Euphoria

CHAPTER 16

    *FINN’S POV*

    I jerked awake from my fitful sleep and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. That’s when I realized I had fallen asleep when I was supposed to be watching Tinsley! I turned to look in the direction of Tinsley’s bed and my eyes widened. She was gone.

                                                                                           ****

    I started the car and drove out of the parking lot, as fast as I possibly could without crashing the car. She left. And if I hadn’t called her when I did, she probably would’ve been gone before I could do anything. 

    I sped past the coffee store that me and my friends always went to after school and after a few more minutes I could see a figure walking on the side of the road. 

    I stepped on the brakes and pulled the car over. I rolled the window down and waved at Tinsley. She got in and turned to face me. I didn’t start the car but instead turned to look at her. 

    “Hi.” She was the first to speak. “Where did you plan on going?” I ignored her greeting and instead asked her my own question. 

    I watched as she avoided my eyes and bit her lip. “I-I was going to work.” I felt my eyes widen and I stared at her in confusion. Work? What the hell? 

    “You’re what? Fourteen? And you go to work?” I looked at her from head to toe and as if my eyes could get any wider, they did. 

    “What. The. Hell. Are. You. Wearing.” I stared at the back piece of-of scrap on her body. It couldn’t even be called clothes! It covered absolutely nothing and left absolutely nothing to imagination. 

    “Tinsley. What is going on?” I scanned her face for any bit of emotion and watched as a lone tear fell down her cheek. 

    “I-I can’t tell you. Please.” I stared at her, waiting for her to break. I needed to know what was going on but Tinsley wouldn’t give. 

    “Tin. I want to help you. But I need to know what is wrong.” I turned away from the steering wheel to face her. 

    Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and twisted into a complicated knot at the top of her head. I could tell her hands were trembling because she was wringing them and trying desperately to hide them in her lap. The outfit, if it could even be called an outfit, was all black, from the choker at her neck, to the black stockings on her feet. 

    “Please, Finn. Please just drive.” I gave her one last look but obeyed and started the car.

    “Where to?”

                                                                                            ****

    The directions she gave me were vague but by the time we got where she finally needed to go, I was fuming.

    A strip club? You’ve got to be kidding me. I whirled to face Tinsley and opened my mouth to spew out the anger I was feeling, only to snap it shut. She was facing the window, and the light from the moon cast a sparkle to her eyes. A lone tear fell down her cheek and it took everything in me to not brush it away. 

    “Tinsley. Why are we here?” My voice seemed to bring her out of her trance, and then she turned to face me. Her lip quivered and a couple more tears fell from her cheeks. 

    “I’m sorry, Finn. I-I didn’t mean to hide things from you. I just felt so alone, as if no one understood me. I couldn’t find it in me to bother you with my misfortunes a-and after I went through our text-ts, I realized-” she stopped and inhaled a breath. I stared at her trying to process her words.

    “I realized that you didn’t like me, like that,” she fiddled with her hands and tugged at the helm of her shirt. 

    I sat there, frozen. She just- did she just? She did, didn’t she? She just confessed that she liked me! But me, being the stupid person am I, I just sat there frozen, unmoving.

    “It’s alright. I understand. You couldn’t possibly like someone like me. Someone that’s so brok-ken.” She stuttered on the last word but then she wiped her eyes and it was like a mask just settled over her.

    Her soft brown eyes hardened and the tears disappeared. This Tinsley - was different. Harder. Tough.

    “Tinsley-I don’t dislike you. I-,” I started to say but couldn’t seem to find the words. 

    I glanced up at her eyes and opened my mouth to try to continue when she held up a hand. “I understand, Finn. I really do. It’s okay.  I won’t bother you anymore.” With that, she stepped out of my car and walked into the strip club. 

                                                                                        ****

    I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. What the hell did I do? Why couldn’t I open my mouth and just tell her that I liked her? What was wrong with me?

    These thoughts swarmed my head and made me want to pull my hair out in frustration. I had to do something. 

    My phone chimed with a text and I pulled it out. 

    Evan-bro: Hey. How’d it go with Tinsley? 

    Finnish: It went okay. I might’ve screwed up.

    Evan-bro: I knew it. 

    Finnish: What do I do man? I’m so stupid.

    Evan-bro: Look. You need to talk to her. Next week is prom. Ask her out. Talk to her.

    Finnish: That. Is a really good idea. When should I do it?

    Evan-bro: Dude. TALK to her. AND then ask her out. Simple.

    Finnish: I don’t know if I can do this man.

    Evan-bro: You like her don’t you? If you actually do, you can do it.

    Finnish: I love her.

    Evan-bro: Then you can do it.

                                                                                            ****

    *TINSLEY’S POV* 

    I walked out of the strip club, extremely tired and worn out. I had slid into my mask but as the men continued trickling into the strip club and I was told to go tend to them, my mask had begun slipping.

    Confessing my feelings to Finn and him, totally shutting down, didn’t exactly help either. My wound had closed but it had continued throbbing a bit as I danced around the pole in the club. 

    I walked in the direction of the bus stop and sat down on the worn out bench. My phone chimed with an incoming call and I pulled it out. 

    Finn’s name flashed and I hesitated. Did I really want to talk to him right now? I held my phone closer to my chest and bit my lip. Maybe this friendship was never actually meant to be. 

    I slid the red button across the screen and shut my phone off. I couldn’t deal with him right now. My body was exhausted from the school day, the loss of blood, and getting yelled at by my boss. He only gave me half my earnings just because I was ten minutes late. 

    I rubbed my eyes and wrapped my arms around myself. I looked out, at both sides of the road. No sign of the bus. I sighed. Looked like another night of walking home. When was this going to end?

I just want to let you all know that you are NEVER alone. There is always someone that cares for you. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading and please like, comment, and follow! ~Hazel.