Page 35 of Tristian (The Doherty Mafia)
I didn’t feel safe anymore.
I hadn’t felt safe since I left Tristian’s apartment, and being out here without him gave me the chills. Once again I had the feeling of being watched.
“We can talk about it when we get back,” I said, dragging her out of the place.
“You’re such a fuckin’ bitch!” she yelled, finally managing to slip away from me. “You know, I felt sorry for you when Sonya dropped you. I tried to be friends with you because you had no friends but all you ever cared about was yourself. Your grades. Your college essay. Your fuckin’ tests.”
She spun around to face me, her breathing was ragged. I stopped walking because I was surprised to hear her say these things. Initially I thought she was just behaving erratically because she was drunk, but I had the feeling now that she’d always had something personal against me.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I didn’t ask for your friendship, Libby.”
“No. But I tried to be your friend anyway because I pitied you. You sad little nerd. And you’re still the same. You’re just a boring no-fun.”
Her words stung me even though I knew she was irrational because she was drunk, but there had to be some truth to it, I thought.
“I don’t think you really want me staying with you,” I said.
“No, actually, I don’t. I was annoyed when you turned up at my door. Tonight was supposed to be fun, just a way to kill some time because I knew I’d be bored out of my fuckin’ mind if I was stuck at home with you all night. And now you’ve gone and ruined that too!”
“By refusing to have a threesome with you?” I snapped.
Libby rolled her eyes at me and walked away, and I had no choice but to follow her. Even though I didn’t want to.
Eventually I was able to convince her to get into a cab and go back to her apartment. I just wanted to get off the streets and be somewhere safe where I wouldn’t be seen or recognized. I’d already made up my mind. I couldn’t live with Libby any longer. I’d spend the night at her place, make sure she was okay and in the morning, I’d leave.
I didn’t know where I’d go but I hoped Libby would let me use her computer so I could look up a few things on the internet. I needed to figure out bus times and train schedules. I needed to go somewhere obscure where I could get lost.
We sat in silence in the cab. Libby was fuming. I felt her hatred coming off onto me. I never realized she disliked me this much. I was completely mistaken about her.
“If you had never sent me those postcards, I’d have never landed up here. I thought you genuinely wanted to keep in touch.”
“I sent you those fuckin’ postcards because I figured you didn’t have a life otherwise. I wasn’t expecting you to just turn up here. And seriously, what are you even doing here? Coming and messing up my buzz.”
Maybe I should’ve told her the truth. Maybe if she knew the kind of things I’d recently been through, she wouldn’t think I was so boring. But I wasn’t here to prove my ‘cool-quotient’, so I said nothing.
“Seriously, Elsie, the only thing you’ve ever had going for you are your looks. Your olive skin and brown eyes, etcetera,” she snarled, rolling her eyes and looking away.
So it was jealousy? Had Libby always been jealous of me?
“Well, I’m glad you’ve had a chance to come clean about how you feel. Our paths don’t ever have to again.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“I’ll leave tomorrow,” I added.
“Good,” she said as the cab came to a stop. She jumped out first, so I had to pay for the ride with my limited resources.
I followed her into the building, already regretting all the decisions I ever made. How could I be such a terrible judge of character?
It seemed like I’d judged everybody wrong. I didn’t really know Sonya, clearly, I’d never really known my father either. I was completely wrong about Libby too.
And Tristian.
I was wrong about him.
We took the stairs up to her apartment and Libby fumbled in her purse for her key.
As she stumbled through the door and flipped a light on, I noticed the shapes within the dark inside.
The door swiftly shut behind us before I had a chance to react.
The light came on and I saw the men standing in Libby’s apartment.
They looked so big and imposing in here, battling for space.
Aldo Baron and four of his men.
“What the fuck is this?” Libby screeched, staring at the men in the room.
I’d turned completely cold and numb when I saw them. I couldn’t feel my hands or my feet. My head spun out of control. I’d known I was in danger of being discovered by Aldo, but this quickly?
