My Roommate

Chapter 17

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Evan's POV—

"Did you run into another pole? Or fall down the stairs again?" Rebecca asks me the second I walk into the kitchen. I hold back a groan, knowing that this is most likely the start of her being on my back again about wearing and changing my stupid bandages regularly until she thinks that I'm all better to not wear them anymore.

Such a pain in the...

"More or less." I tell her with a shrug as I set my car keys down on the counter.

"What's the story with your hands?" she asks me, raising her eyebrow at me as I turn around to face her.

I just got back from Jaxon's. The guy was still at work when I got there. That meant a couple different things. One of them being that that was one less person to bug me about the bruises on my face and the bandages on the side of my face and on my hands.

The other being that, after I texted him ahead of time that I was going to be there in the first place, I didn't have to worry about how loud I was being in the basement while I let my music drown out everything. I swear, if it wasn't for music...I don't even know what I would do when certain situations leave me in a mixture of different emotions.

Mad because I was still pissed off at Andy.

Frustrated because I'm getting a week suspension the first week of the new trimester next week. That's not exactly how I planned on starting the new trimester. I had already decided that I would actually put in an effort starting next Monday, starting with not skipping and actually doing the work and paying attention.

Some start it'll  be now.

But most of all, I was freaking out.

Freaking out because moments before I left to head over to Jaxon's, I kissed Ashley. Again. Then, not only did I kiss her, I also told her that I like her. That I would walk through hell to defend her — to protect her, is what I wanted to say but didn't — from people like Andy.

Then her lack of response came.

Then the realization of what I had told her hit me.

So yeah, I had a lot to sort through while I was at Jaxon's.

"I tripped over a rock and I scrapped my hands on the ground." I tell her, spilling out the lie like it's nothing. Even though I know she knows I'm lying.

I'm making it pretty obvious.

No doubt she knows I got into a fight just by looking at me. And if I were to admit it, there's no doubt that she would want to know who I got into a fight with. And if I were to tell her that it was Andy I got into a fight with, she'd want to why. And if I told her why I got into a fight with him...

Besides, I'm sure she'll hear all about it from the principal because I'm sure she's going to be ringing her up about the flyers that Andy hung up all over the school about Ashley. I'm also sure that she'll be ringing dad up about me getting into a fight with Andy and letting him know about my week suspension. Once that happens, well they're smart enough to put two and two together.

I'm sure I'll be grounded for it. For getting into a fight in the first place, again. And for earning a week suspension.

"Was that before or after you ran into a pole and fell down the stairs?" she says, trying to get me to just tell her what really happened.

"Hard to recall." is all I tell her.

At least she cares about my well being.

Unlike Melany.