(Spin-off of Imaginary, more so specifically it's second book, Severity)
Cleo Vexer, a problematic teenage girl, is the sensation of your average pessimist and mediocre criminal. Still having to survive the rest of her senior year bitter and lonely...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
By lunch, I was already blasting music into my ears as I snacked on a bag of chips against the outside wall of the gym. I hated how 'best friend Sicily' chose to have lunch with her Choir friends. They invited me once when I went inside to return her math homework, but I declined. There was no way I'd find comfort in there; I'd be eaten alive in tension.
Sometimes I question the strength of our friendship. Though with my lack of likability and social skills, I take what I can get.
Not once has Sicily stepped out of that Choir room for lunch. And not once will she find out that I lied about having other friends to sit with at lunch.
'It doesn't matter anyway.' I remembered. 'We fought and she's done being the pushover.'
I scrolled through my playlist as I opted for songs drenched in lyrical melancholy. I drowned myself in a bundle of thoughts as I continued stuffing handfuls of chips in my face.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Caslon sit beside me.
Then ever so rudely, he harshly pulled an earbud from my ear.
"Are you insane?" I screeched as I gave him an incredulous glare.
"Tell me how grabbing your attention causes a loss of my sanity?" He challenged, his hazel eyes dancing with amusement.
"Grabbing my attention," I grumbled with a huff. My eyes twitched. I turned my head to look at him accusingly. "One does not disrespectfully pull an earbud from one's ear, especially when in a trance of oblivion. It's a silent rule of life."
"Silent rule?" Caslon questioned.
I nodded furiously. "You know," I waved my hand around. "When you aren't or are supposed to do something of societal expectation. Like never go to a formal event in jeans unless instructed, or never go on your phone on a first date, or never pull someone's earbud out when they want to be alone and not bothered."
"Okay, I'm sorry if I bothered you." Caslon apologized. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to stay."
"New kid hasn't found any other person to sit with by fifth period? Just my luck." I teased, still munching on my ziplock bag of chips.
"The villain of her own story hasn't found anyone to sit with since the beginning of the school year? Just her luck." I knew he was just teasing, that he didn't mean it; but that tugged a heart string.
I gave him one last dumbfounded glance before sealing shut my bag of chips still sunken in my book bag and standing up to leave.
"Vex," He called, frantically standing up and grabbing me by the arm. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you or anything -"
"Don't apologize." I snapped. "We're not friends; there's no need to try and fix something that doesn't exist."
Caslon stared at me with his wide doe eyes before blurting our like a broken record, "I'm sorry."
I broke our staring contest, looking anywhere but him.
With a deep breath, I met his hazel eyes once more. "Here's my silent rule," I gritted my teeth. "You don't get to hurt me. I've got a long history of heartbreak and I don't need any new additions."
I jerked my arm out of Caslon's loose grip, walked away, and learned a lesson from all my ex-lovers.
