Page 58 of Make Me Scream
Damnit.
I watch her wrinkled face twist. “They weren’t your family.I’myour family.”
“Blood doesn’t make you family, Lucy.”
“Then what does?”
“Loyalty,” I say easily. “Loyalty and—and love,” I choke out, barely able to say the word but meaning it with everything inside of me once it comes out.
“I lo?—”
My eyes flash. “Don’t you fuckingdarefinish that sentence,” I spit through clenched teeth.
“Fine,” she huffs out, throwing her arms up. She spins around and leaves my new room. I stand on shaky legs and shut the door. It doesn’t latch correctly, with a gap at the bottom where it’s starting to detach, but it’s better than nothing.
I drop back on the bed with a sigh and fight back the tears as I pull out my phone and pull up my text thread with Peris. There’s nothing waiting for me, but that doesn’t surprise me with what I knew he was going to walk into.
Me:
Did Elise kill you?
I quite literally twiddle my fucking thumbs for five minutes, watching my text bubble sit there unanswered before I huff out a sigh and grab my discman, needing something to calm the screaming inside my mind.
Eminem seems to be the best in times like this, so I play the same album on repeat, bobbing my head to the beat as I stare up at the water-stained popcorn ceiling, waiting for a reply.
After what seems like forever, my phone vibrates against my chest, and I scramble to pick it up, nearly dropping it on my nose as Eminem raps in my ear.
Peri boy:
You’re currently talking to a ghost.
I laugh loudly, face splitting into a grin.
Me:
Damn, I always knew I could talk to apparitions. I could make bank.
And as Peris types, I go into his contact and change his name because as much as I love him being my Peri boy, he’s my baby boy, now and forever.
Baby boy:
Funny.
Me:
That’s dry.
The three bubbles pop up, then disappear for a minute before the text comes through.
Baby boy:
Unlike you.
Me:
Awe, thanks, baby.
His,
