The door to my dorm opens. I look up, expecting to see Erin, but it’s Sawyer who walks through, carrying a cup. He shuts the door behind him.
“Brought you something,” he says softly.
I lay my head back down on my pillow. “It’s too late in the day for coffee.”
“It’s tea,” he replies. He crosses into my field of vision and grabs my desk chair, dragging it to sit nearer to the bed. “My mom used to make it for me when I was upset.”
Reluctantly, I sit up and accept the cup from him. It looks much darker than the tea I’m used to. When I take a sip, I scrunch up my face. It’s bitter.
He laughs a little. “Sorry. I’m not very good at making tea … but I brought some sugar packets.”
After almost all the sugar packets are depleted, the tea is finally just barely palatable. I take a couple sips and then go to set it down on the dresser, but Sawyer is staring at me so eagerly I drink it all down just to get him to stop.
And it does make me feel a little better. Within a few minutes, I start to feel … lighter.
Sawyer shifts so he’s crouched in front of me, looking up into my face. “Um, before you left,” Sawyer says. “You said something.”
I nod, but my head feels strange. Very clear, very light.
“You said, ‘I can’t believe they would go this far’. Who did you mean?”
“Piers, Owen, and Bennett,” I reply immediately. My head swims.
Sawyer is staring at me with an almost alarming intensity. Something about it seems … off … but I can’t place it.
“What did they do?” Sawyer asks.
The answer pops into my head, and I don’t want to say it, but the words leave my mouth unbidden, as though I’m not controlling myself. “They sprayed something on my glove. Aurora didn’t like it. She bit me and tore up my glove.”
“Why didn’t you think they would go so far as to get your creature executed?”
The question sounds robotic, premeditated, even. It’s wrong. This isn’t normal, but then, why do I feel so compelled to answer him?
“I thought the days of them hurting me were behind us. I connected with them before Christmas break.”
“You connected with them?”
“Yes.” The answer comes fast and sharp. No hesitation.
“And you’re hurt they went this far to hurt you? Why?”
“I have feelings for them,” I reply. My head is buzzing. “They’re good people deep down. I want to see that good in them.” Stars are exploding in my head. I’m fighting to regain control I wasn’t even aware I lost until just now.
I look up into Sawyer’s eyes. He’s hovering over me, glaring down at me with that same terrifying intensity. I remember the tea. There must have been something in the tea.
“You,” I mumble, as Sawyer drops my hands and gets angrily to his feet. “You drugged me.”
“Devil’s breath,” Sawyer replies. “Got some from your backpack the other day.” He sounds angry. His voice is loud, echoing in my brain. I squeeze my eyes shut. “What the fuck, Avery? You have feelings for those douchebags?”
“You drugged me,” I say, rubbing my eyes. My brain is getting heavier. My limbs are starting to feel like they weigh a thousand pounds. “How can you be mad at me? You drugged me!”
“Just to get the truth out of you, because you never tell me the full truth!” he shouts, and I wince. “How could you have feelings for them? What about me?”
“I didn’t even know I had feelings for them!” I yell back. All this noise is hurting my head.
“And what about me?” he repeats. “What about that night in the cabin? Didn’t that mean anything to you?”
“We’re not a couple, Sawyer.” My head finally clears, and I shoot to my feet. Sawyer takes a step back. “I told you that, and you agreed!”