cotton candy stitches

July 16th, 2018 (1)

I open my eyes slowly, the bright sun penetrating the thin curtains. I rub my eyes, groggily looking around the room before realizing that, again, it's not my room.

But I recognize it.

Where did Tristan go? What happened? Why am I back here?

I quickly get up and search around for my clothes. I realize I'm wearing another one of his shirts.

But Zach's not in bed with me. What the fuck is going on? I mean, I don't want him to be, but still. The door suddenly creaks open which causes me to flinch back into the headboard. Ow.

A girl older than me peeks her head through the door. "You must be Marla. Zach slept on the couch last night because he was scared of upsetting you. I swear when he's crying he spills everything." She rolls her eyes before giving me a kind smile.

"There's some breakfast downstairs. Also, I'm Kayla, Zach's sister. My number's on the fridge if you need anything. And don't worry, my parents know yours and they called last night. Your parents know you're here."

I nod.

"Thanks..." Kayla gives me a big smile before leaving the room with the door slightly ajar.

I get up and sluggishly stumble about in the halls. I find the bathroom and immediately rush in.

I stare at myself, my reflection unblinking and disgusting. My hair is even frizzier than usual and my eyes look like slugs.

I manage to tame my hair before I vigorously wash my face. Finishing everything up in the bathroom, I walk out to see Zach looming over me. He cocks me a soft smirk.

My eyes widen.

"I live here, Marla. Now if you don't want to smell my nasty breath, you might want to let me in." I move out of his way before quickly dashing down the hall and down the stairs.

I hear his loud chuckle which makes me even more mad.

You see my first thought was to go and find a way to get back home, but unfortunately I've got no ride. I also wouldn't want to waste Kayla's cooking. I grew up in a don't-waste-food family.

After eating breakfast, I find a spot on the couch and sit down.

Zach comes down the the stairs noisily, his hair damp and without a shirt on. It's like he wants to make this hard for me. I have a boyfriend for God's sake. He sits down next to me, staring at me.

"Did you like Kayla's food? She's kind of self-conscious about it and-"

"Her food was good. Now tell me why the hell I'm at your place instead of mine? And where did Tristan go?" I cock an eyebrow at him. He smiles sheepishly before taking a seat beside me.

"Your parents weren't home and I wanted to make sure that you were gonna be okay. And Tristan... I don't know. He got so angry, he started throwing punches at me. Beach security took him away. I stayed with you until sunset but he never came back."

I roll my eyes. "That's so bullshit." Tristan wouldn't do that to me. He would come back, wouldn't he?

Zach shrugs and smiles. "I really did miss you a lot though..." he murmurs, his eyes looking down towards his feet. Now that I see him up close, his eyes are pretty swollen. His cheeks are flushed too.

"I..." I don't know what to say. On one hand, I still care a lot about him but on the other, Tristan.

Zach looks up at me with soft eyes.

"Let me make up for anything I had done, Marla. Let me take you somewhere and if you still want to be with Tristan, that's fine. I just want to show you the real me I should have shown you when I first saw you."

I hesitantly say, "Okay."