Page 32 of Ignite
“Hey!” she said cheerfully. “Ready for girls’night?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied, letting herin.
When Faye had called me that afternoon and asked to hang out, I was ecstatic. It was just the thing I needed to help take my mind off the events of the night before—when Liam almost punched on with Viper—and let loose a little. Alcohol, movies, and girl talk. I’d never been part of a friendship group before, and even though it was just the two of us, it felt amazing to have someone who actually wanted to spend time withme.
I closed the door behind her as she looked around my little home, taking in the sights, which weren’t many. My apartment consisted of a separate little kitchenette, a tiny bathroom, a small bedroom—only large enough for my bed, a little side table, and a built-in robe—and the living area, which wasn’t muchbigger.
“Nice place, A,” Faye said after amoment.
“It’s a shoebox,” I said with a groan. “A two hundred and seventy dollar a weekcoffin.”
“It’s a great area, though. Close to the city, the water, greatpubs…”
“I moved here so I could be closer to my fantastic new job and not have to train back and forth across the city every day. Turned out it was a money pit and my job…” I widened my eyes and sighed, sinking down onto thecouch.
She offered me a reassuring smile, the space feeling even more confined now there were two of us in it. It had gone from cozy to cramped in T-minus threeseconds.
“C’mon, look at thepositives!”
“I suppose you’re right,” I said. “I just wish I made a little more money. Being single sucks, especially when you hear the prices on things are based on twinshare.”
“I know, right?” Faye laughed and flicked her hair. “Listen, I know you like cider, so I brought us over a couple.” She set the bag she was carrying onto my little coffee table, the bottles clinkinginside.
“Thanks,” I said, fishing out one. “I could really use one of these rightnow.”
Faye flopped down on the couch. “How’s the job huntinggoing?”
“I could wallpaper my entire apartment with the rejection letters,” I said with a sigh, offering her adrink.
“That good,huh?”
“Maybe I should sue my old boss for damages afterall.”
“Mightn’t be such a bad idea, you know. He was a pig, asking you what he did. Makes you wonder if he did it to anyone else and got away withit.”
I thought about Susan for some unknown reason and contemplated Matt propositioning her. It would explain a great deal, which was pretty awful of me to assume, but she got away with a lot of bitchiness in that place. Maybe she did suck him off to have an easier time at work. I shivered, shoving away the revolting image of her on herknees.
“Have you got anyone to help you?” Faye asked. “Family?”
I shook my head. “I don’t haveany.”
Faye hesitated, her brow creasing. “You don’t have anyfamily?”
I sighed, not really wanting to get into it, but she was my friend, right? I’d ever really sat down and told anyone about my parents and what happened to them. Honestly, no one had everasked.
“My parents died with I was fifteen,” I explained. “Car accident. A truck veered into their lane on the highway and hit them head on. They died on impact. The cops said the truck driver had been driving over twenty-four hours straight and was off his face on drugs to stay awake. He hit them, they died, and he went toprison.”
“Holy shit. Ali… I’m sosorry.”
“Thirteen years this August,” I said. Faye reached out to pull me into a hug, but I shrugged away. “It was a long time ago. I’ve learned to cope on myown.”
“You don’t have any other family? No brothers orsisters?”
“Nope. I was an only child, and we never really spoke to the extended family, so it was like I never existed to them. Mum and Dad said they were all batshit crazy, so they cut them off not long after they gotmarried.”
“So… You really were alone when you came to TheUnderground?”
“I guess so. I was just tired of floating. Being pushed down. Walked over.” I shrugged. “I wanted somethingelse.”
