Pain shoots through my knuckles like fire. The ache sharp, immediate. Grounding.
Justin watches me carefully.
"You good?" he asks low.
"Yeah."
He leans closer.
"Breathe."
I hadn't noticed I wasn't.
Leon looks between us. "Who is she?"
Justin doesn't answer.
I don't either.
"Fine, keep your secrets." Leon shakes his head. "You're going to get suspended if Coach hears about that."
"Probably."
I pick my drink back up.
My hand is steady now.
Music fills the space again, laughter. Like nothing happened.
Justin catches my eye across the table.
'You need to cool it.' He mouths, eyes flicking between Leon and I. Leon doesn't catch the words.
I nod once. Take a sip from my bottle and flick my chin to the side.
"Bathroom."
No one stops me.
The hallway to the bathrooms is narrow.
Sticky under my shoes.
Smells like bleach trying and failing to mask stale beer.
The fluorescent light in the bathroom flickers once before settling into a low hum.
I turn the tap on without looking at myself in the mirror. Replaying everything that happened earlier today. It's like my mind won't let me forget it, won't let me move on.
Cold water hits my knuckles and my own blood flows doesn't the drain,
The sting bites where the skin split.
I don't flinch but I do look up.
My jaw's tight. Blue eyes hard. No one looking back at me but myself.
Temporary.
