Page 30 of Anathema Codex

I clear my throat and try to stay calm. I’m sick and tired of constantly bearing the brunt of misdeeds done to her by someone I don’t even know.

“Sorry,” I mumble, my eyes lowering to the floor. “I should have called to tell you that I wouldn’t be home right away.”

It’s not fair.

Everyone else gets to have friends except for me. Willa is a nice girl; she’s got lots of money too and sometimes, we skip the cafeteria swill for a really good lunch a few blocks away from the high school.

“Keep your dick in your pants, Aftyn. Don’t make me cut it off,” Mom warns me in a low, serious tone.

My lower lip trembles as I quickly wipe away a tear. I’m not afraid of anyone, not even Mom, but I know she’s serious because she hates me so goddamn much.

And even though I know this will cost me later, I do the only thing that I know will make me feel safe for a little while.

I mumble another apology as I walk by her and head for my room. I close the door gently behind me, but make sure that the lock is in place before I reach under my bed and grab an empty backpack. I immediately begin stuffing a few days worth of clothes and underwear in it, grab a stick of deodorant off my old, broken down dresser, and a brush. Once I’m as packed as I can be, I head over to the window of my bedroom and climb out.

I know Willa will spot me a toothbrush and if she doesn’t have an extra, she’ll buy me one and I’ll pay her back for it somehow.

I just need to get as far away from being this hated as I can.

* * *

“Fuck!”

I sit up with a start and a shout, causing Willa to swerve the truck.

“Jesus Christ, Aftyn! A little warning before you start yelling, huh?” she says in a trembling voice.

I blow out my breath and wipe the sweat from my palms on the legs of my jeans. Rubbing the side of my neck, I glare at her.

“Sorry; the next time I have a nightmare, I’ll be sure to be more concerned about your reaction to it than my own,” I snipe at her.

Willa shakes her head, eyes still on the road, as she reaches a hand over and rests it on my leg.

“I’m sorry about that, honey,” she says quietly. “I didn’t know you were having nightmares again.”

“Neither did I,” I reply heavily as I reach down for her hand. Our fingers interlace as my leg begins to jump rapidly in place. The only thing that can usually calm me down after a nightmare is Wills. Be it sitting around silently in the same room, holding her hand, or just calling her and listening to her breathing.

“Are you two fucking?” Daphne suddenly asks from the back seat.

“Mind your goddamn business,” Wills snaps back, with a narrow-eyed glare in the rearview mirror.

I grit my teeth.

Maybe I should have left this roadkill at the fucking rest area where she belonged because the bickering between the two of them is starting to grate on my nerves.

“Ignore her,” I say to Wills, quietly. “I plan to.”

Willa steals a glance in my direction, a smirk on her lips as she squeezes my hand. It’s not that I plan on letting Daphne off on the next stop—I haven’t fucked or fooled around with her yet, so the thought alone would be preposterous—I just want her to shut the fuck up for now so I can get my head back on straight.

After that, the two of them can go back to verbally assailing each other. Maybe even physically.I wonder what Wills would look like oiled up and slapping the shit out of Daphne?

I shift slightly in my seat and move Willa’s hand closer to my inner thigh. The thought that crept into my mind caused the blood flow to head South and maybe she’d be willing to—

“Really, Aftyn?” she asks with a shake of her head. She immediately pulls her hand out of my mine as she leans her elbow against the window and rests the side of her face in the palm of her hand. “Seems like your fine now.”

I chuckle as I glance out the window, resting my head against the cool pane. The trees go by rapidly and I even see a small doe walking along the side of the highway as it grazes.

I can’t help that I happen to be the way that I am, and I know that if we didn’t have someone else in the backseat, she would have at the very least jerked me off.

---