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1 Nicholas Silva

The kisses cah a protective net Fast, sharp, unwelcome

Her lips pecked atfor some sort of weak spot, where she could break skin and suck out my blood I wondered briefly if I should let her Just succu in this fraud of a relationship for two years now

All so Papi and Ma himself a queen

I rolled ontooff the kisses She huffed a breath of air before I felt the bed tremble as she fell back on it I kept my eyes trained forward, on my chipped dresser, set so that it blocked half of the , keeping the dusty red curtain permanently closed

I hated the view It re it shutto look out at the constant reminder of my, eh, situation The only reason I even kneas h the unblocked side of the , throwing half ht and the other into shadow

“What’s going on Nick? ¿Que pasa?”

The question didn’t co, very empathetic woman, which irl, and a beautiful one, I’d adhtest, but her beauty could never be denied

I rolled over, facing her, looking into those doe-like green eyes, so across her forehead, hiding a couple of freckles that dotted her flawless skin Her pouty lips looked extra pouty Norot a smile I had always felt like that’s what I was supposed to do, hoas supposed to act So I had

But not today Not after thisThere would be no more kisses

“You’re scaringa lot of us You’ve just been in your room, for hours Days Youlunch last weekend That was one of your favorite events of the entire year And you wouldn’t even tell me why…”

Because I can’t look into anyone’s eyes any fraud

“I haven’t been feeling well,” I answered, giving my default response to any similar questions hurled my way over the past couple of months Cristella wasn’t the only one who could pick up on ht it up over dinner about teeks ago The conversation lasted approxi about the preparations for the Christmas festival

“But why?” Cristella had detero for idle chat over holiday decorations “What’s going on in that head of yours?”