Page 84 of The Masks She Wore

?“Rae,” Jack warned.

?I headed for my bedroom door.

?“Who is that?”

?“Some jerk I fucked,” I answered, hearing his chair scraping across the floor. I picked up my pace, making it through my bedroom door and slamming it shut a second before he shoved against it. “I don’t need your warnings,” I stated bitterly as I threw the lock and headed for the bathroom, doing the same to that door just as I heard my bedroom door shatter open. “I’ve learned my lesson.” He better replace that door.

?“Rae,” he snarled, jiggling the handle of the bathroom door.

?I leaned against it, feeling the vibrations of his rage shudder through the wood.

?“He sounds dangerous, are you okay?”

?“Yeah, he’s just angry because I found out the girl he invited over this morning fucked him.” What was wrong with me? What? Because I was humiliated, I was shutting myself in the bathroom? I was better than this. How did he turn me into this already?

?“What the fuck? He invited a girl over the morning after?”

?“He’s a sadist,” I said bitterly, not wanting to get into the fact that he had been here for a week, not a night.

?Jack laughed through the door, the sound inherently evil. “You haven’t seensadistyet, Princess. Hang up the phone.”

?“Okay, okay, just…” Viv inhaled deeply. “What happened? Tell me exactly what happened.”

?“If you answer her, you’ll pay for it.”

?My brows pulled together, and I looked towards the door. “How do you know who I’m talking to?”

?“I cloned your phone. What better way to keep track of my property than cloning their device?”

?I rolled my eyes, letting my head fall back against the door. Goddammit.

?“What did he say?”

?“He saw your name when I walked back to my bedroom,” I lied.

?“Creep,” she sneered. “So, tell me then. Tell me everything.”

?I knew she couldn’t be trusted, I understood that, but fuck. I had no one else in the world I could talk to. Not one single person. She had been my friend for years. I couldn’t just let that go.

?“Rae,” Jack warned.

?I glared at nothing. “I met him at the carnival,” I told her. “We exchanged numbers and last night I got lonely, so I called him. He came over like the desperate dog he was, fucked me, passed out beside me, and when I woke up this morning, he was talking to some girl at my dining room table. He claimed she was his partner at work, or whatever,” I waved off. “It’s his job, but she was being rude, so I tried to put her in her place, and she revealed to me that they’ve fucked too.”

?I closed my eyes and shook my head, shoving my hair back, my shoulders falling. God, it sounded so childish, but I was in the right, I know I was. “It’s not…I don’t care that they fucked,” I told her, wrapping an arm around my waist, feeling those bandages pull. “I really don’t, I just…I don’t know what I feel. I’m just exhausted and my life is falling apart, and I don’t know what the Hell is happening,” I said in a rush before I could stop myself.

?Viv laughed lightly. “A bit dramatic that your life is falling apart over some boy,” she said with a smile, causing me to roll my eyes again.

?“Yeah, I guess.” If only she knew.

?She was quiet for a second and then she released a breath. “Okay, listen to me. Rae, you’re beautiful, and you’re strong, and you don’t need pieces of shit like him inviting girls over to what? Talk to you? He’s flaunting. In your own house. Dump the trash, take a shower, do yourself up, and remember who you are, okay?”

?My eyes filled, my throat closing, and sure, I could blame it on the exhaustion or the lack of coffee, but in reality, all I could think about was how long this would last. How many more conversations would I have with her before it all ended? If she wasn’t this person, then who was she? What was her game? What was the point in any of this? Why did she spend so much time with me throughout High School, and all of the years after building this friendship with me? What was the point in any of it? “I wish I could remember who that was.”

?“Girl,” she laughed, “you’re Rae fucking Bennett. Unrelenting, kind as Hell, but not afraid to kick ass when needed. If this guy made you doubt yourself this fast, then he’s not the kind of person you need in your life. Now, pick yourself up by your 200$ thong, and get ready. There’s a thing tonight I wanted to take you too. A surprise, last minute birthday gift. You have to come to my city though, and you need to be here by 9, okay? Think you can dump the trash and head over? We can remember who you are together. SomeLion Kingshit or something.”

?I chewed on my lip, glancing back at the now quiet door. He would hate it, but what the Hell? What was the harm in one last night with my best and only friend? One last hoorah before my life completely imploded. “Yeah,” I agreed, my heart skipping a beat. “Yeah, okay, I’ll be there.”

?“Great,” she beamed. “I’ll text you the details.”

---