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With my new car keys in hand, I take one last look at myself before opening my door and walking out into the hallway, excited to tell Noah about the new ride. When I step through the threshold, I spot Mateo, that pretty eyed demon, walking away from Noah’s door.
He sees me and turns, giving me an appreciative look, his eyes sliding down my body, pausing on my open blouse where my cleavage shows, before coming back up to my face.
“Damn,princesa, you clean up nicely. I hope you’re dressing for me.”
I cock a brow, “I dress for me,pendejo.”Asshole.
“Aw, c’mon, don’t be like that, Valeria. I’m not such a bad guy.” His wicked wink says otherwise.
I curl my lip at him before turning to face my door and reaching inside to twist the lock like Noah told me to do. I know it won’t do shit, after all, I had my door locked as I slept, and I still woke up to keys suddenly appearing under my pillow.
When I turn back around, I almost scream. Mateo is standing only a foot away from me, breathing me in like a creep. With my heart in my throat and my eyes wide, I step back and press against the closed door.
“I reallyama nice guy.” His face is eerily blank, the kind of look you’d picture a hitman wearing just before he slits your throat. His multi-colored eyes are dilated like two black holes leading to the depths of hell as he continues to speak in a psychotic, monotonous voice, “But people have a bad habit of flipping the switch in me. That’s not my fault though, is it Valeria? I’m reallynota bad person, even thoughtheysay I am.”
Who is he talking about? What the fuck do I say?
Rey’s words come back to me in an instant,he hears voices. He calls them ‘They.’
Suddenly I can see Rey wasn’t just trying to scare me, he was warning me. I can see there’s something different about Mateo, something I hadn’t picked up on before, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.
People suffering from mental illnesses are never the same as one another, even if they have the same type of illness. I’m no doctor, nor am I an expert on schizophrenia, but if I had to take a guess, I’d honestly say Mateo suffers deeply from it.
Just as I’m about to open my mouth and try to soothe him, tell him he’s not a bad person and whoever said these things to him are wrong -though I have no fucking clue if that would help or make the situation worse- Mateo places both of his hands on the door, one on either side of my head so that I’m caged in, and all my words lodge in my throat as fear takes over. Just as I’m about to scream for help or knee him in the balls and run, Rey’s loud and furious voice cracks through the hall, making me jump and yelp. Mateo just stares at me.
“Mateo! Get the fuck away from her,now.”
Mateo’s scary, blank face melts into his usual smile, erasing the disturbing look from his features, but I still don’t move, determined not to make sudden movements.
“I wonder what’s beenshovedup his ass.” His words feel like it’s an inside joke I should get, but I don’t. Maybe if my heart wasn’t trying to breakdance inside my chest, I’d question him, as it stands though, I just want him to leave.
He pushes away from me, tapping the bottom of my chin with his knuckle before walking with psychotic swagger—yes, that’s definitely a thing now—toward the front of the house. Rey’s eyes take me in from head to toe, as though he’s checking me over for wounds, before he too leaves as though nothing happened.
Seconds after Rey disappears, Noah steps through his door, his ear buds in and his uniform on. He pulls one out when he notices me still standing frozen against my door, my heart still rapidly beating. I can’t explain what just happened, only that Mateo is one scary motherfucker. Rey has nothing on him.
“You okay, Val?” Noah looks down the hall, finding it empty before coming to me and taking both of my shoulders in hands, the warmth of his nearness envelops me, and the coldness of fear quickly thaws. I close my eyes and blow out a breath.
“Val, what happened?”
His fingers tighten on me like my silence is physically hurting him.
“Nothing, I promise I’m fine. Mateo just freaked me out.”
“Mateo?” Noah asks confused, but I could have sworn Mateo was just leaving his room when I came out. I look at my best friend and watch him swallow before speaking again. It’s one of his tells. He’s lying to me. Why is he acting like he hasn’t seen Mateo or even knows the guy?
“Yeah, you know the guy that came out of your room?” I deadpan before walking away, needing air and an excuse not to look at Noah who suddenly decided to start lying to me.
He grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop as we exit the house, my eyes landing on Mateo’s sky-blue car peeling away from the curb while a black motorcycle follows.
Hm, Rey drives a crotch rocket?If I didn’t hate him, I’d say that’s sexy. Okay, fuck it, that is hella sexy, but he doesn’t need to know my thoughts.
“Val,” Noah growls, snapping my attention from Rey’s retreating form, “you seriously think I’d be talking to that motherfucker then lie to you about it?”
“Your words, not mine.” I try to step around him, but he moves with me.
“Hold the fuck on. Don’t pull that bullshit with me, Val. I’m not one of those pricks that you can’t seem to keep your eyes off of.”
I feel like I’ve been slapped. I toss my head back and scoff, “What the fuck is it to you? You’re not fucking me; you have no interest in me. You’re my best friend but you’ve already kept two things from me since we got here. Now you want to act all high and mighty, judging me for window shopping the ass around here? Nah, fuck that,youdon’t pull that bullshit with me.”
