Elite Fraud

Chapter 15: I Will Survive

"Sure."

I give him my back and slip off my shirt so that the tattoo is on full display. The cool air on my exposed skin makes me shiver.

"Broooo," he exclaims. There's a shuffle of the sheets and a groan of wood telling me that he sat up straight. "It looks so sick! You're almost cool enough to be Ryuko Matoi."

I slightly turn my head to him in question. "Huh?"

"Exactly, almost cool enough," he scoffs.

I slip my shirt back on and roll my eyes. "You are so lucky to have a badass as a sister."

He giggles. "Yeah right, I bet you cried like a wuss when you got that."

"Oh yeah?" I turn to him and rest my hands on my hips.

He scoots further back in his bed. "Yeah, I bet he gave you a lollipop afterwards."

With sudden movements, I catch him on guard and fiercely chuck a pillow at him that makes him fall back on his bed, laughing wildly.

"Keep talking, maybe I'll stick you to that dart board and show you how Raki Mati I can be."

He laughs even louder. "You mean Ryuko Matoi."

"What did I just say?" I ask over my shoulder, and step into the bathroom.

༺༻

The next Monday, I walk the hallways with a profound feeling of relief. The initial despair from Friday disappears and turns into a sense of purpose—today is going to be a good day. One of my major drawbacks are gone, it's the week of the fundraiser, and . . . There is something else. I try not to follow that dangerous train of thought, but Theo's face flashes in my mind nevertheless.

Every shred of logic in me screams at me to forget him, but it's easier said than done. It took me the entire weekend to admit the feelings that often spring around him are not as platonic as they should be. I feel safer around him. Weaker. I let my guard down when he's with me.

But another side of me that thinks differently. He's already seen the worst of me, the part that I'd hidden so well from everyone else. It's the raw, ugly side that I wish he didn't meet and know. I realize, with a squeeze of my heart, that it's the base of myself—and he saw all of me that night. He may have protected me and offered to stay the night, but it was the polite thing to do. If it were Tave instead of Theo that night, he'd have done the same thing. After all, he didn't text me to check up on me over the weekend. And it hurt me more than I care to admit. What if it's just too much for him? He's not obliged to handle my baggage.

I stop myself before I start spiraling that dark path again and decide that it's best to keep my distance. I didn't overcome a problem to just face another. He's becoming more of an issue than I'd bargained for.

With a jolt, Zain's face appears when I shut my locker. Her jaw is stretched in a deep yawn, and she rubs her eyes with her hand. It looks like she hasn't slept all night.

When I look at her in question, she states the obvious: "I've been up all night."

"You don't say."

She lets out an exasperated sigh. "My messy ass family chose yesterday to celebrate a Greek national holiday—a month later than the supposed date because they were out of the country."

"You're Greek," I say it as a statement more than a question. It shouldn't have taken me this long to realize. If the last name Petrakis isn't a dead giveaway, then her deep olive complexion, curls that defy gravity, and bushy eyebrows are.