LIFE OF THE PARTY |ELITE|

2.07

"Some of your classmates think that you could think that you could be linked to Samuel's disappearance."
"That's funny, I can bet those are the same classmates who say that I'm cursed because people around me keep dying. I know nothing about Samuel's disappearance, but if I were you, I'd look into who could have done it, because a seventeen-year-old doesn't just disappear like that."

    Even after Ander and Polo exited the room, Cordélia stayed in her seat, in silence, holding her knees as she watched the stars in the sky. When she stood up, her bare foot hit the cold ground, reminding her that she abandoned her heels somewhere in the room and that she still wore her black dress, the one she had chosen for the mass but wore to a 'party' instead. Her eyes fell on Guzmán, sound asleep on his bed, the boys had taken his clothes off, leaving him in his boxers, she got closer to the bed and pulled the covers over him, afraid that he would catch a cold. The blue-eyed boy moved in his sleep, muttering something under his breath, she did not quite catch what he said but as she straightened her back, he caught her wrist, his eyes fluttering open.

"Lia?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Don't go."
"I'm not, I'm just going to change into something more comfortable, and I'll be right back, okay?"

    Guzmán moaned something before he let go her arm, hiding his hand under the covers once again. She smiled sadly, it broke her heart to see him like this, to know that Marina's death hurt him so badly that he turned to drugs to feel better. The brunette headed to his dresser, painfully taking her dress off as she did so, lifting her arms above her head made her winced, her sore muscles killing her a little more every second. After she took her contacts out and put all her belongings in her bag, she took one of Guzmán's sweater from his dresser, putting it on as she walked to the bed. The girl was barely sat on the bed when he moved closer to her, trying to reach for her hands.

"We don't deserve you."
"Shhh, go back to sleep you don't know what you're talking about."
"I mean it, you're so much better than all of us, you deserve better, we don't deserve you."
"You're drunk, Guzmán, you make no sense."
"I love you."
"Shh, we'll talk later, go back to sleep."

    And the boy did, with Cordélia's arms around him he fell back asleep as if he had never been awake in the first place. Her fingers played lazily with what was left of his hair, she knew she wouldn't get any sleep, it hurt too much, everywhere. Her muscles, her joints, her chest, she felt like Atlas carrying the weight of the world on her shoulder, except this weight was on her chest, it was crushing her, and she was almost sure she had a fever. It had been a while since she had felt that sick, so helpless that all she wanted was to die. The duchess hated to be sick, she supposed everyone did, but it drove her crazy, literally, she couldn't remember how many times the fever had made her see things that weren't real, people that were long gone.

    If Guzmán's body was dead asleep, his mind however didn't seem to stop spiralling, he couldn't stop the many thoughts that bumped into each other disturbing his sleep. He thought of his sister, of how it was unfair that she wasn't here anymore, he thought of his mom, of how she was nothing more than a ghost now that Marina was gone, of his father, of how he still couldn't believe he had been so wrong about him all his life, idolising someone who didn't deserve it, he thought of Ander, of how he still couldn't believe he would ruin a relationship with someone like Cordélia, how jealous he was that his best friend was the one she had chosen, finally, he thought of the girl that laid next to him.

    The blue-eyed boy was very aware of her body against him, despite his state, he had noticed how she winced every time one of them moved, how she seemed to try and stay utterly still while she usually was someone to move a lot in her sleep. Sometimes, the Spanish teenager wished he'd noticed less things about his best friend, wished his body didn't react as much when she was around, wished she had less influence on him, and the worst part of this was that she wasn't even aware of how much control she had over him.