Rewrite the Stars (bxb)

Chapter 4 Mall

I didn't sleep at all last night. After sitting in the dark for who knows how long, I went back inside and sat on the couch for another length of time. By the time I found enough energy to go back to the room, the sun was rising. Not really knowing what to do, I crept my way back up to the room and slipped into the bed. By the time Peter woke up, my head pounded, my eyes were burning, and everything looked fuzzy. I may have cried a little too much last night.

I wait until the door clicks closed before I get up and go into the bathroom, splashing some water on my face to hopefully get the red to go away from my eyes. It doesn't work.

A knock sounds at the door though, and I whip around, instinctually saying, "Hold on a sec." I go over to the door, opening it and glancing at Orion standing there, holding a plate of some kind of food. "I'm not hungry."

He holds up some pills. "I'm not letting you take these on an empty stomach." He holds the plate in front of me.

Two pieces of toast with some jelly and three strips of bacon. "I don't like bacon."

"Then don't eat the bacon. But eat the toast."

I glance at him and remember how terrible I look. I take the plate from him, making sure to keep my head down, and walk to the bed. He follows and sits down beside me on the bed. We sit in silence as I eat the toast. Once I take the first bite, I realize how hungry I actually am, but I don't tell Orion. When I'm done, he hands me the pills and a glass of water. I take them from him and hold them in my hand, staring at them. I've never had Advil before. Mom is very against any type of medication. When we were sick, our "medicine" was to sleep, drink water, and get fresh air. I think this is the first time I'm even seeing the pill.

Let's see if it works, I guess. I put the pills in my mouth and down the water. "Thank you," I say, handing him the cup back.

"You're welcome." He pauses. "If you ever need anything, you can come to me, Blythe."

"I know."

"Why'd you go outside last night?"

Fear goes through me. How'd he find out about that? I feel like I'm going to get in trouble. "I wanted some air."

"At four in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Is something bothering you?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Are you settling in okay?"

I glance out the window. "Yeah." I don't say anything else, hoping he'll get the message that I don't want to talk right now, but also yelling at myself to be polite.

"I know this must be hard—leaving your home behind and staying with all these strangers—but at one point, that was everyone here. We've all been where you are now. You're not alone. Just give everyone a chance."

Never gonna happen.

"Jax and Peter wanted to go shopping today," he says. "Why don't you come along? It could be fun."

My heart skips a beat, but I know I don't have a choice. I don't want to get yelled at. "Sure."

He stands up. "Great. We're leaving in ten minutes. Just head down when you get ready."

I nod, and he finally leaves. I get up and go to the toilet, leaning over and dropping the pills from my mouth into the bowl before flushing. I can't believe that actually worked. I totally just assumed that it only worked in movies.

But then I mentally groan. The last thing I want to do is leave the room, let alone go shopping. I hate shopping. It always leads to an attack. But if I don't go, he'll get mad at me, so I get dressed, stuff my ipod in my shorts pocket, so it's hidden under my hoodie, and leave the room. I head down to the kitchen where the others are. They smile when I enter, but I couldn't care less. I'm so tired, and everything hurts. I remember my red eyes and try not to look at anyone.