Toxic ✔️

19 | black hole

chapter nineteen: black hole

I pull my grey hoodie over my head, poking at my food. It's been about a week since I heard the news about my mom, but luckily she's getting better. I'm waiting for Jade, but the sight in front of me still makes me want to punch someone.

Nick and Brooke sit together at a bench opposite of me. Nick looks around at other girls, with Brooke just staring at him. It's obvious she's knows their relationship isn't going to last. I'm really just waiting for it to end. "Nick," Brooke says, turning to him as she offers him a few pieces of lettuce. He turns to her with a slightly annoyed expression and waves it off. "Come on, it's good for you," she tries to persuade him, but he just glares at her.

"Stop it," he looks away again. Brooke sighs, putting down the food. She runs a hand through her hair, looking at Nick with a crestfallen expression. As she turns, her eyes meet mine. Our eyes lock together, and I can tell she feels guilty about it.

I sigh, and I know I'm going to intervene. Some sickening part of me still wants Brooke to find happiness, and Nick is preventing that because she likes him so much. Just as Jade sits down, I stand up.

"Where are you-" she starts, but I cut her off, walking over to Nick and Brooke's table. Nick's eyes widen in surprise the moment he sees me, but a smirk slides onto his face as he takes my hand in his.

"Astrid," he says. "You're back-" This time, I interrupt him as well, smacking his hand out of mine. His face morphs into a surprised one again. "What are you...?"

"Okay, Nicholas. You cheat on me, you take my best friend. You take my best friend, you don't fucking take anyone else. And you better treat her well, or trust me when I say I will kick you to Australia. There are a lot of wild animals there, so I'm sure you'll fit right in. Understand?" I place my hand on his table, glaring at him. From behind, Brooke peers up at me with a grateful look, but I just ignore her.

Like, bitch, I still hate you.

And right after that, Nicholas Crawford has the fucking audacity to say, "You still love me, huh?"

My jaw drops a little and my fists clench. I turn around, taking a deep breath, but it barely does anything to soothe my rage. "Did you just say..." My jaw clenches this time as I grab his shirt. "Oh, yeah. I really want to suck you..." Just when his eyes start to widen a little with hope, the disgusting pervert, I continue my sentence. "...into a bloody black hole in hopes that your eyes explode, and your face explodes, and your peanut sized brain and dick explode, because I just love you," I sneer down at him.

It makes me sick to the bone that I told Nick that I loved him, even if it wasn't real. Instead, Nick just smiles up at me as if I had only told him I loved him and nothing else. I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to say, so I just glare at him one last time for good measure before leaving the table.

Obviously, my speech would have been much better if I hadn't gotten all scientific and nerdy and just told him that I wanted his eyes to pop out. Jade gives me a 'what the heck' kind of look, but I just wave it off.

What I can't shake off is the feeling of Nick and Brooke still watching me.

•••

I'm walking around the campus library, looking for a good place to study when suddenly I'm pulled into one of those private study rooms and pressed up against the wall, which for some reason, the walls are completely opaque.

Instinctively, my hand goes up, ready to punch whoever did that before they murder me personally because I'm overthinking everything again. The person's hand stops mine, and I open my eyes slowly. It's Nick.