Page 90 of Faux Real
That’s what I want. I want her to lose her shit. I want her to let go. Just once. I want her to tune out the world, the static, all the bloody voices that are illegally squatting in her big brain.
It seems exhausting, her life. Not that mine is any better. Silence is not a remedy for noise. But she needs some silence, an escape, a mute button. Just for one night, I could maybe be that for her. An oasis. She’s been one for me recently. She really has.
Fuck’s sake. I close my eyes, rubbing the sore tear ducts as I sigh. This is bad. Or maybe it’s good. I don’t know yet. I don’t know because she’s been ignoring me all week. But I will know soon. In two days. Just forty-eight hours. I can wait.
She’s worth the wait. I hope.
“What’s up, London?” A dainty yet surprisingly firm hand smacks me across the shoulder blade and I perk up, turning my head toward Maxine’s voice. “Doing a little studying, are we?”
“Trying,” I grunt as she pulls up a seat next to me and places two coffees and two muffins on the student lounge table. I raise a brow and reach for the to-go cup. “You bought me a coffee? Aww, you shouldn’t have.”
“Back off, Ollie.” Maxine swats my hand away with a frown. “Not for you.”
I roll my eyes. “Two coffees isn’t going to magically make you understand world history, you know?”
“Oh, shut it,” Maxine clicks her tongue as she pulls out her phone, unbothered as always. “It’s not for me, it’s for Kenny.”
I sit up straight. “You’ve talked to her? How—how is she?”
“Boy...” Max snorts, cocking her head, a knowing grin on her face.
“What?” I ask, trying to relax my posture, unsuccessfully. “I’m just curious is all. She’s been a ghost all week.”
“A ghost?” Max hums, pursing her lips. “As in she’s uh— ghosting you?”
I stiffen.
“Oh, chill, I’m just joking,” Max laughs, fist-pumping my arm. “She gets like this when exams roll around. She’ll come up for air at some point.” She checks her watch. “In twenty seconds to be exact.”
“Are you her secretary or something?” I grumble, scanning the entrance of the lounge. “Privy to her private schedule?”
“No, I’m her best friend,” Max says. “Kinda know the girl well. She’s never late.” She pauses, letting out a chuckle. “Although,I’venever showered with her so you got a leg up on me there.”
I whip my head toward Max so fast that I pull a muscle. Fuck. “What?”
“It’s all over Hilton Hears,” she explains, shoving her phone in my face. “See? Your little sexcapades are all over the school.”
I blink, reading the blast.
We hear that: Golden girl is truly an environmentalist. While some of us try to save the planet by using paper straws, Kennedy goes above and beyond by showering with her mail-order boyfriend. For an act that’s supposed to be so clean, why does it feel so dirty?
“Shit,” I mutter, balling my fingers into a fist. “Think she saw this?”
“Probably not,” Max replies. “She has a strict no social media policy during midterms.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I say, shaking my head. “You know it’s lies, right? I mean, we didn’t—”
“Bang in the boys’ bathroom?” Maxine tosses her head back and laughs. “Uh—yeah, no shit.”
“If only the rest of the school knew her as well as you do,” I muse. Who the fuck runs this app? Idiots. Losers. Fucking scum. “She’s going to be so pissed off when she sees this.”
“See what?” My head snaps up to Kennedy who drops a pile of books on the edge of the table. She smiles, tightening her messy ponytail. “What are you talking about?” She glances down at the coffee, eyes widening. “Oh my God, for me?”
“Yup.” Max nods, a glimmer of disapproval tugging at her lips.
“An angel! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Kennedy exclaims. “Seriously, I need this. I’m so tired right now! Like I could just fall asleep right now. It’s nuts.” She takes a sip, shimmying her shoulder. “Oooh, nutty!”
“You don’t seem very tired.” I narrow my eyes and scan her face. “You alright?”
