He slammed me against the wall, his face angry.
"Don't think for a second that you can try to get inside my head." He growled, breathing heavily. A moment of silence passed between us where I could feel the tension in the air. I looked down, afraid...
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The sound of running water filled my ears, making me yawn. I stood up, looking around and trying to erase those horrible thoughts from my head. He's gone, Lea. And he's not coming back. It'd been so long since I had thought about it. I was doing so well avoiding the topic entirely for months.
Well, so much for that now.
I looked down. A brown faded couch, a damp pillow and a frayed blanket at the arms. What exactly happened? I was totally fine a second ago in that meeting room and then Liv was telling me about Lena and...
I had to kill Lena. Oh.
I thought about watching the life seep out of someone's eyes again. And my own sister. Even if I didn't know her, I just couldn't fathom how cold-hearted you had to be to kill your own sister.
I snapped out of it, shaking my head in denial. Nope, I was not going to worry about that right now. There would be enough time for worrying. Right now, I had to figure out where the hell I was. I folded the worn-out blanket over my damp pillow stained with salty tears, trying to hide it. Crying was a vulnerability that no one needed to see.
I looked around curiously, trying to find something in the room that indicated who lived here. Nothing. No pictures, no letters, absolutely nothing. And just to my luck, every room here looked the exact same, so the layout of this place didn't help me at all.
Great. I sighed. I really had to stop waking up in unknown places.
The door made a clicking sound behind me and I turned around as if I had been caught in an act. The door swung open. Glaring black eyes stared back at me. They narrowed.
I looked at him myself, my face hardening as I crossed my arms. Without a word, he broke eye contact and went over to the kitchen, closing the running tap with a squeak.
In all the rooms I had to be in, why the hell was I in Jackson's? I didn't want to talk to him, but I had no idea where to go. I was still new here.
I walked over to the kitchen quietly. Maybe he would give me answers if I was super nice to him. He kept his back away from me, busying himself by drying his hands on a tablecloth. I saw his muscles tense under his black shirt as I sat down, making the chair creak a little.
"...Hey Jackson?"
He fully ignored me, continuing on with washing and drying the dishes in the sink. Maybe he didn't hear me? I annoyingly sighed, rolling my eyes. This was going to be harder than I thought.
"Jackson!" I raised my voice over the running water, practically yelling. Again, he acted like I wasn't there, stacking the dishes neatly on the side, but he tensed even more. That was it. He definitely heard me then.
I crossed over to the sink, slamming the tap down so that it stopped running and he was forced to look at me. He dropped his hands, still looking down.
"Can we just...get along?"
Silence.
"Look, we're kind of stuck together here, so we might as well make the best of it. Besides, I hate fighting with someone who's supposed to be on the same side as me."
Silence.
"Or you could just not talk to me...that will work."
His jaw twitched a little, a dimple forming. Did he just...smile a little? He looked up at me, his face devoid of any expression.
"The door's that way, Lea." He said, not taking his eyes off of me.
"How did I get here anyway?"
"Doesn't matter." He said, looking down.
I huffed in annoyance. This guy didn't want me to know anything, huh.
"Kinda does. Personally, it's not the best feeling waking up in an unknown room with someone you don't particularly like."
"Well, sucks to be you then," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He started to walk away.
Starting to get angry, I took his arm, wrenching it back so that he faced me. His body was warm and radiated heat but managed to freeze when I touched him. He flinched back as if he'd been burned.
"Don't touch me" He growled, looking at the place where my hand had been.
"Well then TELL ME WHERE I AM" I yelled in his face, my blood boiling.
Liv walked in but stopped in her tracks at the sight of us in each other's face. The cardboard boxes she held dropped to the floor.
"...so I sense some tension. Maybe I should come back another time?" she tilted her head, trying to read the situation. I stood there, glaring at her. Give him a second chance, she said. Well, I did. He was still the same arrogant bastard I remembered.
"No need, Liv. I was just leaving anyway," I pushed past Jackson harshly, walking out of the door. I needed some time to breathe, some time to get away from that idiot. I kept walking until I saw a glass door, taking deep calming breaths. I wrenched them open and was met with cold, harsh air.
I tried to be nice. I even tried to make a truce, but he was the problem. What was wrong with him anyway? I hadn't done anything to him. And yet he hated me more than anyone.
Liv ran to me, stopping behind me.
"Just...one...second. How...are you...so fast?" she stood there, holding her knees and panting.
"I gave him a second chance. And I've come to a conclusion. He's an idiot."
"Well, yeah. I could have told you that a long time ago," she grinned, coming to stand beside me.
"Why are you so obsessed with me and him being friends anyway, Liv?" I turned to her, slightly annoyed.
"If you marry him, we could be practically sisters," she shrugged, looking out.
"Oh honey, that's never going to happen." I laughed, shaking my head.
"A girl can dream," Liv sighed, leaning her head on my shoulder. We stood there for a while in silence.
Then, Liv brought me back inside, scanning over my face.
"Do you think you can go back into that meeting, Lea?" She was pensive, trying to read how likely I would be to faint again.
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I shrugged my shoulders, coming to terms with what I had to do.
She sighed, shaking her head. I knew it. Still, I didn't think about it for too long. There were obviously going to be some things that were going to be different for me. I just had to accept that. I ran my hands through my hair, getting rid of the worry.
Out of nowhere, Liv hugged me tightly, holding onto me.
"I'm so glad you're back."
I smiled slightly, trying to erase the thoughts of the future.
