𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 || baxter radic

6.

Instinctively, I pull away from his touch, leaving him standing there with the chaos I bring wherever I go. When I get comfort, my true colors start to show. I relax and let my emotions roll off me like a cloud releasing its rain. They come and they don't stop until I've flooded the room in disaster. I should come with a warning, and I did. Summer gave that warning by telling everyone to keep me an arms distance away.

I rejoin Poppy, watching as Bax walks through the house and into the backyard in an effort to save himself from drowning in all that I am. "I get why she did it." I look to my left, glancing past Poppy and toward Summer—who's still trapped in her perfect bubble, happy and carefree.

"Still can't be easy." She tries to provide some comfort, but I'm not in need of any. Though I accept it with grateful arms because I don't want to take out anyone else in my storm.

The party has dwindled. Only the close circle remains. I see myself off to my room, exhausted from the constant grilling and early mornings. Eventually, it all catches up with you, taking you out like a wrongly caught wave.

I'm getting myself ready for bed when I hear a tap of knuckles against my door. "Yeah?" I call out, looking toward the creaking door.

"I think maybe we should talk Belle." Summer walks over and sits on the edge of my bed with a heavy sigh. She drops with such a thud it I'm half tempted to believe she's carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. But she's not, it's just the weight of me.

"What's there to talk about Summer?" I let out a heavy sigh, completely defeated. I don't want to talk. I don't want to deal. I want to curl up on my bed, close my eyes and sleep for a month.

"Why you're closing yourself off. You're my best friend. I've never seen you like this. I don't understand what's changed." Her tone aches with care. Because even when someone fucks up, she cares, she'll look past it. She's better than most.

"Just a lot going on up here." I tap against the side of my head, motioning to the madness that's infected my brain.

"Then talk to me about it. That's what friends are for." She begs for me to open up, to not be closed off. But how do you tell someone you like the dude who likes her. The boy she would have settled for if Ari hadn't of left Wren.

"I can't Summer. I've already stirred up enough stuff. I'm fine really. Just give me a little space and I'll figure it out in my own." I give her a fake smile. It's faint, barely there, but it's an attempt at least.

"If Baxter has done something..." she taunts, her fists clenching at her sides.

"He hasn't. No one has. It's all me." I reach out and place my hand gently on her shoulder. "It's all good."

"I saw you two talking. You promise he hasn't said or done something?" Summer's eyes are weary.

"He's just opened a can of worms I might not have been ready for." I sit in the bed beside her, dropping my head to her shoulder.

"So you were calling him cute then." Summer raises her brows, a smug little smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "I knew it."

I feel my cheeks heating with embarrassment. I turn away not wanting her to catch it. My eyes glance out the window to focus on anything else beside the conversation, when I see Bax sneaking toward it. My heart sinks.

"It doesn't matter though." I stand in front of the window in hopes that I'll cover his snooping. The least he could have done is not used the same tactics on me he used for Summer. I'm not her, and I never will be. "That boy is trapped under your spell."

"What?" Summer seems shocked. There's no way she's actually oblivious to his feelings. You'd have to be blind to miss the way he felt about her. Anyone would be able to spot his affection from a mile away.

"Nothing." I check over my shoulder to see Bax standing there, frozen, just out of view from inside. I can only see him because I'm nearly pressed up against the window. "I'm taken anyways though right? So no need for a silly crush on an idiot who likes you."