Serendipity

Chapter 30

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"Are you with us again, b*tch?" I hear the venom in those words pushing through the blackness I've been hanging out in.

This time I stay quiet, keeping the words I want to say to myself. I listen with my eyes closed, hoping she'll just go away, but I'm not so lucky when I hear her chuckle.

"I know you're awake because your breathing changed. You always thought you were so smart compared to me, flaunting it whenever you had a chance. Not so smart now, are you?"

"Why are you doing this, Leeza?" I ask again, cracking my eyes open, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my head from the light in the room. I groan, squeezing them tightly shut again until the pain starts to subside.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Nae?" she sneers. I open my eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light as I do.

"Apparently not..." I murmur. When it's only a dull throb and not a sharp pain, I look at her. Her once soft curly blonde hair looks stringy and matted, as though she hasn't washed it in days or even weeks. Her clothes hang off her tall bony body. "What happened to you? You look..." I trail off, not able to find the right words. She twirls around as if showing off a new outfit. Stopping to look down at me again, her lips twist up into a cruel smile.

"What? Don't you like my new look? It's all thanks to you! Did you know that?" I shake my head slightly, the movement causing more pain to sharply radiate and I suck in a loud breath. "While you've been living the big life in that high tower of yours, we've been barely scraping by."

"We?" I ask, latching on to that one word. That's when I see him, the apparition I saw outside my office. He walks up behind Leeza and stops next to her, draping an arm around her shoulders. His usually perfectly coiffed blond hair is much longer, hanging down listlessly in a greasy mess too. Clad in jeans and a dirty t-shirt, I see they make the perfect couple.

"You remember Jeffrey, right?" she asks in a sickly sweet tone, turning to him and locking her lips with his. My face scrunches up in distaste as I watch them make out in front of me as if I'm not even here.

In a few minutes, she turns back to look down at me, sneering, "Ever since I've known you...I always thought you had it all. The perfect life. The perfect grades. The perfect body. The perfect family. The perfect job. It was always you, you, you – Little Miss Perfect! You could never do anything wrong! Even at university... Did you know that all the guys wanted you even though you never got out there and let loose, never wanting to have some fun? And they still chose you! They always asked me where you were, wanting me to call you to come join us when I went out to the club or a party... But they never looked at me! Do you know how hard it's been to live in your shadow? And you flaunted it, every chance you got!"

"How? I don't even know what you're talking about!" I respond, confusion apparent. "I'm the furthest thing from perfect! Ever since I was a teenager! I'm an anxiety-ridden, panic-driven workaholic!"

"Whatever. You'd say just about anything, wouldn't you?" Leeza turns back to Jeffrey, sliding her hands up his chest. She looks back down at me. "But there's one thing you'll never have, that you'll never take from me..." She smirks, turning back to Jeffrey, pressing her lips to his. And as I watch, they start to make out again. My stomach churns as their make out session starts to turn s*xual, their hands all over each other, and I squeeze my eyes closed. Yeah, they're definitely made for each other.

I try to shut out the sounds that I hear coming from their direction, but I can't. Especially when the sounds change from sloppy wet kissing to panting then eventually bodies and flesh slapping roughly together, grunts and moans punctuating everything. My stomach churns even more, and I swallow hard. Concentrating on the act of not vomiting helps take me away from what's happening mere feet from me.