Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
I dropped my backpack onto the floor at the end of my bed, and Dog brought over his ball. I chucked it across the room, then took my phone from my pocket, checking the messages I’d silenced a few days ago. I knew Bellamy would have told Zepp and the guys about my suspension, and I hadn’t wanted to deal with it.
The first message was from the coach, telling me I should take the next two weeks to pull up my grades. The rest were from the Dayton guy’s group chat.
ZEPP: WTF are you getting suspended from the team for, asshole?
HENDRIX: He’s already letting Weirdo work her Medusa juice all over him.
Medusa, because that was how Hendrix referred to any girl who had a guy pussy whipped.
HENDRIX: I know that’s why you punched that scrawny dickdribble.
HENDRIX: If I catch wind of you sinking your short stump of a dick in her hellhole, I’m stripping you of some pimp stripes.
HENDRIX: There’s already two pimps stripes gone from your pimp suit for even thinking about it.
BELLAMY: Like you can talk, fuckface, you ended up with the OG Medusa.
HENDRIX: You leave my used-to-be Medusa out of this.
HENDRIX: Serious, you Quasimodo-looking fuck, don’t screw up your life over Weirdo. She burned your ass.
That was the understatement of the goddamn century. She had ruined me. Sent me on a downward spiral that had landed me in a relationship I had no business being in. It wasn’t fair to Nora or me because I was with her for all the wrong reasons. I’d just wanted to prove to myself I could love someone besides Jade. And that kiss had done nothing but prove how wrong I had been. It showed me how much I’d been drowning. Her soft lips against mine felt like my head had finally broken water and I’d pulled in a lifesaving breath. God, Hendrix was right. I needed my damn pimp stripes ripped off.
HENDRIX: Stop ignoring us, dickface. We’re worried.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I typed out:
It’s just a two-week suspension. Nice to have a vacation. Don’t worry about me.
Sent it, then silenced my phone. I didn’t want to read any more of their bullshit. To be honest, I didn’t even want to deal with my own bullshit.
Dog dropped his ball at my feet. I tossed it, and it ricocheted off the wall, straight under the bed. He wedged his chunky body beneath the mattress, pawing at the floor with a whine.
On a sigh, I rolled out of bed and dropped to my hands and knees. “How the hell did you nudge it back that far?” When I reached for the ball, my hand brushed the crumpled Adidas box hidden beneath the bed. The one I kept all of Jade’s notes in. I stared at that damned box for a solid ten seconds before I pulled it out. I’d tried to throw it out countless times. About a year ago, I’d even gone as far as tossing it into the trash, only to remove it an hour later. That box was the equivalent of a casket that held mine and Jade’s relationship, but I could never quite bring myself to actually bury it.
When she went to stay with Brent for the summer, I’d sat and read through those little messages every day for a week. And every time I did, that painful hole Jade had left in my heart grew and festered. I’d promised myself I’d give her space, but after a bottle of whiskey—there was a theme here—I’d taken a picture of the open box, the little origami swan on the top. Like a sniveling pussy, I’d texted it to Jade. Maybe some part of me thought it would tug on her heartstrings enough to make her message me back, even realize that she didn’t want a break.
The text never delivered. Neither did the next one or the one after that. That was when I’d realized she’d blocked me, and fuck did that hurt. She was the last person I’d ever expected to cut me out of her life like I was some malignant cancer. Everything I’d believed about her, about us, was nothing but a shitty lie. It was when I realized that caring about someone didn’t matter because I couldn’t force Jade to love me the way I did her. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I wanted it. Jade had been my everything, and I had evidently been nothing but a placeholder.
I crammed the box back under my bed, pushed to my feet, and went downstairs to try to fix what I could of my life.
I took my algebra book from my backpack on the way to the kitchen, dropping the heavy book onto the table before I put some leftover Roller Burger into the microwave. Dog sat at my feet, staring up at me while the microwave hummed.