“You can start by keeping your mouth shut, then maybe I’ll start to believe the bullshit you’ve been spewing,” he spat, as he went out to the patio with a vape pen between his lips. We were back to normal. There was no way I could have a conversation with him. My heart was heavy. I put the pizza on my plate and stared into the void. James came back in, dawdling more than he should have.
“Weren’t you about to smoke?” I asked.
“What happened?” he asked curiously.
He leaned on the table and waited for my response.
“Nothing.”
“Shouldn’t Will have dumped you?”
“Will dumped me. Happy now?”
“Yeah, it’s about damn time.”
I gave him the side-eye, and he chuckled.
“You’re such an asshole.”
Then he became serious. “What?”
“Why don’t you want us to be together?”
“Sometimes Will fucks up, like we all do. But when he thinks he’s in love, and he faces some sort of disappointment, well, his fuckups get even more extreme. I don’t want to see him suffer.” I didn’t know what to think about what he said before he left again.
I’d lost my appetite. I picked at the pizza slice, then organized the mess that James had left in the kitchen and went back to William. He was still sleeping. In the dim light of the bedroom I could see there was a big TV and a love seat at the foot of the bed. I sat on it and checked my phone. It was already nine thirty, so I needed to call my mom before she could call the Secret Service.
“Weren’t you grounded because your mom’s a bigger pain the ass than you are?” James’s gloomy voice made me jump.
“Shh!Be quiet. What do you know about it? Anyway, I’d rather stay here with him,” I whispered.
“It’s late. Go home.” He cut me off decisively as he took off his gray hoodie in front of me.
“I told you. I want to stay with him.”
“You’re like a dog with a bone. You know that?”
“How fucking dare you?”
James adjusted his T-shirt and became serious. “News flash. The bed is mine,” he declared, pointing at me.
“What bed?”
I looked around, and the only bed I saw was Will’s.
“I sleep on the couch where your ass is parked.”
“Sorry, what about me?” I exclaimed indignantly.
“Don’t you think the floor is comfortable, White?”
“I’m sleeping here. You sleep downstairs,” I declared with my arms crossed.
“That’s what you think. At this point, I’m predicting that you’ll sleep in the yard.”
He pulled down his track pants, forcing me to face the other way.
“I’m just getting myself comfortable so I can go to sleep. Don’t pretend to be scandalized, Snow White. And get out of my bed in three seconds,” he threatened.
