Ethereal Dusk

Chapter 8

"What... the fuck... have you been getting yourself into?" Anthony asks while shaking his head outside of the doors of the police station.

It's about four in the morning and I'm not in the mood to explain the entire situation to someone who didn't even call or text me all day after we fought. I walk past him toward his SUV as I take a good gander at the cement steps.

"Hello? You're not exactly in a place to be ignoring me when I went out of the way to come bail your dumb ass out," he says as he digs the keys out of his pocket to unlock the car.

He's right.

But I'm also not exactly in a place right now to be a fucking obedient angel either. I'm cold, tired, and my fucking back aches from laying on that cot for god knows how long. And I shouldn't have to bend over to kiss his ass for doing what any good boyfriend is supposed to do.

"What? Do you want a fucking cookie? I could have slept perfectly fine through the night and got released in the morning myself."

The car unlocks as I hold the handle and glare at Anthony, something stirring in my gut that I would rather not describe as hatred. Just dislike... maybe? He glares back at me as we both open the door to get in. The car ride is silent for a minute before he speaks up.

"Look, I'm sorry that I didn't text you all day. I was busy and still cooling down."

I stare out of the window in silence at the dark neighborhoods and alleyways. I just want to fucking sleep. I wanna wrap myself up in a nest on my bed in the dark and stay there for days while I wait for the anxiety to pass. I want Pickle.

"What happened? I at least deserve an explanation," he says as he peers over at me.

"It was just a prank."

He continues to look back and forth between me and the road, waiting for more.

"Okay... AND."

"And we were drunk and got caught climbing a fence. That's it. Jesus Christ what are you, my mother?" I snap as I finally look over at him. I can't hold back as my frustrations finally tip over the edge.

"Because you're certainly not acting like my boyfriend? I fucking practically cried myself to sleep last night after you left and you can't even send me one text all day? When I tell you I got harassed by the professor you had nothing to say? You didn't want to protect me or console me?"

I breath heavily as I pause to stop the tears from spilling out, my voice beginning to shake. God why am I such an emotional cry baby? Fuck it.

"He fucking stalked me and chased me around my car up at the viewpoint today," I sob as I throw my hand out toward the hill to emphasize the location. He continues to look back and forth from the road to me.

"And when I went to the cops they fucking laughed in my face. So yeah, I decided to take matters into my own hands with Natalie and pull a harmless prank on the bastard," I say with a shaky voice as I wipe my nose with my sleeve.

"Which was WAY less than what that motherfucker deserved," I say through my teeth as the anger in my chest tightens.

"And he had a fucking picture in his house of me getting changed THROUGH MY WINDOW!" I say as I clap my hands twice at the last words and stare at Anthony. He looks at me again with a flat expression before taking a left turn.

"He had a--"

"While you were out all day doing God knows what," I sniffle as I wipe my tears again.

Anthony stiffens at my words as his head snaps straight toward the road. Silence stretches the car, his body language putting my intuition on high alert.