to be happy with Akio.

Yet I would never get to be normal. I would never get to go on dates. Never be happy.

Twenty minutes later, Jace emerged from the bathroom with puffy, bloodshot eyes, as if he had been crying. I pressed my lips together, not knowing if I should comfort him or … maybe make him something to eat?

“What do you have to do?” he asked.

My eyes widened, and I looked around in an attempt to figure out what he meant. He wasn’t going to go? If he didn’t want to have sex, then why the hell would he stay here with me any longer?

“Huh? Anything fun?” he asked.

What do normal people do together?

The only normalish thing I did was do makeup. But that was to hide bruises.

“How about you practice your makeup on me?” he suggested, almost as if reading my goddamn mind.

“What?” I asked, completely confused.

He scratched the back of his neck. “At lunch, you keep saying how none of the other girls on the cheer team let you do their makeup. So, why don’t you practice on me? Until, uh … my dick gets hard again.”

I slightly arched my brow because Jace Harbor would never get caught in makeup and headed to my room to grab my makeup bag. He was doing this to pass the time, and I was completely fine with that.

I didn’t want to fuck him anyway.

After returning to the couch, I sat beside him and pulled out some concealer. Jace turned on a football game on the television as I blotted some cream on his skin to cover one of the bruises on his face from the game last night.

Jace would never be a friend, but this was the closest thing I had to normal.

“How are your tremors?” he asked.

My eyes widened. He’d remembered?

I had told him about my hand tremors right after Hannah died a couple of years ago, after he asked me to meet him at the Overlook, where he staged a whole scene between me and him in front of Allie, his girlfriend at the time.

“They’re better,” I said.

Around Dad, not so much. But around Akio … I didn’t feel any anxiety.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Your dad still have them too?”

“What?” I asked.

“Does your dad still have tremors too? I think you mentioned a couple of years ago that they ran in your family.”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat and remembered that I had lied and told him my tremors ran in the family even though they didn’t. I thought mine were caused by the constant state of stress and anxiety that I was in because of Dad. “Um … no. His went away.”

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