Chapter 11
Tim still frustrated by Alex’s insinuation by the time I’m home.
Once I get to my room, I flop on it with a groan. After airing out some frustrations against the bedspread, I roll onto my back, grumbling and start looking on Instapost. It would be better to more easily visualize the face of the person I’m angry at
Laccess my account, the icon being a doodle of a puppy I’d made at one point. It’s all just art rather than pictures, but Alex and I decided to follow each other anyway.
As I go to click on Alex’s icon of his own face, I see that there’s a recent update from Charlie’s account. My anger Charlie always takes such nice pictures, whether with friends or simply showing off her breakfast.
However, looking at the newest photo just brings back the frustration all over again.
subsides, curiosity taking over
Charlie has added suckers of stars and a little heart.
She and Alex pose together. She’s holding up a peace sign and he’s smiling like nothing’s wrong. C having tagged him in the description.
I purposefully avoid looking at the other responses, seeing that Alex has replied.
“nice hangin out today, see uf” — 15 minutes ago.
Feeling a vein pulse in my forehead, I click on his profle to see what his page looks like. How many girls does he have on it? Is he tagged in a bunch of other pics, too!
However, his page is, to my surprise, completely absent of anything related to hanging out with girls.
There’s reposts from other accounts, videos that talk about motivation and different muscle development exercises. He shows off videos of himself putting those videos to practice, often wearing a tank top. Then, there’s the videos of him skating, simply gliding along the ice as he does specific work to improve his mobility,
He’s making an expression I never noticed before. It’s strangely serene, like he’s at peace and having a really good time. Fully clothed and armored up for hockey, this video has fewer likes than the others without his shirt…
But I think it’s one of his better posts.
Suddenly, I see a red heart appear and jiggle before disappearing. When I lift my finger, I see a red heart remaining under the.
Ah. Shit.
I quickly unlike the video and close the app, hoping that Alex didn’t see it. Maybe if I go play Solitaire enough, I can ignore reality and forget what happened.
But instead, just as the first game opens, I get a text message from Alex.
Dammit
I swipe up on the drop–down message, ignoring it as I fight to restore my personal honor.
I’m mad at him. There’s no liking videos. I’m not falling for him at all.
“Hey Yaniv! What’s good, bro!”
Alex waltzes right on in like he’s a member of the drama club now. Judging from the lack of protests from anyone, he might as well be
Yaniv returns his fist bump and a few of the others gather around to chat with him. Alex easily makes his way backstage to keep talking without completely impeding progress, brightening everyone’s mood
I try to keep busy
I’ve come to learn how much Alex likes to talk. That’s fine and all, but I sometimes have a hard time doing physical labor and focusing on a conversation at the same time. That skill seems to be reserved only for when I used to perform
Since Alex likes talking, he keeps asking questions and chattering along, thriving in the attention. Simply, I can’t quite keep up, not the way conversations deserve to happe
1/3
Chapter 11
“Cynthia, hey! What’re you working on?”
He comes right over and leans behind me as I carefully hot glue same cardboard. I’m too focused on not burning myself, so despite forming a short answer in my head, my mouth doesn’t move. That doesn’t seem to bother him very much.
“Is that a bird” No, more kinda fuzzy? Looks wolflike. Are you making a big wolf or something?”
My lips thin further as I think “yes” but don’t actually say anything. The synapses required to activate my mouth just don’t function like this.
“Hrmm..looks pretty good, actually. I like the realistic angle you went for”
He lulls into silence, and I know he’s likely looking for something else to talk about since this conversation isn’t working Just as I hear him breathe in, another topic probably coming to mind, Charlie comes over.
“Oh. Alex! I’m so glad you came!”
Charlie Henkle’s a pretty brunette with a clean face and movie star closet. She likes to bleach the ends of her hair in an ombre style, turning it from brown to blonde. I don’t really look up. but I can see her pass behind me as I reach for another piece to glue onto the baseboard.
Somehow, it feels like she’s holding onto him.
“Hey, we’re having a bit of trouble reaching g something in the back room. Mind helping me out? You’re so tall and all!”
Alex seems to hesitate, but then I hear him reply.
“Eh, sure, why not? Where’s it a?”
“Great! You’re such a big help, Alex, truly! Follow me
I sit up as I hold the piece in place, finally taking the time to look at them. Just as I’d thought, Charlie’s got her arms wrapped around one of Alex’s. guiding him to another risam. With them both being fashionable, together, they a good picture.
Charlie seems to know this, using it to her advantage
She actually turns toward me a bit. When she sees me looking at them leave, she shoots me a smug grin. Then, she’s leading him away, chatting with him amicably.
“Ugh, I can’t believe them!”
1 jots, surprised by the angry voice coming from behind me. When I look over, it’s Hailey, the girl holding several bolts of cloth in her arms as she scowls in the direction they left
Despite what happened the first time the hecklers came, she’s one of the few, if not the only, people who didn’t shun me. She was hurt quite a bit by their antics, and yet, she recovered and doesn’t blame me at all.
Her angry look displaces her glasses a bit, which she easily corrects with a nudge from her fingers.
“Walking around with her like that when he’s got a whole girlfriend.. Do they know no shame! And why’s Charlie being such a
“Ah.I–I wouldn’t worry. About Uhm. About it. Them. Her. She’s just d–doing that to uhm. Get a rise.”
Oh, Cynthia.”
Her anger turns to sympathy, which I manage to smile at, trying to reassure her. A few others seem to be looking at me sympathetically, too, though I don’t understand why. Just a while ago, they preferred to act like I didn’t exist.
My concern is less about me, anyway. We’re not dating. But we’re supposed to look like we are, and this situation doesn’t bode well to me.
A werewolf story?”
“Yeah!” Charlie cheers, holding her script. “It’s going to be so cool. I’m not supposed to tell you this, buuuut you’re basically line, 100. Okay, so, it’s about a werewolf leader who gets injured and escapes to the humans, meeting a human medic girl.”
She hides her position as the medic with the quick tip of the page.
y one of m
of us on your off
“When the werewolf’s enemy attacks again, they fatally wound the girl! To save her, the werewolf leader tries to turn the girl I despite the curse. But he’s too late and the dies in his arms! The werewolf then gains a new curse–to never love again and to stay in solitude until death.”
2:17 PM m
Chapter 11
Charlie ughs, holding the play script to her chest. She leans against him as they walk, Alex still holding a box of tools for her
“Don’t it dreamy? We need a really cool guy to play him, though. Say, what do you think about trying it out some time? We could maybe practice 1ogether?”
However, Alex doesn’t reply, staring ahead with a knowing, tired gaze
Ahh it’s that again.
3/3
