His finger lightly touches the bottom of my chin, and he pushes my face upwards so that I'm looking into his eyes. Eyes that are solely on my lips.
I can't help it. I bite them.
"Oh, Delta," he whispers, quietly giggling under his breath. His laugh...
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WARNING: This chapter may or may not hit you right in the honey nut feelios...
***
Rarely do people come watch the senior boys' basketball practices, but Alyssa insisted we hang out with each other after school while we do a little something to pass the time.
I wish I'd brought a blanket with me. The heater must've been broken. Alyssa didn't hesitate to agree with me, but we sat down anyways and shuffled close together using our body heat like penguins to keep each other warm.
"You're not coming to the dance?" Alyssa asks, grabbing another one of the crackers from her lunchbag and taking a bite.
"I can't," I tell her, wrapping my arms around my middle. "I have a concussion. The doctor told me not to go too crazy for a while. Y'know, not to make it worse."
I listen to Alyssa chew while her eyes trace the basketball players hustling around the gym. "What happened?" she asks.
Not wanting to tell her I'd been hit by a car, I pause. News isn't a big thing in this city, but a few people in our school managed to hear about it.
"Fell down the stairs. Hit my head pretty hard."
I don't want her to know the truth. I don't want her to worry about me, and I reallydon't want her to find out about my job.
Well, former job. My parents made me quit the club after the accident, which is another reason why I feel like absolute crap today.
"Yikes," she says. She sets her crackers back in her lunchbag. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lie.
Not only is my mind lingering on the fact that I had to leave Shell Shock (and the undeniable fact that I am concussed,) but my brain is filled with thoughts of Xavier a few nights ago and why he wasn't in my bed the next morning.
I couldn't look at my phone, I couldn't call him, but if I could I would have at least tried. Xavier didn't once ring me. He didn't text me. He didn't come to see if I was okay. He didn't do any of those things, but I didn't care.
Was he alright? Did he get hurt? How hungover was he? What if he ran away?
Where was he?
"You missed the fight this morning," Alyssa mentions, keeping her eyes on the basketball game in front of her. "Carter Horen hit on Megan in front of Sam. He beat the kid to a pulp, then got suspended right after."
I nod my head, anxiously biting my lip and trying to listen to Alyssa's story.
"Him and Megan got into a fight before he left the school. They kinda broke up after that."
I nod my head again. "Mhm."
While Alyssa looks away from me for a split second, I look at her and frown wondering how I deserve a friend like her, wondering why she stuck by me while I didn't even question what's been going on in her life.
