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Authors: Eva Carrigan
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doesn’t. Trust me.”
“Maybe he’s just been going through some stuff.”
“Oh? You mean spoiled boy’s rich parents don’t want him stealing hundred-and-fifty dollar bottles of wine? I’m so sorry, I should’ve realized the absolute shit he was having to deal with.”
“Isn’t someone in the world always suffering something worse than everybody else? Isn’t that the way it works? You can’t belittle someone else’s issues just because their circumstances are different.”
I stare hard at Trevyn now. “How about you tell that to him? Or better yet, tell him not to belittle people in general. People like me, you know, especially since we’re blood and all.” I storm past him, but Trevyn grabs my arm and stays me.
His fingers tighten around my upper arm when he urges in a low voice, “Don’t let one person bring you down this much.” I look to his fingers on my arm, and he loosens his hold. Then my eyes trail up to his.
He doesn’t know that I have no friends, that I have no family. That I lost all of that when I let my dignity go. “It isn’t just one person. It’s everybody.” I shake my arm from his hold, and I leave.
I don’t leave the store, though. I tell myself I owe it to Trevyn to stay.
We don’t talk anything personal the rest of the day, only work-related things, with him calling out names of bands and titles of records as he stocks them on the shelves, and me manually adding them to the database and thinking how much easier it’ll be when the software program we ordered—the one that can build a database and track inventory simply by scanning product barcodes—shows up.
“Hey,” he says, as I push the door open to leave, my messenger bag slung over my shoulder. I pause but don’t turn around. “Talk to me anytime you need to, okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmur. Not .
***
Dylan shouts through my bedroom door, “What the hell was that?” He was in his room when I got home, playing video games by the sounds of it, but he must’ve heard me shut my bedroom door. Damn, because I really don’t want to deal with him right now. The rest of his family wasn’t home when I got here, so by the sheer volume of his voice, I take it he knows this.
“Come on, Delilah!”
I hear a lower voice say, “Chill out, man.” Probably Aiden, still with him. Perfect.
“That was you getting what you deserve!” I shout back. I strip my bed of the pink sheets and crumple them into a pile on the floor. My foot gets caught in the sheets and I trip just as Dylan bursts through the door. I look up to find him glaring down at me, his face in a noiseless snarl.
“You did, didn’t you?” he insists.
“What?”
“You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“God, Dylan!”
“You wanna just fuck all my friends?”
“No!” We’re both breathing hard as we glower at each other.
Dylan points to Aiden, who still stands outside the doorway, looking uneasy. “Shit, while you’re at it, why don’t you just go ahead and fuck him, too?” My heart sinks to the floor. What the hell is wrong with him? I meet Aiden’s eyes, and quickly divert mine, heat burning my face, my neck, and everywhere my body touches the floor.
“Jesus, man, calm down.” Aiden has entered the room now, his steps slow, unsure. I can feel his gaze burning me where I lay trapped in these sheets that tether me to this place, this hell of judgment for eternity. I meet his eyes again, and we both look away as soon as our gazes touch. I go back to burying my eyes in Dylan’s.
“I didn’t sleep with Trevyn,” I say, my voice eerily quiet now. “I checked the place out after you mentioned it, and he kindly offered me a job when I said I was looking. But it’s nice to know what little respect you have for me. I’ll remember that if I ever feel an urge to be nice to you.” My shoulders rise and fall as though there’s a heavy weight upon them and it’s all I can do just to breathe. “Besides,” I say, letting a
“Maybe he’s just been going through some stuff.”
“Oh? You mean spoiled boy’s rich parents don’t want him stealing hundred-and-fifty dollar bottles of wine? I’m so sorry, I should’ve realized the absolute shit he was having to deal with.”
“Isn’t someone in the world always suffering something worse than everybody else? Isn’t that the way it works? You can’t belittle someone else’s issues just because their circumstances are different.”
I stare hard at Trevyn now. “How about you tell that to him? Or better yet, tell him not to belittle people in general. People like me, you know, especially since we’re blood and all.” I storm past him, but Trevyn grabs my arm and stays me.
His fingers tighten around my upper arm when he urges in a low voice, “Don’t let one person bring you down this much.” I look to his fingers on my arm, and he loosens his hold. Then my eyes trail up to his.
He doesn’t know that I have no friends, that I have no family. That I lost all of that when I let my dignity go. “It isn’t just one person. It’s everybody.” I shake my arm from his hold, and I leave.
I don’t leave the store, though. I tell myself I owe it to Trevyn to stay.
We don’t talk anything personal the rest of the day, only work-related things, with him calling out names of bands and titles of records as he stocks them on the shelves, and me manually adding them to the database and thinking how much easier it’ll be when the software program we ordered—the one that can build a database and track inventory simply by scanning product barcodes—shows up.
“Hey,” he says, as I push the door open to leave, my messenger bag slung over my shoulder. I pause but don’t turn around. “Talk to me anytime you need to, okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmur. Not .
***
Dylan shouts through my bedroom door, “What the hell was that?” He was in his room when I got home, playing video games by the sounds of it, but he must’ve heard me shut my bedroom door. Damn, because I really don’t want to deal with him right now. The rest of his family wasn’t home when I got here, so by the sheer volume of his voice, I take it he knows this.
“Come on, Delilah!”
I hear a lower voice say, “Chill out, man.” Probably Aiden, still with him. Perfect.
“That was you getting what you deserve!” I shout back. I strip my bed of the pink sheets and crumple them into a pile on the floor. My foot gets caught in the sheets and I trip just as Dylan bursts through the door. I look up to find him glaring down at me, his face in a noiseless snarl.
“You did, didn’t you?” he insists.
“What?”
“You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“God, Dylan!”
“You wanna just fuck all my friends?”
“No!” We’re both breathing hard as we glower at each other.
Dylan points to Aiden, who still stands outside the doorway, looking uneasy. “Shit, while you’re at it, why don’t you just go ahead and fuck him, too?” My heart sinks to the floor. What the hell is wrong with him? I meet Aiden’s eyes, and quickly divert mine, heat burning my face, my neck, and everywhere my body touches the floor.
“Jesus, man, calm down.” Aiden has entered the room now, his steps slow, unsure. I can feel his gaze burning me where I lay trapped in these sheets that tether me to this place, this hell of judgment for eternity. I meet his eyes again, and we both look away as soon as our gazes touch. I go back to burying my eyes in Dylan’s.
“I didn’t sleep with Trevyn,” I say, my voice eerily quiet now. “I checked the place out after you mentioned it, and he kindly offered me a job when I said I was looking. But it’s nice to know what little respect you have for me. I’ll remember that if I ever feel an urge to be nice to you.” My shoulders rise and fall as though there’s a heavy weight upon them and it’s all I can do just to breathe. “Besides,” I say, letting a
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