AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I did appreciate it, but now that I’d crawled somewhat out of my funk, I wanted to be alone.
A shiver ran down my spine as a draft from the door reached me. Another student had left the building. I walked quickly over to the checkout desk and pulled my hoodie back on. Luckily, the nights would start warming up after tonight, and it would be a lot warmer during the days.
“I see you’re still looking like someone kicked your favorite puppy, Nikki. Oops, I mean Nicolette,” Amanda snarked as she came up behind me.
“So kind of you to notice me, Amanda,” I purred out with sarcasm that oozed from my throat. “I hope you have an itchy crotch night, tonight, sweetie. It’s time for the library to close now, so please leave.”
“Oh, sarcasm. So angry and hurt, Nicolette!” Her eyes went wide as she pretended to be insulted. I knew I was in trouble when she grinned with ecstatic glee. “I guess it’s hard to be nice when two men stand you up though, huh?”
Her attempt to sound concerned was ruined by the glee in her eyes.
She’d just confirmed what I’d suspected all along. She’d had something to do with my dates standing me up. I felt the tremor in my muscles as anger crashed through my veins. I stared at her, speechless, as she snickered in my face and turned to the boy she’d come in with, an even bigger grin on her face.
“Nicolette here, poor little Nikki that can’t get a guy to sleep with her to save her life, almost had dates this weekend. Almost.” She stressed the last word as she shifted her gaze between the guy and me. To his credit, the guy just looked confused, and a little bit disgusted as Amanda revealed more and more about what she’d done. “Poor little Kenny, he was so eager to go out with Nicolette that he came to me to ask for advice. He’s been my friend for ages, you know?”
She said that as if we’d both be impressed about her friendship with some random guy. I wanted to claw her eyes out.
“Well, Kenny needed advice, and I had the perfect advice for him. Don’t sleep with Nic, I mean Nicolette, she has herpes!” She laughed so hard, and all I could do was stare at her, completely lost for words. So much gall, so much hatred. How could she carry around that much hatred and not rot, I had to wonder. “I mean, it was a joke, but he believed me! His face when he turned around and left! You should have seen it; it was so hilarious!”
She bent over from the force of her laughter. The guy she’d come in with made a repulsed sound and walked out of the library. I didn’t care, I had an answer and it was worse than I’d thought.
“Oh, and then there was this guy.” She took her phone out of her jacket pocket and flicked her fingers over it until she found what she wanted. “He was so ready to fuck that night, and fortunately, he found me on the steps of your apartment. I’d heard him ask you out when we were all at the café and decided I should give him a real ride, not some inexperienced fumbling like you’d give him.”
I looked at her phone and saw a picture of Gerard, asleep in a bed, obviously Amanda’s bed because she was there with a manic grin on her face.
“You’re insane,” I whispered as she laughed again. Her laughing must have caught Mrs. Lawson’s attention because the older woman came out to stare at Amanda silently.
“I might, honey, but you’re unfuckable. And that, my dear, is so much worse.” She glanced over at Mrs. Lawson, put her phone away, and turned to leave. “You won’t have a chance, not while I’m around, Nikki.”
She didn’t bother to correct herself this time. I stared after her, completely dumbstruck. I could hear my blood as it pulsed in my veins, and for a moment, I wondered if I’d pass out. Dizziness swept through me as my vision narrowed to a pinpoint. Amanda walked towards the door of the library, her pleased swagger a clue to how she felt.
“You know, Amanda. I might not be able to get a date, but at least I’m not in danger of contracting a serious STD. You keep it up and you’ll not only be alone, but you’ll also be ill. There won’t be anyone to love you as you die.”
She came to a sudden halt, her hand on the door, and I thought she’d turn around to confront me all over again, but she didn’t. She kept walking toward the door.
I decided to leave it at that. I’d least I’d been able to get the parting shot in. I didn’t say anything else as Mrs. Lawson left the desk, and I didn’t call out to Amanda when something fell out of her jacket pocket and onto the floor with a soft thunk. I just let her go, a smirk on my own face. I’d got to her, at least.
