Later that same afternoon, I go to visit Elias and Nina decides to come with me. Nina, Lara and I are sitting on the sofa in Lara's living room, chatting quietly so that her brother doesn't wake up. As soon as we hear the updates on Elias, Nina and Lara bombard me with questions about Daniel. When I tell them everything that happened between us, they're both happy for me.
I don't even try to pretend I am not happy, either. Even talking about Daniel makes me excited, giddy. I can't wait to see him again even though our outing ended only a couple of hours earlier,
"And what about you? How is George?" Lara asks, looking over at Nina. Nina glances at me and I look away. I promised her I'd trust George, so I haven't mentioned anything to Lara,
"He's good. Recovering"
"Recovering from what?" Lara asks, worried,
"Just got hurt the other day. Nothing serious" she says, looking over at me thankfully, I guess she's happy I haven't told Lara about the altercation with Daniel, "but, I have some news..."
"What news?"
"Tell us!"
"George is taking me away over the weekend. He planned a trip for me somewhere, to celebrate my birthday!"
"How exciting!" Lara squeals, but I can't bring myself to feel the same excitement, when Nina looks at me, I force a smile,
"Yes! Sounds exciting!" I say in an attempt to cover up my uneasiness. As much as I told Nina I'd trust George, the truth is, I want to trust him, but I just don't, not after everything that happened,
"And you don't know where he's taking you?"
"Nope! Can't wait!"
"When are you leaving?"
"So, the plan is for George to come Friday night, there's the party happening in the city. George will come to the party, then sleep over at our apartment, then leave with me Saturday morning"
"What party?" I ask,
"Thomas Larry is throwing it. He invited us both"
"He didn't invite me" I say, Thomas is a guy from university, pretty popular,
"He did. He told me to tell you, but I didn't get a chance"
"Oh"
"He said to bring our friends along too, so Lara if you're free?"
"No, I have to be with Elias. But I don't think it's safe for either of you to go. Especially not Sofia"
"I know, the stalker. But we'll be safe. George is with us" Nina says, I bite down on my lips. George being there doesn't make me feel any better,
"You know I am not big on parties" I say,
"I do. But we haven't been out in ages. And I feel like we need to let go a little"
"I don't think-"
"No excuses, Sofia. Besides, it's too late. I already told him you're coming"
"You told Thomas?"
"Yes"
"I'll think about it"
"You can think all you want, but you're coming" she grins.
Friday comes, and sure enough, Nina persuades me to go with her. I agree mainly because I'd feel uneasy if she was going by herself. Daniel has some of his usual training stuff happening, so I decide not to tell him about the party. We've both been busy that we haven't even seen each other since that day. I know if I told Daniel about it, he'd most likely cancel all his activities to come with me. I don't want that, I've been enough of a burden already. Besides, I've known George all my life. As much as I can't fully get over the fact he was caught out in weird situations, I promised Nina I'd give him a clean slate. But just in the off case that he isn't innocent in all of this, I'm not worried about going out tonight. We'll be in a crowd, I'll stick to Nina all night. Nothing bad can happen at all.
Nina and I spend the afternoon picking through dresses, I'm not much of a party goer, but I love dressing up. I settle on a shimmering rose gold dress that clings to my body like a second skin. Paired with stiletto heels and a bold red lip, I feel ready to take on the world. I glance over at Nina, she's wearing a sleek, black bodycon dress that hugs her curves in all the right places, the neckline plunges daringly low. Her hair is swept up in a chic bun and statement earrings glint in the light,
"Ready?" she asks,
George is driving down all the way from Winder, so he will be arriving to the party a little later than the two of us. We catch a cab, both of us felt uneasy even thinking of getting on a bus after what happened to Lara and Elias.
Thomas Larry's house is huge, all lit up and ready for the event. I don't know Thomas too well, we only spoke a handful of times in Environmental Psychology, a class we both take. But I know he's pretty rich.
When we enter the house, Thomas spots us right away and walks over to us,
"Hey! So glad you could make it!" He greets. I always had a feeling Thomas liked Nina, but now that feeling is confirmed, he can't take his eyes off her. Unsurprisingly, Nina's completely oblivious to it, she's incredibly loyal. I love that about her, as much as she's a loyal girlfriend to George, she's also a loyal friend to me. We've got each other's back,
"Let's grab a drink" she pulls on my arm, we give a little wave to Thomas as we leave. I get a lemon lime bitter and Nina gets a coke. We agreed that we wouldn't be consuming any alcohol tonight, it was the only way I agreed to come, we must be wide awake in case the stalker appears.
We're chatting and sipping on our drink, when George walks in. I spot him as soon as he enters, wearing pale blue jeans and a black button down shirt. Even from a distance, I can see he has a bruise on his face, right under his eye. It's obvious he tried covering it up but it's still visible.
"Hey George! Here!" Nina waves at him, he looks over and sees us, his eyes roam over Nina then linger on me for a few seconds. Is it a few seconds too long? Usually, I wouldn't even notice something so unimportant, but Daniel's words come to mind, I see the way he looks at you. His eyes keep seeking you out. No, that's so not true. Obviously, George will look at me when he comes to a room, everyone looks at everyone. Daniel and Phil are wrong to accuse him of something so disgusting.
"Hi Nina, Sofia! You're both stunning!" George says when he steps in front of us. He then leans down and gives Nina a long kiss,
"Grab a drink!" she says, we practically need to yell to hear each other as the music is so loud, he gets himself a beer and stands next to Nina, leaning against the bar. The three of us chat about school and work, then Nina starts talking about her excitement for tomorrow. As we talk, I observe George's face more carefully, as I noticed before, the bruise is definitely there. Someone punched him in the face, and if it wasn't Daniel, then who was it?
"I'll be right back, need the bathroom" Nina says, "Sofia, do you need to come, too?" she asks me. I shake my head no, I've been waiting for a chance to confront George on my own, and this seems like a perfect opportunity. When Nina leaves, George and I are left standing by the bar table,
"And how are you?" he asks, George and I haven't spoken since that phone call, and I can tell he's still a little irritated with me,
"Honestly? Not too well" I respond, now that we're alone, I don't have to pretend either. The irritation goes both ways.
"How come?"
"Did Nina tell you about Lara?" I ask, looking at him to see if his expression changes at all,
"Lara? No. What happened?" he asks, his face not giving away too much interest, or even too much of anything,
"Her brother is in the hospital, the stalker that has been pestering Lara and I attacked her and her brother the other night"
"Seriously? Is he okay?" it strikes me as odd that he's only asking about Elias, but not about Lara as well. Might be because I said her brother is in the hospital, but it might also be because he knows Lara wasn't hurt,
"He is..." I respond,
"Is he hurt really bad?" he sounds genuinely interested,
"He was hit in his head, had a concussion"
"Oh..."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"I can see you have a bruise, too"
"You're asking?" he asks, sounding offended, "that's your boxer idiot that did that"
"When?"
"The other night, on the street" he scoffs,
"But I was there. Daniel didn't hit you"
"Well, he obviously did, didn't he?"
"He didn't, George. I was there, I saw what happened"
"After that. You didn't see when he punched me"
"When?"
"Once you walked off, he came back for me" he says,
"That's not true, I was with him the whole time"
"It is true" George frowns, "who do you trust? Me or the scum bag?"
"George, what sort of question is that? I've known you for years, obviously I trust you. But everything that's been going on-"
"If you trust me, than why are you not believing me about the bruise?"
"Because I was there!"
"He punched me after you left!"
"I left with Daniel, George. We left in his car, together!"
"And then he came back!"
"After he took me to the apartment?" I ask, George nods, "you're saying Daniel drove me to the apartment, then went out again to look for you and punch you?"
"Seems that way, doesn't it?"
"How did he find you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well you wouldn't have been standing in the same spot, waiting for him, George! How did Daniel know where to find you?"
"Ask him that" he shrugs, "I was still around the area you left me"
"Why?"
"Because, I just was. When you're accused of something so absurd, you stop doing what normal people do! I was just walking around, thinking what to do!"
"And Daniel drove up to you, got out of his car, and punched you in your face?"
"Yes!"
I want to argue that he's lying, but I don't. Is it possible that George is telling the truth, and that Daniel was lying? I need to speak to Daniel, see what he says. Nina walks over to us, she's looking at us with a frown,
"What happened? Were you just arguing?"
"No" I say,
"Nothing" George says at the same time,
"You look angry at each other?"
"No, we're not"
"We were just talking about that boxer moron" George says,
"Daniel?"
"Yes"
"Can you stop calling him names, George?" I ask,
"Ah, look at her!" George scoffs, "wouldn't be surprised if you spread your legs for him already"
"George!" Nina yells, I glare at him angrily, my hand in a fist, really fighting the urge to slap him across his face,
"How can you say that!" Nina scolds,
"Am I wrong?"
"How dare you say something like that to her? What's wrong with you!" she pushes him really hard, making him stumble back a step,
"Nina, leave it. Just forget it!" I say, pulling her back towards me,
"He can't speak to you like that!" she says, furious,
"Okay! I am sorry!" George shakes his head, Nina glares at him angrily so he quickly adds, "I actually am sorry, Sofia!"
I ignore his apologies, still angry but trying my best to stay calm for Nina's sake. I start sipping on my drink and slightly turn my face away from the two of them. I'm very tempted to just leave, but I can imagine the scene that would cause, and how upset Nina would be.
"I am sorry, okay? I was angry!" George speaks, "he hit me! That Daniel dude. I'm just mad! I'm really sorry!" George continues apologising, and I continue to ignore him.
A friend from university and her date spot us and walk over. I'm so glad that this stops the awkward atmosphere, all three of us pretend nothing is wrong and chat to them. Nina didn't forget, of course, and she lightly squeezes my hand, when I glance at her she has an apologetic look in her eyes. I smile reassuringly, I want her to know I am fine.
Last thing I want is for Nina to be upset. Her birthday is coming up in two days. It's the day we met eleven years ago. I was eight, my friend from school had been invited to Nina's birthday party as they were cousins. I was just a tag on. Who would have known that Nina and I would become inseparable since that day? I still remember the first time I saw her, wearing a pink fluffy dress and a sparkly princess cone-hat. Her house a lot bigger than mine, her parents wealthier. But we didn't see that difference back then. We just clicked like we were waiting for each other our whole lives.