“Are you finally up?”Ari called from afar.
“Clothes!”
“What?”
“I forgot clothes!”I shouted, running to Mateo’s room and slamming the door. I heard Ari sigh from the living room.“Don’t worry, nobody panic. The clothes are going on.”I changed into an outfit of my typical revealing fashion and zipped into my favorite boots before emerging once again.
“Are you dressed now?”
“Yes.”I skipped down the hall and tossed my phone aside. Nobody loved me anyway. I wouldn’t be getting any texts or calls anytime soon.“What’re you guys doing?”
Ari swiveled a laptop to show she was going over a syllabus for next month’s schoolwork. Sean and Mateo were both engulfed in a video game and only grunted. Dennis was the only one who glanced at me from his seat on the floor. I went to the couch and sat behind him, putting a leg on either side of his shoulders.I was in a skirt, but his head blocked the view well enough.
“What’re you doin’?”I asked, playing with his hair.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Playing a game and killing zombies.”I ignored his sarcasm and turned to Sean.“When do we start work?”
“Soon, actually. We should leave in an hour.”
“What? No,I’m not ready!”
“You look fine,” Arisaid.“I’m sure you’ll get lots of attention.”
“But how did this happen?”I wailed.“I don’t understand where all the time went.”
“You slept for seventeen hours.”
“Really?”I furrowed my brows when no one disagreed.“Huh.No wonder I feel so much better. Guess I slept off the bad mood.”
“Oh, good. You’re feeling better?”she asked. I nodded.“And you took your meds?”
“Happy pills! I actually remembered this time.” I’d already taken the new dosage. It would make me dizzy and confused for a day or two, probably starting any minute, but it happened with every adjustment. I was mentally prepared for the brain of mush to kick in.
“Can you stop distracting me?”Dennis asked as I ran my fingers through his hair.“I’m trying to focus.”
“Is that so?”I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, placing a small kiss on his neck. I laughed at his immediate reaction; I could feel it loud and clear. Ikissed his neck again beforerunning a nail along it. He smelled lovely.Maybe I would fuck him later. It was supposed to be a one time exception, but really, how could Inotdo it again? I mean, look at this man.
“You’re messing him up. Now we’re gonna die.”Mateo shot me a playful glare when Dennis shot a wall.
“I just want an armrest,”I cooed, playing with the black part of his hair.“Is that so bad?”I smirked as Dennis missed another shot. This was fun.
“I see you’re back to normal,” Ari said.
“Did ya’ miss me?” I raised my eyebrows and gave an ugly wink, making her giggle. “Speaking of, was I manic?”
“Were you manic?” Ari echoed before bursting into laughter. And then she realized I was serious. “You don’t remember? Not even talking about it yesterday?”
“Not really? I remember finding out Dennis killed Kiro but after that, it’s mostly snippets. I know someone hired me at the bar but I don’t remember the conversation. Just being excited about it. How long ago was that?”
“Kiro was three days ago and the bar was two days ago. And yes, you were manic as shit. You wanted to make a sport out of cartwheeling into pools.”
“Well, that’s ridiculous. I can barely even cartwheel.” I pouted as she laughed. “I’m glad you think it’s funny.”
“It’s not funny, butyouwere funny.” She smiled guiltily before adding, “I know I shouldn’t say this because it’s fucking horrible, but at least killing that girl snapped you out of the mania. Silver lining?”
“I guess.” I sighed. At least she didn’t seem mad about it anymore. “I’m gonnasteal someone’s food.” Iwent to the kitchen, then found a couple of waffles and set them to toast.
