Page 97 of The Love Interest
He pats my shoulder. “It’s done, man.”
I blink and sit up. Sharp pain burrows into my brain. “Is it out?”
He nods and starts unbuttoning his shirt. His shaking fingers fumble and he finally just rips the shirt off. I gaze at his chest for a second, then look down at my hands.
“It’s done,” he says. “Now move; I need to get mine out.”
I roll to my trembling feet, then fall forward. My chest slams into a tree and I cling to it as the entire world vibrates. The forest jumps up and down and left and right. I grip the rough, cold wood and breathe in. The shaking at the edges of my vision gradually returns to normal. I breathe in deep, then push away from the tree. Dyl screams, and the sound hurts me more than the knife did.
I stumble toward him. When I reach him I place my hands on his bare shoulders and hold him down, just how he held me. Natalie’s mouth is a firm line, and she’s holding the knife steady. She flicks the tip of the knife, and a small silver ball falls out of the cut. It lands on the stone with a clink.
I grab Dyl’s hand and pull him up to a sitting position. He sways, but remains upright.
“We’re back!” calls Juliet. She and Trevor are making their way through the forest toward us. They’re both smiling. “And we were excellent! Well, Trev was. He got us a great deal on the car, plus he had the genius idea to get you two some more comfortable clothes and some tents to sleep in. We…” She reaches us and falls silent.
Trevor raises his hands, revealing three large black canvas bags that are full to the brim. “It’s just a bit of blood, Jules, they’ll be fine. Don’t let them take our story from us, because it’s a cracker. So the girl at the store, she was—”
Natalie interrupts with a grim smile. “Babe, I love your stories, but now is definitely not the time.”
He sighs. “Fine. The car was four grand, so we had to use the credit card. We figured we may as well spend as much as we can, seeing as they’ll know we’re here anyway. So Jules and I went on a spree and bought you guys a bunch of crap.”
Juliet hands me a plastic bag. “These are yours, Caden. I hope they fit.”
I open it and peer inside. It’s a plaid duffel coat, a gray shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and black dress boots, the kind that hipsters love. She’s staring at me expectantly, her eyes wide.
“Thanks, Juliet,” I say. “These look great. Truly.”
She presses her lips together, then turns and walks back to the others.
I walk into the woods and get changed. The boots are a little too tight, maybe one size too small, and they pinch my toes, but the material is soft and the ache that’s been building at the bottom of my calves starts to lift. Everything else fits perfectly. I walk back into the clearing. Dyl is now wearing a navy button-down, and he’s holding a black leather jacket. The side of his face is covered in blood, matting down thin strands of dark hair to his scalp.
Juliet picks up her bag of gadgets. “You two need to get washed up before we go back into town. We passed a creek on our way here.” She points to her left. “Wash the blood off, then we’ll go.”
Dyl and I trudge through the forest. I lead the way.
He climbs over a rotting log. “Does it still hurt? The cut, I mean.”
“What else could you be referring to?”
“A lot of things, I guess.”
We reach the creek Juliet was talking about. The water is only about an inch deep, a thin stream of clear water running over dark pebbles.Dyl lied to me.I should ignore him, or do something, to tell him our friendship is done. We’re alone right now in this quiet forest, so it’s easy to pretend that he isn’t the person he is. Like this is just another moment, like our kiss or the drives. But it’s not another moment, so I need to start treating him like the person he really is.
He pushes up his shirt sleeves and crouches beside the water. I do the same, scooping up a palmful of icy water and splashing it onto my face. The water comes away pinkish. The contact doubles the pain, and I grit my teeth. Dyl dips his hand into the water and then rubs his bloody skin. He’s cringing and his eyes are full of tears. I start to say something to comfort him, then I remember everything he’s done. Instead, I scoop up a handful of water and hurl it at the wound on the side of my head. The water slaps my flesh and feels like a million bee stings. All energy leaves my body and I fall to my knees.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
I reopen my eyes.
Dyl is looking at me. “Are you all right?”
I nod.
He shuffles forward, raising his hand. “You missed a spot.”
My head jerks back.
