Chapter 40
My gaze turned to a glare when I saw who was standing there.
Penelope shuffled on her feet and fidgeted with her fingers. She dropped her gaze under my glare and flinched silently.
"What do you want?" My tone was harsh but I was past the point of caring and I wasn't done. I would never be done.
"What more can you possibly want? Wasn't it enough? You can tell Sonia to fuck herself. You can go back scurrying to her and tell her that she better watch her back because I'm not going to stay silent and watch as she taunts me with my brother as bait. You can tell that motherfucking bitch to fuck off my case and to sleep with an eye open." I snarled and she winced at my tone.
I was at the point of no return. I'm not going to stand watch anymore while she makes me feel like crap. Not when she brought Bryant up. Damn being silent to hell. This time, I'll fight back and this time, I won't lose for whatever it's worth.
"That stranger was never there, was he?" She whispered to herself but I narrowed my eyes and glared daggers onto the crown of her head. If only looks could kill.
"Don't you dare bring that up, that doesn't concern you anymore." I told her coldly and turned my back towards her, looking out from the balcony. I knew she was referring to the story I made up as to how I survived the ambush that night.
I heard footsteps approaching but I didn't bother to tell her to stop. I was too tired to care. It's been a couple years. Why can't they just leave me alone?
"They'll grow tired of it," they said.
"They'll stop eventually," they said.
Well boohoo you mother-lying-geckos, look at what I'm going through now.
"You saved my life that day," she whispered softly and everything in me wanted to spill it all out. That I brought that danger to her in the first place; that I was dangerous; that she shouldn't be hanging around with someone like me because I was a bad influence to her. I was a trouble magnet.
I shuddered at the thought of the dream I had that night. I woke up this morning feeling like shit and looking like shit too.
I kept my mouth shut though. One wrong move and all will be revealed. She's a threat. She's with the enemy. With the girl who's life goal is to make my life a living hell for no apparent reason.
"I know you heard my conversation in the hall with Sonia. What I don't know is how much of it that you've heard-"
"I know enough." I interrupted her and glared at the grass in the distance below us but she continued as if I didn't even utter a single word.
"I wanted to clear the air for you. Yes, I'm a part of Sonia's circle of friends-"
"More like bitches," was my snarky remark and she visibly winced at the term but didn't bother denying it.
"I can't justify the things my friends did and justifying them is not why I'm here."
"Then why are you here?" I snapped, losing my patience with all the beating around the bush shit.
"The point is, yes, I did befriend you because Sonia wanted something to hold against you but I didn't give her anything. I witnessed what you did for that old man who swept the road in the middle of the night and what you did for me," she explained, sounding desperate for my understanding.
I was once again reminded of that old man, reminded by how the sight of the tired man sweeping the road caused that tug in my heart. I searched for that familiar tug, anything that can help me vanquish this horrible feeling of betrayal and anger but I found nothing.
I looked at her coldly, my face was void of any emotion but I managed to quirk an eyebrow at her in a challenging manner.
"And why in the world should I believe anything that comes out of your mouth?"
A pinch of hope decorated and lit up her face as she angled her body to face me.
"Because you saved my life," was her only response as if the answer to all of the problems in the world was that simple.
I scoffed at her response, "That hardly changes anything." She furrowed her eyebrows at me. "Yes, it does."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Ye-"
The sound of my ringtone sliced through the childish argument we had and I scowled, digging into my pocket to retrieve it.
"Hello?" I snapped into it and raised a hand to halt Penelope's words.
"Seriously, Pix, you need to get your ass checked up, who knows what Moffat's corpse can do to your sanity." Levy's voice rang through the line and I held in a small smirk.
"I'm a bit busy, dude." I was being evasive with mentioning Lev's name because Penelope's ears were practically prying into the call.
"Alright, alright, chill. I just wanted to remind you about tonight. You should arrive there around 9, don't be late." His tone was light but there was seriousness underneath it and despite my conscience coming up with a sarcastic remark, I bit it in and ended the call with a quick ‘Okay'.
"What are you going to do tonight at 9?"
I could feel irritation bubble up inside me. I shot her a warning glare.
"None of your bloody business," I snapped before turning around and fled back inside the building, leaving a gaping Penelope behind.
