Promises Made, Promises Broken - SYTYCW (Bad Reputation)

Present Day (Chapter Six) Saturday

Tucker

Liandra flipped her notebook shut, stomped over to my side of the room, grabbed my phone, and shook it at me.

"If you're not going to answer the damned thing, at least turn it off.”

"I can't. That's the number I gave out for the gardening fundraiser. Clients might call."

"Then at least tell whoever's calling, to stop," my roommate begged. 

"I already put it on vibrate," I reminded her.

"Yeah, and it's almost worse. I can't study with the incessant buzzing."

"Besides. I did tell him. Twice, and I think that's enough" I replied.

Liandra sighed. "Then at least tell me how the stalking started so I have something to tell the police when they come looking."

"He's not stalking me."

"How many times has he called?"

"I don't know. I've been ignoring him."

Liandra gave me a look and I tried to explain about almost tripping over Joey in the dorm hall on Friday morning, and about running into first Amber and then him at the market.  I ignored the expression on her face as I told her about actually tripping as Joey chased me across the commons.  It all sounded close to ridiculous, and it happened to me.

"And then I came home," I finished, and lifted up my pant leg to show her my lightly wrapped ankle.

"Either I'm missing something…Or you're not telling me something," Liandra said.

"Pretty sure I told you everything," I replied. "Except for the part where I almost agreed to go on a date with Mark."

"You did what?"

I winced at the high pitch of Liandra's voice.

"It's nothing," I told her. "And I said almost."

"I'm assuming we're not talking about the same Mark, then," my roommate stated. "Because it wouldn't be nothing to be almost going out with the Mark who cheated on you, who made you move out of your - Wait a minute. What is he even doing here?"

"He got an engineering internship at the city." I shrugged. "It's what he was going to school for, so it makes sense. It's not that big of a deal."

"Do you hear yourself? What would you do if I told you that I was going on a date with my ex-husband?" she asked.

"This is less complicated."

"It is not."

"Are you really going to make me say, is too?" 

"This is a bad idea, Tucker."

"Can we drop it? I almost fell. Then I did fall. Some guy tried to save me. He was a jerk. Mark needed a favour. I said no. He's a jerk, too. End of story."

My mind flashed back to the momentary, irrational attraction I'd felt when Joey put his arm around me.  I tried to push down the embarrassing memory, but it didn't want to go.  Joey's green eyes flashed through my thoughts, and my body tingled in a betrayal-riddled response.

"Speaking of saving...Did you ask this other guy - Joey - why he followed you?" Liandra asked.

"No," I said, glad she'd dropped Mark from her interrogation. "I just assumed he was pissed off because I gave away his little indiscretion in our dorm."

"Did he seem pissed?"

"Not really," I admitted.

It was true.  He'd shaken his head at me, and Amber had seemed unimpressed.  But Joey had seemed…What?  Not mad. Cocky? Indifferent?