Demons & Devils

5

Willow

I hate Royce Bailey with a burning passion.

He's kept me on my toes the last couple days, hinting at what he knows anytime I start to get snappy with him.

I hate that he has this over my head, looming it there while I struggle to keep myself in check. The only reason why I haven't exploded yet is because it would affect my girls.

I may be able to handle whatever the fuck they can throw at me, or deal with the consequences of my own actions, but I'm not willing to let my girls go down with me.

They're good. I mean we're all bad, we do some fucked up things, but they're good at heart, and I'll be damned if Royce and his little punk posse ruin their futures.

He's got his eyes on me all the time, they were always on me regardless, but now they have a certain heat behind them.

I can feel his gaze burning into the back of my head, watching me as I try to get my homework done in the library.

I'm the only one who has a free period during this block, so I usually spend it alone, which I like.

The library is always quiet, it's also pretty empty during this time, and I don't have to worry about having my guard up.

Unfortunately for me, Royce fucking Bailey decided he was going to skip class and come bother me instead.

I'm fighting every urge in my body to turn around and smack the shit out of him. Why can't he just leave me alone?

The Carters asked me to babysit for them tonight, and while I was hoping to have a night off to figure out what the fuck I'm going to do about my predicament, I could use the extra cash.

So I need to use this time to get my school work done, I won't have time to complete it all while three kids are pulling me in every other direction.

"Why do you always look so angry Willow?" Royce asks as he pulls out a chair form next to me.

"Because I have an idiot who likes to bother me every chance he gets" I retort.

Please just go the fuck away.

I stand up, walking away from him and towards the stacks of books.

I hear his chair scrape against the carpet behind me, letting me know he's not giving up, he's going to fucking follow me.

My fingers trace the spines of every book I pass, feeling the leather and hard paper, wishing I could be any one of these people rather than here.

I don't read often, I don't have time to do it anymore.

Between studying my ass off, baby-sitting, and all the trouble I get into with my friends... I don't ever think to pull out a book.

But now, now I wish I could pull out a fantasy book, open it up, and then just hop in and escape to a world where all my problems just fade away.

"You're always so cold Willow, why?"

For a second it sounds like he's genuinely asking, not teasing me, not pushing me to the edge to see when I'll snap... just wanting to know more about me. Like he cares.

"For someone who acts like he knows everything, you sure don't know anything at all" I simply state.

I'm not claiming to have a hard life, I have it pretty good here, but that doesn't mean I don't still deal with my own problems.

There's a reason why everyone calls us the golden girls, our lives are perfect to everyone on the outside.

Royce Bailey is part of the reason why I don't falter, although I have a feeling he doesn't remember everything he's done.