Page 48 of Her Sloth

I grasp her hand.

“And what if there is something worth living for?”

She chuckles darkly as if I have said the most obscene thing in the world.

“Don’t make yourself more important than you are,” she says derogatorily and removes her hand. Something that gives me a small stitch in my chest, but it’s not the point right now, so I shove it away.

“I don’t mean me,” I say. “I said something, not someone.”

She narrows her eyes.

“And what would that be, the thing worth living for?”

“Help me destroy Whitney-Morgan,” I say, goosebumps spreading over my entire body as I reveal my plan to the worst possible person ever. “For her.”

14

AUDREY

PLAYLIST: WAY DOWN WE GO – KALEO

“You are fucking mental,” I say as I stare into Cass's eyes. My brain is so fuzzy I can’t sharpen my vision, and little lights dance around her head. I feel nothing and everything at the same time.

“I have it all planned,” she says.

“Then go do it,” I say. “Sounds like you don’t need me.”

“Gods, you are such a stubborn idiot,” she says.

Whatever.

I don’t even know why I let her come up.

“Then leave,” I say and point to the elevator.

“I’m not leaving here without you,” she says, and it is the one thing that pushes me over the rails.

“Who’s the idiot now?” I round on her. “You come here, one moment you tell me stuff and then call me shit, you lie to your fucking self, hide behind that poor girl from the street who’s against the world while you do nothing about it,” I shout, taking a step closer to be more intimidating. I need her gone. I need to be alone and forget about this world.

“I don’t want to see your face,” I say from above as much as I can, channeling the last role I had. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Go fuck off and live your life where I don’t have to hear what a fucking problem I am.”

I pant heavily as I look down at her.

She stares up into my eyes.

“You’re not a problem,” she whispers.

A wave of her scent trails up my nose.

Goosebumps spread over my arms.

“Liar,” I say. I need to drive her out. She needs ot be gone.

“You are not a problem,” she says again, emphasizing every single word.

I close my eyes for the briefest of moments.

Open them again.