The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 11: No Crosses Count

"Catherine?"

I turn. Tommy is standing just in front of the open window in my room. I really need to start shutting that window. As soon as I see him, I nervously hide the pills behind my back.

"Hey, Tommy," I say nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"Wondering what's behind your back," he replies.

"What are you talking about?" The pills feel heavy in my hand. "I'm not hiding anything behind my back."

"Catherine," he warns.

"Tommy," I reply innocently.

He begins to walk toward me threateningly. I stand quickly in an attempt to get away, but I fall down on the ground in pain because of my damn ankle. The pills spill all over the floor. Tommy walks past me and picks the bottle up off the ground. My head falls in shame and my cheeks flare up.

"Catherine," he says softly. He looks at me with sympathy and confusion in his eyes. "What...? How...? Why...? A-are you...ok?"

"I'm fine," I tell him, but my face betrays me. I have tears that threaten to spill over my eyes, and I can feel my lower lip quivering. Tommy walks over to me and helps me up. He supports me as I stand.

"Why?" is all he asks.

That does it. I break down into tears and lean into Tommy for support. He grabs onto me and holds tightly. Almost like his life depends on it. Mine probably does at least.

"I-I," I try to explain through tears. He pats me on the back and tells me to let it all out, so I do. I tell him how I'm sick of everyone and everything, how I'm a burden to everyone, how I'm a terrible person, and how I just can't do it anymore. I can't handle this anymore. I can't ruin people's lives anymore. I'm tired. I'm tired of everything. Once I finish speaking, he holds onto me until I'm finished crying. When I'm finished, I look up to see Sam standing in my doorway with a frightened and bewildered look.

"W-what happened?" he asks me.

"I fell and hurt my ankle. Tommy heard me cry out and came in through the window to make sure I was ok," I lie.

"Why were you crying?" he asks, not quite sounding convinced.

"Because it hurt really bad," I say a little too quickly.

"Why did you say you couldn't do this anymore? You said you were ruining people's lives."

Damn, this kid is good. I think for half a millisecond. "I'm just upset that I broke my ankle, and now everyone has to do everything for me. People often overreact when they are frustrated."

I can see him thinking it over in his mind. This actually scares me because I know that he knows a lot more than he leads everyone to believe he does. After thinking it over for a second, he begins to nod. Slowly at first, but then he gains speed the longer he nods.

"Ok," he says simply and leaves the room. I let out a sigh of relief at his believing me.

"That kid is smart," Tommy says in what sounds like a mixture of awe and jealousy.

"He's a little too smart for his own good," I tell him. "Luckily-"

A floorboard creaks outside my door that Sam left open. I give Tommy a look saying, See? and hop over to the door. I look outside and see Sam hovering near the opening. He looks at me and smiles sheepishly.

"Huh, I could've sworn this was my room," he tries to save himself as he slowly back away. I raise an eyebrow at him and he begins to walk a little quicker. "I should probably be going now." He turns and full on runs to his room. I chuckle slightly at his childish behavior.

"Damn, that kid is really smart," Tommy says, now just in awe, as I hop back into the room. My sock catches on a floorboard and I begin to fall forward. Just before I hit the ground, Tommy catches me. He swings me back up, and we are only centimeters apart. I can smell his minty breath.

"Th-thanks," I stutter.

"No problem," he replied breathlessly. We get lost in each other's eyes. He begins to lean forward, and I do as well. Our lips are just about to touch when...

"Tommy!" some woman yells. We back away from each other and he smiles sheepishly.

"I forgot that I have to drive my little brother to a birthday party," he explains as he backs toward the window. "I'll be back in an hour. Please don't kill yourself while I'm gone. When I get back we can talk."

I sigh, not looking forward to that. "Ok."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"No crosses count," he says sternly.

I can't help but chuckle. "I promise."

"Good," he smiles and disappears through the window.

I sigh and hop over to my bed. I lie down on it and think about what happened in the last ten minutes. Then the almost kiss comes back to me. I cringe at the memory. I try to convince myself that we were just lost in the moment. That's all it was. There were no feelings behind  it. It was all a mistake just waiting to happen. It will not happen again.

That will not happen again, I promise myself. No crosses count.

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Hey, guys!

Sorry this chapter is short, I wrote it in twentyish minutes because I felt like I owed you guys another chapter.

So, what do you think? I kinda liked this one. It wasn't my favorite, though. But, if you liked it please vote and comment!

Btw, this is definitely my last chapter until at least next Monday.

Thanks, guys!