Page 135 of Tricky Girls

‘Are you still not done?’

‘No, but that’s not the issue here, Tilda. Keep the fuck up. We need alcohol for tonight. And, you know, food for the week.’ She looks at Nic. ‘You’ll have to hop on the ferry, man. It’s already getting dark out and shops close early today. Me and Elly are fucked if we don’t get this essay finished before the party. Like, it literally just won’t get done.’

‘Alright.I’ll go.’

‘Yeah, but, not on your own. You can’t carry it all.’ There’s silence, then I feel Haz pushing into me. I don’t even have to look to see the beseeching expression on her face. ‘Tilda. You know you love me with the whole of your pitch-black soul…?’

I sigh, tossing away a flaccid bit of lettuce.‘What?’

‘Go with Nic to the shop. She’s hench but not that hench. Not for how lit I wanna get tonight.’

I glare at her. She’s damn well aware how Nic and I feel about each other. Well, how Nic feels about me. Really shitty position to put me in and she knows it.

But…I’m all out of booze too, and what kind of New Year’s party will it be if there’s not enough alcohol to make you want to kiss people you never would sober?

I glance at Nic who’s sat back in her chair, eyeing me dispassionately.

Least we feel the same—that these two mean more to us than our mutual hostility. There’s some kind of reassurance in that.

I barely manage a half nod before Haz grabs me, heedless of the knife in my hand, and spins me around.

‘Yes, Tilda. You’re the fucking GOAT!’ She puts me down, executing a quick slap to my ass. ‘Now, back to those sandwiches. Me and Elly are starved.’

Nic

I lose her as quickly as I can, snatching a basket and wandering off to find the fresh food. Tilda can deal with the booze since she’s fitter than me, something she just had to prove yesterday at the gym.

My stupid ego. It’s still bruised.

And my heart—that’s still battered from Christmas.

I’ve been thinking about Tommy a lot after roughing up his room. It’s not regret I feel, but more caution over his place in fucking up my life.

It’s possible he chose to stay in halls to be with a poorer friend. Maybe that friend was too proud to let him pay for a lodge, unlike Elly. Well, she’d put up a fight too, but Haz promptly told her to suck it up and that was that.

The thought that he might have as much to do with his family as I do…

Would that even change anything?

Certainly not the past, but the present.

I need to be careful. Curiosity killed the cat and there’s still too many demons swimming around, tempting me with their forbidden knowledge.

What happened to Tilda after our exile?

What happened to Tommy, to Josephina, to all of them?

With me gone, Damien would have been looking for a replacement. It’s just how his black, twisted soul is. He was only quiet, well-behaved, off the streets, when he had a little project going on. Something to occupy his time and fulfil his sick desires. Aunt Kathleen liked him better that way—why she never helped even when she saw the bruises, the way it hurt for me to sit down sometimes.

His kid brother, meek, doe-eyed Tommy, was a decent punchbag. But he was boring. Didn’t punch back. And of course, he couldn’t put his dick in him.

Me? I was fair game. His cousin, yeah, but he’s adopted so it didn’t count. And we were strangers when we met.

I’m telling you, Nic, it’s not like Heathcliff and Cathy. They grew up together. Yeah, they’ll hate it, but fuck them.

Now shut up and bend over.

Snort a little more, that’s it.

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