Hex

Chapter 19

The next day, I came bounding home from work. I had had a good day, and I was excited to tell Bishop about it. I spilled no coffee, like not even a drop, and my manager even gave me a raise, so I was beyond pumped. It was only 50 cents, but I was still excited. I rushed through the door to an empty living room and kitchen. I practically bounced to Bishop's door, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard voices from inside.

"Oh my god, B, you're so funny!" A voice squealed from inside, erupting into giggles. A girl, definitely a girl.

     "B?" I mouthed, mocking her. I scrunched my eyebrows together and leaned closer. Bishop was laughing too. I was jealous. Very, very jealous, especially after what had happened the night before. We had kissed on stage in front of everyone. And it was perfect. Or so I thought.

But this? This was definitely, so very not perfect. I huffed and spun on my heels, practically stomping out of our apartment. I banged on Valeria's door, until she opened it. I said nothing, but gestured for her to follow me. Together, we carefully leaned on either side of Bishop's door, listening intently.

"You know, I'm really glad we decided to do this," I heard Bishop say.

"Yeah, I had a good time," the girl said, resulting in Valeria's jaw to drop. "You know, I've been trying to get close to you all semester. You are just the cutest thing!" She giggled again, and I could just picture her running her hand down his arm. "You have to play me some music sometime. Maybe you could write a song about me."

"Uh, thank you," Bishop said, laughing too. Just when I thought the talking was bad enough, a silence followed that was so much worse. I heard a chair slide backwards, like something was getting up. Maybe to move closer? The bed squeaked, and I wanted to scream. All I could picture was them kissing in his bed. Taking things further than we had gone.

  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and I wrenched myself away from his door. I hurried into my room and shut the door hard behind me. Valeria opened it again and followed me in. "I'm so sorry, Vienna," she said, sitting beside me on my bed.

"It's okay," I said, trying to hold back tears. "I just feel so stupid. To think, I was so excited to come home and see him. I should have known that I don't really matter to him." I sniffled, but several tears escaped. "Whatever we had was just stage presence, I guess."

"Ugh, all of these boys suck. Do you want to come stay at my place tonight? Get away from them?"

"No, I think I want to be alone. Maybe try to write music, maybe watch the Notebook and cry, who knows where the night may take me." I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "Thank you though."

"Of course, chica." She hugged me, then got a up to leave.

I slid back on my bed until my back rested against the wall. I pulled a blanket over my lap and cuddled up. "Hey, how are you and Finn?"

"I think we're good? I don't know. Last night, I pretty much forced him to talk to me, and he apologized for not reaching out. Baby steps, I guess," she shrugged, before disappearing out of my room.

A little while later, I heard Bishop walk his girl out. At least she didn't stay the night, I told myself, but it didn't really make me feel better. After that, he knocked on my door, but I pretended to be asleep, so I didn't have to look at his stupidly attractive face. I also didn't want him to see that I'd been crying. I didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

However, after I heard his door close, I felt like I needed some advice, and I knew just the woman to talk to. I crawled up our fire escape and quietly knocked.