Mania

Chapter 3

After I pried Hunter and Julia off each other I sentenced them to a time-out.

“Are you going to behave?” I asked each one of them as I pulled them out of the corner ten minutes later. Julia looked at Hunter and Hunter looked at Julia. They both hugged each other and said that they were sorry.

“Finally!” I practically yelled. “Damn. It’s about time. Why can’t you two just get along? I mean, I thought people who are dating are supposed to be nice to each other, not abuse each other.” They shrugged and Hunter changed the subject.

“Where’d Jesse go?” he asked. I shrugged.

“He said he had to go home,” I told him.

“Dude’s fucking weird,” Julia huffed. “No matter how hot he is, he’s still fucking weird.”

“I’m gonna figure him out,” I informed her. Julia scoffed.

“You just want his dick,” she said, laughing. Hunter snickered.

“What? No I don’t!” I yelled at her.

“Yes, you do,” Julia said, rolling her eyes. “Just watch. One night I’ll hear you two fucking so hard you might give him bruises.”

~ ~ ~

Julia spent the night at my house, like she always does. Hunter and I didn’t see our parents that night. I texted them a bunch of times, but they didn’t respond. I wasn’t worried, though. They always did this. 

Hunter and Julia slept in my bed and were out like lights as soon as their head hit the pillows. I, however, stayed up all night thinking about Jesse. Why did he leave so early? Why did he lie? Does he like me? Does he hate me? Is he scared of me?

You may find this weird, but I even dreamed about him.

~ ~ ~ 

We were walking down this path, our hands touching but our fingers not intertwined. Ahead of us was a large door, sealed with a large lock. Almost immediately, Jesse looked at me and I looked back at him. And, by some mutual agreement, I broke the lock with my bare hands and Jesse pushed it open. A cold wind rushed on our faces and swept our hair back. The air smelled like death. Everything was ominous and purple. 

I held Jesse’s hand and we crossed the threshold into the sinister-looking room. 

The father we went, the darker things got, and Jesse and I held each other’s hands tighter. Suddenly, something loomed in front of us. I couldn’t tell what it was, I only saw the eyes. I screamed. Two eyes about the size of my hand stared at us from the ceiling, sky, I don’t know.

Jesse’s hand was suddenly ripped from mine as a strong wind pulled us apart.

~ ~ ~

I woke up in a cold sweat. I’d accidentally slapped Julia in the face. She sleeps like a bear, so she hadn’t noticed. I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands.

It was so weird how much I felt attracted to Jesse. Something about him just...drew me in, I guess. He’s so guarded, it’s hard to know what he’s thinking about.

I’m determined to figure him out. I want to know him, to like him, for real.

~ ~ ~

“Get up, you lazy fatasses!” I yelled at Julia and Hunter. They’d been still sleeping when I woke up and went downstairs. When I came back to my room Julia was lying on Hunter’s chest and his arm was around her.

Ah, those two. They have such a love/hate relationship.

Julia flipped me off, but sat up and patted Hunter on the head. He stirred, but didn’t move.