The Wolverine & The Black Cat

48 // Happy Birthday

C H A P T E R   48 :   H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y

❝ Two damaged people trying to heal each other is love. ❞

–  R.H. Sin

"You gave me a shoulder when I needed it
You showed me love when I wasn't feeling it
You helped me fight when I was giving in
And you made me laugh when I was losing it"

"Why are you staring at me like I've got 'Please stare at me in the creepiest of ways' written in glitter on my forehead?" I asked Tara one day at breakfast as I tried to make the cereal dispenser work, even though everyone knew it was useless. Well, I tend to like useless, broken causes most people give up on at first sight, anyway.

"I can't understand." She said, pursing her lips in an admirable effort to think for once. "What you're still doing in this mansion."

I bit my tongue to prevent me from letting out a snarky reply and forced my voice to come out friendly, the same ineffective way a giant would try to cosplay as a dwarf. My voice sounded more like a crossover between a shark and a chainsaw. Oh, well, I tried.

"May I know the reasons why you'd think such gibberish?" I asked, though in my mind it sounded more like what the fuck do you mean with that bullshit?

"Isn't it obvious?" She said above the noise of the coffee machine. Listen to the universe, Tara. No one wants you to talk. "You got the school to be attacked. If it wasn't for your presence here, HYDRA would have never invaded the fields. Luckily no one died, but what if they had? Not to mention, when you went all rogue on that suicidal mission... people did die."

There was a loud bang heard all across the canteen, and it took me a few painfully awkward seconds to realize it had come from the cereal dispenser, which was now more broken than before. I guess that's what I did to lost causes. I lost them even more.

"I advise you to shut up if you don't want to get into a fight we both know you'll lose."

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes, placing her mug harshly on the tray. "Just because you have Logan's protection, it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't listen to the truth. I know it hurts hearing it, but deal with it. Lewis is dead. The least the teachers should have done was expel you from this school."

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in— fuck that, I'm more pissed off than Star Wars fans are every time a new movie comes out and it doesn't meet their fanboy's expectations.

"Thank you for your humble, enlightening opinion, now excuse me, and fuck off."

"A lot of the students agree with me, you know." She ignored me as well as Oscar Awards ignored Leonardo DiCaprio. "And I bet some of the teachers do to. Honestly I think most people will be thrilled to see the back of you."

"Well, they usually are." I spat. "But for other reasons aka having a fine ass."

"Seriously, you should leave." She insisted, as if it was a personal goal of hers if I did. "Have you seen the damage you've caused to this school?"

I could feel the vein in my neck and forehead pulsing, like my heartbeat had suddenly gotten legs and was hysterically running around my body.

"Listen, Tara." I said, deciding my mouth would do the fighting for once. "I blame myself enough, I don't need yours on top of it too. Do you seriously think I wanted HYDRA here? Do you have any ideia of how terrified I was, not just for me, but for everyone in this freaking school? Do you have any idea what it's like to be in the center of the fucking hurricane and not only realize you've caused it, but that now there's nothing you can do to stop it, and all you can really do is stand powerlessly and watch it wreck everyone around you?"