The Handcuff Effect

4

It was only after the awkward event which was trying to pee that I truly realised the extent to which I was absolutely helpless. It is very hard to pee silently, especially when ones arm is partially dislocated for the sake of a mostly closed door. It is quite possibly even more awkward when you're on the other side of said door, with the circulation being cut off somewhere around your armpit.

So, instead of delving into the largely awkward atmosphere that seemed to surround the bathroom door, I pulled my phone from the pocket in my school dress and checked it for messages. Lucky for me, there were three.

Stace: If you don't respond within the next three seconds, I'm gonna kill him.

I snorted, before quickly glancing at my other messages.

Lewis: Stevo lost it when you didn't turn up to hosp this morning.

I cringed. If Lewis was texting me that Mr Stevens was angry, I had no hope of getting through the next undetermined amount of time unscathed. Tapping in a quick reply, I moved on to the last message.

Jared: heyy ;)

Oh man. Ohmanohmanohman. Stace was going to have my head if I did anything short of burning that message. Rather than do anything with it, I opted to reply to Stace's message instead.

Em: what's he done now?

I asked, the hint of a smirk quirking up the corner of my mouth. She didn't reply immediately, by which time, the strain on my arm was lessened and I heard the toilet flush. I averted my eyes to my phone when the door opened, thankful that it buzzed at the oppertune time.

Stace: He's got the money box.

I froze. In fact, I could almost bet my blood began to run cold. The money box was a box that Stace and I had created in our first year of highschool. In it was every cent we had earned before we had gotten jobs, to pay for a flat that we could share once we finished high school. He might not know what was so precious about a ratty metal cube, but Stace didn't know how to play it cool when anyone came near something special. It was likely that she had reacted, so he knew it was important to her.

Em: Give Stace back that box, you butt-face.

I texted to Jared. He replied almost immediately, while I wandered around the house at Nathan's absentminded tugging. I spared a look at the gorgeous boy attached to my wrist and suppressed a sigh. He looked much less uncomfortable, probably finally realising that I wasn't going to jump down his throat for sitting on a couch for too long.

Jared: I will if you come out with me ;)

I stared at the message. What a turd. Looking up to Nathan again, I plonked myself ungracefully onto the couch and handed him the remote to our adequately sized TV. I cleared my throat and he turned to face me, eyebrow arched and lips twitching when he saw that it was on the kiddy channel.

I flushed a little, but I didn't look away from his beautiful blue eyes, instead opting to show him the message Jared sent me. 'Is he messing with me for Stace's unbenefit?' I asked boldly.

Instead of answering imediately, he snorted, glancing at me over the small device. 'Butt-face? Of all the insults you have locked away in that pretty head of yours, 'butt-face' is the only one that comes to mind?'

My gut tingled, but instead of showing how pleased I was with his compliment, I dropped the phone and shot him a dark look, causing him to laugh outright. The sound was magical and I chuckled in response. 'Sometimes the less of an insult it is,' I replied smoothly, 'The more insulting it tends to be. Now tell me what is going on in that psycho's head.'