Freaks

9(Continued)

She turns around completely as he stops in his tracks, "What are you doing?"

"What?" He replies blankly.

"Uhm." She looks around the room, "This is the girls' restroom."

"And?"

"And...what if they saw you?"

"They didn't see me."

She looks down to only see a bare tanned chest halfway covered by a red Hawaiian shirt, a faint v-line peeking above his shorts.

She looks back up fast, "Why are you here? Do you need something?"

"No." He starts, crossing his arms and furrowing his brows, leaning against the wall, "You kissed Jackson."

"What?" She sneers, "He kissed me."

Luka knows that. Yet, he hangs his head, "...You're lying."

"Lying? Why would I lie about that? What—why would I be here in the first place, away from them?"

"Are you even on our side anymore?"

Obviously, she is.

"Yes?" Her eyes narrow, "Can you just go, please? If all you're gonna do is argue with me, then I'm done talking." She shakes her head and turns back around and starts to pass a small part of the wall, then she's automatically levered back by the same arm.

Luka stares at her with hostility, "How do I know you're not lying to us all?"

"I'm not." She rips off his hand, "You're the one who said I'm good at pretending. You're the one who told me I have to do this and deal with this kind of shit. Back off."

She turns again with heavy aggravation but again she's taken back, this time by both of her arms and twisted against the small section of the cold wall, hidden out of sight from the front door. Luka stands before her, focusing on his next words, his palms at the edge of her shoulders.

In Luka's mind, there's only good and bad. Hate her, says one voice, she's not so bad, says the other. What she goes through is nothing compared to what he could. Alice could torture her with knives and needles and all she would do is scream, smile afterward, and move on. Him, that wouldn't be the case, he would've already ruined the whole act in the first few minutes of having a conversation with Alice. But his mask must stay on, it's peeling but he must stick it back together.

"Malakai would kill you right now." She warns him, "Please, either tell me what I did wrong or get your hands off of me."

He chokes on bad things that want to come out of his mouth, he already knows he's screwed up. Now he's standing here with nothing but a constipated face, his mind arguing with itself.

"Luka!" She shouts and still nothing but a little flinch, she waits for a response but he's only there, looking at her, "Are you...jealous? What is your—"

He finally moves his hands away from her, "Jealous? Is that seriously your first idea?"

"I don't know, Luka. I don't know what you're thinking anymore. You're acting fucking crazy."

"I'm definitely not jealous." He lies, "God, I wish you would get it. You make everything about yourself. You're too blind to see that." He pauses and she raises her brows, "You're pathetic, Harper."

"Thanks. Any more insults for the day?" She asks as she inhales a whiff of the saltwater scent rising between them, like the smell you get when water gets up your nose and burns.

He shakes his head, the only way he can stop himself from lying again.

"I'm so glad to have you around, you're always there for me when I need you." She smiles and drops it quickly, peeling her sweaty body off of the wall and towards the stalls.