"Take a picture, Saige. It'll last longer," he says.
I take a sip from my mug and smile back. "I would, but there are some things that pictures just can't do justice, you know?"
I think all three of us are surprised when I say it.
Dax laughs. "Look at you, Ripley—spitting game at the fucking breakfast table. I can practically see your heart eyes right now."
I shrug. "Well, if you've got it..."
"I'm kind of jealous. I'm pretty sure that just the other day, you told me something like I'd die of old age before you complimented me."
"Morning," Elias says to no one in particular before sitting beside Nolan. "Did you get any more texts, Saige?"
He doesn't look at me when he asks; the truth is I forgot about the texts for a minute, and I think I might have actually…had a good day yesterday.
"I don't know," I tell him. "Nolan hid them for me."
"Let me see it," Nolan says, extending his hand.
I place my phone in it, and he looks through the messages. "Yeah, you've got a few," he says. "Nothing new, really. More murder porn." He pauses for a second before adding, "Looks like he jacked off on a picture of you, too, and thought you might want to see it."
"What?"
"Do you want to see it?"
"No."
"Okay." He shrugs, deleting them all and closing the folder before handing the phone back.
"Thanks. I'm going to get ready; I have an early class."
"Me, too," Dax says. "Do you want me to wait and walk with you? I can fight off the bad guys and stuff."
"You are the bad guys."
"But we're your bad guys," Dax says to my back. "That's the difference."
"Speak for your fucking self," Elias says before I close the bedroom door. "I'm not her fucking anything."
"It's okay, Dax," I tell him. "I don't need you to do that. I'll be fine."
I change into a pair of jeans with my Vans and a distressed baby tee, and then go to the bathroom, taking my time to curl my hair and do my makeup. The pink pieces around my face have almost faded to nothing. I meant to dye them again when I got to campus but then my entire life derailed, and this is the first time I've felt okay enough to notice.
When I head for the front door, the first floor is empty. Nolan left for his three-hour workout, Dax has class, and Elias is…probably upstairs. But I know I'll see him later in psychology.
I step outside, the cool fall air sending shivers up my spine. I wish I'd grabbed Dax's hoodie, but I talked myself out of it at the last second. That's something girlfriends do. And I know I dropped the ball yesterday—I let myself play girlfriend with both of them when I know better.
But I'm a toy—a broken one with a debt to pay, until they get tired of playing with me. Once they do, I'll be free and better off for it.
I walk into psychology, scanning the lecture hall before finding a seat in the back. Elias isn't here yet, and neither is Sasha.
Only one of them shows up for class today.
Elias sits beside me and sprawls out over his seat and halfway into my own, like he did last week.
"Good morning."
"I already saw you this morning…unfortunately," I grumble.
