Page 77 of Make Me Scream
“Of course, we do, you fucking idiot. Why else would they send you something so early?”
“We’ll see.” I try to feign nonchalance, but my heart is beating out of my chest.
“Can I come with you after practice?” He reaches up to play with the necklace I gave him, and my heart stutters.
“For what?” I croak, rapt.
“To open it?” he asks.
“Of course, runt.”
“Thank you, Peris. And I’m sorry,” he says much softer as he digs the toes of hisnewconverse into the gravel, refusing to meet my gaze.
“What are you sorry for?” I ask, drawing his chin up, forcing him to meet my eyes.
He fights me but eventually looks right into me, and what I see steals my breath. His eyes are molten steel, all shades of gray swirling and melting me from the inside out.
“For all of it.”
“Come on! Hurry up!”
“Jesus, Ma, gimme a minute to walk through the door,” I mutter as she thrusts the huge envelope in my face. The sight of it has my heart rate skyrocketing, and it doesn’t help that Abel is practically bouncing right next to me.
“Open it!” she exclaims, and I sigh, dropping my duffle to the ground at my feet. I wedge the envelope under my arm and move past her into the living room—except I don’t stop. I keep walking straight through and down the hallway. I shut and lock myself into the bathroom, letting the envelope fall from my grip and to the floor.
My breathing comes in short, painful bursts, and the walls around me begin to pulse in time with my heart. I stare in front of me, not seeing anything at all other than the waves my mind has conjured.
A soft knock resounds, but I barely register it. “Peris?” The door creaks open, and Abel walks in. My eyes stray toward him, and I blink at him, unseeing. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.”
“You look freaked out…” he drawls, and I laugh loudly.
“I’ve only been working toward this my entire life. Nothing huge about that.” My face cracks as my breathing stutters, and I press my hand to my chest, willing my heart to slow a bit, but all I manage to register is how hard it’s beating.
“I think you might be having a panic attack?” Abel says, but it sounds like a question, and I laugh loudly again.
“You fucking think?”
“Hey! I don’t know everything!” But he steps closer and encases his fingers in mine, and I like that.
“Yeah, no shit, runt,” I manage to choke out. He drops his head to my chest, right beside our entwined fingers. I stumble back against the wall with a dull thud, and I wrap my arms around him. His touch is helping to ground me as I focus on his cool warmth—a paradox I want to be wrapped in forever.
“Do you want me to open it?” he asks, and my eyes stray to the manila envelope to the left of my feet. I dart my gaze away.
“I don’t know.”
“You need to look at it.”
“I know, Abel,” I snap.
“Don’t yell at me.”
I scoff. “Oh, please. You like being yelled at.”
A blush blooms across his cheeks, and I relish in the way he buries his face in my chest. “Shut up, Peris.”
I laugh lightly, and it’s amazing that even right now—when I am on the verge of a panic attack—Abel manages to draw me back into the now and can make me fuckinglaugh.
