Page 24 of One Flew Over the Omega's Nest: Part One
Mabel puts it together before I do. "She…she took work off early to bake us a birthday cake."
"That idiot," Daddy spits. “It was supposed to be you! Cian said—” But right then, I notice Mama's chest stop moving.
After that, the only thing I can hear are my screams, and the white-hot pain of Daddy trying his best to shut me up.
I jerk awake, my breathing coming in heavy pants, my sweatsuit sticking to my skin.
Fuck. It's been a minute since I've hadthatdream.
My stomach roils, and I sit on the edge of the bed, putting my head between my knees like Declan taught me. Luckily, since I missed dinner last night, I don’t have anything to vomit back up.
I thought after I had run into Hayden, that maybe seeing the reality of Zombieland hadn’t shaken me up too much. Any interaction with that boy is like a shot of oxytocin straight to the brain.
But then that damn nightmare happened.
A small squeak startles me, and then I remember that Turnip went to sleep on my pillow the night before. She's now staring, head tilted as she sits up on her back two legs, chittering at me.
"Sorry, Turnip." I grimace. "Bad dream." I chance a glance at my analog clock and see that I need to be up for kitchen duty in ten minutes anyway, so I may as well take an extra long shower to get the sweat off.
I gather the little tote that Leslie provided me with, as well as a purple jumpsuit and some underwear. Then, I grab the extra towelthat Addie swiped for me before quietly leaving my room and heading for the communal shower.
I'm not the only one up by a long shot, but it's especially annoying to see Paige Lawson doing her hair in the bathroom. Her face is still covered up by the huge bandage, but at least her bruises seem to be yellowing.
She sneers at me through the mirror. "Trailer Trash Bitch." Smirking, I shrug, because honestly? That's fair.
Apparently that's not answer enough for her though, because then she's stalking up to me as I pull off my sweats.
"Fucking bitch!" But then her eyes widen and her cheeks flush at the sight of my bare chest, and I arch a brow at her.
"Paigey, all I'm tryin' to do is get a shower. Thought you'd want this 'trailer trash' stink out of your nose."
She sneers, her embarrassment at seeing my half-naked body evaporating. "Good. Because—"
I step out of my pants, now completely naked, and sigh at her before reaching over to turn on the shower. "Listen, I don't know what's gotten your panties in a twist about me, but I'm not here for it. I'm not gonna apologize for your nose, ’cause you were bein' a bitch, and you deserved it. I'm jus’ here, same as you. Let's try to not make it too hard on each other, okay?"
"It's not the same," she snaps, her face growing angrier, "you, are a damn murderer, and I—" She stops, her mouth opening briefly, before she shuts it again. Without a word, she turns on her heel and marches out of the bathroom.
Sighing, I check the water. Huh. Good water pressure.
I feel like I dodged a bullet this morning, with how Paige decided to just walk away. That is, until I finish up my shower and see that my clothesandmy towel are missing.
Welp, fuck that. If she's expecting me to cower in embarrassment, she's got another thing coming.
It's chilly as fuck, so my nipples are pointier than a witch's hat, but I squeeze what water I can out of my hair before rolling my shoulders back and striding out of the bathroom like I'm wearing designer clothes instead of my birthday suit. Maybe I'll be lucky and nobody will be in the hall.
"Oh look, trailer trash is wearing exactly what she can afford!" Paige's nasally voice rings out in the hallway as I come out, head held high. "But hey, at least the carpetsdomatch the drapes."
Whispers and giggles erupt around me as I walk straight for Paige, not daring to cover up my nakedness. She won't know how much this is getting to me.
I hold out my hand expectantly.
"What the fuck do you want?" She sneers.
"My clothes, Paigey-cakes. Jealous is an ugly look on you." There are a few chuckles as people gather around us, and I'm not oblivious to the fact that I'm buck-ass naked and everyone can probably see that slightly raised mole on my left ass cheek.
Her mouth drops open in shock before a self-satisfied look comes over her face. "I don't have them."
I grit my teeth. "Paige, I swear, if you don't want a repeat of a few days ago—"
