And then he stopped. Shane leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily, our eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Astra," he mumbled against my lips. "Please don't hurt yourself."
And all at once, his body fell l...
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C H A P T E R S I X T Y - N I N E
S h a n e ༶ ｡◕
The anxiety had been choking me for days.
A small amount of it vanished when I saw the last of it flush down the toilet. The rancid smell of stomach acid filled the bathroom and I retched - I knew I shouldn't have done it, but stupid, stupid Shane Doughtry can't control himself. None of this would've happened if Aunt Annie hadn't stuffed those cookies in my mouth without asking.
But now they're gone.
I felt so guilty. I wish I'd just appreciated them as a token of family love like every other sane person.
An ethereal feeling engulfed me as I looked at myself in the mirror. It's all too much at once and I had to clutch the sink to keep myself from toppling over. I realised I was overanalyzing everything and dried my hands, double checking to make sure the bleach I'd used for cleaning had taken the horrid smell away. I took a deep breath before opening the door.
I felt like an explorer stepping on a new planet, exiting a spaceship. Everything around me was so unfamiliar but so expected at the same time. It's funny, because I come here every year.
My eyes flitted all around the endless hallways, at the bright canvas paintings my aunt often enjoyed making in her free time. I was so jittery and nervous; I just wanted to go home and be by myself. In my room, doing maths - the only time where it felt like everything made sense. I didn't want to see my cousins or my family and the feeling was so foreign; I'd never felt this way before. At least Astra's here.
Before I could look up, someone suddenly toppled into me with a hug. I snapped out of my thoughts and a grin stretched over my lips at the sight of Winston.
I would never admit this but Winston was one of my favourite cousins. Especially because I'm the one who'd taught him everything he knew. I may have only started displaying my humorous ability to the world since high school, but trust me, I'd always had a funny bone.
"How's things with Ella?"
"Haven't seen you in months and that's the first thing out of your mouth," he chuckled dryly, wary to keep his voice low in case anyone overheard. "On a serious note, I'm planning on asking her out after we get back."
"Good luck, little bro," I whispered, thumping his back. Some irrelevant context: Ella was a girl he'd liked for nearly a year. I'd been updated from the beginning when he had his first initial crush on her, then as they started talking, then when they became friends, accidentally kissed, real kissed, and a whole lot of other stuff, you get the gist of what I was saying.
I'm like, 110% sure his life was the reincarnation of a coming-of-age film or something.
"Anyway, let's get down to the important questions. How old are you now? Ten?" I asked sarcastically, patting his hair. He shot me an irritated look.
