Page 31 of Withered

“But why spider?” I ask him.

He chuckles. “It was funny.”Jerk.

Jake, who was missing all night, is back. In no mood to argue or play with him, I give him a little shove and was about to walk past him, but he catches my wrist in time and pulls me towards him. I lose my balance from the pull and stumble, but his quick reflexes catch me, and I’m now leaning against him.

I take a step back to put some distance between us, but his hands stay firmly on my waist, not letting me move. The proximity isn’t something I’m used to, so my senses have died by now. One hand of mine is holding my clutch, while the other is just lying by my side.

After a second of struggling with myself, I lift my face to look at him, who is already looking down at me. “Uh, what are you doing?”

He tilts his head as if he is studying me and answers, “Nothing.”

He slowly removes his hands from my waist, and I shrug off the empty feeling for the second time tonight.

“Okay, I am gonna go now. Night, Jake.” I say.

This boy is so complicated and so capricious. One minute he is all nice to me, the side that I am starting to like, and the other is just plain rude, arrogant, and mocking, the side that I despise.

I'm almost at the door when he calls me. Turning around, I find him leaning against the car in the same position as earlier, as if he didn’t move at all.

“Yeah?” I am not sure if I am audible. I didn’t exactly shout.

He stands straight, puts his hands in his jeans pockets, and shrugs his shoulders. “Nothing.”Weird.

The sound of the car door closing and the engine starting tells me he left as I close the door behind me. If he didn’t confuse me earlier, he sure did now. He wanted to say something; I could feel it, but he didn’t.

The lights are off, which means Mom is asleep. I tiptoe upstairs to my room, change, freshen up, and get ready for bed.

I'm about to switch off the lights when the chilly night air greet me, raising goosebumps on my skin. I find my window open. I don’t remember opening it. As I go near it, I’m greeted with the darkness of the night.

I'm about to close it when my gaze falls on Jake’s window, which is closed. The room is pitch black. Where did he go?

I throw away thoughts about Jake and today’s night in the back of my head and get back to bed. Just as my head hits the mattress, I fall into a deep slumber.

Footsteps and leaf rustling interrupt my sleep. I sit up on the bed with sleepy eyes and look around my room, which is pitch black, so I switch on the lights first.

The bedside clock reads 3:33 a.m. now. I toss the blanket away, get up, and make my way toward the window, opening it to see Jake’s window open too. He is sitting on the bed, shirtless. Seeing him almost naked wakes me up right away.

As if sensing my presence, he turns his head toward me and catches me staring. I don’t know for how long I was just standing there and staring at him, but my cheeks burn, and even my body is warming up now.

I dare not break eye contact as he stares at me intensely. He eventually gets up and walks over to the window. I shamelessly take in his body—his broad shoulders, muscles, ripped chest, abs, and tattoos—with his jeans hanging low on his hips.

“You are doing that again?” He speaks, snapping me out of my happy bubble.

I am dumbfounded. “Doing what?”

“Looking like that,” he says, leaning against his window with hands stuffed in his jeans pockets.

I'm about to reply, but my eyes betray me by drinking in his body again. A small gasp leaves my mouth when my gaze drops on a couple of bruises on his chest.

“What happened to you?” I ask. The last time he went out at night, there were rumors about him and Olivia all over the place the next day.

“I got into a fight.” He shrugs his shoulders as if it is no big deal.

“Got into a fight or sex was too wild?” I blurt it out. Although I’m highly certain, those bruises have to be from a fight.

He looks confused. “What?”

“Well, last time you went out somewhere, you slept with Olivia,” I say.

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