Hello again! I'm officially seventeen now, whoo!
We're really at chapter 20, everybody! This is amazing! And you can bet that this story will go on for a good while (at least I think it will, what with this day-by-day pace) But I will do my absolute best to make it super interesting! For now, let's go!
Sleeping in felt like bliss. I didn't wake up to any alarm, and only when the sun rose high did I stretch my arms and fumble out of bed. Sandy was still asleep, once again sprawled out with his blanket kicked off. He never failed to keep that air of cuteness, whether he was happy or serious or, in this case, unconscious. I watched his chest rise and fall peacefully, studied the way his eyelids twitched. He was undoubtedly having a nice dream.
When I came back from the bathroom, Sandy was playing his Nintendo. He looked up at me, smiled, and waved cheerfully. I felt myself smile back.
"Morning. What should we do today?"
Let's go take a walk!
"A walk? Wherever to?" I looked curiously at the message on his phone. Sandy flashed a clever smile.
Let's go to the art building after breakfast :3c
"The art building?"
I wanna go! Can we?
"Um…the thing is, I didn't sign up to use it today. Sorry." I frowned at his disappointed expression. "Well, tell you what. We can do something here. I still have a sketchbook and surely some watercolors somewhere."
Sandy immediately brightened. His smile turned bashful, however, when a soft grumble sounded from his belly.
"Yeah, how about breakfast first?"
It was already hot outside. I shielded my eyes from the sun as we walked toward the main building. Sandy didn't seem to mind it at all, smiling happily despite squinted eyes. His hair was bright and shimmering, almost like spun gold. I blushed as I found myself staring at him.
Such a fool you are.
What a lovesick puppy.
I found myself smiling at these thoughts.
Thalia found us before we could sit down. She stomped over to us with an exaggerated pout on her face. The moment she reached me, she gave my ear a sharp tug.
"Ow! What in hell?!" I desperately tried to still my hand and keep my coffee from spilling. Thalia scoffed crossed her arms.
"That's what I should be saying! First you two are friends and suddenly you're a couple?!"
"W-why are you shouting?" I cringed, looking around to see if she'd drawn any attention. After assuring that Sandy was the only one truly interested in our conversation, I turned back to her. "Why are you so riled?"
"You know why!" her voice was softer, but still held a hostile sting. "Are you two seriously dating within DAYS of meeting each other?"
"We're just…we're trying out this relationship because of mutual feelings," replied slowly. "Everyone's so wound up! Did Brielle tell you?"
"Yes, she did." Thalia said brusquely. "And I'd watch myself if I were you, mister! No funny business!"
"WHAT is everyone on about?!" I rolled my eyes and stalked to an empty table with a small plate of fruit. "I'm not some creep; quit acting like I'm going to try and hurt him somehow!"
Sandy's hand touched my arm. I looked up at him, cursing the mist in my eyes. Sandy turned around and glared at Thalia, who looked more confused than anything. She sat down, and awkward silence hung over all of us for several minutes. I only managed to choke down a few grapes before gulping down my coffee and declaring myself full. I left the table and hurried off.
You've overreacted again.
Such a wimp; why don't you grow up?
You're just throwing a temper tantrum. There's no way Sandy will care for this. What a waste of his concern.
"Dammit…" I sank deeper into a library armchair. My eyes had dried and my heart had stilled, but I could still feel dread in the pit of my stomach. Then, loudly enough to pierce the heavy silence around me, my phone buzzed.
Pitch. I'm sorry about this
Thalia was in the wrong here
She's trying to protect me but she had no reason to snap at you
Can we talk?
I flicked between each text, thoroughly lost on how to reply. I wondered if Sandy was still at breakfast, or if he was out looking for me. Perhaps he would come here, or out behind the English building where I'd been the first time I'd childishly run away from my issues. My phone buzzed again.
Please? I'll be at the dorm
I closed the message box and slid my phone into my pocket. I looked up at the blandly-colored ceiling and sighed.
Sandy was tapping his feet anxiously against the floor of the bedroom. He stood up when he noticed I'd came in, a worried frown on his face. I didn't like seeing it there at all.
"Hey."
I'm so sorry, Pitch. It was unfair of Thalia to do that to you. I know you'd never hurt me or anything. She's being protective because of some things that happened in the past. But I really feel like you wouldn't hurt me. Dunno why, but I do. He looked at me nervously as I read over the paper.
"So…something happened to you and someone hurt you?" I looked back to Sandy. He nodded slowly, twiddling his thumbs. "And Thalia wants to make sure it doesn't happen again. It makes sense. But I swear I wouldn't do anything like that! I…" Frowning, I let the paper drift to the bed. "I know what it feels like to get hurt in a relationship…but of course she doesn't know that."
Sandy's hand closed around mine. I looked into his earnest brown eyes and shook my head.
"Neither of us really gave any details, did we?" Sandy shook his head while I smiled dryly. "Figures that both of us have some sort of trauma. But you know what? I'm tired of this."
What on Earth are you doing?
"So…for the sake of things…"
You're not.
"I mean, for the sake of understanding each other…"
You're not.
"Shouldn't we tell the whole truth?"
Cliffs, we hang from them! Yes, It's all gonna come out in these next few chapters, I think. And it's gonna be big! Get your handkerchiefs ready for feels!