The Arrangement Anthology 1(225)

“Who knew,” Mel snorts and shakes her head.

“I know, right?” Amber laughs and plops down on her bed. “He doesn’t have copies anywhere. I asked.”

“He could have lied to you,” Sean says bluntly.

Amber shakes her head. “Not him. He likes to show off, and if he uploaded them to his computer in his dorm, let’s just say that more videos would have shown up this morning. Plus, he tends to keep stuff like that on him at first because he doesn’t like to share. Speaking of which, give me the phone.” She holds out her hand, but no one hands it to her. Amber sighs dramatically. “My videos are on there too. I want to delete them before the asswipe posts them everywhere.” I hand her the phone and let her find her files in silence.

Sean watches her and from the tension in his arms, I can tell that he wants to smash something. My nerves are totally gone and I feel like I’m going to lose it and burst into a ball of snot and tears. Amber tosses me the phone, which I hand to Sean. He pockets the thing and looks down at me. “Come on.” He tilts his head toward the door, like I should automatically follow.

What am I? A dog? Woof. Here I come Sean. Pant. Pant. Fuck it. I fall into step behind him, and walk down the hallway with him and Mel. She’s still pissed. I know how much she wants to bite his head off. Her jaw is locked and she finally comes unhinged in the stairwell.

“I don’t trust you with her.” Mel snaps as she stomps down the metal steps.

“No one asked you to.” Classic Sean response, and like always, I’m caught in the middle.

“Guys, stop it.” I’m so diplomatic. I could have ended the Cuban Missile Crisis in a day. Did you just see that massive about of diplomatic action? Sha’zoom! Yeah. Okay, I suck at stopping fights and I can tell that they’re both brimming with stress and ready to kill anyone that steps into their path, including fuzzy bunnies. God save the bunnies.

They stop on the landing one floor down, ready to duel—verbally or with weapons—it’s hard to say with these two. “You had one job, Ferro, and you left her alone! How fucking stupid are you?” Mel bites her lips as they curl into a sneer.

Sean faces off and steps directly in front of her. “You’re not the only person who cares about her, so stop acting like you are. There was no way to know who was trying to hurt her.”

“It was him, ass hat!” Mel yells and points up the stairs toward my room.

“Seriously, guys, cut it out.” No one listens to me. I could toss my ass over the railing and jump. I wonder if I could grab one of the railings in a Spiderman fashion. I’d probably rip my arms off, which means Peter Parker is cooler than me.

Mel and Sean are in each other’s faces, growling like rabid animals. I hate listening to people fight. It makes my mind wander down slightly insane routes, so I don’t have to endure the yelling. My mom must have dropped me down a flight of stairs when I was a baby.

Awh, what the hell. I throw my leg over the metal railing and they don’t notice until both feet are on the wrong side.

Sean turns and looks at me wide-eyed. “What are you doing?”

Mel glares at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have, because I’m afraid of heights and I don’t really care that it’s a long way down. “Get your scrawny ass back over here right now. I ain’t even playing with you, Avery. So help me God!” She actually stomps her foot. On me it would look ridiculous, but on Mel it looks scary. It probably has to do with the anger in her eyes and the fury on her face. Think Rumplestiltskin right before he fell through the floor. Hissy fit to the max, man.

“I hate this,” I say, not looking directly at either of them. Instead, my eyes wander to the cement floor in front of me. It’s really dirty. “I hate not knowing what’s happening or who’s trying to hurt me. I hate that you two think you have to watch out for me, that I’m too stupid to look after myself.”

“Avery,” Mel laughs my name, “you’re standing on the wrong side of the railing to ask questions like that.”

Sean’s eyes are on me, but he doesn’t move or speak. He doesn’t scold Mel or hold out his hand, but I feel his gaze on the side of my face and feel the worry in his eyes.

“A fall from this height would break my leg or an ankle. Don’t get me wrong, because that would suck,” I say, and come back onto their side of the rail. Sitting on top of the thing, I add, “I can take care of myself most days.”

“Lately, that hasn’t been happening, sweetie.” Mel replies. When I don’t get off the banister, she flaps her arms and squeals like she can’t stand it. “Get off the railing! You’re freaking me out! Get down! Get down! Get down!” The tirade is enough to make Sean glance at her. Mel sucks in a deep breath of air like she’s trying not to cry.