drowning

iv

" to get over one addiction, you have to become addicted to something else "

-

SAM

Most of the drive back to June's house was filled with silence, only being interrupted every few minutes with the sound of her clearly trying her best to keep control of her breathing without making a scene about it. Eventually, she spoke up.

"How're you gonna get back?" she asked, speaking barely above a whisper.

"I parked my bike at Hal's," I explained. "We all drove over in his car. They wanted to leave earlier and I told them to go without me."

"What? So were you just banking on the idea that you could catch a ride with me whenever you were ready to leave?" she barked, sarcastically.

"I was kind of dealing with something when they wanted to leave," I said, looking over at her, pointedly. I made sure she understood what I meant before continuing. "I didn't expect a ride, but that's how it worked out. Hal was just gonna come back to pick me up, but now he doesn't have to."

"Oh," she whispered, ducking her head down even further. That really couldn't be comfortable on her neck. She seemed to slip into a train of thought for the rest of the car ride, because she didn't make another sound for the remainder of the drive.

Before long, we were pulled up to her house. I went ahead and parked her car in the driveway, and cut the engine. We sat in what I considered an uncomfortable silence before I finally broke it.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Since when did you start caring?" she asked, repeating the same question she threw at me a few days earlier. Her eyebrows furrowed in what looked like frustration, and I watched her begin to pull at loose threads at the hem of her jacket. "Like I said-"

"I know," I cut her off. "We're not friends; that's fine by me. But if we're gonna be doing that stupid program together all semester we should at least learn how to stand being around one another."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Bridgeman," she responded, and wrapped her arms around her waist, clearly starting to feel a bit antsy. I was becoming a bit frustrated with her attitude, seeing as how I just spent the last hour locked in a bathroom with her. The least she could do was spend a thank you.

"You're a real pain in the ass, June, you know that?"

"Yeah, well you're not all that great either, Sam," she scoffed back. I stared down her profile, not being able to resist landing my eyes on the scars that garnished her usually pink-tinted cheeks. They were uncharacteristically pale now, compared to just how red they had gotten earlier, amidst her panicking. I don't know what it was about this girl that both pissed me off, and somehow peaked my curiosity all at once. "Are we done?"

"Sure, June," I responded, once again not sure what kind of approach to take with this kind of situation. June and I got on each other's nerves often, but having the kind of interactions we've had this week was new for us. We usually despised and hated on one another from afar, with a verbal dispute occurring every once in awhile, but it was nothing like this.

We both exited her worn down car, and I made sure to lock the doors for her, just in case. She came around to the driver's side and retrieved the keys from me, and abruptly turned on her heels, heading straight for her house without another word. I let a single chuckle escape my lips, and went ahead and turned to walk my own way- across the street to Hal's, where I'd be staying for the night.

"Sam?" I heard from behind me, causing me to turn back and look at June shuffling around on her own feet. She paused for a second, before sucking in a deep breath and looking up at me. Being as it was the middle of the night, the only light that illuminated my vision was the street light that stood nearby. Nonetheless, I could see her green eyes glowing toward me. "Uhm, thank you."