XANNY ▹ Harry Bingham

TELL ME

mention of alcohol, mental illness, drugs, and abuse. this is a trigger warning. please do not read ahead if you'll be negatively affected.

chapter fourteen

"the lion is most handsome when looking for prey"
_

Harry stayed beside Eden during their silent walk home. She, however, was having none of it. She made sure to supply distance between the two, pushing away the hands he offered every time she stumbled in her heels.

Not even 5 minutes in, Harry grew tired of her passive aggressive attitude and grabbed her arm to stop her from moving any further. "What is your deal?!"

Eden turned to face him and crossed her arms, "What's your deal?!"

"Stop fucking doing that. You're constantly turning everything back on me."

"Aside from just now, when have I ever done that?"

Harry let out a laugh of disbelief, "WhY DiDNt YoU kISs Me BAcK? I mean, what the hell was that? You're drunk. You're high. And you find a way to turn it back on me? Because I didn't kiss you? Because I didn't take advantage of the fact that your completely and utterly intoxicated? Because when we kiss, I want it to have some fucking meaning? And not to mention the fact is- you're a fucking addict, aren't you?"

Eden was left silent. Everything Harry said had just come as a rush, hitting her harder than a semi. Her eyes flickered down, away from his, in guilt.

"No, no, look at me. Look at me, Eden." Harry started to shake his head in frustration, "You can't do that. You can't just stay silent. Defend yourself! Say something, tell me I'm wrong! Tell me that the only thing you're addicted to, are those stupid sparkling water drinks you constantly hide in your room. Tell me that I'm wrong." His anger transformed into something of sorrow. He felt gutted that he was right. He didn't want to be right.

Eden stayed silent. She looked into his tearful eyes, automatically regretting every decision she'd made leading up to this moment.

For Harry, her silence was a response. "Fuck you, Eden. Fuck you."

Feeling the emotion inside of her start to overflow, she mustered out a few words of her own, "You're making this about you."

"No, no. You made this about me the moment you started toying with me... with my goddamn feelings. The moment you left that bag of Xanax in my room, I became a part of this situation. Don't you dare turn this on me, again."

A terrifying crack loudly whipped through the air and echoed in the surroundings of Eden and Harry. They both frantically looked around them, recognizing the sound, but unaware of its source. Their senses sharpened with adrenaline, Eden even holding her breath, straining to hear with every ounce of her concentration. The crickets around them set an ambient background. Seconds later another was heard, and Eden immediately sprinted off in its direction, leaving Harry behind. He tried to grab her arm to stop her from running to danger, but she was already gone. If she was right... if it was a gunshot... someone could be hurt.

She continued to run, but a minute in, the clicking of her heels against the sidewalk was absorbed by a quiet splash. Eden immediately halted, looking down to her feet. Her stilettos had been coated in a copper scented, red liquid. When she saw where it'd emerged from, she felt the air forced from her lungs in a shriek. The lights illuminated the face belonging to the body fallen on the sidewalk. It was Cassandra.

•

Eden's eyes were dried and reddened from the countless tears fallen that night and morning. She hadn't slept at all, only imagining how Allie felt. She sat at a round cafeteria table accompanied by Harry, Wren, and Campbell. She kept stabbing at her frozen food with her fork, staring into Wren as she did so.

How quickly the love for her sister turned to hate due to a mere assumption, it was like a heavy, internal battle. She let her negative emotions quickly swallow her mind, though her heart fought for their good memories together, but couldn't find any. She had no reminders that her assumptions were wrong. That Wren hadn't killed Cassandra. She fought to keep hate away from it all, but her predictions began to eat away at her insides, and hate soon became all she felt. Yes, her heart still held onto the bittersweet fact that Wren was still her sister, but it wouldn't last long.

Eden's ears tuned out the cafeteria's sound and bustle of the other students, and she kept staring at Wren. She wasn't discreet about it either, just staring dead into her sister's face, continuing the stabbing and stabbing with her plastic fork until it snapped.

The loud snap brought everyone's attention to Eden, and Wren finally met her eyes, pausing mid-chew. She looked at Harry and Campbell as if mentally asking what to do, but they paid no mind to her, watching Eden's serious demeanour instead.

"Yes?" Wren leaned her head forward with attitude, but Eden stayed silent. Her knuckles began to turn white as they squeezed the broken fork, and Harry noticed, eventually prying it out of her hand. As he did so, her eyes never once strayed away from Wren's.

"Fuck off, yeah?" Wren slammed her tray down on the table and stood up, either ready to fight or ready to leave. No one could tell which.

Harry put his hand out to calm the girl, "Hey, chill. She's just in shock from --"

A familiar, loud pop echoed through the cafeteria, interrupting Harry, and causing a ripple of screams from the surrounding students. Everyone immediately fell to the floor, but Eden's body froze in fear, the sound of another gunshot only pouring gasoline onto the fire of her anxiety.

Harry threw her to the ground in haste and landed on top of her, acting as her shield, and wrapping his arms tightly around her. Her mind immediately flashed back to the night before: to the gunshot, to the agonizing look in Cassandra's dead eyes. Harry felt her begin to shake and he pulled her closer, holding her head in the crook of his neck. His mouth naturally rested adjacent to her ear, so he whispered comfort, "You're okay. You're okay."

The two heard an argument from above, but neither bothered to look towards the source. Harry stayed perfectly still, holding Eden so tightly that her arms had been immovably pinned against his chest. She slowed her breathing and relaxed her muscles, feeling her heartbeat gradually slow. It kickstarted seconds later: someone had pulled a fire alarm. Harry had already jumped up onto his feet, and he quickly snatched her hand to pull her up with him. Together they moulded with the crowd and sprinted out of the cafeteria.