Page 43 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

I shook my head hard, shoving those thoughts away.

Ethan frowned. "Clark?"

I plastered on the most unconvincing casual expression of my life, hiding the scar from his view. "Huh?"

He squinted at me. "Are you—"

I turned off the sink, grabbed my toothbrush, and shoved it in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to answer.

Ethan watched me for another second, then shrugged. "Okay, weirdo. Hurry up, breakfast is in ten."

With that, he strolled away, completely unaware that I had just had an entire psychological breakdown in the span of five seconds.

I exhaled, leaning against the sink.

That was fine.

I was fine.

Everything was—

My reflection blinked at me.

Still pale. Still looking vaguely ghostly.

And with a toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, I looked exactly like the sleep-deprived corpse Ethan accused me of being.

I sighed.

Yeah.

This was not going to be a good day.

Breakfast was a blur.

I vaguely remember shoving food into my mouth while Ethan made unnecessary commentary about my undead appearance. Something about me looking like a lost soul from the afterlife and how I should probably start haunting the school hallways full-time.

"You look terrible," Joy commented, jabbing her fork into a pancake. I said jabbing not eating.

This hotel only made food for creatures without tastebuds. "Like, worse than usual,” she added.

"Wow. Thanks." I chugged my coffee like my life depended on it. Trust me, I was surviving its taste just to make me seem better.

"Did you even sleep?" Shun asked, resting her chin on her palm.

"Define sleep."

Max, sitting beside her, snorted. "Bro, you look like the human embodiment of regret. And I would know—I see that look on Coach's face every time I open my mouth."

"Can confirm," Shun said.

I groaned, rubbing my face. "I tried to sleep, okay? I just… didn’t."

Ethan, smug as ever, leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you’re busy committing snack-related crimes at one in the morning."

Max blinked. "Wait. What?"

"We did not commit crimes," I corrected quickly. "Ethan committed a crime. I was just an innocent bystander."

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