The Double-Tap Accident

Chapter Twenty-One: Screams Bloody Murder.

"Anything else you want to add?" She asked cautiously.

Yasmeen's eyes ping-ponged between us on the screen.

"I want you to be careful," I said. "That's all."

Mariam's eyebrows knitted. "Why? Kyle's not a bad guy or anything."

Choose your words carefully, Jaime. Very carefully. My hands folded themselves on top of the other without thinking. Probably because I didn't want to see them shake under the idea of some kind of confrontation. I hated this. "I don't think he is. I don't want you to get too attached to him. That's all."

She blinked at me once, waiting for me to elaborate.

"He doesn't seem like the type to be in a relationship, you know? And you're not exactly the hookup kind of girl."

It was true. Mariam was a long-term dater. She had attached herself to Kyle quickly, faster than she had with Iman, faster than she had told me about any guy she had dated before starting university. But my words didn't help. If anything, she got offended. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you hooking up or being casual with someone doesn't make sense," I admitted.

"Well, it's making sense now because what Kyle and I are doing is going great. Actually, I'm about to go see him right now." She rolled her eyes. This wasn't going well. By the way she yanked off her sweater, it looked as if she was about to leave the room and this conversation. 

"Mariam."

"No," She took a deep breath, getting up now to put her sweater away before she turned back to me. "Stop assuming the worst, Jaime. Not all guys are like Malcolm, okay?"

I made a face. A face that coincided with the bitter taste in my mouth. "What the fuck does Malcolm have to do with this?"

"What the hell is wrong with Kyle?"

She didn't get to ask that anymore. "No. Go back to Malcolm. Why are you throwing him in my face?"

She was irritated but now I was getting even more annoyed by each reaction she was giving me. "I think you're projecting."

"I am not projecting," I said, my heart beating fast in my chest. "I'm saying that I'm wary about Kyle. That has nothing to do with Malcolm. Why the hell would you think it would?"

"Because Malcolm was someone you hooked up with and--"

"And what? I had feelings for him? And I moved on when it wasn't reciprocated? I'm saying that you can't easily do that. It took you forever to even move on from Iman."

The mention of Iman seemed to rile Mariam even further but that wasn't where I wanted to take the conversation. I wouldn't bring up Immanuel again. This conversation was about Kyle.

I shook my head, changing my words quickly before she could respond. "You are a long-term girl and Kyle doesn't seem like a long-term guy. I don't want you to get hurt."

"You don't even know him," She said. "You think because you spend so much time with his roommates suddenly you know him personally?"

"Do you?" I asked her without thinking. My attitude matched her own at this point. It's been about three weeks since she even heard of the man. The hell was she going on about?

"Guys--" Yasmeen spoke up, but Mariam cut her off with vexation coating her voice.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It hasn't even been a month since you've been talking," I said. The words weren't coming out the way I wanted them. With her emotion rolling off of her in waves and my own making me take deep breaths between her speaking, I couldn't tell what direction this was going in. "You think you know him? That's he's not putting up some kind of façade or something?"