𝐒𝐓. 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃, b.

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

❝𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬❞

—𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄

i ended up staying in jahseh's dorm for a few more hours after that. the swat team was never called because everyone got into their dorms in the alloted time. they picked up the body of the boy that jahseh killed, cleaned up his blood, and that was that. i was disappointed that yet another death had been swept under the rug, but what was i going to do? this is what i got myself wrapped up in. this was my reality.

there was no use in mourning for the dead, i learned. i had to appreciate my own soul while it was still intact, for however long it stayed intact.

strategically, mo disabled all of the cameras, so there was no surveillance of jahseh killing that boy. nobody wanted to snitch on him either, so they weren't able to definitively pin jahseh with murder. but everyone knew who did it.

following our kiss, i had conflicted feelings about what i felt for jahseh. there was something wrong with him, that much was evident. sometimes i'd look and see nothing behind those eyes.

but on the other hand, i'd been infatuated with him since ms. berry told me about him. i wanted to know everything about him. presently, i barely knew a thing about him, but i was closer to him than anybody else here. he had killed someone for my sake, and kissed me right after.

it was so much to wrap my head around. i was starting to worry that i wouldn't be able to.

while we were on lockdown, jahseh and i discussed the healing time for my leg, and he told me what i should expect during the coming days. that things would really be tense now, and that i really had to watch my back. he said that he would teach me how to properly defend myself.

"street fighting won't work here. swinging on someone because of an adrenaline rush won't work here. you need to know how to fight, the way that works."

long after our conversation, we had fallen into a deep sleep. that is, until we were awoken by our names being called over the intercom.

"—connell and jahseh onfroy report to the front office please? can billie o'connell and jahseh onfroy please report to the office. thank you." and then the click of the intercom.

i groaned. being called to ms. berry's office was never fun. besides, i was in a comfortable position. jahseh's body was pressed tightly against mine, one of his hands entangled in my hair, the pads of his fingers resting on my scalp. he was fast asleep, meaning that i would have the pleasure of waking him up for the sake of ms. berry.