Page 114 of The Monster I Am
Tai
Calvin looks ready to go round two as I unclip his leash, wheezing pathetically while trying to make it sound intentional. Ah, yes—the manly sounds of breathing. I’m definitely deliberately attempting to sound like a dying lawnmower.
The pupsicle nearly killed me when he decided to chase a bird up the hill on the way back home. It was very much a choice of sprint for your life or have my epidermis violently assaulted by the pavement.
Clearly, I’m an athlete though so I handled it like a pro.
Fuck me. Why do we have stairs?!
I reach the landing, desperately gripping the railing while having flashing visions of my corpse tumbling down the stairs like a trash bin in a storm.
At least the thoughts of my own mortality are distracting me from the other morbid thing.
Today’s the anniversary of Mom’s passing.
Oh, and all the drama like Ry being tossed around in a tin can and Bex getting arrested while her house is trashed. Just minorinconveniences, really. We won’t even touch on Hunter’s little problem involving Bex’s mysterious friend.
I’m still mad that I couldn’t find him. I’m positive that it’s because of my innocent confession that she’s barely provided information on this Lark guy.
I’ll keep looking.
My legs are seconds away from buckling and at this stage, I’m not above crawling on my hands and knees the rest of the way to my bedroom. Except someone moving out of the corner of my eye catches my attention.
At first I expect it to be Soph coming to mock my misery, but I straighten up so fast that my spine cracks blissfully.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, holding my breath so he can’t hear me dying.
Parker’s blank stare doesn’t change. The two of us just watch the other and I begin to panic, certain my face is turning red from the lack of oxygen.
“Oh, just breathe, you idiot,” comes the loveable voice of Sophia Beckett. “We already saw you out the window running for your life. Bad cardio runs in the family.”
I spot her hidden in the doorway, arms crossed, disgustingly joyful smirk at my obvious pain and suffering. “I am not bad at cardio.”
Lies. All lies.
“Ahuh,” she mutters, looking me up and down. “Maybe if you still had the new sneakers.”
“Don’t start,” I growl.
Soph’s lips twitch amusingly. “See here’s the problem, bro. All of your problems involve Calvin, yet you keep blaming me. Klein wouldnever.”
Did she just… call me bro?
Whatever. I have little breathing capacity left to try to decipher the psychological mysteries of my twin’s brain.
“Sophia,” I drawl. “There’s a Cedar Heights person in our house.” My gaze flickers to Parker in an attempt to redirect the conversation.
She steps out into the hallway next to him. “If you want Bex here, call her, dipshit.”
Grumbling, I wipe the sweat off my forehead. “I can’t. She’s with Archer. And I have to work on some stupid decryption stuff.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she mutters exasperated, turning on her heel and stalking into the bedroom.
Parker doesn’t follow her, and I find myself holding my breath again, puffing my chest out.
“Decryption?” He asks with mild interest, thankfully ignoring my bizarre body language. “What keys do you use?”
My head bobs in surprise. “You know about keys?”
