CHAPTER 9
Hazel
Another week passed with Grant tailing me. Somehow, I managed to suffer through another class and tutoring session. Nate was tolerable, but of course, Grant sat outside, waiting for the session to finish. At first, it irritated me, but then I was kind of glad. We never knew when the stalker would show up, and while it was only letters so far, it still made me anxious to be out in public. And, lo and behold, I even made a friend outside of the Afterglow.
A friend that invited me, for thethirdtime, to go to the Afterglow with her.
Calling Mara a ‘friend’ was a stretch. She was polite when she had asked me for information about Nate and the Afterglow. It wasn’t like we texted about boyfriends or talked about schoolwork, but I was a sucker for anyone who was nice to me. So when Mara called to ask for a third time if I wanted to go to the Afterglow, I was cornered.
“So I was thinking,” Mara paused, “you want to go back to the Afterglow, right?”
It was more complicated than that, but sure. “Yep.”
“But you’re afraid that the people there won’t accept you because of your past.”
How did she know so damn much about me? “Your point?”
“Nate and I were thinking that we could introduce you to some people. Well,hecould introduce you, and once those people were cool with you, the rest would follow, and eventually, it’d be fine.” She laughed to herself. “I guess I’m there for support.”
My gut clenched. I wanted to say ‘yes.’ Believe me, I did. But after what Oliver had done last time, and the fact that the stalker had taken pictures of me there, there was no way I could go back. It would be insane. A foolish decision.
Part of me wanted to though. I had liked it before. I wanted to believe it could work out.
“It’ll be fun,” Mara said.
And the cosmos took hold of me, and I agreed. “Sure,” I said.
“Awesome!” I cringed. Did she have to be that excited about it? “We can go tomorrow night. We’ll meet you there.”
We made arrangements for the time, then hung up. I had every intention of following through. But the next day, when I got ready, putting on a ruched black dress with a chain-link neckline, everything inside of me said not to go. I didn’t belong there anymore. It didn’t matter if Mara was rooting for me, or if Nate was backing me up, or even if Christine was there to stop some asshole from attacking me again. I would never be a part of that group. They had shown me that I wasn’t one of them.
I applied makeup with these thoughts racing through my head. Thick eyeliner. Mascara. A darker lipstick. It was a costume to some extent. And yet it didn’t feel fun to dress up anymore.
So why was I still going through with it?
I went down the stairs to the living room. Grant perked up, using my laptop on the couch. I grabbed my new set of keys and purse from the counter. I had a key for his car, but I had no intention of using it. It felt like it would be giving in.
“Where are you going?” Grant asked.
“Out,” I said.
“Where?”
“Out.”
Downstairs, a rideshare was waiting for me. I slid inside, watching the parking garage as Grant pulled out in his dark gray car.
The driver parked across the street from the Afterglow. Despite the supposed new owner, nothing had changed about the Afterglow, besides the new name. New name, no new tricks. The same bouncer out front. The same groups of people in trench coats hiding fetish wear. The same people who hated me.
Grant parked down the road, and I could see his big head. Was it comforting that he was following me right then, or was it annoying?
I was early. I could wait for Mara and Nate. Grant would trust me with them.
Or I could leave.
I walked down the street past Grant’s car, pretending I didn’t know who he was. I turned the corner and heard his heavy steps behind me. A sign in bold letters forBathtub Hoochlit the sidewalk in light pink. Perfect.
Inside, the room was smoky, with metallic gold feathers on black wallpaper. Shiny red booths and bar stools with actual seat cushions were spread throughout. It was packed wall to wall people.
