ng desperately to unlock it in time because it feels like I’m running out of time and now I hear the shower curtain moving, the scrape of the rings along the metal, the sound filling the room, filling my soul with the deepest darkest dread.
Finally the lock turns, the door flies open, and I stumble out into the party, into people, into lights and music.
“Oh, dude, I’m so sorry,” some guy says to me, coming off the wall, having leaned against the light switch, which is stupidly on the outside of the bathroom.
I stare at him but I’m not taking him in at all, my heart is doing a drumline against my ribs, my hand at my chest.
He frowns at me and hits the lights, illuminating the bathroom. “Nothing to be scared of,” he says, having a sip of his PBR.
I give him an odd look and then poke my head back into the bathroom.
The shower curtain is still closed.
Part of me wants to rip it open to put my mind at rest, but then some drunk chick bangs into me. “I gotta piss!” she yells, shutting the door in my face. I step back, trying to get my head on straight.
“Hey, you’re bleeding,” the guy says to me.
I look down at my hand that I scraped along the rough edge of the towel rack, a line of blood beading along the heel of my palm.
Ugh. Blood. I immediately close my eyes, my stomach turning. I always get squeamish around blood, even my own.
“Are you okay?” the guy asks, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I flinch at the contact, ripping away from him. “I’m fine.”
I start off toward the kitchen to rinse it off. I could go for one of the other bathrooms in the house, but I’m not about to be alone in there again. I am a horny, paranoid mess.
I pass by the hall, noticing Elle holding some guy’s hand, giggling and leading him into one of the bedrooms, closing the door. Great. With her in there, and Meiko probably with the girl with dreads, it’s just another reminder of how alone I am.
Sighing, I run my hand under the tap in the kitchen, watching the blood rinse away. It seems like a surface scratch, hopefully nothing that will require a tetanus shot because I know how dirty these student houses can get.
“Lenore.”
Okay, this time I really am hearing a voice.
A familiar one at that.
I turn around to see Beth, Matt’s girlfriend, staring at me, arms crossed.
Oh shit.
I turn off the tap and shake out my wet hand, giving her a fake smile.
“Hey, Beth. What are you doing here? Is Matt with you?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
My smile falters. “Sorry?”
She takes a step toward me until I’m backed up against the sink. “Matt. He told me what you did.”
My eyes go wide. “What I did?”
“Don’t play stupid. He wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Beth, honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I don’t want to throw Matt under the bus if I don’t have to.
“You kissed him,” she says with a sneer, loud enough that the people in the kitchen all look over.