Ego's Trap | ✔

56 | Call Out the Heavy Rain

☆☆☆ Chapter 56 ☆☆☆

Call Out the Heavy Rain

The windows were halfway open. They were letting in the harsh, cool wind that slapped its glass every now and then and it didn't care. So the wind moaned and screeched, moved around the curtains, and after a while, silently creeped by our ankles.

The windows didn't care 'bout the angry little droplets of rain that were making their way through to us either, so over time pools of water formed on the windowpanes and floor. Some of them tickled the soles of our feet, and had we not been on the third floor, I would've expected a slimy green frog to hop around them sometime in between it all.

"What did you do to him?" Teresa asked.

The sky was gray. Cloudy. Grim. Perfect for a scary movie. For me to be in one and die.

"What nice weather we're having," I said.

I couldn't care less 'bout the windows or the pools or the sky or whatever right now, but I had to. Together they were the one thing capable of steering my attention away from Teresa. Why would I need to do that? The answer's obvious: I didn't have the guts to face her. Eye contact was a no-no. Why didn't I just straight up avoid her? Why didn't I just close the door on her, turn away when she passed by me in the hallway, ignore her voice when she spoke? Another easy answer: I couldn't. I just couldn't. Trust me, I tried. She just has a presence that can't be denied. My willpower is useless. Maybe it's 'cuz she's a whole century older than me, or 'cuz she's my sister. Maybe it's 'cuz she knows best. Or 'cuz the burn on the side of her neck's constantly on my mind now and it's sending me on the guilt trip of a lifetime. I don't know.

"Ane look at me." We've been at it for ten minutes straight. "Look at me."

"Don't you think so?" No response came out of her. "It's a lil' chilly 'n breezy, sure, but it's nice."

"Look at me. Listen. Mom wants us to come over tomorrow, to spend this weekend with them."

"I know that already. For the..." I fixed my throat, blinked away the sudden sting in my eyes. "The anniversary and... " I sighed. "For everything, right?"

"So you are listening to me, and you recognize it," she scoffed. "But you're just choosing what to respond to. Turning away. Ignoring me whenever I say anything that's inconvenient for you. How childish of you. I thought you were trying to be past that now."

I swallowed hard and kept my eyes fixed on my toes. They were having fun splashing away on one of the pools nearby, mixing their salty sweat with rainwater. "It's barely three o'clock and it's dark outside. We're gonna have to turn the lights on soon. Isn't that crazy?"

"What did you do to him?"

"Or, now that I think about it, we could just go to sleep. It's a good day for that."

"Hmm, I still can't wrap my head around what happened last Sunday night. It was so strange. What exactly was going on there? What was up with Jordan? He was being a whole ass and a half... and Hilery! Does she really have a── "

"A brat? Ha! You don't even know half of it! There's a whole lot more to it than that, you won't believe who the father is," I gasped. "These white people are crazy crazy, if y'know what I mean. I can tell you all about it if you want. Just... don't tell anyone you got it from me."

"So you choose to respond to this." She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, go right ahead, enlighten me. I'll surely be surprised. It's not like I've been dealing with a nutjob already." I think her glare got a little more bitter than before at that, and just the thought of it made something crawl up my spine. I'm not stupid, I know exactly who she means and she's not wrong, but can she not look at me like that? "What did you do to him? What did you do to Daniel?"