Trouble

|Chapter Fourteen| Belvedere

[Belvedere]: I declare against you

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| Chapter Fourteen |

Mia 17, Connor 19

I don't look at Trouble throughout the rest of the class. If I pretend he doesn't exist, maybe he won't. But doing so is practically impossible since my traitor heart and mind keep racing for some reason.

"Just what the heck were you thinking, Mia?" I  mentally scold myself every time I feel his eyes burning the back of my neck.

I wanted to rail him up a little, I didn't actually realize my disadvantage in the situation until the instructor assigned every group to start working together from next week.

Right up to that point, I didn't realize I'd have to spend more time with Trouble, more than necessary. 

But what's done is done. I'll stick to my schedule of making his life as difficult as he's making mine. Let's see who'll get under whose skin faster. Let's see who'll break who first.

Besides, it will be a good distraction from my newly returned fears, so I'm ready to risk my nerves more than I'm ready to risk my sanity.

Once the class is over, I fly out of the room like a rocket, not giving him the slightest chance to approach me.

Knowing him, he'd try his best to hurt my self-esteem and make me drop out of the project, and I don't need it... today more than ever.

This week has been difficult enough for my mental health. These past couple of days have felt like a blur. I know I probably drank and ate and laughed, but I don't remember enjoying it the way I used to before the scary Monday.

Although, I have to admit the fight with Connor back in the art room made me feel alive for the first time in four days. Even before we drifted apart, bickering with him always did the trick, it always made me feel like I was on fire. I realize it's better to burn than go dead cold.

I know that my anxiety is caused by sleep paralysis, but I can't do anything to stop it. I'm constantly thinking about the possibility of experiencing it again and it's scaring the life out of me. I don't want to feel like I'm dying again.

Checking the day's classes on my phone, I growl mentally when I realize almost all of them are Connor's classes too. My week is really doomed, isn't it?

Suddenly my thoughts drift away from a pair of dark green eyes when I hear my name.

Looking around, I notice Isaac coming toward me with a blue face and a somewhat guilty expression.

The images of last Friday night are quick to flash in my head, making me fist my hands to my sides protectively, ready to punch him if needed. Sure, I'm not a violent person, but I'm not dumb, either.