AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He takes a couple of steps back, making a beeline for the nightstand, where he retrieves a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Leaning against the half-open window frame, he lights one up. There's this scent of damp earth coming in from outside.
He actually confessed to feeling offended? Whoa, a Manasseh admitting his feelings, that's extremely rare.
I am well aware of his pride, and what I did surely seems like an insult to him.
“That's not the reason. You... you're quite attractive in reality as well,” I offer, attempting to stroke his ego, hoping it will coax him into deleting those pictures once and for all, and we could then revert to being ordinary neighbors.
“So you removed me from the pictures because my beauty overshadowed my brother's? That's not nice. Are you sure he's the one you like?”
“I... I don't know why I did it. You're right, it wasn’t nice,” I sigh, running my hand through my hair, my eyes fixated on the thick smoke curling out the window, escaping from his lips.
“It doesn't matter anymore,” he says, dismissing the issue. “I should be grateful to you for keeping my secret, even if I did it for your sake,” he adds, returning to his desk and allowing me to breathe again.
“I didn't ask you to do anything for me!”
“I couldn't just stand idly by, watching my friend being poisoned,” he insists.
“It was just an allergy that no one knew about. It's in the past!”
“The only thing that could have been in the past is you, that nerd would have been held accountable if you had exposed him,” he points his finger at me, his gaze intense, and I instinctively wrap my arms around myself.
“If you really feel guilty, then you could delete those pictures,” I suggest, sitting on the edge of the bed and gesturing towards his phone.
“There are thousands of pictures,” he mutters disgustedly, scrolling endlessly on his laptop screen, the sound of the mouse wheel spinning incessantly making me feel dizzy. “Not that easy! Where's the fun in that?”
“So that's what I am to you, huh? Just a source of entertainment. Some friend you are.”
“It's precisely because we're friends that I've reconsidered what you could do for me to even the score.”
“Is it really that freaking hard to delete everything?”
“It's difficult to forget everything. You've traumatized me. It's an effort I have to make on my own, and that's why I need your help.”
“Help you? With what?”
“To get me motivated. First off, I want you to answer a question. But be totally honest!” “Okay,” I sigh, feelingkinda helpless, and I adjust myself on the bed, crossing my legs.
“Why did you cut me out of all the pictures?”
I burst out laughing at his question. Seriously, is that his major concern?!
“Back to this again?”
“Do you hate me, Becca?”
Do I hate him?
Since I was little, I've had the impression that Manasseh exists solely to make my life difficult. I'm disgusted by his satisfaction in teasing me, in seeing me struggle with every obstacle he puts in my path, waiting with folded arms to see if I have the strength to rise again. He has always tested my limits, and on one hand, I can't hate him, but only thank him for motivating me to surpass myself. But there's another part, where I begin to hate him for making my life hard.
“Yes, because I feel that's what you want from me,” I look at him, and for a few moments, he remains unresponsive, but soon a smirk creeps up at the corner of his mouth.
Is that a good thing? He wanted honesty and he got it.
“Very well. Thank you,” he replies shortly.
“Is that all? Aren't you bothered?”
“No, not at all.”
