Elijah hurls over, laughing so hard he can barely catch his breath. “Dude, that was fucking brutal! I don’t know what’s worse—getting kicked in the balls or being rejected by her.”
“She’s just putting on a façade. She totally wants me,” I say.
“You’re delusional, man. Just give it up.”
“I never give up on what I want. It’ll happen one day, trust me.” I sling my arm around him, smiling. “Ten years from now, you’ll be the best man at our wedding.”
Elijah chuckles, shaking his head. “Bro, you are fucking stupid.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
annalise
“Okay, spill. What’s wrong?”Mazi asks, interrupting the romcom we’re watching that I’ve completely zoned out on.
I light up my second joint of the night, inhaling deeply. I don’t smoke weed often, but after the day I’ve had, it’smuchneeded. “Nothing, Mazi. I just had a very long day. You know how Veronica can be.” I shrug my shoulders.
“Oh, bullshit! You’ve been dying to watch this movie, and you’re barely paying attention.”
Mazikeen Rivera has been my best friend since I was eight. I transferred to her elementary school in the middle of the year. One day during recess, I was trying to get on a swing when a group of bullies pushed me down. They surrounded me, throwing dirt at me while calling me an alien freak because of my heterochromia.
Mazi marched over and pushed down the biggest kid in our class, Martin Tanner. She climbed on top of him and punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. All the other kids ran away crying. No one’s messed with me since. She’s always beenextremely overprotective of me and will fight anyone who tries to hurt me.
“I have been paying attention.”
“Okay.” She sits up straight, turning her body toward me. “Then what’s the name of the cat?”
I pause for a moment, thinking. “Uh, wasn’t it Snowball or something like that?”
“There was no fucking cat!” Mazi throws a pillow at me and turns off the television.
“What are you doing? Turn it back on!” I reach over for the remote, but she snatches it up.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” she demands.
I take another puff of my joint before answering her. “I ran into Maddox today…”
“What the fuck?” Mazi’s hazel eyes bulge out in bewilderment. “You’ve been home for three hours and you’rejustnow telling me this?”
“I’m still trying to process everything. Seeing him again after four years…” I lean forward, placing my hands on my thighs, breathing in and out.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“It’s okay, Annalise, we don’t need to talk about it. You can tell me another time.” Mazi rubs soothing circles on my back.
“I saw him at Dauntless. He’s collaborating with us for his own line.” Hot, angry tears stream down my cheeks as all the emotions I’ve been suppressing resurface. “Ugh! What did I do to deserve this?” Grabbing a pillow, I throw it on the floor out of frustration. “First Abuelo, now this! Why can’t God let me be happy?”
Mazi pulls me into a hug, consoling me while I sob uncontrollably.
“What’s He gonna throw at me next?”
“I’m so sorry, Annalise,” she whispers. “I hope things start looking up for you. I hate seeing you like this.”
Lately, it seems like nothing in my life is going right. I feel like I’m trapped in a relentless rip current, desperately struggling to reach the shore. No matter how hard I fight to break free, every effort feels futile. The harsh waters pull me under every time, leaving me completely exhausted.
“If it’s too much for you, why don’t you just quit Dauntless?”
I sit up straight, staring at her. “What? Are you out of your mind? How am I supposed to give you money for rent?”
