Treat You Better

Chapter Eight: It's Only Starbucks

Chapter Eight: It's Only Starbucks.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO SHOW MYSELF LIKE THIS?!" Hale yelled over the phone and I had to hold it away from my ear.

"So you're just going to miss today too?" I asked, calmly.

Annie nodded frantically with a maniacal grin.

"Ugh, sometimes you're so slow." Hale hissed. "If I wasn't, I'd already be there! Just make sure you bring your notes to me after school."

"As you wish, Hale" I said, "bye."

Before I could hang up though, he spoke quickly. "Look, I'm sorry." he said, his tone back to soft and loving.

"Yes?"

"I love you. You know that, right?"

Something cold and uncomfortable stirred in my belly,
"I love you too," I said, automatically.

Annie made a face in front of me and looked at Susan who was browsing through her phone silently.

I hung up before Hale could say any more.

"Not to be judgemental," Angelo said, closing his locker and slinging his bag over his shoulder in a way that made me think he was going to be very judgemental. "But I have something to say."

"Absolutely not," I shook my head.

"Worth an attempt."

"So he's not coming today either?" Hunter asked.

"Of course he isn't!" Susan nudged her brother. "Those guys used special permanent markers. Good for him."

"I'm going to need the exact brand and type of markers. For research of course." Annie smiled cheerfully, braces glinting in the morning sunlight.

"Right? I'm going to look it up now because five days is crazy." Hunter said, whipping out his phone so that Annie and Susan joined in on his browsing.

"Ooh, that one...!"

None of my friends were trying to hide how pleased they were that Hale continuous absences.
While he was passed out on the floor at Jason's party that night, some kids had ganged up on him and given him face tattoos with permanent markers.

I actually thought that wasn't enough for what he did to me that night but I needed to act like the compassionate girlfriend. What I didn't need to do though, was remind him that his mother owned a literal makeup company, or to tell my friends to stop laughing.

"Poor Hale, guess he won't be needing this," I said, sipping on the usual cup of coffee I brought every morning, he'd taken so much time to recover that I'd already started making it to my taste instead.

"Trade you half of it for a sandwich?" Angelo asked.

"You mean we could share?" I asked him, smirking.

He shook his head, "Trade."

"Whatever you want to call it," I said, taking the sandwich he offered me with a smile.
His head suddenly whipped towards Susan who was holding her phone up in front of her.

"Are you recording me?" He asked and she lowered her phone and hid it behind her back.

"What? That's outrageous, pfft" Susan scoffed. But Annie was quick to snatch her phone away.

"Susan, you were actually serious?" Annie asked, scrolling on the device, "You're still on about this fan page?"

"Don't sell me short! It's a blog." Susan enthused, reaching over to point something out on the screen. "I'm calling it 'Red Threads' I've been fine-tuning the details all week, all I need now are my two subjects." She turned to gaze imploringly at me and Angelo.