The Purple Doritos

Chapter 10

He smacked me.

Jorden smacked me on my head.

"I'll kill you" I gritted under my teeth.

I think I heard him mumble a "drama queen" but my mind was busy vacationing in Hawaii to refocus on reality.

"What the fuck are you doing. I knew you were lazy but gee, Katherine your dorm's like 20 steps far"

My eyes adjusted to the dark room in front of me. The teachers were given a choice to eat at their 'rooms' and I suppose the cleaning crew should have arrived anytime now as the clock showed a perfect 11:30.

The room was empty except me and Jorden 5 feet from me.

A part of me was sad for hailey not coming to look for me but I shoved that unpleasant thought aside while I came to the conclusion:

I had fallen asleep on the table as everyone left, probably thinking I was tired. Or they just didn't give a damn.

"Why are you here anyway? Planning to smuggle in leftover food?"

My effort to change the topic succeeded.

I hadn't planned to talk to him anytime soon in the trip after today's outburst, but what could I say?

"Ummm I forgot my phone here" he shrugged casually.

I subtly scrutinized his messy hair and distracted gaze.

My mouth opened without an order from my brain.

"Who?"

"Huh? Who what"

"Who did you hook up with Jorden"

I couldn't give less fucks about his 'social' life.

Why am I so disturbingly weird?

"Angela" and now the only thing occupying my mind was his fanatical gaze trying to pierce the shield around my eyes which blocked him out.

I believed the shield worked two ways, as his enigmatic eyes frustrated me as they always did, from the beginning of time.

I tried to force my mind to think of something else.

"It's Angelica"

I failed.
Why did I just say that?

"Actually it's Angela" he said, clearly as an effort to subsist the conversation.

He put his hands in his pockets and just stood there.

"You didn't have to hit me to wake me up"

"I did. You are the heaviest sleeper I know. And besides, it was barely a nudge"

It was.

After a long silence,
I soliloquized "you wanna go for a walk?"

I give up.
My mouth works on its own because my brain knows that this is the person I snapped at not even 6 hours ago.

Why were we pretending that this afternoon's events did not take place?

Note to myself: your brain can't function properly after 10pm.

After awkwardly reaching a small farm land, we plumped ourselves down on a broken old bench.

It felt profoundly weird; wrong, to sit here, making an effort at small talk, when we had oh so many issues.

Like we know each other's true selves.