Joshua Lackowski would not see another day.
I let him know by making long finger cuts across my own neck. Like always, he wasn't impressed and simply sat back into his seat. Accomplished was the only word I could use to describe him.
"...Are you going to answer me, Lilly Fenster?" My mother demanded from the other side.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
My mind became a jumbled mess as I thought of a way to get out of my predicament. The solution came to me as I was scanning the room.
"Uh, see... that....was...." I jumbled for the right words, awkward seconds passing me by.
"...The person in the room next door!" I yelled excitedly.
I banged my fist against the wall for emphasis, hoping my mom would buy it. I didn't anticipate the people to bang back and yell insults from the other side of the wall, though. I hurried to hang up when an unknown woman started to yell at me for waking her up.
Whoops.
"Hey! Cut it out over there!" I tried to yell over the woman.
I took special enjoyment when I saw Joshua's mouth pop open in surprise. Didn't think I could get out of that one, huh?
"People can be so rude these days!" My mom commented.
"Tell me about it," I said seriously.
"Anyway, it's pretty late so I'll talk to you later, Mom," I finished quickly. Not wasting time waiting for her response, I hung up.
The room was deadly silent as I let out a relieved gust of air. When my eyes made contact with Joshua's I could tell he knew how bad he was going regret what he had just done.
I hopped onto the bed, with a new pillow in my hand, and went in for the kill. He never even saw me coming with how fast I soared to the other side of the room.
Whacking him with the pillow, I yelled, "You jerk!"
Hitting him again, I continued, "Asshole!"
Whack.
"Idiot!"
Whack.
"Fucker!"
Whack.
The interval between insults and pillow blows went on for a while. I was letting all of my anger out, until at one point I had him against the wall with his hands braced in front of his face.
The whacks came slower and slower when I realized that the sounds Joshua was making behind the pillow were laughter.
"Quit laughing!"
I yelled in a frustrated and whiny voice. Why did he find everything funny?
"Sorry, sorry!" He continued to laugh in between gasps for breath.
"It's just that you're so cute when you get mad," He laughed some more after I hit him for the last time.
Oh, no.
I knew what he was trying to do.
No one had ever called me cute, and I didn't like the feeling of having him say it. I backed up towards the bed in defense. This was all part of his plan. I was fully aware of it now.
I regained all of my composure and began to throw pillows and the top comforter on the floor in a serious manner. Feeling uncomfortable, I gave him a glance from where I now stood. The look on his face told me that he was confused. I almost thought that I imagined it, but I think I even saw some regret there.
Yeah right. An asshole like him feel regret? Pfft.
Without another word, I walked towards the bathroom to change into my pajamas. I could hear him shuffling inside the room as I slipped on my flannel pants.
I was really tired of fighting when I walked out fully ready for bed.
"Look, just go to sleep and give me a break for the rest of the night. Honestly, don't sneak out tonight. Do it as a favor or whatever..." I finished lamely. I tried not to appear fazed about his shirt no longer being on.
Without another word, Joshua began to spread the comforter and pillows, forming them into something that resembled a bed without the mattress.
I was shocked that he hadn't even tried to push my buttons. It was almost too good to be true...
It was, because after I turned off the lights and crawled onto the bed, I heard his voice resonate through the darkness.
"I'm cold," he complained.
Huffing, I pushed my only sheet down towards the floor using my feet.
Several more minutes passed, but I just couldn't go to sleep. I was going to have some serious eye bags tomorrow morning if I didn't fall asleep soon.
It was just that having Joshua in the room made me nervous.
There I said it.
Having a guy in the room wasn't letting me sleep.
Come on Lilly, you're twenty motherloving years old. Get. A. Grip. I thought to myself.
"Lilly?" Joshua said in a small voice. It made me realize that I wasn't the only one still awake.
"Yeah?" I responded loudly.
"I'm lonely..." I could tell he was smirking down there.
"Too bad. Go to sleep, Asswipe." I replied grumpily.
Surprisingly, insulting him gave me the peace of mind to finally fall asleep.
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Damn, I was comfortable.
I didn't think that I had ever felt this comfortable in the morning. Without opening my eyes, I turned towards my left, enjoying the comfort, warmth, and peacefulness.
Something wasn't right. I hadn't slept with any covers last night, yet I could feel them sliding against my bare skin.
Like glass shattering, a word shined bright and ugly in my mind.
Spooning.
I was in the spooning position, but not by myself. My morning was instantly ruined when I realized that the covers weren't the only thing keeping me warm.
A strong pair of arms were.
I quickly pushed the arms away and jumped out of the bed awkwardly. My departure didn't seem to truly impact Joshua, for all he did was stir a bit. I felt taken advantage of as I stared down at him. Plus, I hated myself for not being more careful. Why the hell didn't I wake up and notice that he had gotten into my bed?
I needed payback.
Tip-toeing into the bathroom, I filled up one of the hotel's plastic cups. At the same time, I looked up to catch sight of my hideous bed-head staring back at me. Yugh. Making sure that the water reached the brim, I sprinted back into the room.
I counted down from five before I poured the entire contents directly at Joshua's face.
He mechanically sat up, sputtering and coughing up water.
"Don't do that ever again!" I yelled towards his drowsy face.
I left him wiping the water and sleep from his eyes.
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I hadn't spoken a word to him for the entire morning. Especially, because I had never been this over consumed with rage, like when he informed me that he was going to his room to change.
Good thing he regained his memory in the morning right?
You can imagine the awkwardness in the elevator as we made our way down to the lobby for breakfast.
We came face to face with Johnny, Gola, and Amanda when the doors slid open. All three stepped in and rearranged themselves while the doors were closing again.
"Holy shit, good job. I can't believe you managed to keep him inside for the night!" Whispered Amanda excitedly from behind me. I was going to reply, but when I made eye contact with Gola from the reflection on the elevator glass, I thought better of it. Barbie did not look happy.
Breaking the silence, Johnny cheerfully asked, "Had a good night you two?"
I could see his big fat smile from the same glass reflection and decided to smile back.
"Why, yes we did!" I gushed sarcastically.
I didn't get a response, aside from Gola who stiffened when the doors opened.
I went over my purple journal as I nibbled on a blueberry muffin. London would be our next stop. Joshua had an ad campaign for some fashion brand and a couple of appearances happening there. I continued to ignore him, even when he made a point of sitting next to me and getting me a new muffin every time I finished my old one. I can't explain why, but at some point I think I ate about ten.
Nervous eating, again.
I was sort of tired and grumpy when we got to the airport.
Out of it, I heard laughing from the entire entourage break through my haze.
"Is she...flying?" I heard Gola's high pitch voice wonder from behind me.
"Look who made the cover of Life & Style!" Yelled Johnny.
"Er, Lilly...I think you should come see this..." Amanda encouraged.
I went to go see what all of the hoopla was about. Obviously, it just had to be about me.
Sure enough, my face was plastered on the front cover of Life & Style with the heading "Ex-girlfriend in a Rage: Tired of Joshua Lachowski's partying ways. One of the many time's she's caught him cheating says an inside source."
Inside source? Their own crazy imaginations?
The worst part was that I had to admit Joshua had been right. I did run funny.
The camera caught me at the worst angle, which was probably every single one. My front leg was up in the air in an awkward position and I had about 2 feet of air under me while I ran. That, along with my spaghetti arms that were flailed in the air, I looked like an awkward penguin trying to fly. All the while I had my right hand at Joshuas ear lobe.
Talk about a bad picture. There was no way my cheeks could get any hotter after I put the magazine that had been thrust in my hands down.
Holy shit, were there tears forming in my eyes?
I shouldn't feel like crying. It was just some stupid magazine that had gotten it all wrong. I turned away, trying not to let anyone see me. I had closed my eyes, which was why I didn't know I would crash into Joshua when I began trying to walk away.
His hands held my shoulders while he spoke, " Big deal, we've had worst headlines. Right Gola?"
He asked this from above my head. Without another word, his hands released me and I knew that he had gone to her. Probably to swap spit before the flight, which was ok with me. Joshua's words had a dispersing effect on the crowd, making everyone lose interest in the magazine.
After the water had evaporated from the corners of my eyes, I wrote myself a mental note to thank him, even if I didn't understand why he had done that for me.
Just when I thought my morning couldn't be any better. I caught sight of a familiar face from across the airport.
Minerva Ashton waved her arms at me, trying to get my attention. Airplane ticket held high, my biggest enemy made her way towards me.
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