Decadent

Chapter Thirteen: Heat

        I stare down at my phone. Really, I just don't know what to do. On the outside, I look like I'm just staring at my phone, but on the inside, I'm panicking.

    Weirdly enough, I don't have the balls to text the person back and tell them to leave me alone...I don't have the balls to go to the police either. There's this feeling in my chest, I'm not sure what it is, but I know that even if I go to the police...it won't stop this...stalker.

    Who would do this? I'm not a very interesting person. I don't have this fabulous life of drugs, sex, and good looks. I'm not rich or famous enough to pull off the “leather and lace” deal. I'm just a small-town guy from Illinois. It's not that interesting here. There's just a bunch of Indian mounds that I use to play on at parks and stuff...it wasn't till my mom told me that there were dead Indians inside the mounds. They just piled up their bodies then buried them.

    I can't look at the Indian mounds anymore without feeling terrible.

    But that's not even interesting. That's no reason to stalk me. I'm just...not interesting of a person. I go to a small school, I have problems like everyone else, and I'm human.

    I'm so uninteresting that even I'm bored with myself.

    “Rem,” Tempest says quietly. “Are you okay?”

    “Yeah...” I answer. “Where do you live?”

    She gives me directions to her house, and I realize why she gave me the money...she lives in a nearby but different town.

    “So why?” I ask her curiously.

    “Why what?”

    “Why do you have a crush on me? How long?” I ask her.

    “Um...” Tempest trails off. “I've had a crush on you since middle school. You were always hanging around Tori and Kent, though...” 

    “Yeah...I remember that,” I say quietly. “That long?” I ask her in surprise.

    “Mm-hm. That long...A lot of girls like you now.”

    My eyes widen in surprise as I drive. “Wait. What?”

    Tempest laughs. “I can't believe you haven't noticed. Since ninth grade when you showed up to school, like, super skinny...I guess that caught a few eyes...but then tenth grade...you just kept looking better and better every time we had a summer break. This summer break when you came back for eleventh grade...holy crap...I think all the girls swooned.”

    My eyes narrow. “But I bet you're the only girl that liked me even when I was a fat ass.”

    Tempest is silent after that. She bows her head as she tries to speak up. “I thought you were hilarious. You were the funny fat kid that everyone loved.”

    “But then high school comes along...turns everyone into jerks...then suddenly people start thinking they're better than everyone else. I'd get my ass kicked every day if I didn't lose weight...and I wouldn't me having all the girls liking me either. I don't care, though. Those girls can like and crush on whoever they want...if they start hating me, I wouldn't miss them,” I say angrily but then I chill. “Thanks, Tempest.”

    I seriously thought having girls like me would make me feel accomplished or something. Not really. I feel irritable by the thought of girls liking me. I thought I would like that though... Now, though, having people like me seems like it would be too much of a nuisance. I'm not sure why. Maybe if I wasn't going through the stuff I'm going through now, I'd bask in the glory and attention I never noticed I had among the female population in school.