chiaroscuro

14

Camrice's face is a mess. There's no way else to put it. It's a mess. Mascara runs down her cheeks and her hair looks worse than Gray's backpack.

Damn. Looks like she just went through a bad breakup. Oh wait–

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Emery asks. "Also–" She snaps a photo of Camrice.

"I heard a scream," Camrice says, narrowing her eyes. "Sound familiar?"

Emery shrugs. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," she says innocently and smiles.

"Of course you don't." Camrice smiles back. It looks creepy with her run-down mascara.

They stare at each other for a couple of minutes. Emery smiling, Camrice smiling back, and me, sitting in the corner of my bed looking like a crumpled pillow.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Emery's cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. It could just be the lighting, or it could be...something else.

I can definitely feel the sexual tension between them.

"Well, best be on my way," Camrice says, like the good little angel she is. She turns around–

"Wait."

Camrice lifts an eyebrow.

"Why did you actually come here?"

"Like I said," Camrice repeats, "I heard a scream."

"I'm fine," I say, cutting into their conversation.

Why did you do that? That was so–

"Yeah," Emery chirps. "He's fine."

"I just need to talk to Chiro–ALONE," Camrice interjects when Emery opens her mouth.

Before anyone can say anything, Camrice squeezes my arm and tugs me outside, nearly ripping it off.

Jesus Christ.

"You can't trust her," Camrice whispers, not letting go of my arm. "You have no idea what she's capable of."

Her breath smells like cigarettes and peppermint; I hold in my cough.

"What's that thing you said?" I ask hoarsely.

"Huh?"

"That spell, or whatever."

Camrice blinks, then her eyes go wide. "Oh, shit." She lets go of my arm and places her hands on my shoulders. "If she asks you to look her in the eye or trust her or literally anything, DON'T."

"Wait, why?"

She groans. "You ask way too many questions."

I always knew Emery was untrustworthy, but Camrice makes her sound like a powerful villain who wants to hurt everyone and everything. Part of me thinks she's just saying that because they're exes. But another part of me thinks she could be right.

Camrice peeks into my dorm, then looks back at me.

"I'll tell you everything," she says. "But you can't tell anyone."

"You mean the other thing?" I blurt out.

Crap. Now you've done it–

"I mean, everything," she hisses. Sparks of spit land on my cheeks. "And then, we're getting our revenge."

"That's a bit–"

Camrice clenches my shoulders tighter. "Don't let her get into your head, Chiro," she says, then shoves me back into the room.