The Inbetween Cult

chapter seven - well

Haze

I don't know why.

I don't know why I'm so angry.

I mean, I hate Noah, everyone does.

Well...

Everyone except...

Casey.

I groan as I rub my eyes, struggling to pay attention to the test for Government that's supposed to be done within ten minutes, even though I've only gotten two questions done that I know are wrong.

He's gonna hurt her, I know.

(Why the hell do you care, you don't like Casey, you just fuck with her to make her mad.)

Still.

(No, there's no "still". If she gets hurt, it's her fault, you warned her.)

But she doesn't know his past.

(That doesn't matter, you still warned her, and she's deciding not to listen.)

I - I just... -

(You just what, Haze?)

I - I don't want her to get hurt.

(WHY DO YOU CARE?!)

I snap my pencil accidentally and I groan, burying my face in my arms on my desk, breathing shakily.

I don't know...

After class is lunch, and I head straight to the kitchen to get my lunch. I walk to the line, seeing Noah, Matt, Jovie, and... Casey talking together, Matt's arm around Casey's shoulders, all of them laughing.

I can't.

I cannot deal with this.

Without thinking rationally, I grab Casey's arm and yank her out of line, pulling her with me and standing in line, waiting for the lunch ladies to allow us inside.

"Uh, what the hell was that for?" she asks, looking at me.

I look at her narrowed green eyes. She put on a little makeup today. There was a mix of different shades of brown, black, and white, and her eyelashes touched her eyebrows as she looked up at me. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips were tinted red, her eyebrows naturally full and not stenciled like every other girl here.

I was about 6'6, she was probably 5'3 or 5'4. She liked to wear baggy shirts, I realized, and like yesterday when she wore my sweatshirt what was to her knees, she's wearing a baggy t-shirt now that's a little past the middle of her thighs. They look like guys shirts, but she's not dating anyone now, and the shirts are too big to be Noah's.

Noah.

That little bitch.

"Haze!" Casey suddenly snaps her fingers at me and I blink, focusing on reality.

"What?" I growl, looking away from her.

"Why the hell did you pull me away from them, we were talking."

"I don't care. I told you to stay away from Noah."

"He's my friend, Haze! I can talk to him if I want, I don't care what you have to say about him, he's really nice and really funny and I really like him!"

"I don't care!" I snap, turning my head to face her.

Her eyes are boiling in anger and she tries to walk away but I grab her arm and yank her to me, pressing her against the wall everyone is standing against, towering over her, her expression a mix of anger and shock.