Page 96 of Withered

“I’m so sorry; I wasn’t looking,” I apologize.

“If she isn’t the little miss prissy,” she mocks me.

I ignore her and try to walk around her, but she holds my arm and pulls me back in front of her.

“No comeback? Oh, you don’t have your backup here.” Her nails dig into my arm, and I struggle against her grip.

“Leave Kristy out of this,” I say.

“How about your new boyfriend?” She snarls, looking up and down at me.

“Rather than picking on me, why don’t you go sort your life out?” I reply, yanking my hand away from me.

I don’t want to be harsh to her, but she leaves me with no choice but to put her back in her place.

I turn to leave, but her words make me halt. “You know he’s going to use you. Fuck and leave; that’s what he does.”

I don’t want to have this conversation, certainly not with her. I leave without looking back, although her words are enough to haunt me.

Jake said the same thing to me once. Both their voices echo in my head, giving me a headache.

When I arrive in the cafeteria, everyone is seated at our normal table. Kristy motions for me to come, and Jake gazes at me at the same time. I smile as I go and sit near them after taking my meal.

“I stopped by the washroom.” I shrug as if nothing is a big deal.

One part of me wants to tell Kristy what happened, but another part of me wants me to shut up and not burden her with my problems. She is now happy after a long time, and I don’t want her to be worried about anything.

Jake stares at me and asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just hungry,” I lie with a smile on my face, hiding every other emotion.

One thing that I am almost sure about is the fact that Jake has changed. Not much, but there is a slight difference. He has become less of a jerk since opening up to me.

I don’t think Olivia has the chance to see him the way I do. Lunch goes by with only the three of them talking and me drowning myself in several questions.

GiventhebrieftalkI had with Olivia, biology with Jake is going to be tough. Throughout lunch, she had the nerve to glance at our table and give me that stupid sneer.

I tried to ignore her and focus on the food in front of me, but her words linger in my mind, clouding my thoughts.

Tyler and Kristy are the first to go after lunch ends. I thought Jake left with them, but he's standing by waiting for me. I get up and start walking, Jake falling beside me quickly.

“Okay, now tell me what’s wrong,” Jake asks in an authoritative voice that almost sounds like a command.

I shrug my shoulders. “Why would you think that something’s wrong?”

“Because you’re thinking about something. You barely talked inside.” He stops and glances down at me.

Not wanting to show any emotion, I mask my face with a smile and reply, “It’s nothing. I was thinking about—the assignment.”

Jake makes a face as if he doesn’t buy any of my crap. I take two steps, only to stop again when I see the girl who has been bothering me. I ignore her and proceed to Biology class.

Jake settles beside me as I take my seat.

“What is this fucking assignment that you’re working on?” Jake asks, his face set and his jaw tense.

Is he angry? Why is he angry?

“Uhm.” I begin to think of a good reason, but he cuts me off.

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