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FOURTEEN

"Ezra... look at me."

I didn't follow at first. My fingers twitched, folding over each other in a random motion to show my uneasiness to comply. But I couldn't help myself, eventually, and (through a muffled curse) turned to face her.

"Don't let anyone else walk over you," She said. "You're a good person... but even I know you're worth much more than that."

And to that, I nodded. But my eyes never left hers, never strong enough to draw away from that seriousness, that urgency to know that I understood. And once it stuck, her eyes softened, and her mind turned elsewhere.

"Look, I have to get back." She brushed her pants and stood up. "And I don't... have a lot left. Our military check is still in a few days, that was the last of it from the previous month."

I bowed my head again, wordlessly. My fingers drew to my jeans, rubbing into the fabric out of worry. Kiara proceeded with one last question.

"Did you eat anything earlier?"

"Yeah," I lied, blinking away from her. She nodded.

"Okay. Just..." she forced a smile as she started away. "Talk to me if things get rough. And goodnight."

I heard her feet stumble away, drifting further and further out of reach. But the time I looked back, what was once a girl of black hair, plush skin, and fierce eyes, was now just a space of time. I let out a soft shudder, facing the brick walls ahead of me. Letting the wind brush by, and the cool dark air of a new night sink into my soul. I wouldn't leave until I felt confident enough. Until I felt sure that what happened tonight was just a bad day, and nothing more.

Nothing terrible.

...

An hour later I walked away.

~~~~

But the night was no better.

But the night was no better.

Apparently lying to your new friend (and yourself) bore consequences worse than the initial thought. For tonight, the result of my kindness finally reared its ugly head, and cursed me into hell.

I woke up starving. Badly. I grimaced and whimpered, tossing and turning in my bed as I sought comfort. Yet my stomach growled on, churning like an unoiled clock. I could feel it pulsing, its flesh pounding into my abdomen with reckless abandonment. My head began to throb, too, and my eyes began to fill with specks of tears, unveiling my pain to the hidden stars beyond the window pane.

"Ah..." I drew my rear from my bed and sunk my head into the mattress ground, whining like a stray. "Nngh... a-aah..."

Shouldn't have lied, I thought. Shouldn't have shut up, Ezra.

I didn't want to hurt her anymore...

Now you're hurting yourself.

I curled my nails into the blanket, whimpering helplessly as the pain manifested. Before long, I forced myself from the bedding and pushed to the carpet, groaning aloud as I stumbled off. My hands raced to a refrigerator in my dorm, my roommates, thankfully. But, when I opened it, there was nothing there. Just cooling packs for the flesh -- that wasn't going to help at all.

Fuck it. Just drink water, it'll go away.

"Okay..." I hissed, moving to the sink and turning on the faucet.

Nothing came out.

"What?" I gasped, flickering the metal gears open and closed. Not even a drop was freed. Nor did the shower work either. Panicked, I stumbled to my phone and snagged it from the desk, eying a notification released 2 hours ago.