(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...
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My head is smushed into a pillow as I listen to Winsley rant on the other side of the couch.
"It's been three days of misery since you last talked to Caslon." She complained. "You're being ridiculous."
I groaned into the pillow for the millionth time today. "You don't need to taunt me with it, Winsley. I get it."
"Then why don't you two make up already?"
I sat up. "It's just weird now. The tension can be cut with a knife."
Winsley sent me a smile. "Because you're not fixing anything."
I huffed before laying back on the couch, my face staring at the plain ceiling.
We sat in silence for a while, lost in the comet of our own thoughts.
Someone knocked on the door.
My eyes felt like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. "No, no, Winsley!" I yelled after her. "Don't you even dare!"
She ran towards the door, sliding the majority of her way with her socks.
"Hello, I'm Winsley." I sighed knowing there was no stopping her from opening the door. "Nice to meet you, Caslon. I've heard so much about you."
I want to bang my head into a wall.
"Good to know." I could just feel his smile.
"Well, I'm heading out." Winsley backed up to grab her bag from my kitchen counter. "Take care of her." She nodded in my direction.
Caslon salutes. "Will do."
Winsley crooks her head to give me a cheeky smile before abandoning me in my own apartment and shutting the door behind her.
Caslon sheepishly smiles as he walks up to my living room, soaking in the sight of me buried in throw pillows.
"I've had a long week; don't judge me," I grumbled as I weave my way to sit up straight.
"Never said I was." He held his hands up in defense.
"But you said it with your eyes," I argued, slowly feeling more awake.
Caslon shook his head but didn't push the argument.
"You can sit you know," I gestured to the empty space beside me on my couch. "I don't bite."
He gave me a look.
"Sometimes," I added.
Caslon sat on the other side of the couch and I felt slightly more self-conscious than two seconds ago.
When he didn't say anything, I tried to fill the gap of silence. "What calls for a visit, Caslon?"
He awoke from his own thoughts and his gaze met mine. "I wanted to apologize for what happened on Monday."
"You really don't have to, in fact, you shouldn't." I fiddled with my fingers, it being the one thing I averted my eyes too. "We never really were friends or anything more. It was my fault for starting the entire thing anyway."
"You were right." God, I hated when people said that. "About me being the puppet of my family. It was all true. But it's not something I have a choice in."
My head snapped. "Don't have a choice?" I raised an eyebrow. "You don't need other people's approval in order to do what you love. If you're not in charge, then is that life really yours?"
Caslon broke eye contact, looking through the window of my apartment. I observed the way the sun's beam of light trailed in the gloss of his eyes.
"What are you looking for in their approval?" I asked slowly, curiously.
"Validation," He answers in a meek voice. "I just want to be the one to impress for once."
I lick my lips in contemplation. I was ready to bite his head off, but also comfort him at the same time.
"Join the club." I blurted; I could feel my voice drop a few octaves lower.
"I know you don't like what I'm doing," Caslon stared at me with the hope of stars in his hazel orbs. "But I cannot stand the days I'm not talking to you."
A genuine smile crosses his lips. "Friends?"
I can feel my gaze start to disintegrate into a puddle.
All my life, I wanted someone to care, someone to fill the empty shoes in my heart. I wanted to cure my loneliness.
