That Little Box That Beats In Your Chest

“Hey, what’s that?” Zack asked, pointing to the blood on her costume.

“Um, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Lacey quickly rattled off.

“It doesn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me…”

“Ok, fine. You want to know what happened? It’s stupid and embarrassing.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re sure?”

“I asked, so I think I do want to know.”

“I ,” Lacey struggled to find an excuse, but to no avail, when suddenly, “I was shaving my legs, and I got distracted, and I cut myself by accident.” She could tell Zack had noticed the slight hesitation in her voice. She was hoping he was gullible enough to believe her.

“So embarrassing,” Zack mocked, stretching out the ‘o’. Then, the skin between his perfectly arched eyebrows, wrinkled. His face took on a very confused look. “What razor do you use?”

“Zack, what the hell kind of question is that? Does it really matter?” Lacey asked, as she swatted his arm. She didn’t know where he was going with this, but she was getting worried.

“Just answer the question. What colour is it? How many blades does it have?”

Lacey answered, “It’s red and white, and it’s got three of them. I really don’t see where you’re going with this.”

“How come there only seems to be one cut? Normally, there would be three in a row. I would know, I’m the worst at shaving my face.”

“It was at a weird angle, ok?” Lacey spat out.

“Ok, ok, don’t overreact. I was just wondering… I’ve had friends who used to self-harm, and I get really paranoid really quickly,” Zack explained, hoping he didn’t offend her, accusing her of hurting herself.

“I get it,” she said, “I know people too…” If only Zack knew to what extent that little fact was real, Lacey thought to herself. She smiled sadly at Zack, and got up to go find Rian. She had said enough to Zack, and talking to Jack or Alex didn’t seem very appealing to her.

She made her way back into the house, and wound her way through mobs of drunk, dancing teens. As she found herself in what appeared to be the living room, she saw Rian in a corner, chatting up some girl she assumed was the ‘Kara’ Rian had been so intent on finding at the beginning of the night. She didn’t want to interrupt, but Lacey could feel the last of her patience slowly fade away. She was tired, and the shock of finding out about Jack and Alex didn’t help much. Neither did Zack’s interrogation, for that matter. She walked up to Rian:

“Hey Rian.”

“Hey, I’m a little busy,” he said, giving Lacey a look that told her he was about to make a move.

“Sorry, but I was wondering when we were heading home. I’m really tired, and this costume isn’t the most comfortable.”

Kara smiled at Lacey, “I know what you mean, these angel wings are a pain to wear. I keep bumping into everything!”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding, “anyways, are we leaving soon?”

“Yeah, give me a half hour, I’ll come and find you, and we’ll get out of here,” he replied as he flashed Lacey his trademark smile. She returned his smile with one of her own, albeit less enthusiastically. She wanted to go home, even though she was dreading the drive, stuck between Alex and Jack…

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Lacey had found an empty seat in the kitchen, and sat there for a while, sipping on some Pepsi she had found on the table. She was content just sitting there, people-watching. She had tried scoping out the party for a guy she could talk to, but had given up her quest; her shyness would never have allowed her to approach this imaginary guy. She saw Zack walk into the room, but he didn’t seem to notice her. He walked-up to a girl, a blonde cheerleader-type, with a nice set of ‘personalities’, and even from across the room, Lacey could tell he was flirting with her. She scoffed, not believing her eyes. Zack, the quietest guy she had ever met, was making this girl laugh, and was using every opportunity possible to touch her. ‘So drunk Zack is a flirt,’ Lacey mused. She could get used to this Zack. He seemed to be having so much fun, and she found herself liking Zack quite a bit more. Knowing that he wasn’t always quiet; that he could be a lot of fun if he wanted to, fascinated Lacey. That is, until Zack (very loudly) complimented this cheerleader on her figure.

“You know what? You’re kinda cute,” he proclaimed as he set his hands on her waist. “You’re so skinny, too. It’s refreshing, ‘cause nowadays, everybody seems to be obese!” Zack laughed, while the girl giggled into his shoulder.

Lacey felt like crap. Just this morning, she had been wondering if her thighs were too big. She looked down at them now, and realized that, yes, they were much too big. She had been began eating normally again that past week, but hearing Zack pass that comment was too much. She had to lose weight. Zack seemed to hate fat people, and she fell into that category. She got up and left the room, not wanting to hear another word.

If Lacey had simply glanced around the room, she would have noticed one of two guys leaning against the counter, looking over her way, evidently working up the courage to talk to her…