The Middleman | ongoing

44 | speak now or forever hold your piss

44 | speak now or forever hold your piss

Song: Tell Me Lies by Deorro ft. Lesley Roy

Depicted Above: Phoebe Tonkin as Sabrina Dalton

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"What're you shits up to?" I greet my friends as I walk up to them in the corner of the school rotunda they're occupying as they chatter, finally settling back into the rhythm of school after our Thanksgiving break. Coming back after a week off required quick transitioning, especially with the influx of assignments and homework teachers have assigned, even though it's only Wednesday. Nonetheless, the quick adjustment period makes it feel like we never went on a break in the first place.

Upon noticing my arrival, Kevin, Vin, and Trey yell my name, earning an embarrassed grimace from me as other fellow peers and students spending their morning in the rotunda watch the spectacle.

Even if the boys were seniors, licensed and capable of filling out college apps, they would always remain freshmen at heart—although most days I'm unsure if it's an endearing quality of them to have, being in touch with their childlike spirit and all, or just plain obnoxious.

A sleep-deprived Julia musters up energy buried somewhere in her five-foot-two-K-drama-binging body and squeals, running up to my side to give me a ceremonial hug as she does any day she sees me at school.

Alex, on the other end of the spectrum, coolly lifts her eyebrows in acknowledgement. Mornings are always low energy for her.

In stark contrast, Jules' body crunches around me, forming a human burrito, and she snugly lays her head on my boob, the epitome of comfort and our friendship. "I haven't seen you in so long. I missed youuuuu." If possible, she compacts me further, and with anymore heat and pressure, I'm guaranteed to transform into a metamorphic rock form.

"You literally saw me yesterday in Lit*," I chuckle, making sure to space my laughs evenly or risk the chance of getting suffocated by the boa-constrictor with the name of Julia Kim.

"Oh, yeah. Heh," Julia sheepishly acknowledges, looking up at me while remaining curled around the y-axis of my frame. "But we didn't even get to talk in class. And you were on that stupid college visit over the break!" she whines as she rocks me back in forth in an embrace.

That "college visit" was indeed stupid alright. I could go on a long-winded rant, but I had compartmentalized my issues with Quinn, and they were a thing of the past, just as our friendship was, too.

Julia's adorable neediness manifests its form in the action of squeezing my outer body even tighter, and at this point, I should be concerned about my innards. If she continued to crush the living shit out of me, she'd do some serious damage, and there'd go my chances of becoming a certified organ donor.

"Julia," I wheeze. "Ribs. Let go," I rasp. "Gonna. Die. From your. Love," I manage to choke out.

"Oh, yeah. Shoot, shoot! Yep. Sorry. Got it, ma'am." She salutes me. And with that, flustered Julia disentangles herself from my body, allowing healthy levels of metabolic cellular respiration-esque activities to resume in my body.

In a frenzy and afterthought, Julia dusts my shoulders and the rest of my body off like a concerned parent, though it's not like it'll do much to help me catch my breath.