Chapter 43: Mean Girls
Nina
When I got home, Jessica and Lori were both furious. “Where were you!” Jessica yelled as soon as I walked in the door. I didn’t even have a chance to hang my jacket up.
“You totally ditched us,” Lori chimed in, folding her arms across her chest. ” We thought you got kidnapped or something. Then that freak typhoon hit and you still weren’t answering your phone.”
“Okay, mom and dad,” I said, tossing my bag down on the counter. “I’m sorry. Just, you know… I was lonely, and there was a cute guy.” Jessica let out a big sigh. “Well, you could’ve at least let us know you were leaving,” she said. “But I know with everything going on lately, stuff like that happens.”
Meanwhile, Lori didn’t seem convinced at all. She had always been more intuitive than Jessica and could always see through a lie, but she didn’t say anything this time. Still, seeing her hurt expression made me feel awful for lying and I couldn’t let myself walk away like this.
I took a deep breath. “Actually,” I said, looking at my feet, “that’s not what happened. I did something really stupid, and honestly I’m lucky that it didn’t turn out worse than it did.”
Jessica and Lori were silent. When I looked up at them, they both looked concerned and confused. I sighed and continued. “I didn’t watch my drink at the bar and I got drugged.”
Jessica gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. Lori, without a word, ran over to me and threw her arms around me.
No one said anything for a few moments. The longer Lori held me, the more I felt like I was going to cry until I couldn’t hold it in anymore and I started sobbing into Lori’s shoulder. Jessica came over and rubbed my back, tears in her eyes as well.
“You weren’t at that asshole’s place all night, were you?” Lori asked finally, pulling away a bit to look at me. The smudged makeup under her eyes from the night before made her expression even darker.
I shook my head. “No. It didn’t get that far. Thankfully, a friend of mine saw what was happening and stepped in and took me to the hospital.”
My roommates both let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t feel as bad not telling them that I was actually picked up by a talking skeleton and carried to a werewolf’s apartment, so I just left it at that.
Lori smiled up at me through her tears. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said. I didn’t see Enzo or Luke at all for a few days. By Wednesday, I started to wonder if they were avoiding me, or if… They were doing something to the guy who tried to drug me. The thought haunted me all day, but I choked it down in order to get through classes and work.
On Wednesday night, I had just finished up work with Tiffany and was heading home. We had spent the day in her office treating students, since there was a flu outbreak on campus. Needless to say, after hours of tending to feverish and vomiting students, I was exhausted and just happy to be going home.
The air was cool and brisk, a welcome relief after being cooped up in an office all day, and the campus was quiet. I enjoyed nights like this more than anything; feeling the cool autumn breeze on my skin and hearing the leaves crunch under my boots.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the universe had something else in store for me, because Lisa was crossing the quad and heading directly for me.
I stopped in my tracks as she approached. She looked strung out on something, storming toward me with her fists balled up at her sides and her hair a mess. She was wearing her skimpy cheerleading uniform with no jacket, which was odd considering how chilly it was outside.
“Uh… hey,” I said nervously with a little wave when I realized that she was indeed headed straight for me.
“Hey, bitch,” she growled, not hesitating for a second before her hand flew forward and grabbed one of my braids, yanking me toward her. “Ow!” I yelped, trying to wrench my hair free from her surprisingly strong grip. “What are you doing?!”
“I saw you leaving Enzo’s apartment the other day, you dirty, pathetic little slut!” she yelled, yanking my hair so hard that tears came to my eyes.
“I didn’t– It’s not what you–” I said, but she didn’t seem to care. She clearly just wanted to fight.
Lisa released her grip on my hair and shoved me hard enough to send me to the ground, my laptop and notebooks falling out of my bag and slamming on the concrete. I groaned and attempted to stand, but she was on top of me in a flash like some sort of demon, clawing at me with her sharp, manicured nails.
“You fucking bitch!” she screamed, spit flying out of her mouth as she attacked me. I saw flashes of light as Lisa grabbed me by the throat and throttled me, hitting my head on the sidewalk. I grabbed her wrists and attempted to stop her, but it was no use. It was like she was on something, or possessed.
Her grip tightened around my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I flailed my arms as I tried to get her off of me, but the longer she choked me, the weaker I became. My vision started to fade…
“Stop!” I heard someone else scream. I heard the sound of people running toward us and saw two guys grab Lisa by her arms and yank her off of me, kicking and screaming like a feral animal.
I rolled over onto my hands and knees, coughing and sputtering as I held my sore throat with one hand while blood dripped down from my face onto the pavement. As I pushed myself back onto my knees and gasped for air, I saw a flash of a familiar baggy hoodie dart behind a building…
Luke?
Within a few moments, I heard a police siren and saw flashing red and blue lights pulling up to the quad. Two officers, one male and one female, jumped out and beelined for Lisa, who was still thrashing while the other two guys who had come to my rescue held her. They cuffed Lisa and put her in the back of the police car, then came over to me and helped me up.
“Can you come down to the station to give a statement?” the female police officer asked, rubbing my back once I was finally able to breathe properly. I really just wanted to go home, but I agreed anyway.
At the station, the female police officer took me to a private room and took my statement. I explained everything, which really only consisted of three things: Lisa thought I slept with her ex, she saw me walking home after work, and attacked me like she was on drugs. The whole time, the female officer nodded with a concerned expression on her face and took notes, then let me go with an ice pack for my face after I insisted that I didn’t want to go to the hospital.
I walked out into the lobby with the ice on my swollen face, tapping at my phone to use my last bit of money to call an Uber. “No need for that,” a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Enzo looking down at me.
“How did you-”
“Luke,” he responded. I knew I saw Luke running away. He must’ve gone to get Enzo. “C’mon,” Enzo said, putting his strong arm protectively around my shoulder. “ I’ll drive you home.”
