Making You See

Chapter Two - Get Over It

The tears stopped escaping from her sad eyes. She stared up at Lucy, shocked by how her best friend was being with her. She knew she could be nasty to some people. Time and time again she'd watched her push people away when they got too close, but Victoria always saw herself as an exception; the one person Lucy hadn't pushed away.

Victoria looked horrified, horrified at the way she had spoken and the things she had said.

"You know, I knew you could be nasty, but I never knew you was this heartless. Have some sympathy Lucy. In fact, I did know him. Maybe I hadn't spoken to him lately, but he was a family friend since we were little kids, being my neighbour and everything, it was like losing a family member, I have every right to be devastated about his death, even if you don't care about him. I bet you didn't even notice he was my neighbour, you're so self centered sometimes."

Victoria is normally a quiet girl. She tended to let her best friend push her around so that she does not lose her. She was hurt, she didn't even know why. She was use to her best friend's mood swings, just not directed at her.

"One second you're this kind girl that everyone loves, the next you're a spiteful person, who doesn't want to talk to anyone," she stated through gritted teeth, "It's like I don't even know you anymore."

Victoria didn't want a reply. She wanted to leave and let Lucy think about things. To feel guilty, although, it was something that she'd never witnessed Lucy do. she always would just pretend it never happened. No apology, nothing. She didn't even act strange around that person or hold a grudge, ever.

Lucy stared sheepishly at her, probably now old, best friend as she stormed furiously out of the damp apartment, slamming the door in anger. She wanted to show how annoyed she was, slamming the door was just a way of signifying it to Lucy, since Victoria knew that she was quite oblivious to how she made people feel, well that's the way she came across to everyone who knew her and most of who had only seen her in passing.

 Lucy wandered over to the mini fridge-freezer and crouched on the cold, brown tiles to find the milk. She was sure the tiles weren't meant to be brown, patches were white or grey, but it fitted in with the rest of the disgusting room. Her main goal was to spend as little time as possible in the apartment. It probably wasn't even safe to live in. It was better than being homeless though or having the housing department finding you somewhere to live.

She promised herself she would never resort to benefits, she would always work for her lifestyle, however hard it was for her. She would rather go back to her parents' house than get a council house, not that she thought any less of people she knew that did live in council houses. They just weren't for her. She'd always promised her mother and her partner that she would never go back and live with them or even visit. Not while the evil creature she was supposed to call her step dad lived there anyway.

As she pulled the milk out of the fridge and closer to her face, she could tell it was off. The disgusting, sour, smell reached her nose almost immediately and made her want to gag. It had only been in the fridge a day. Chances were it didn't even work, the light went on whenever the door was opened, but she couldn't feel any cold air escaping from the small white box like thing.

Giving up with the milk, she decided to text her best friend, Victoria, to see how she was doing. Lucy hated seeing her best friend upset, thankfully she was always the quiet but bubbly one in the group, along with Lucy, they often kept the group cheerful.

Lucy sent her best friend seven messages, trying to get her attention, each read a few seconds after they were sent. After the seventh message she received a blunt, rude reply, telling her to go away.

She scrolled through the contacts in her phone, searching for one of her closest guy friends and Victoria's boyfriend's number. She paused when she reached the 'J' part of her contacts, noticing a number she didn't recall having on her phone. Jon Rivers. The name felt like it imprinted itself in her mind, she couldn't remember ever talking to him, how did she manage to get his number?

Lucy tapped his name to bring up his contact details. It was practically empty. All that was in his contact details was his name, picture and notes which showed up as three stars. 

Lucy examined the picture, it had been cropped or badly taken. He was sat rather close to a girl with long, wavy straight hair. He was looking at her and not the camera, smiling in content, like there was no place he would rather be. He looked sweet, innocent and happy, not angry and agressive like Lucy expected him to be, having been killed. The face was familiar to her.

She zoomed the view in on the girl next to him. There was no way of being certain, but the way the girl's hair was looked exactly how Lucy had her hair most days. They were both in school uniform, but on her wrist, slightly visible was a pink and purple bracelet identically to the one she'd owned for over five years.

She twisted the bracelet around the wrist, trying her hardest to compare the two. Although it was blurry, the bracelet was clearly the same. The girl in the picture was Lucy, Victoria had been right. She didn't remember the picture being taken or the scene taking place, but the photographic proof was enough to convince her that she knew Jon, after all, the camera doesn't lie.

She tapped on the notes section to see the full notes. She could feel the nerves and anticipation in her stomach. She was connected to a guy she couldn't even remember, quite close by the sounds and looks of things. What could the notes possibly hold?

'I need your help - Jon'

Shaking her head, she tried to shake Jon out of her mind too. It didn't work. It was lingering around in her mind, refusing to leave and she couldn't work out why.

Her phone vibrated, with a message notification, breaking her deep thoughts about the contact she had found and the notes to go along with it.. For a few seconds while she read the message and responded appropriately, it succeeded, stopping her thinking about Jon and how she apparently knew him.

She clicked on her William's caller ID, sending a call to him. A second later her replied.

"Why is Vicky upset?" He asked, concerned about his girlfriend, it was sweet, how protective he was of her.

Her mind flickered back to the conversation with her best friend. The only thing she could remember was her friend crying because of the death of Jon. The next thing she knew, she had left her house.

"Some guy called Jon was murdered, she was upset over it because she knew him," Lucy stated without a hint of sympathy, trying to remember each detail about her conversation with Victoria, "Do you know if she's annoyed at me? She told me to go away when I text her earlier?"

He laughed, harshly, "It might have had something to do with what you said to her before she stormed out. Look, I'm sorry, just apologise, yeah? You know she'll forgive you in an instant if you do, you know what she's like." He pressed end call, leaving her to think about what he'd said.

Victoria storming out did not ring bells to Lucy. It was something she'd never seen happen, ever. What could she have said to make her best friend storm out?

"Lucy!" A voice called to her from her kitchen.

As far as she was aware, she was home alone. No one should be calling her name. Unless it was from outside or her phone. She checked her phone, puzzled by the voice, the call had definitely ended.

She heard the voice call her name again, more urgently this time.

"Who's there?" She called out. Probably the most stupid thing she could say. She should have just crept up on whoever it was or called the police.

There was no reply and she assumed her mind was playing tricks on her, when someone vaguely familiar appeared at the living room door.

"I need your help."

It was Jon.