Put Me Back Together(73)

Any friend who would come clean up a mess like that with no explanation at a moment’s notice was as good as gold in my opinion. As I watched Oleg give Lucas a big bear hug—apparently he gave these out freely, drunk or not—I found myself hoping that Lucas would tell him about his father. I had the feeling Oleg would be more understanding than he knew.

When I pulled out the binder that held my essay, a small, balled-up piece of paper rolled out of my bag. Still half-gazing out the window at the guys, I wasn’t even paying attention as I straightened it out. I was so distracted that my hands started to tremble before the meaning of the words really penetrated my brain.

Enjoying that hot chocolate? Hope so, because it might be your last.

Ditch your handsome friend if you know what’s good for you.

Crumpling the note in my hand, I subtly scanned the room around me. The strange feeling I’d had before suddenly made perfect sense. Brandon had been here, in the room, watching me. He’d been close enough to put the note in my bag. And this time he hadn’t sent a friend to do his dirty work—I was sure of it. No, I was more than sure. I knew it. The feeling in my gut that something was terribly wrong—I’d only felt that way once before, the day he’d leaned toward me, knife in hand, and whispered murderous words in my ear.

A wave of nausea threatened to overcome me and my heart began to pound. My eyes darted around the room, but I couldn’t find him. Maybe he’d already left? Didn’t seem likely. This moment, the moment I read the note he’d placed so perfectly, was his prize. He wanted to see me shake. He wanted to make me cry with fear.

Suddenly I realized that unlike every time I’d received a text from him, unlike the day of the break-in, I didn’t feel the urge to burst into tears or to hide. Instead, I felt an all-encompassing rage. My fingers gripped my drink so tightly the cup collapsed, sending scalding chocolate over my hand, though I hardly felt it.

He thought he could threaten Lucas and get away with it? We’d see about that.

By the time Lucas returned I’d composed myself enough to look normal. I figured if he noticed I was on edge he’d think it was about my paper. As I stood up to meet him, I turned over the napkin I’d left behind on the table.

“I was thinking of driving up to see my mom,” Lucas said as we crossed the campus. “I figure it’s about time, and I don’t have any exams for a few days. I could tell her about the job.”

I grasped his hand tightly. “Sounds like a great idea,” I said.

And it did, considering the note I’d left for Brandon on my napkin back at the coffee shop.

I’ll be waiting





18





But he didn’t come.

I knew Lucas wouldn’t make it easy for me. Since he couldn’t be there to babysit me while he was visiting his mom, he brought in reinforcements. That very night, just minutes after I’d waved Lucas off on his drive to Christie, Em showed up with a pile of rom coms for a movie night. She claimed we’d planned it weeks ago, but I knew better. Who planned a movie night in the middle of exams? By the way she kept glancing at me as Julia Roberts laughed her big-teeth laugh, I could also tell that Lucas hadn’t given her all the details about why I needed watching. He probably thought she already knew the whole story, and Em, who thought we told each other everything, would never have asked. Her expectation of a big tearful revelation—I could feel her readying herself whenever the movie went quiet enough for us to talk—made me fidgety. I ended up eating more than my half of the bowl of extra butter popcorn. Okay, I basically ate the whole bowl.

Then I realized I’d just ingested all those empty calories for nothing. If Em didn’t know why she had to stay, I could easily make up a lie to get rid of her.

It only took about ten minutes to convince my sister that: One, I knew Lucas had asked her to come over. Two, Lucas was just being way overprotective. And three, she didn’t really have to stay over because I wasn’t in any danger. I used my master lying skills to make up a story that Mariella had seen a creepy guy lurking around the building and Lucas had overreacted. But I was pretty sure it was just the super’s son, Gregory; I knew Em would buy this, because she also thought Gregory was creepy. I finished off with some sappy comments about how much I liked Lucas and how I was pretty sure we were falling in love—not even really a lie, at least on my part—and wasn’t it sweet of him to be so worried about me?

Emily ate it up.

By nine o’clock she was out the door and I went into defense mode. I pulled my baseball bat out from under my bed and put it on the couch. But one weapon didn’t seem like enough. What if he wrested it out of my hands? Then I’d have nothing. I prowled around my apartment looking for anything I could use as a weapon. At the end of thirty minutes I had two butcher knives, the lamp from my bedside table—it had a heavy base—a cast iron pan, and a roll of duct tape. I figured if I got him on the ground I’d need something to tie him up with before I ran for my life.

I assembled my collection on the coffee table—except for the bat, which never left my hands—and then I was back in my ideal spot on the couch, watching and waiting.

I had plenty of time to freak out as my eyes flicked from the window to the door to the other window to the hall, but I felt surprisingly calm. I was glad I’d invited Brandon to come and find me, glad to be waiting instead of always wondering. I was ready for this to be over. Even though I had no idea what I was going to say to him, I was ready to face him.