Page 43 of Distortion
Blake nods. ‘What do you want me to tell Laurie when she asks me where you are?’
I sigh. ‘Don’t tell her anything. Maybe she’ll get the hint and leave.’
Mav snorts. ‘Lock your door or you’ll find her in your bed naked again.’
I groan. ‘That was one fucking time.’
Mav chuckles. ‘Think she learned a lesson?’
I close my eyes. ‘No,’ I mutter, deciding I’ll just stay in here with Daisy tonight.
Someone should anyway. Don’t want her choking on her own vomit.
The others leave and I get up, suddenly feeling like being next to her on the bed isn’t acceptable somehow. I turn her from her back to her side. Then, I pull the chair over from the desk to sit next to the bed. I watch her for a few minutes. She doesn’t stir. There’s a knock on the door and Marcus saunters in, a smug grin on his face that widens as he spies her unconscious on the bed. In his mind, I’m supposed to congratulate him, so when I get to my feet, lunge across the room, and push him hard into the wall by the door, his shock is palpable.
‘What the fuck?’ he grates out.
‘That’s what I was going to say!’ I hiss. ‘What the fuck, Marcus? How much did you give her? She could barely walk.’
‘Only five!’ he answers. ‘How was I supposed to know the retard was such a lightweight?’
I clench my hands in the font of his shirt, willing myself not to call him out on the word. I told them to do this. I called her that myself.
‘What was your plan?’
He hesitates. ‘It looks bad, but, for real, we were just going to get her messed up and lock her outside for the night. That’s it.’
Gritting my teeth, I step back. ‘Fine,’ I mutter even though the thought of her out in the dark alone and drunk on a college campus makes my stomach twist. ‘But no more alcohol unless one of the seniors is with you. Understand?’
‘Sure, Shade. You’re the boss, Admiral.’
‘Make sure the others know.’
He nods and leaves, opening the door just as Mav appears with a glass of water and a bottle of pain killers. I let my friend in, watching as Marcus slinks out and strolls down the hall to the stairs. My eyes narrow at his back. I’ve never trusted him and a couple of the other junior members he hangs out with, but I was only a sophomore when they were chosen in their first year here. It wasn’t up to me.
‘How’s she doing?’ Mav asks quietly, setting the glass and the pills down on the nightstand.
‘Seems okay. Dead to the world right now.’
‘You said there weretantrums.’ He looks over his shoulder at me as if he’s just thought of something. ‘She doesn’t have, like seizures and stuff, right? That’s not part of what’s wrong with her?’
‘No, nothing like that,’ I say quickly, realizing that I haven’t really told the guys much. ‘It’s like I said before; she’s autistic and maybe has ADHD, too, but I don’t actually know her full diagnosis.’
He frowns. ‘And that’s it?’
I sit back down in my chair. ‘What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?’
He gives me a look. ‘The way you talked about when you were kids, I thought she was ...’ He taps his temple. ‘Actually mentally challenged ... like she couldn’t even go to school, or something. That, or nuts.’
‘I ...’ Shifting in the chair, I look at her, making sure she’s still unconscious. ‘She was different when we were kids. Volatile. Prone to angry outbursts. She’d lash out at her mom, or act catatonic for hours. My dad thought it was for attention at first. He’d ignore her, or yell at her and give her punishments. They didn’t realize she had a real issue for a while. Just thought she was a troublemaker, I guess. She only lived with us for a year before they took her over to England for treatment.’
I don’t tell him about why they took her away. I never talk about it. I don’t even think about it ever. Iwon’t.
Mav looks down at her. ‘She doesn’t seem to be like that now. I don’t think I’ve seen her angry or upset, not much of anything really. The catatonic thing she does in her room a lot though.’
‘Been watching, have you?’ I can’t help but snap.
He chuckles, ignoring me. ‘If she’s never drank before, she’s going to be miserable tomorrow.’
