and it was perfect

Chapter 44

The others weren't home when I finally reached the porch. The house was quiet; they all still had to be at the party, or in Aiden's case, at the shop. Or getting laid by the next stupid thing he could find, I bitterly thought. He seemed to have no problems with going through with it. I unlocked the door. Apparently, I was wrong; Josh was sitting on the couch playing Fortnite without the light on. "Hey, you're back early." I raised a brow. He shrugged. "So are you." I nodded and sighed and fell next to him on the couch.

"I had a shitty night, but I'm not going to talk about it. What's your excuse? "He grinned. "Well ... Gilly, this girl from Gamma is gonna pick me up in an hour." My mouth fell open. I knew that name. "Wait ... isn't that Theo's sister?" He grinned even wider, and I couldn't help but quietly laugh. "Well, good for you." I gave him a little pat on the thigh. "I know, thanks." He leaned back. "Isn't that against bro code or something, though?" I recited Barney. He laughed. "Well, not that it's any of your business, but I did actually ask him if he was okay with it. As long as I don't treat her like shit ... he trusts me."

His words stung a little. "Yeah ... that doesn't sound so hard, does it. "I quietly answered. He raised his brow and gave me a worried, questioning look, but I got up and gave him my best smile. "Like I said, shitty night. Don't worry about it."

I limped all the way to my bedroom. Walking all the way really had been a stupid idea. I sighed and sat down to take a closer look at my feet. One of the bandages was soaked with blood. Great. I rolled my eyes. Dr. Stevens would kill me tomorrow when he had to change it once again because I couldn't stand still. I could already hear his lecture. I knew I had to take it off now, and my stomach flipped just thinking about it. I started with the less harmed foot. I clenched my teeth and slowly rolled off the fabric. Gross. It was a little swollen, but the stitches looked very neat - having two parents working at a hospital, I knew they had done a great job here. I still felt like Frankenstein looking down on me. I quickly grabbed the solution on my nightstand and put it on a cotton wipe.

That's when I heard the door getting crushed open and two people entering. They seemed to be fighting, especially one of them sounded rather upset. I flinched. It was ... Aiden? The other voice must be Zack's. "I don't care, Zack. It is my goddamn business. Now where the fuck is she?" I heard him growl. My heart skipped a beat. I didn't have to think twice to know he was talking about me. "Calm down, Aiden, you're in no state-" Zack tried to interfere, but he cut him short. "Fuck off. Josh, is she here or not?" I could see Josh's confused face clearly in front of me. This must look like a shit show. "I'm ... Jenna just came home a few minutes ago, if that's what you mean."

My breath got faster and I heard some stomping steps up the stairs. Why would he be so mad at me? What did he want from me out of a sudden? Did he-? Oh. I finally realized. And before I could wrap my head around it, my door burst open. "Did you do it, Jen? Did you really fucking do it?" he yelled at me. I couldn't help but flinch. I had never seen him like this before. His hands were shaking, he was still in his work clothes, and that look on his face burned its way deep down inside of me. He looked so incredibly angry. And ... hurt.

I gasped. His mask was gone, and I wasn't ready for the pain I could see behind the surface. I swallowed; my mouth was dry. "I-" I stuttered. He didn't even let me finish. "Out of all those guys, that's who you chose? It's disguising, Jenna. It's sick, how-" I was still in shock, but now I also got angry. I wouldn't let him talk to me like that. Not after the way he'd treated me. I shot him a murderous stare. "Oh, you're the one to judge. If I wanted to screw up just as badly as you, I might as well have taken Zack or Josh instead." I hissed. He turned pale. He was breathing way too fast, and his pretty face was covered with way too many emotions.

"But just so you know, because at least one of us is being honest." I continued before he could yell at me again. My voice was ice cold. "I couldn't be such an asshole like you were. I couldn't do this to you or me. I couldn't fuck a random guy just to get rid of you; I'm not a cold-ass psycho like you." That hit. He turned even paler. I could see some relief in his eyes, realizing I didn't actually have sex with Owen. But there was also so much hurt from the words I'd just thrown at him. He looked down on my foot, which was still half covered in dried blood - which made the stitches look even worse.