parasite ❪ HEARTBREAK HIGH ❫

iv. one single thread of blue tied me to you

renaissance titties; ❛ PARASITE ❜
↷ heartbreak high
❝ Being pressed up against you has been the highlight of my year ❞

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Amerie convinced them that she managed to cancel SLTs. Arabella was incredibly grateful and spent that free period after lunch listening to music with Cash in the car.

When she headed back into the school in order to get to her next class, Amerie sent her a text message saying that SLTs were not, in fact, canceled. To make everything worse, it was transferred to after school hours.

"So, last session, we covered the social consequences of sexting. Today's exercise will demonstrate just how quickly your images can spread to places you really don't want them to." Jojo stated when they all gathered in the classroom.

Amerie swallowed and started walking around the classroom in order to tie blue yarn around their hands. Arabella felt sorry that she ended up being Jojo's assistant ── maybe she did deserve it but that didn't mean she didn't already have too much on her plate.

"You said SLTs were canceled. I have to be at work soon." Darren whispered to Amerie when she tied the yarn around their hands.

Quinnie cupped her hands. "I love you. Remember you're loved."

Arabella smiled slightly. Unlike her, Amerie was not impressed. She let out a self-pitying tired sigh and kept walking around the classroom.

"Okay, so, today's exercise is called the blue string game. Would you like to walk us through it, Ms. Woods?"

Arabella looked over her shoulder to see Spider glaring down at Amerie. He snatched the wristband off of her wrist and gave her a cruel grin. She watched him whisper a taunt as Amerie's face fell. Arabella's jaw clenched.

"So, the toilet roll is a sext and the blue string is the World Wide Web. This is about the dangers of sexting and how quickly information can be spread."

Breath got knocked out of Arabella's lungs when a body was pushed into her.

"Fucking hell..." She cursed and looked up the glare at the guy who bumped into her.

Malakai grinned at her sheepishly, the blue string forcing their bodies closer. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Arabella gave him a skeptical look. He looked far too nice to even be in the same school as their generation. She hoped those guys who he was on the basketball team with (not that she was watching him or anything) would not ruin that. "Just don't make a habit out of it."

He had pretty eyes. They were soft and mesmerizing. Arabella tried not to think about that too much as she stared up at him with a glare that held way less heat than she intended.

She tried to step away but she realized she couldn't because of the string behind her. A short frustrated huff escaped her lips at the realization. Malakai let out a small chuckle at that, which caused her to glare at him again. He looked down in an attempt to hide his smile.

Arabella didn't really care about the cliques in their school and who fucked who or who befriended who but she was an observer. She saw how Malakai befriended Spider, Ant, and Dusty. He did not seem as pretentious as them. Despite that, she did not want to be caught in the crossfire when the three assholes influence a good guy into becoming just like them.

"I want you to move those toilet rolls around the string and for Amerie to try and get them. That's it." The principal explained and people started shooting the paper roll around the blue web that Amerie created.

Amerie frowned when somebody else shot the toilet roll away from her. She already looked like she was admitting defeat and they hadn't even started.

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"Belly!"

Arabella halted in her steps and turned around to see Malakai making his way to her from the other side of the hallway. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.

He shot her a sheepish smile as he walked in her direction. When he finally reached her he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "That was very educational, wasn't it?"

"Sure." Arabella hummed with a blank look on her face. "Being pressed up against you has been the highlight of my year."

Malakai chuckled. He either didn't pick up on her sarcasm or he found it endearing. Belly did not know which was worse.

"I heard that some band was going to be performing tonight. It's going to be some big party or whatever..." Malakai started, his words hesitant. "Are you going?"

"I don't really feel like paying so much to watch a crowd of people fawn over the biggest assholes in our school," Belly told him bluntly and honestly. Dusty, Ant, and Spider were already too full of themselves. Having people pay to listen to their crappy songs would only make their egos bigger. Belly did not want to witness that.

Malaki nodded and scratched the back of his neck. "That's fair. But... I reckon that I can get you a bracelet for free if you want to go."

Belly raised an eyebrow, challenging just how ballsy he could get. "Why would I even want to go?"

"I don't know." Malaki shrugged, his casual confidence not wavering. "You and I can go together. We can have a drink and talk while the band howls in the background."

Arabella cracked a small smile but instantly hid it by making her face fall into a stoic expression again (he still caught the smile). "I don't know. I have to babysit my little brother since my mom will be at work."

"Oh." Malakai dropped because that was the only thing that he could not find an alternative for. His shoulders fell in defeat. "Okay. I get it. Let me know if something changes, okay?"

The brunette nodded and muttered, "Okay." but he was already flashing her a smile and making his way down the hallway. She pursed her lips and watched him leave, debating if there was a way to get out of babysitting and debating if she even wanted to get out of it. She was not sure if Malakai was worth the trouble.

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a/n: "invisible string" would definitely be playing in the malakai and belly scene if my girl was actually in the show