Page 9 of Make Me Bleed
I freeze, jaw muscles locking tight. “When did that become your business?” I spit through clenched teeth.
“It’s always been my business, Peris,” he says easily as he walks in step next to me, even going as far as to hold the door open for me as we walk into the building. The vortex has a swirl of crisp autumn leaves billowing up around us as we walk through, and my feet crunch through them.
“Actually—” I start before I’m cut off.
“And I can tell you exactly how long it’s been. Months, dude.Months.”
I rear back, eyes widening accusingly at my best friend. “What the fuck?”
Gabe arches his brow in defiance, the stubborn fuck. “Yeah, I talk to your mom. So what?”
“So what?” I parrot, mind reeling. What the hell is going on? I stumble over my own two feet and nearly trip, but Gabe catches me by the elbow. I shove away from him with a grunt. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Fine. Prick.”
“Why the fuck are you talking to my mom?”
He rolls his eyes, likeI’mthe annoying one. Theaudacity.
“Why do you think, dude? If I didn’t, she’d think you’ve gone and fucking died or something, and I happen to like Elise enough to not want her to worry about you—or at all, if I can help it since you don’t seem to give a fuck,” he says pointedly, eyesdarting down to my phone in my pocket. I stiffen from head to toe, every muscle locking tight.
“You don’t know shit,” I seethe, jaw locked tight, molars grinding.
“Right.” His response is cold and clipped—and I should expect that from him. I deserve it anyway, but it surprises me, nonetheless.
“Gabe—” I start, but he stalks away from me without a word, his back muscles corded with tension. I watch him walk further down the hall and into the classroom without a word, my mind reeling with this new realm of information I can’t really process in my state.
I need water. And sleep. But I don’t have anything to drink, and sleep is a long way off, so dealing with it is all that’s left to do. And by dealing with it, I’m simply going to ignore it. I scratch along my throat, desperate for a cigarette, but class will start any minute, and I can’t afford to miss any more. I’ve already been absent all week and need to catch up before I’m completely lost as to what’s going on.
I make my way further down the hall into the classroom and drop down into a chair in the back, away from the groups of people that have already surmounted. That’s the one thing I loathe about university… There’s always so many fucking people all the time.
The chair next to me creaks, and I bite back a groan, already knowing who’s beside me before she speaks just from her smell alone—sickly sweet vanilla and flowers. “Hey, Peris.”
“Skylar.” I blink slowly through the film covering my eyes.
“Will I see you after practice tonight?”
I finally remove my gaze from the smeared white board to her blue eyes and mousey brown hair, the opposite of everything he is.
I can’t look at someone with blonde hair the same. Or barely at all, honestly.
Makes me fuckingsick.
“I don’t know, will you?”
“Peris…” She lowers her head and peers up at me through her darkened lashes, and I’m forced to look away, my stomach curdling for reasons unknown… orveryknown, but I refuse to think about why.
“What?” I snap.
“You and I both know that it’s up to you.” She sighs heavily, and I roll my eyes.
“I’ll let you know.”
“All right…” She trails off, and I feel her eyes trailing over my body,perceiving me,and it makes my skin crawl. But then, the professor comes in and class starts and most of the chatter fades into the background as she drones on about shit I can’t really retain but still write notes on for later when I can hopefully focus better.
Instead, my mind drifts back to high school, back when it was all so different. When it all seemed so fucking hard—because it was—but looking back, it was quite easy. Easier than it is now, anyway.
It was all just existing and fighting who I was and who I wanted to be.
