“Ten quid admission,” I’d tell them, all confidence and no authority. Misfit stood next to me like she owned the pavement, arms crossed, expression like she might stab you for fun. She barely had to speak. Half the time, people would glance her way and hand over the money out of pure intimidation. We pocketed every note, every single one. Zero fucks given. Blagging ourselves a greasy kebab and a bottle of something worse than vodka and sat under a flickering streetlamp splitting it like kings.
We kept some of the money back and raided the corner shop, buying everything we could get our hands on. My bed looked like a fucking candy store. Empty crisp packets, squashed sweets, and that bag of popcorn she’d opened like it owed her money, went fucking everywhere. My duvet was starting to feel more like a landfill than something you’d sleep under.
Misfit was already flopped across the mattress like she owned the place. Legs hanging off one side, in my hoodie, yet again. I was sitting near the top, cross-legged, working my way through the half of a Twix I’d managed to peel the caramel from like some weird sugary surgery. My focus was absolute until she spoke.
“You eat like a raccoon.”
I wasn’t going to justify her comment with a glare; I just countered. “Yeah, well, you sleep like a corpse someone forgot to bury.”
She snorted, “And you look like the before photo in a self-help pamphlet.”
That one hit. I clutched at my chest dramatically. “Wooow. Right for the trauma. That was a low blow.”
She grinned, unbothered, smug little gremlin. Casually tossing a Skittle into her mouth, “You’ll live, unfortunately.”
I retaliated with the nearest ammo I could find, popcorn—one quick flick of the wrist and a kernel pinged off her forehead. A wide, devilish smile stretched across my face. She didn’t even blink. Just turned her head slowly, like some horror movie villain, and reached for the popcorn bag with deadly calm.
“You sure you wanna start this?” I sat up straight, widening my eyes to her.
“Bring it on, bitch.” She prepared herself, leaning onto her heels, suddenly more alive than I’d seen her all day, and threw the first piece of popcorn. It smacked me square in the eye. It fucking hurt!
She howled. Like doubled over, slapping the bed, breathless laughter tearing out of her like it had been caged up too long. I tried to act offended, but it was impossible when I was laughing just as hard.
And that was it. She was off.
She started rapid-fire lobbing popcorn at me like a madman.
“Oi,” I snapped, half-laughing as another piece sailed past my ear. “That’s assault with a salty weapon.” I raised the empty Doritos bag like a shield, deflecting a few stray shots. One rogue piece landed in my hair while I was trying to dodge her tirade, struggling to hold back laughter.
“You trying to kill me?” I said, batting away a popcorn salvo.
She grinned, “Debatable.” She held up the bag and shook it. One pathetic little popcorn puff rolled at the bottom like a tumbleweed in a ghost town. Her eyes met mine, wide with mock horror. “Don’t you dare.”
I grinned, “Run outta ammo, have we?”
“No.”
I pounced before she could react, tackling her sideways into the mattress in one fluid motion. She shrieked through a laugh, twisting beneath me.
“Ceasefire!” I barked, chest heaving with breathless amusement. “You’re officially disarmed.”
“You cheated,” she huffed, trying to buck me off. “You used brute force. That’s not how snack warfare works.” Her breath fanned my collarbone, and for a stupid second, I forgot how to move. Awkwardness quickly returned as her smile faded. Our eyes locked onto each other, and my pulse quickened as my heart jumped into my throat.
I drifted over her features, her once obsidian eyes, which I’d known to burrow into my soul, didn't look right.
They looked … washed out.
As if smoke had seeped into the darkness.
I frowned as I leaned closer, “Your eyes—”
She blinked, her brows pulling in.
“What about them?”
But something else caught my attention, pulling my gaze to the corner of her mouth—a thin dark vein, something I hadn’t noticed before.
It pulsed, shifting unnaturally under her pale skin.
