Effortless

Nine

Javier had poured me some fruit punch and gave me a blanket as I sat on his living room couch. Fruit punch wasn't my first choice of a drink but I made due. It was so abnormally cold in his house that my teeth were chattering. He apologized and told me that his parents liked the house cold.

He was now sitting next to me and tending to the cut on my right arm. He wiped it with an alcohol wipe which stung but I tried to ignore it. He mumbled an apology as he went over the cut with a paper towel and then applied a band-aid. I was glad that the cut wasn't deep, the glass only grazed me.

I was still crying, not as much though. He hadn't asked me any more questions since we had been at his house, we were just sitting in silence. I was thankful for that because I didn't know how to respond to any of the questions he may start asking.

A girl whom I assumed to be his little sister was startled when I entered the house. I guess it was because of my face, which I still hadn't taken a look at yet. Javier's parents weren't home. I didn't know why and I didn't know what time they were coming back.

After fifteen minutes of silence, Javier decided to question me. He made a 'tch' sound with his mouth before shifting awkwardly on the couch. He looked conflicted on whether or not to talk to me. Nevertheless, he did.

"Why were you out alone at ten o'clock at night?" He hesitantly asked.

I decided to deflect. "Why were you out alone at ten o'clock at night?"

"Fair enough." He mumbled.

He didn't elaborate and it was back to silence. He then took a closer look at my eye and lightly touched it, causing me to wince. I could see the pity all over his face. I hated it.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, his voice soft.

I shrugged which caused him to sigh. It seemed like he genuinely was upset that I didn't want to tell him about it. But why? We've hated each other for all of these years, why would I open up to him out of all people. Besides, it was only a black eye and a cut. It wasn't like I had been beaten senseless.

He silently stood up and walked toward the kitchen. I watched him whisper-yell at the girl who was still peeking over the counter. The girl whined before storming off while Javier went into the kitchen.

When he came back he had a ziplock bag filled with ice in one hand and a towel in the other. He sat down and wrapped the towel around the ziplock bag of ice. He then gently placed it against my eye.

"Was it some kid that goes to our school?" Javier asked after another minute of silence.

Well technically yeah, it was. Not only did the kid go to our school, but he also lived in my house. He was also related to me. Such crazy coincidences.

I sniffed. "Why do you care?"

"Why wouldn't I care?" He asked. He seemed a bit offended by my question.

"We don't even like each other." I stated.

"I like you just fine."

"No, you just like that you're better than me at everything." I said bitterly. "Congrats on winning class president for the fourth damn time in a row, by the way."

Why was I bringing up the presidential election? I hated myself for that. It was a bit pathetic of me, I admit. Javier was being nice and all I could think about was my defeat. But honestly, I couldn't help it.

Javier sighed. "Let's not talk about this now."

"Why not? Since when do you pass up the opportunity to brag in my face?"