𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔 , sydney novak

viii.

from across the gym i can hear stanley argue with the dj.

"never."
"what do you mean you've never heard of bloodwitch?!"

"so.. wanna dance?"
"uh sure." she smiles, perking up a smile.

as we begin dancing again, a teacher begins to announce something over the microphone.

"alright ladies and gentlemen, if i may have your attention.."

the sound drowns out as i watch brad run on stage in horror.
he grabs the microphone, causing feedback.

"listen up! give me a second!!" he eyes the audience.

"i would like to take this moment.. to talk about something very important that affects everyone here."

i roll my eyes.

"not this shit again." i whisper to syd.

"sydney novak!" brad calls as if he's reading my mind. "hey, sydney! raise your hand. give a wave so everybody can see you."

"you see, what a lot of people don't know about sydney here.. she is one hell of a writer." he announces, pulling a notebook out of his jacket pocket.

"you know.. it's, it's funny because everyone is so fast to call me an asshole, but while i was downstairs banging jenny tuffield at ricky's.. guess what sydney was doing upstairs."

"no. not now. not ever. why now?" my panicked thoughts shot across my head.

"she was kissing my girlfriend!"

the whole crowd goes ew, and i hear someone from the corner.

"fag!"
"shut the fuck up!" i screamed back.

"now don't get me wrong, chicks get drunk. they make out sometimes, and i'm all for it."

"bradley stop it!" i shout. he ignores me.

"but being a full on dyke. that's a whole other ball game."

"go to hell!" i cried. no. no. no.

"but there is someone else, isn't there? you've got so many side hoes, you can't keep track. oh. good for you. she seems to be right there." he says, pointing his dirty fingers at me.

"i mean, syd is fucking in love with y/n. page after page, it's absolutely pathetic."

"oh shut up brad!" i hear dina call from somewhere near us.

"and, my god. don't even get me started with the daddy issues on this one. everyone in her life thinks that she's a piece of shit. i mean everyone. ooh-hoo!"

"leave her alone man!" stanley shouts, right before getting punched in the face.

"oh my god." i whisper.

he shakes his fist, relieving the pain from the impact.

"but that, is not even the weirdest thing about sydney.. novak." he spat her name as if it were poison.

my hand reaches down to grab hers. i squeeze it when i find it. it's okay, it's going to be alright. i can see her wiping tears away, and i swear i can hear a screeching noise in the back of my head.

"get this. sydney claims that she has-" he was getting louder and more aggressive with every word until, boom.

"shut up!" she yelled, scrunching her eyes.

all went red. screams. crashing. all around me. i couldn't see.

i blinked. one. two. three. what happened?! i rub my eyes for a while. finally, everything starts to clear. i can see in my peripherals that sydney is still beside me.

my eyes find brad on the floor, following up his torso and up to his neck to find, nothing. except lots and lots of blood.

everywhere. all over me. all over syd. all over dina who was crouching over brad, tears streaming from her cheeks which were dyed red.

"s-syd."
i saw her walking. she wasn't listening to me.
"syd!" i follow her.

"sydney listen to me. please." i begin to cry, hot tears escaping the comfort of my eyes.

tears slide easily down my cheeks.

she still can't hear me. it's like she's in another world.

"where are you going? sydney! come back!"

i watch her as she walk into the woods like it's nothing. i stand by myself debating things. it's not her fault. he provoked her. i won't. she won't hurt me.

she wouldn't. would she?
she can't.
she-
who is she?

{ viii. }