Demons

Chapter Five: Astrid

"I-I..." I snap out of whatever kind of trance I was in and stare down at my trembling hands, horrified. "How?" I quietly whisper to myself. "How is this even possible?" I mutter. I look back up. Where Angela ran, terrified of me... I do the logical thing: I sit down, back to the wall, and cry. I pull my legs up to my chest, and let the tears flow and hit the ground. "How on Earth is this even possible..." I wipe away my tears and stand up. "I... I need to go home..." I walk home, my arms wrapped around my stomach like I have a stomach ache. The entire way, I can't stop crying. Sobbing and sobbing, I stumble along by myself. A silver pickup pulls up beside me. The window rolls down, and I almost swear at the heavens above. It's Houston. My luck is so rotten; today, I almost kill my best friend and look humiliating in front of the only guy I've ever liked. I've known Houston since fourth grade, and he's one of my best friends. He's not as close to me as Angela was though. Though I constantly deny it, Angela teases me about it almost every day about it.

Just thinking about her makes my eyes fill up with tears.

Houston opens his door and runs around the car. As soon as he reaches me, he pulls me into a big hug. Even though this should have been the greatest moment of my life, I can't enjoy it. This happened because I hurt the person closest to me in the whole entire world. I cry into his pale blue sweatshirt, and he just hugs me harder. I reach my arms around him, grab a bunch of fabric, and squeeze it. I just need to feel something. I try so hard to be happy and enjoy this, but I can't... As much as I love Houston, he just... I just can't do this right now. I just hurt Angela. I could have killed her... I could kill Houston too, I realize suddenly. I straighten and push myself away from him quickly, wiping my eyes with my sleeve.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks quietly. I nod hastily, and suddenly turn to go.

"Sorry," I call, "but this can't wait. Too much has happened!" The last thing I see of Houston is his cute face scrunched up in confusion and a little bit of something else. Is it...? No, I tell myself, that can wait. Angela can't.

He yells something to me that makes me turn. "Hey, I'm sorry about Angela." I stop in my tracks and turn in shock.

"What?" I say, warning filling my voice. How does he know? I ask myself.

He holds up his phone, and relief floods through my veins. "I called her for help. She sounded scared, but she told me you guys were having a fight. Is everything okay?"

I force myself to grin and say, "Yeah I'm going there right now." I wave and start to jog away. The thud of footsteps behind me are fast, and suddenly Houston is taking me by the hand and slowly leading me to his pickup.

"I'm worried about you," he says. "I've never seen you cry like this." Suddenly my heart is in control of my body. This seems like a trap, but I'm just too tired to resist.

I nod. "Okay," I say. I let him drive me to Angela's house. When he pulls into her driveway, I look over at him. "Thank you," I whisper. Suddenly feeling brave, I lean over and give him a small peck on the cheek. I feel my face turn bright red, but I ignore them, turn, and step out the open car door. I walk to the door, and then stop. Turning, I glance at Houston, who is grinning like a maniac and blushing even more than I am. I shake my head and smile slightly as I walk through the door.

Silently, I climb upstairs to the guest room and close the door. I lean against it and slide down, and then my emotions take over. I curl up into a ball and start to cry.