A Year Around the Sun

t h i r t y - nothing is awkward for me

Even though she's not as menacing as she used to be, I can't help but feel uncomfortable around her. I always did, and knowing so much about her only intensifies that feeling.

"What are you doing here?" I asked monotonously.

"I came to pay you a visit," she said condescendingly. She didn't even acknowledge Liz, who was watching us interact with her mouth sewn shut. "So can we talk?" Her eyebrows raised expectantly, waiting for my answer.

"No."

I blinked at my bluntness, but didn't elaborate.

She appeared to be taken aback for a fraction of a second, but quickly got over it. A curt response like that wasn't enough to throw a girl like her off her game.

"Well, I'm gonna talk anyway. How are you and Brody? You're still together, right?" She spewed out her questions, icy gaze hooked on me and not intent on moving away.

Right. She'll do whatever she can to get what she wants. I figured carrying on with the short answers might frustrate her, so I stuck with that technique.

"Right." I nodded once.

"Things are good, then?"

"Things are great," I agreed, smiling smugly back at her.

She nodded too, a genuine look flashing in her eyes briefly. I knew not to give in to it.

"Well, good. He seems like he really loves you," she spoke much softer now, glancing down at her combat boots before coming back up to look at me. "Have you guys done it yet?"

"D-done what?" I stuttered. You know exactly what.

She laughed, shoving pity in my face with the sound as she stunned me with her flawless white smile. "Your innocence is so endearing, really. Try to keep that for as long as you can. Although, I don't know how long Brody would last with you if you did," she commented, and I sincerely wondered how the hell she could make a flattering remark so grim. "Anyway, have you guys had sex yet? Does that sound familiar to you?"

The heat rushed to my face when I heard those words come out of her mouth. I said I'm usually always uncomfortable around her, but this took it to a whole new level. I considered pretending to faint just to get out of this discussion. But that'd probably be a bit melodramatic, right?

Sky was anticipating my answer, her green eyes reading me like a book. I didn't even have to answer because she already knew. God damnit, why does she have to know everything?

"Right," she piped up before I could say anything, not that I was really planning on it. "You guys probably don't do that. Like I said, your innocence will get the best of you. But if you do ever decide to sleep with him, go for it. He'll blow your mind, that smooth son of a bitch," she sighed, a wistful smirk altering her usual malicious one.

My stomach churned at the thought of her and Brody together like that. Instead of letting it show, I shook her words off like I did with the extra salt on my pretzel. They were disregarded in seconds.

"Thanks, I'll remember that," I just smiled in return.

I glanced down at my phone and lit it up to check the time, seeing that I only had a couple minutes left on break. "Well, I need to head back to my booth because my break is almost over," I informed no one in particular. Standing up swiftly, I shot a grin at Liz. "Nice talking to you."

"See ya, Lena." She waved to me, completely ignoring Sky.

I felt the chilling stare of Sky still hooked on me as she slowly turned in her stool. When I finally granted her a glimpse, her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked utterly disoriented. I took that as my chance to say something other than a bleak retort. I thought of it as sealing the cracks in our dysfunctional relationship, and shutting her out.