Falling Apart

Chapter 3

                Julianne laughed, fixing her blonde hair that went out of place with a single bobby pin. “Okay, Everly.” She grinned. “Your point has been made.”

                The elevator doors opened, waiting for us to step out. Julianne made her way to the receptionist’s desk, who offered her a small smile. I watched as Julianne signed in for her scheduled appointment, the receptionist making small talk with her. I still remembered last week, when Reina let out that the receptionists have been gossiping about Dr. Roberts’ clients, specifically Julianne. I took in a sharp breath, turning my cheek being I made a rude remark to the receptionists.

                Once Julianne was finished signing in, she came back over to where I was as we both found empty seats in the waiting area next door. Upon opening the door, I found Reina sitting in the exact spot where she was a week ago, flipping through another teen advice magazine. She glanced up slightly, noticing Julianne and I before a grin spread across her lips, stained with red lip color. “Everly and Julianne,” she paused, light twinkling in her eyes, “how are you guys?” 

                Julianne smiled, opening her mouth to greet Reina, but was ultimately cut off by Dr. Roberts, who swung the door open. “Julianne? I’m ready to see you now.” She smiled, noticing Reina and I in the waiting room. “I’ll be right with you after Julianne’s finished, Reina. And Everly, nice to see you again.”

                I nodded, giving her a slight smile before Julianne entered Dr. Roberts’ office, the door closing behind. It didn’t take long for Reina to smack her bubblegum, toss her magazine back into her bag and turn her attention to me. “Please tell me you saw how Dr. Roberts’ fly was down.” She spoke in a hushed tone. “I mean, that thing was all the way down, like she hadn’t even bothered to zip up her pants after she took a dump in the toilet. I even saw those hideous Mother Theresa granny panties she’s wearing.”

                My eyes went wide, gawking at Reina’s clear bluntness. Now it was obvious that Reina and Jace had to be related, because they were both straight forward right to the point. I gulped, erasing the mental image that Reina gifted me with as I cleared my throat. “I wasn’t exactly,” I paused, trying to find the right words. Reina gave me a wide smile, waiting for my response, clearly amused by my reaction, “staring- down there.”

                “Down where?” a voice suddenly interrupted us.

              Reina narrowed her eyes over my shoulder, letting out a sigh. “Why are you here, Jace? I told you to wait in the car.” Reina snapped.

                “I was,” Jace paused, a smirk overcastting his face when his gaze fell upon mine, “but I found out that the conversation between you and Everly here is much more interesting. Tell me, Everly, what do you mean by ‘down there’?”

                My cheeks turned to flames, engulfing into an unpleasant, scarlet red. I shot Jace a glare, feeling immediate irritation from our unsuccessful tutoring session just a few days earlier. “It’s none of your business.” I snapped, my eyes narrowing into slits. “You should go back into whatever hole you crawled out of.”

                “Wow, Everly.” Jace said sarcastically, making me even angrier by placing his palm against his chest. “I’m offended by your shitty insults.”

                I clenched my fists, feeling myself tremble with frustration towards this single, human being. “You little son of a-.”

                “Whoa, whoa,” Reina stopped the two of us, giving Jace and I suspicious looks,” am I missing something here? How the hell do you two know each other?”