angela

forty two

it was one month later that everything changed. after me and matt talked, him pleading for me to forget everything that he said, we were okay. of course i told him our friendship was walking a tightrope right now. i couldn't let him try to control my life like he has been doing recently. even though we know each other for years, i will never think it's okay for him to tell my secret to david even after i told him not to, or to not let david come see me just because he hurt me. it's my life, and matthew needed to understand that. he said he did, so things were finally starting to change for me and him.

after my second show, with my entire family there, even my stepmother and my stepsister, i finally felt at peace with everything that happened over the years. my mom looked and acted like a totally different person. i couldn't explain how or why, but she looked happier. it probably was because we finally were getting along, or because she was okay with my dad, or it was the baby that mended both sides of our family. jeffrey may have fucked me up in so many ways, but seeing my family finally happy - i mean, truly happy, was all that i needed.

the tv from the restaurant me and zac were, was muted, with the news channel rolling. i wasn't really interested, but we were in silence - you know that pause between subjects? yeah, we were having that one. i opened my mouth to tell him about what happened with mitch last week - harrison's son, the cellist when jeffrey appeared on the tv. no, it wasn't him doing something normal, or just occasionally appearing, he was being arrested. the police officer holding his hands behind his back, put his hand on jeffrey's head, shoving him inside the car. then, silently, three pictures of three different women, that looked very similar to each other, was now showing on the screen. underneath it, there was the article: 'after killing three women, the 'a killer' is arrested in pasadena.'

i choked on my food, coughing like crazy, drawing some attention to us. "hey, hey, put your arms up!" zac exclaimed, tapping my back. i pointed to the tv, quickly grabbing my cup of water to chug it. "what? who's that?" 

he was clearly worried so i spoke, with difficulty: "jeffrey, my biological father." my voice was hoarse and it kinda hurt now. "he was arrested."

zac widened his eyes, shocked by the news. "what the actual fuck?" he whispered-yelled to not draw any more attention towards us. "he killed three women?" 

"apparently, yeah." i drank more water. this was insane.

he continued watching the news before turning his gaze to me. "this will sound weird as fuck, but those ladies look exactly like you." 

i hit his arm. "they don't!"

"same haircut, hair color, white, blue eyes..." he trailed off. "angie, he's called the 'a killer', like what the fuck."

i gulped, looking down at my hands. "maybe he killed them because he couldn't kill me." i mumbled, feeling my eyes fill with tears. "oh my god, he was going to kill me!" 

zac stood up, crouching beside me, not caring about the others around. "angie, no, he was not going to kill you, if he was going to, he would've done it a long time ago, okay? you're safe, babe, don't worry!" he grabbed my hands. "he can't hurt you anymore." 

i nodded, wiping the tears that didn't even spill before hugging him. "what should i do now?" i asked when he went back to his seat. 

he shrugged. "i don't know, at least now you don't have to worry about him." he called the waitress to pay for our lunch. 

i let him, too shaken up with the news to even think about grabbing my wallet inside my purse. "oh my god." it finally hit me. david. "oh my god!" i said louder now, zac looking up from his wallet. "zac, i have to go." i stood up, grabbing my stuff.