Page 8 of Friend
Chapter Two
Marathons
Bianca yawned and stretched her arms to the sky as we walked toward the track, and I glanced down at her. My nerves churned, unsettled by concern. She was especially tired today. She’d acted this way all morning.
Not even the coffee had been able to perk her up.
But it wasn’t like she had the chance to finish more than half before she was forced to throw out the rest, which now made our homeroom teacher a permanent enemy in Bianca’s eyes, but still.
At least this was our last class before the end of the day; maybe we’d stop at a coffee shop on the way home.
But she couldn’t keep this up for more than a day or two. I was used to running on next to no sleep, but Bianca was the sort of person whoneededit to function.
“You wouldn’t be this tired if you would stop playing on your phone all night,” I lectured. I wasn’t trying to be mean, but the wolves had been throwing dirty looks at us all morning, and I really wanted to punch something.
“Yeah… sorry.” Her skin flushed, and she twisted the bottom of the too-large white tee in her hands, turning it into a knot at her waist. My stomach turned in sudden guilt—and panic. I hadn’t meant to snap.
But it was getting harder to stop these invasive thoughts.
Still, I just let it slip that I knew what she’d been doing. Would she call me out on it?
“You know me so well,” she said finally, glancing up at me, and my breath seized. That wasn’t a look of annoyance, but one that I’d become familiar with lately.
Just not from her. I could never get used to it from her.
Adoration.
My heart began to race as I allowed myself to consider, just for a minute, what might be.
It was obvious she liked me, and I liked her too. More than anything, I wanted us to be a couple—we basically acted as one anyway. Maybe, just for a little while, we could do it. We could even rent a place together during college—I would always cook—and then…
Then she’d eventually find out about Damen, and it would be over. It wasn’t like I could stop her from meeting him forever. That look would no longer be for me—at least, if every account of Mu’s behavior was to be believed. She would rejoin her own quintet, and they would be the ones to keep her safe.
And I would just be another Er Bashou.
But only if Damen and Julian didn’t kill me first for going along with this plan. I almost wished they would, because when things got to that point, she’d hate me.
Did wehaveto go to college? Bianca really wasn’t ready.
Iwasn’t ready.
“Come on.” Bianca grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the track. “Let’s just get this over with. Hopefully we won’t die.” Her voice darkened at the end of her statement, and my chest swelled with a barely restrained laugh. Within a second, she’d already distracted me.
She was so dramatic.
“Running is good for you,” I told her. She really did need to build up her stamina, and maybe it’d help with her anxiety too. But when she glared at me, it was difficult to keep from smiling. “Sorry.”
“You’ve forgotten who I am,” she muttered. As we joined the group listening to the teacher’s instructions, she dropped my hand.
I felt the loss instantly, and I curled my hand into a fist at my side. “Never,” I replied, trying to keep my tone light. But it was true.
There was literally no way I could ever forget.
“All right—” Mrs. Miller blew her whistle and pointed to the gated track entrance. “—ladies first.” There was a collective groan from the girls in our class, and Bianca’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“It’ll be fine.” I petted her shoulder. I didn’t know why she hated running so much. She had the potential to be the fastest one here if she wanted.
But she didn’t respond past a sigh, and then she was gone, scowling as she sullenly followed the other girls onto the track.
