Bitten

Chapter Fifteen: A Downward Spiral.

Her mouth is parted and her eyes are wide as she stands up off of the bed quickly.

"You what!" She shouts.

"Shh!"

"I know, okay, I know. It's horrible. I'm still with Andrew and I hardly even know this guy and yeah, I get it, I fucked up. And now I don't know what to do," I say resting my elbows on my knees and rubbing my fingers viciously through my hair.

She stays silent.

The silence is even worse than a lecture or her calling me stupid. At least then I would know what she thinks of me.

"Please say something," I say after a long moment.

She sighs, still not meeting my eyes.

I huff, flopping back down on my bed.

It is quiet for a while, and for a moment I think she may have left the room.

"Well, you need to break up with Andrew. You can't keep leading him on," she says. I am relieved to hear her voice, even if she speaks words I wasn't expecting to hear.

She sounds completely calm.

I look up, meeting her gaze. She nods at me with reassurance.

"You can't help who you're attracted to Rosalie. But you have to break up with Andrew. You are sure you want to right? I mean you could cut all ties with Tiberius and Andrew will never know," she shrugs unsurely but I shake my head.

"No, I hate lying. And it will just be better this way. I'm not even sure how I feel about Tiberius but I know I don't feel the same about Andrew," I say.

She nods.

"Yeah... I'm not sure you should be getting involved with Tiberius, Rosalie. From everything, you've told me about him... I don't have a good feeling about him. Even if he is extremely attractive," she says but not as a joke in any way. She is very serious.

I nod, even though I know I can't stay away from him if he continues to show up in random places. I know I won't be able to control my emotions around him unless he stays away which he may or may not, it's just a guessing game at this point.

"Then it's settled. You'll end things with Andrew tonight," she says and I look up at her quickly. Tonight? That's so... sudden!

"Are you sure? Maybe I should try to ease into-"

"No Rosalie... it will only make things harder for him. You've only been dating a week, I'm sure he's not even that attached yet. There's no reason to drag it out," she says.

I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Okay."

•

As promised, Andrews Red Mustang pulls into the drive at 7:30 on the dot.

The dread I feel, for facing him is unbearable. I would rather hang myself. How am I going to do this? I literally invited him to a party, to break up with him! How fucking stupid is that! How in the hell am I going to break up with him in front of a houseful of strangers?

Swallowing back the fear that consumes me, I walk out of the house.

He is already out of his car and walking around the front to open the door for me.

As he does, he looks up and grins. Ugh, why do I have to ruin everything? He looks so happy and I'm going to crush it all!

I look behind me and see Alysa giving me a look from the front porch. I know she won't let me turn back to hide now.