Page 239 of Craving Venom

I open my mouth to form a question, but nothing comes out except the sound of my sanity caving in on itself.

“I know you’re seeing someone,” she throws over her shoulder. “I’m not stupid, Faith.”

“I’m not—”

“You’re glowing like someone railed you against a wall and made you see God.”

My face burns so fast I nearly combust on the spot. “Okay. Wow.”

“Am I wrong?” She stops, crosses her arms, and leans one hip against the dresser.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” I flounder.

Her expression dies in real time.

Tria’s face goes from smug to horror-movie-reveal in less than a second. “Then who the fuck have I been seeing in your room?”

“I just found out about this ghost, okay? Don’t look at me like I scheduled it on my Google calendar!”

“You’re telling me someone’s been standing in your room at night, and you don’t know who the hell it is?”

“No one is in my room,” I bark, because saying anything else makes my skin crawl. “I’m here. I’d notice if some creep jerked off on my pillow.”

“Would you, though?” Tria snaps, spinning my face to the room. “Look around, Faith. Just—look.”

I do.

At first, nothing clicks. It’s just my dorm.

But then my eyes land on the desk. The papers are stacked. My mug is rinsed and resting on a coaster. My jacket’s hangingon the back of the chair, not draped on the floor where I usually let it die.

The books are shelved.

The bed is made, or, was, before I unmade it with a night full of anxiety and not-masturbating.

And the garbage bin is empty.

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Tria mutters. “Holy fucking shit. Your place hasn’t been this clean since freshman year, and you didn’t even live here freshman year.”

I step forward slowly, scanning everything like I’ve just realized I woke up in the wrong dimension.

She points at my desk. “You don’t line your pens like that.”

I glance down.

They’re color-coded.

I don’t color-code for God’s sake.

“Maybe I… cleaned without noticing?”

Tria deadpans at me.

“Faith. You don’t clean. You call your mess ‘personality.’”

I run a hand through my hair and laugh. “Okay, maybe I do have a ghost boyfriend.”

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