Page 35 of Torn
Lisa just lost a point.
“I surpassed lonely a long time ago, honey. But thanks.”
Her cheeks turn crimson. “On that note, I’m going to go inside. But I’d really like to see you again.”
“I’ll call you.” I give her a quick kiss before she unlocks her door and disappears into her house.
Maybe I’m stupid, looking for something I’ll never find, and I should’ve continued this date like a normal guy would have instead of going back home to my empty house and empty bed alone. I just want that magical feeling I wrote about years ago when I used to write the lyrics for the band’s rock ballads. I want crazy fucking love. I want someone who’ll never let me go. I want to wake up to my best friend every day.
CHAPTER 7
Kenzi—age twelve
Toren—age twenty-seven
“What’s wrong?” He’s towering over my bed, his faded leather jacket dusty from the ride he just came back from.
I roll over onto my side, away from his stare, and pull my blanket up higher, almost covering my head.
“It’s just my stomach.”
The side of the bed sinks under the weight of his body as he sits beside me. His hand lightly touches my shoulder.
“Kenzi? Are you sick?”
Another cramp tears through my stomach. I’m pretty sure I’m dying. I want my mom. The last thing I want to do is talk about this with him.
Grinding my teeth, I force myself to answer him. “I’m fine. My stomach just hurts.”
“Did you eat something bad? Have you been throwing up?”
“No, Uncle Tor. Go away.”
A frustrated sigh comes from behind me. “I’m the only one here, remember? I can’t go away. Stop being like this and tell me what’s wrong. Do you want me to take you to a doctor? I could call your grandmother…”
“Tor, no. Just leave me alone.” I want to cry from the pain in my stomach and the unexplained sorrow and irritability that’s taking over my life.
“I’m not leaving. Your parents are gone for two more days, so you’re stuck with me unless you want me to call your grandmother.”
“Please don’t. I don’t want to bother her.”
Another cramp rips through my uterus and I scrunch myself up further into the fetal position.
He clears his throat. “Do you have your period?” His voice is soft, tentative, and caring, and I want to kick him.
“Oh my God… did you seriously just ask me that? Get out of my room.”
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Kenz. Do you need anything? Have you had this before or…?” His voice fades off awkwardly.
“Just leave me alone!” God. Could my life be any more embarrassing?
The sound of his boots thudding along my carpet and down the hall is a relief. Good. Now I can suffer in peace. I’m furious with my parents right now for being gone all the time and not being here when I’m having some kind of crisis. It’s not fair.
A few minutes later, he’s back in my room and throws a small pink bag on the bed. I peer into it to see a bunch of tampons and napkins. I rally between throwing up and crawling under the bed for the rest of my life. My dad’s best friend just touched period stuff. There must be some kind of law against this.
“I got those from your mom’s bathroom. Since you won’t answer me, I hope you know how to use them because that goes way beyond my realm of responsibility.”
I think I grow fangs when I glare up at him. “I hate you right now. I want to die.” I pull the blanket over my head.