[ WP ] `` This body is n't even mine anymore ... ''

A girl sat on the edge of the bed. Her sweaty hands were folded in her lap, her eyes, wide and unmoving, were fixed on them. A shower ran in the bathroom a few feet away, the door open. A man's voice echoed, singing. 
 
 She opened and closed a fist slowly, wondering if she could feel it. Barely. She did n't feel like herself. She had n't for a while now. The girl touched the warm metal necklace around her neck. Her fingers traced the cross, side to side, then up and down a few times before her hands returned to her lap. Her eyes shut and she felt the tears building up. She cleared her throat and blinked a few times. 
 
 A phone beeped on the nightstand, the screen lighting up to show the notification. She fell backwards onto the bed and rolled over. Without grabbing it, she looked at the message preview on her screen. 
 
 > Anissa 
 
 > It's me or him, Ashley. You need to accept who you are and be with me. I'm tired of this back and... 
 
 The rest of the message was cut off. The screen dimmed again. One of the tears she had beein holding back escaped and dripped down her chin. The cross necklace felt warmer on her breasts. 
 
 The shower squeaked off and wet feet slapped the tile. The girl cleared her throat again and buried her eyes in the pillow case. 
 
 A man with a towel around his waste leapt toward her, beaming, and launched himself onto the bed next to her, causing her to bounce a couple inches in the air, and his towel to fly off. 
 
 `` Hi, Ash,'' he smiled. He propped his head up with his hand as he laid on his side, wetting the sheets. He leaned in to plant a kiss on her neck. As his lips pushed against her throat she got stiff. And the rest of tears that she had managed to stifle up until now burst through, and she sobbed. 
 
 The man recoiled in surprise at her reaction. She laid on her side facing away and cried deeply into the sheets. The cross necklace that hung just off the edge of the bed felt heavy, like an anchor tied to her neck. 
 
 The man wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed his face into the back of her neck. His warm, damp skin felt alien to her, unnatural. The wetness seemed to envelope her skin and the feeling engulfed her whole body, until her skin, too, felt alien, slimy and green and reptilian and inhuman. And then the tears stopped. Her eyes fell out of focus as she concentrated on her skin and his. 
 
 She felt like her brain was parasite to the rest of her body, like form she did n't belong to, in a world she did n't want to be a part of. 
 
 His hugs could n't fix her or what she felt, but she wished they could.
