Page 9 of The Sidekick

“Home? Your friend is with you?” The concern reappears, and I answer because I’m grateful that he’s back to normal.

“No.” And I’m so thankful my ‘friends’ aren’t here.

“Didn’t Andi find you? I gave her your purse.” His tone becomes angrier as he speaks, and I don’t know why. It’s just a purse.

“I have it, thank you,” I reassure him.

“You’re at home alone right now?” The anger is starting to take over his normally sweet nature again, and I suddenly can’t deal with it. I don’t even care if it makes me selfish. I want the numbness that went away at hearing his voice to come back.

“Can I have tonight off? I have to figure out if Joe has any next of kin,” I blurt out, voice shaking.

He is quiet for a second before he says in a surprised tone, “The bar is closed for the next couple of nights, Tera. The cops are still milling around down there, and we aren’t sure when they’ll be done.”

That voice in the background starts up again, louder and angrier, making me want to hurry this along even more. I don’t even know this guy, and he’s mad at me.

“Will you call me when they’re done?” I ask so I don’t have to hear the background voice any longer.

“Of course I will. Tera, would you like us to come over?”

Who is we? Is he going to bring his random angry roommate over with him? Or a girlfriend? How awful would that be? And witness my rundown apartment so they can compare notes about how crappy it is? No, thanks.

“I need to head out, actually,” I lie quickly. I’m planning on crawling back under these covers and not coming out for a while. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Tera-”

“Be sure to call me when my shift is back on,” I interrupt and hang up before he can say anything else.

I drop the phone back onto my rickety side table and burrow under the sheets to cry.

Chapter Four

Tera

The slamming of a fist on my door wakes me. I look around groggily, wondering who would try and break my door down at this hour. Whatever hour it is.

I sit up as the pounding continues, starting a throbbing in my temples. A glance at my phone says I slept through the night and into midafternoon. It also says I have a lot of missed notifications that I don’t have the will to care about right now. I could drop right back off to sleep if only the door destroyer would disappear.

I shuffle to the door, undoing the chain, deadbolt, and lock before cracking it open and peeking through. If seeing me will make this person go away, I’m all for it.

“You didn’t even check the peephole, did you,” the voice carries a familiar arctic freeze with it as I avoid Felix’s pretty chocolate-brown eyes.

“In this dump?” Blaze asks in disgust, and I try to close the door before any of the rest of them can chime in. Not today, please. Just give me one break.

A hand holds the door open before I can fully shut it, and just like that, I give up. Let them come in and be judgy. I should be used to it by now. It shouldn’t even bother me anymore. I’m the one giving them the power to hurt me. I just need to take it back from them.

I go to my tiny kitchen and grab a glass to get cold water from the tap. I can hear several feet tromping into my apartment and resist the urge to laugh at how uncomfortable they all look. Rich meet poor.

Wasn’t that one of the reasons they tried to run me off? Because Andi’s family is rich, and I’m supposedly scamming her for her money? Looking around makes the theory stand out as plausible.

Felix and Blaze with Ira and one of Andi’s boyfriends, Alec. The place seems microscopic, with all four of them standing huddled together like frightened supermodels. No one settles on the old loveseat pushed off into the corner, and there’s nowhere else to sit, so they stand there looking awkward and disgusted as I sip my water.

My place isn’t that bad. It’s an average everyday one-bedroom apartment, you rich judgy jerks.

I didn’t realize how thirsty I was as I finish my drink in one long draw, so I turn around to get more and avoid looking at them.

Alec clears his throat in obvious discomfort, bringing my attention back to them. “Andi is worried about you.”

I nod absently and try to figure out what’s on the floor they’re all staring at. It’s my purse with all its contents spilled out. I think it’s either the emergency tampons or the hot pink bottle of mace spray. I bet they’ve never seen Andi’s tampons. The bottle isn’t even mace. It’s silly string. That can sums up my life perfectly. Colorful and useless.

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