Bad Habit

thirty one

Sure, the saying went "wow, you're a sight for sore eyes!", but Finny was certain that in regard to him, people would be saying "wow, you're a sore sight for my eyes." Noah was smart to give Finny a heads up on his appearance considering Finny still gasped out loud after glancing in his bathroom mirror.

He was a total mess. Granted he had just woken up, but still.

His left eye was swollen and puffy, forcing his eyelid to be half closed. His right eye was much less frightening, but it still managed to be a sickly, black and blue color. The white of his left eyeball was stained red and he could make out some veins in it that he had never been able to see before. Dried, crusted over blood still stained his face and there were rough patches of cuts and bruises all over. His chin was sore and so was his right cheekbone, and he vividly remembered the feeling of getting punched square in those two spots. Pools of brownish-red blood rested beneath both of his nostrils and just above his lip making him feel a bit like Moss.

Finny was by no means weak; in fact, he was probably stronger than Noah and Moss, as well as Jackson and Charles combined. After Finny came home from school in the second grade and told his mom he had a new boyfriend, his mom signed him up for all kinds of self defense classes. Finny was seriously trained in how to protect himself, how to protect others, and how to subdue anyone who came at him. He was just caught way too off guard when he was tackled he supposed, or else he would've knocked both of those pricks right to hell. He appeared scrawny, as he truly was, but if it came down to it, he could protect himself. He didn't give much of a fight back that night because he was drained. Fighting with Moss, punching him, being called a faggot by his best friend and partial-love interest was utterly draining.

So when his mom entered his room to say that Mrs. Mosspack was waiting downstairs in the living room, he feared he had no energy to spare.

"Is Moss with her?" Finny asked frantically, running his hands through his hair, obviously distressed. Ms. Trancy sighed.

"No," she said confidently, "unless he snuck in behind her. But I didn't see any trace of Moss."

"Christ," Finny whispered under his breath, "can't I get a break?"

"You don't have to meet with her, Finn," Ms. Trancy assured, "I can just tell her you're too tired." Finny shook his head and gulped.

"No, I should definitely sit down with her, but. . . I mean, God, I got beat up yesterday, can't I just have a full day to regroup? Are you sure Moss isn't with her? I won't go down there if he's there, mom."

"Moss is not with her," she replied slowly, crossing her frail arms. "Trust me, Phineas, I'm not lying to you. She's sitting down there alone waiting for you." Finny took a deep breath and nodded, standing up from his bed slowly and steadily. He winced in pain but then bit the inside of his cheek, choosing to suck it up and get his ass downstairs. He was nervous to meet with Ilana due to not only the fact that she saved his ass the night prior, but because she had also attempted to kiss him. And he simply hadn't had time to process the ladder situation.

Ms. Trancy offered her son a broken smile and locked arms with him as they walked out of Finny's room and towards the staircase. Slowly but surely they made their way down and Finny spotted the back of Ilana's head, her black hair looking as sleek as ever. She turned around slightly after hearing noise behind her and instantly gasped. Finny scoffed and told his mom he was fine to walk from there, making her retreat into the kitchen with a weary gaze. Finny made the rest of the walk alone and sat down on a couch opposite Ilana, not quite ready to face her. She stared at him with pity in her eyes and sadness on her lips.

"Oh God," she muttered, covering her mouth delicately with her fingers. "Phineas. . ."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Mosspack," Finny gushed, suddenly feeling weird about calling her by her first name. "I look like hell but really, I'm all good." Ilana frowned deeper and shook her head slow.