SONDER

𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯

"You're acting like it." She retorts as the nurse reaches for the phone.

"Do you want me to call your mother or your father to inform them about the injury?" Nurse Bailey asks, glancing at the paper in front of her, then the phone, then Saida.

"Neither. I don't live with them currently, I live with Zion Baker and her family..if you want to inform anyone, could you inform her mother?"

"I sure can, I just need to go talk to the front desk and Zion and then I can do that for ya. I'll be right back, sit tight." She smiles, getting up to leave out of the small office.

That just leaves me and Saida.

Alone.

Gathering the right things to say, I take a seat in the nurse's spinning chair and look at Saida. "I just—I can't understand for the life of me why you're the one upset at this whole thing. You're acting like I did something to you, you cheated on me, in case you forgot,"

"I didn't forget. I can't forget. Every time I see you or Cameron I am constantly reminded of it. Why do you think I don't want to be around you, Mekhi? It's because I don't want to be reminded of a mistake I made every time we lock eyes."

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or like a bad person but at the end of the day we aren't together because you couldn't control what you did. I guess the attention from me wasn't enough so you had to get it from somebody else, right?"

I didn't even think about the words that were coming out of my mouth. I just let them go. It was like my mouth was a never-ending faucet and the words were running water.

"Now I'm an attention seeker?"

"It's either that or a slut, so I don't know. Pick your poison, you've already been called both by your parents at least now we both know it's true."

It was in that moment that I realized what I said.

It was then that I realized maybe I should've been monitoring my words more. I should've thought more about what I was saying before I let the words leave my mouth.

The look on her face showed it all, the complete shock, the way her eyes suddenly looked full of sadness. I knew right there that I messed up.

"I'm a slut because I let a boy kiss me? Do you understand how idiotic you sound?" She asks, tears very visible in her eyes.

Shrugging my shoulders, I choose not to respond. What was there to say?

"When I said I hated you that clearly wasn't enough. You're dead to me." She spoke harshly. "You know how bad it hurt me when my mother would slut-shame me because of what I wore or because I hung out with you. Despite all of that, you decide to call me that even while knowing how bad it hurt me?"

No response.

"And then you're just sitting here stuck on stupid. You can leave. I don't want you sitting in my face pretending like you care about me when you don't, and you clearly never have." I watch as she wipes her eyes, mascara staining her cheek.

I nod my head and stand up, leaving out of the nurses office, seeing Nurse Bailey walking back. "Are you leaving? Is everything okay?"