Trust the Killer

Chapter Thirty Two

'So, what are you wearing to lunch?'

I audibly scoffed at the message, knowing he was watching my phone screen as we spoke, what did he have two phones in his hands? One mirroring mine and his own to harass me with?
I began to text Marie back,

'Black. To match how I feel about being back in LA.'

I tried to show Wyck he was putting me in a bad mood through the text to Marie, while also pushing the narrative that I was having a good time in Seattle.

Two vibrations came from my phone at once,

Marie
'Haha, I wish I went!! :( we could have run off into the city and never come back to this cesspool town.'

Wyck
'?'
'If you're so sad about being home I can easily take you back on the road ;)'

A second passed and another message popped up,

Wyck
'Aye, you're not running off with anyone but me. Who's Marie?'

My eyes rolled, I opened his messages and began to respond.

'No, I don't want to leave. I just want her to think I was actually in Seattle. She's my friend.'

He responded almost instantly.

'Good girl.'

It made my skin crawl when he called me that, but it was just as hot as it was disturbing.

"Ava, go get ready." My moms voice pulled me away from my phone, I hadn't even noticed both my parents had gotten up from the table.

"Oh, yeah." I stood and cleaned up after myself. Over the next hour or so I took a shower and got ready. I did my makeup and changed into a black skirt with black tights to keep me warm. I tucked a dark colored sweater into the front of my skirt finally before throwing on the boots I always wore.

I grabbed my small backpack and went into the living room where my mom was waiting. We were meeting Marie and her mom at a small coffee shop in the middle of our town. It was about ten minutes from my house, most things were. Once we arrived I greeted Marie with a tight excited hug, it was refreshing to see her, a part of me didn't know if I ever would again. Walking into the cafe I felt the same sensation; like I didn't belong there. I was meant to be somewhere else, in the back of a van or in a grave. But here I was sitting at a small table with three people I'd known for years who were bombarding me with questions about my week stay in Seattle, which were difficult to answer since I was actually there for less than a day.

"It was really great yeah, I mean I think I would have had more fun if Marie was there since I'd have someone I knew well. But I'm glad I went." I lied through my teeth, even though a small part of me was guiltily glad I met Wyck, I still wish I had never gotten myself into this situation.

"It didn't seem like you wished I was there, you only texted me once the whole week." Marie jabbed and I felt guilty. It's not like it was my fault, I wasn't able to respond. I felt angry towards Wyck that I had to lie about this so much. But I didn't want anyone to know about him, so I continued to make things up.

"Yeah I'm sorry, I just didn't want to be so all over my phone that I wouldn't truly experience the city, you know?" I sounded like a 45 year old man. "Um, are you taking any spring classes?" I changed the subject.

"God no, if there's a perfect excuse to have a longer winter break then I'm taking it. I'll start in the summer like everyone who went to Seattle did."

"Marie, the students that went on the Seattle trip got credits for it, you're just pushing your grad date back." Her mom, Georgia advised.

"That's fine. More time to go to spring parties." Marie laughed. She was definitely the extroverted one of the two of us. She was pretty with glowey freckled skin and light brown wavy hair. Marie was taller than me, she had the model physique. She was the type to wear sundresses and pour you a cup of tea in a flower covered meadow. I was the type to ask you a riddle under a bridge.

Marie described me as a forest fairy, I was dainty and cute. I'm pretty sure I'm just a scrawny troll. But I'll take her compliments.

I groaned in response to college parties, I got lost in the crowd every time I tried to attend.

"Oh go on Ava, maybe you'll meet a boy there and show Oliver what he missed out on." My mom joked.

"Wow I have the cool mom." I was sarcastic. It was ironic, if she knew about the guy I had met, she'd pass out.

We all laughed at the table for a moment, "Wait! What happened with Oliver?" Marie practically screamed. She'd known about my crush since the beginning of the semester.

I shook my head and laughed, "Oh my god. I forgot to tell you." I was glad the conversation was on something I could be truthful about, Oliver being an asshole.

Then suddenly I felt a tight grip on my wrist that was resting on the table. Marie's fingers squeezed me as a ghostly look took over her face. "Oh my god, he just walked in!" She whispered.

My head snapped to the door to see the red head was standing beside an older man, his dad I presumed. My heart stopped.

"Go talk to him." Marie shoved me.

"What? You don't even know what happened." I argued.

"Come on kill him with kindness." My mom betrayed me.

"I can't. No way." I glued myself to the seat. Not only did I not want to speak to him, I was actually now allowed to talk to Oliver. But how could I explain that?

Marie continued to shove at me until I accidentally made eye contact with Oliver. I cringed wishing he didn't know I was here.

If I don't talk to him my mom and friends wouldn't understand why it's such a big deal, if I do Wyck will be pissed. Was it easier to lie to them or to deal with him?

Before I knew it Oliver was walking over to the table and I realized I may not have a choice. I jumped up, not wanting to talk to him in front of everyone, he could mention the fact that I was MIA throughout the entire trip. My lies began to suffocate me.

As I walked quickly to meet him in the middle of the cafe I hoped deeply that Wyck wouldn't find out, that I could explain myself if he did and that he wouldn't take me away from my home for not listening to his rules.