a job at Oblivion?”
I smile a real smile. “That’d be so cool. Wayne would love you. I’ll ask.”
“This is only temporary,” she promises. “We can get a new place and move on with our lives.”
“Move on with them how? Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. That’s the beauty of it. Live a little. I’m going to go shower. Can I borrow some of your clothes?”
I shrug. “Where’s yours?”
“In your car, buried under all your crap.”
She sits on the floor and rifles through the few garbage bags I managed to bring in. Picking out a pair of black skinny jeans, she sighs. “This is a good thing. We’re starting over. Think of it as a fresh start.”
Fresh starts aren’t supposed to feel like the end.
When she’s in the shower my phone chimes.
Sophie: Kent’s here. He’s looking 4 U. OMG he looks so bad.
I don’t answer her.
Sophie: He’s talking 2 Sam.
Witch.
Sophie: She’s touching his arm.
Troll.
Sophie: He’s coming my way.
I raise my eyebrow at my phone, pretending I’m not waiting for her reply. But of course I am. And of course it doesn’t come. She wants me to text back, to engage in her game. I refuse. This is a new start; a start without Kent Nicholson.
My phone chimes again.
Sophie: Kent got arrested for beating the shit out of Wayne.
I close my eyes in agony. There goes my job. I text furiously back.
Me: Why didn’t U stop him?
Sophie: Where’s the fun in that?
Cunt.
I break down and call her.
“Hello?” she answers sweetly.
“What happened?”
“Kent, the sexy beast he is, came in here looking like hell. Drunk off his ass, bloody, and with a broken heart. He wanted to know where you were, so he started to hassle the waitresses, specifically Samantha. She went and got Wayne and Wayne tried to get him out of Oblivion, but Kent wasn’t having it. He wanted to know where you were. I think he thought you were hiding. Anyway, the man was pissed. He begged me for your phone number. How come the man doesn’t have your phone number?”
“And then what?”
“And then,” she drawls. “Kent beat Wayne up. Like bad. Like Wayne’s going to the hospital bad.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh no?” Sophie laughs. “You are killing him.”
“You know my life isn’t a soap opera for your enjoyment, Sophie.”
“Oh yeah? I’m texting him your phone number. I’m sure he’ll be even more pissed by then.”
“Sophie, no!”
“Oops,” she says, sounding more evil and less apologetic. “Too late.”
“How do you have his number?”
“He gave it to me so I could give you his. Now that you two aren’t an item maybe he and I can start talking? This is my chance. I rarely miss an opportunity.”
“Be my guest.” I refuse to acknowledge her betrayal. She wants a reaction. What did Kent say about her? I still can’t remember. Somehow I feel like this was her plan the entire time. That’s why she called Kent that night at Sam’s, why she puts me in his path, and why she made it so I was in Trevor’s arms when Kent came home. She didn’t want me to have Kent. She wanted to have Kent. “I hope you enjoy the couch. You know, the same one he fucked Sam on, and every other girl before her. The same one he’s going to do you on. I bet you think you’re different.”
“I am. You’re not, though. He told you so last night. I bet you thought because you finally got Kent to notice you, you were somehow different. Well guess what, little Miss Raina, you’re just a whore like all the rest of them. Gotta go. It’s crazy here at Oblivion.”
There’s a new knife stuck beside Kent’s. They’re both twisting, cutting, slicing apart. This one doesn’t sting as much as Kent’s. I’ve never been a fan of pain, though, and right now I am writhing in it.
I head back to the car and start grabbing my things, managing to bring most of them in before the sun sets. We’re not in the best neighborhood, and there’s a man across the street watching me as if he knows I’m dragging my panties across the lawn in garbage bags. Creep. Men are such creeps, I think, searching for my sheets. I watched Becca rip them off the bed and know they’re in here somewhere. When I find them I make my queen sheets fit the twin bed as best as I can. I find my pillows and stack them up, and then drape my quilt so it falls slowly over