I rushed in front of him. “Kyle, I love you, and remember what we said when we were little. Only our love matters,” I began to cry.
“I’m sorry, sis. I do love you, but your love isn’t enough. I can’t take it anymore.”
Kyle pulled a gun from his side. “Kyle, no!” I shouted.
I launched at him, trying to take it from his hand, and it went off.
Pop!
My body jolted back, and I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. “Kyle!” I cried. “Wake up! Please!”
Kyle lay there staring at the ceiling. My mind was fucked up, and I didn’t know what to. That was when I felt arms wrap around me.
“You don’t need to see shit like this. Come on,” Syior whispered to me as he pulled me out of the room. “I’ll take care of it. Get out of here.”
“But I- I killed my brother,” I wailed.
Syior shook his head. “You didn’t kill him. He was already dead inside.”
My memories resurfaced as tears streamed down my face. Since my brother’s death, I hadn’t been the same. The guilt weighed heavily on me, leading me to cope in my own way. I was searching for something, anything that could ease the pain, the memories, the agony. Despite my efforts, I couldn’t find relief. I closed mylaptop, grabbed my bag, and rushed out of the class. I bolted down the hall until I got to the restroom. I entered the stall, reached into my pocket, and drew out my razor. I lifted my skirt to reveal a spot on my thigh I called “comfort.” I sliced into my yellow skin before releasing a loud sound.
“Ssss.”I blew out a sharp breath as I allowed the pain to ease up.
I cleaned myself up and swung the stall door open. “So, you’re a cutter?” Samara said.
Now the one thing no one knew was in the hands of Dio’s fucking girlfriend.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’m no one’s judge,” I said to Phoebe.
Since meeting her the one time she came to my house, I really hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know her. However, after seeing that she was just as fucked up as the rest of us, I knew she probably needed someone to talk to. I watched through the crack of the stall as she slid that razor across her skin. That painful euphoric moment was like the times I used shrooms to calm me down. Phoebe stared at me as if she was trying to figure out if I was lying about judging her.
“What are you going to do? Tell your man?”
I scoffed. “Didn’t I say I’m not here to judge you? Maybe you need a friend. We can talk about it if you want.”
“Why are you so nice? How are you and Dio even together? He’s fucking crazy, and you—” she paused, “—you’re everything my parents want me to be. The girl next door.”
I busted out in laughter. “I’m far from the girl next door. I just choose to chill. Now, if you fuck with me, then we have a problem. Look, I’m not sure if you and Streets are a thing, but any girl who hangs with the Zoo, we fuck with you,” I told her.
She gave me a weak laugh. “Streets? You mean Xavier. He’s cool or whatever.”
I nodded. “Un huh. That’s what we all said. You want to grab food? I’m starving. I just got out of an intense interview for the internship, and I can use food.”
She accepted, and we headed out toward the parking lot. “You know I have a class with Dio,” she said to me.
Honestly, I didn’t want to talk about Dio. He had been acting strange, and the idea of me doing what I did in New York—chasing him only to be embarrassed—I wasn’t doing that. He had been calling and texting me, but right now, I needed the space.
As we got closer to the car, a guy came up to Phoebe. “We need to talk,” he told her.
“Umm, not here,” she replied.
“So, it’s like that? You’re fucking with that nigga Xavier now?” he asked her.
She shot me a look. “Samara, can I get a rain check?”
Before walking away, I wanted to invite her out with me and the girls. “Hey, are you going to the game tonight. The girls and I are going, you know, to hang out.”
