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“Screw you, Beast”

“With or without the lights on, Cinderstella?”

She grew flush and stuttered a bit before shifting around uncomfortably “Listen, neither one of us wants to be here, so let’s stay out of one another’s way, okay? Six months will be over before you know it, and we can bothmore than a distant memory to each other”

“Looking forward to it”

“Good”

“Great”

“Fan-freaking-tastic!”

I rolled et the last word in?”

“No!”

“Good”

“I’—”

“Jeez, wo? You talk too much”

“You speak too little”

I went quiet

She kept talking

I huffed

She huffed back dramatically “Huff!” she shouted

“What the fuck was that?”

She puffed out her chest “I huffed at your huffing”

I considered if this woman was truly unwell, but I didn’t speak back because I didn’t want to give her the opportunity to keep the conversation going

We were the odd couple, and a part ofto me over the next six e silence had been in my life until that very moment

“Be nicer to her,” Connor said

“What?”

“You hearda dick You have to break down your barriers a bit, Damian,” Connor commented as we sat in the theater rooht, and Stella was doing whatever it was that Stella did Probably dancing under theto the ocean or some weird shit

Connor suggested atch a h, for the past twenty et the ave up and plopped down in one of the ridiculously co

“My barriers are fine,” I disagreed “Boundaries are good”

“Yes,” he agreed “But coldness is not Stella’s a nice person”

“What’s your point?”