Dysphoria

Chapter Thirty

"So are you excited for your birthday?" I grin at Maddy.

"I guess. I wish ours were closer together we could do a joint one." She smiled at me.

"Ugh that would be fun! But like 2 weeks apart is a bit awkward." I say regretfully.

"And my mom is still pissed at me and won't let me have a party at the house which is just so fucking selfish. I swear to God she just wants me to be as miserable as she is." Maddy rolled her eyes.

"Maddy you could have a party at my house, I'm sure my Mom wouldn't mind. You know how much she loves you." Cassie said out of the blue. She seemed extra desperate to please Maddy lately.

"Oooh that would be fun!" Maddy smiles at her, happy to have someone else cater and arrange her party for her.

"Did I hear someone say party?" Jules said skipping over to us with Elliot beside her.

"Yeah its my birthday, I'll let you know the plan." Maddy said with a smile, checking out Elliot.  I had noticed he was always with girls, never with the guys. Maybe he was gay?

"Oh yeah guys, this is Elliot." Jules smiled at him. "He's replaced me and Nia as the new new girl around here."

She was glowing around him, like smiling with her teeth glowing. I felt a bad flicker in my stomach that Jules was into this guy as more than just a friend. Rue was coming over now too. What the hell was the dynamic with these three?

"Yeah good luck with that Elliot, you've got pretty big shoes to fill." I say smiling at him.

"So you're Nia? I've heard about you." He says looking at me closely. When I give him an odd look he explains what he meant. "I mean, Rue and Jules talk about you."

"Hmmm, better be all good things I hope." I squint at Jules.

"Of course." She swung her arm around my neck and gave me a peck on the forehead, which wasn't a challenge since I was a good bit shorter than her.

"Shit guys I have to go, I have to be on the complete other side of the quad. Love you all." I say grabbing my stuff and dashing to class.

Nate was being strangely polite to me when he wasn't our right avoiding me like he had been since New Years. His stitches had healed up and it seemed like he was no long following me around as much. It was a relief but it was also a little unsettling. Especially when we were paired together for a revision assignment in French class.

"How's your Dad. Heard he bumped his head, poor guy." I said waiting to gauge his reaction.

He stayed quiet.

"Seems like you two are just really clumsy lately huh? Random head injuries all around."

He looked over to me, assessing me. Maybe his near death experience with my boyfriend had really softened him up.

"You spelled that adjective wrong." He tapped my page with his finger.

"Aw well aren't you being so helpful." I smiled at him.
"If I'd known some head trauma and stitches was all it took to make you a mildly decent human being I would have clubbed your ass long ago." I said lightly bonking his head with my pen.

He looked at me for another second before bursting out laughing and covering it with his fist. The teacher looked over at us with a frown and he whispered 'sorry' to her. She was bent over assisting Cassie, who wasn't great at French but rather than listening to the teachers help, she was staring over at me wide eyed and stricken like she was about to cry.

What the fuck is going on with her. Her lip wobbled when Nate tapped my shoulder to get my attention back. I realized with a nasty twist in my stomach that she wasn't just watching me, she was watching Nate.