Chapter 24: Flashback

Keesha and Brad did a great job pretending everything was fine.

Keesha even apologized to Kemar and said that she’d mistaken him for somebody else, their previous neighbor who she thought died in a motorcycle accident. I mean, at least it looked like Kemar believed it.

The dinner went surprisingly smooth thanks to the small talk between Keesha and Brad. I chimed in now and then and laughed at their jokes, but Kemar didn’t say much.

However, things didn’t get awkward until we sat down to watch a movie.

Maybe I was starting to get too obvious, but I really wanted to get everything over with, and sitting next to him on the couch with his arm wrapped around my shoulders was actually quite uncomfortable.

Therefore, I busied myself with serving apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert, while they discussed what movie to put on.

They chose ~Chocolat~, which unfortunately reminded me of the chocolate hearts Kemar had given me last time.

It was hard to read him tonight. That wasn’t really anything new, but tonight he seemed eerily guarded.

The man was simply too stone-faced and without any trace of emotions, no matter what the topic was, and I noticed especially Keesha found it quite unsettling.

He was just too damn polite and quiet. Even when you asked him something directly, he simply smiled and nodded, and when I eventually had to sit down next to him, he smiled then too.

A smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

An hour or so into the movie, Keesha and Brad gave up on following the movie and started making their own little plot. The tension between Kemar and me was now starting to become unbearable.

Especially when he tried to copy what my best friend and her boyfriend did. Once again, I turned my head, so he kissed my cheek instead, and blamed it on being too shy to do it in front of them.

A totally lame excuse, of course, and I half-expected that Kemar would get mad, or at least annoyed. Well, he didn’t. He just kept sipping his wine and made sure to pull me closer with every opportunity he got.

Yes. Kemar brought alcohol and claimed it was because I was completely clueless about how good wine should taste.

He wasn’t wrong, though. I had very limited knowledge on the topic, but I still found it kind of rude to bring alcohol without asking if it was okay.

And even if he did bring it, it was quite arrogant to drink everything himself when nobody else drank alcohol. Once again, I blamed it on my inexperience and the age gap.

What I struggled to understand was that he seemed to be jealous of Brad, and not because he was kissing Keesha.

It was more that he was bothered by my outfit and that he didn’t want Brad to even look my way, which was completely ridiculous, since Brad only had eyes for his dark-haired queen.

The signs were only subtle, but the way he stared hard and long at him made it clear that he saw him as a rival.

Eventually, he ended up covering me with a blanket, which I honestly didn’t mind because I actually was a bit cold.

But most of all, I didn’t want to give him any reason to get annoyed with me before I broke up with him. That’s why I let him hold my hand and returned his smile whenever he looked at me.

The movie came to an end, and when Roux left his Vivienne, I felt it on a whole other level. I’d seen it once before, but this time it kind of symbolized the split that now was only minutes away.

And when Brad stretched and yawned before he got up from the couch, my nervousness hit me with full force.

“I think I’m going to call it a night, babe,” Brad said to Keesha, and I could tell he was trying to make it clear that Kemar was supposed to follow his example.

Unfortunately, Kemar didn’t take hints well, or he did but chose to ignore them. He actually did the opposite and held my hand so tightly that I couldn’t even get up from the couch.

But Keesha came to the rescue. It wasn’t even intentional. She had picked up the bowl with the rest of the potato chips and held it in one hand while she carried her and Brad’s dessert plates in the other.

But when she was about to carry it out into the kitchen, she tripped on the carpet and dropped it all over both Kemar and me, with her on top.

“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed and quickly got back to her feet. So did Kemar, who also got up and frantically started brushing off the potato chips like they were a deadly disease.

Luckily, neither of the plates broke, so nobody was hurt, and Keesha being who she is, immediately saw the funny aspect of it. And soon Keesha, Brad, and I were hollering with laughter.

Not Kemar. He was deadly serious, just like he’d been all night. And before we managed to control ourselves and started cleaning up the mess, he’d walked to the door and was about to put on his coat.

It was a winter coat, and it was a lot thicker than the one he’d used the previous times I’d seen him, which I found a bit strange since it wasn’t especially cold outside.

“Hey, are you leaving?” I asked and went after him, and the relief I’d felt from the fit of laughter instantly became overshadowed by the seriousness of what was about to come.

Keesha was busy wiping off a couple of stains from the couch, and Brad was picking potato chips from pretty much everywhere, and both of them tried to make themselves invisible.

“Kemar?”

But he didn’t reply. He didn’t even zip his coat before he pulled the door open and stormed off to his car. And I was left dumbfounded for a moment before I called out for him.

“Kemar! Stop! I need to talk to you!” I shouted, but all I saw was his back when he opened the car door, got in, and drove off.

“What’s his problem?” Brad asked when he passed me on his way to the kitchen with the rest of the plates and the remains of the potato chips.

“I honestly have no idea,” I said with a frown. This hadn’t gone as planned at all.

“Just another reason to break up with him,” Keesha stated with one raised eyebrow and a dubious facial expression. Then she patted my shoulder and followed Brad into the kitchen.

“But it was supposed to happen tonight,” I said, followed by a deep sigh of defeat.

For some reason, even being in separate rooms from them felt distressing, so I followed to help them, even though I was fully aware that Keesha knew her way around our kitchen.

But at least I got to wash my hands. Then I looked down at myself and wrinkled my nose.

“I think I need a shower,” I sighed and pointed at the greasy stains and traces of melted ice cream. It was on my arm, both my thighs and on my skirt.

“Aw, why? That outfit could turn out to be the next ‘it,’” Keesha teased and posed for an imaginary photographer while she made an exaggerated duckface.

“Like Lady Gaga’s meat dress? That’s disgusting, Keesh. I’ll clean myself up, and you can decide which movie we’re going to see next. Knowing you, I’m going to be ready before you are.”

“Hey! That’s not true!”

Brad was done putting everything into the dishwasher and came over to give Keesha another kiss.

“You ladies have a good time showering,” he snickered. Then he squeezed Keesha’s ass and gave her a smug wink.

“But you better call if you decide to have a naked pillow fight, ’cause I wouldn’t miss that for my life.”

Keesha swatted his hands away and squinted at him in a playful manner, and I realized what a great relationship they had.

That was how it was supposed to be. They were both equal, joked around at the same time as it was natural to show love and affection.

If it had been Kemar saying those words, it would have creeped me out beyond belief. But not Brad.

Even with your eyes closed you could tell he was just teasing, and Keesha’s reaction to it was a smooch and adorable giggling. And me? I ran for the shower and made sure to lock the door.

Just in case.

Since I didn’t need to wash my hair, I didn’t spend a long time cleaning myself up. Then I put on a pair of jeans and a tank top before I decided it would be a bit too cold and went for a knitted cardigan too.

And after fixing my hair into a bun, I felt as good as new and hurried back into the living room where I found Keesha lazily stretched out on the couch.

“I thought you’d drowned in there.”

“It took ten minutes, Keesha,” I retorted with an eye roll. “You usually need at least fifteen minutes to decide whether we should watch ~Notting Hill~ or ~Dirty Dancing~ for the umpteenth time.”

She snorted. “I do not! Now sit your ass down so we can watch both of those before you fall asleep somewhere on the floor.”

I flopped down next to her and reached for the remote. “I don’t fall asleep on the floor. It’s usually on—”

“…the couch or a chair or on top of me or some random piece of furniture you find suitable. Potayto, potahto,” Keesha interrupted, pronouncing the word in different ways.

“It includes snoring, drooling, and giving me a black eye anyway.”

“That happened once!” I exclaimed and blushed when I thought of the stupid dream I had at one of our countless sleepovers.

We were in junior high, and we’d snuck out to go to a party where we danced for several hours.

According to Keesha, I was probably still on the dance floor until the early morning hours, which included a couple of good left hooks and some jiu-jitsu.

“Yeah, whatever,” she chortled. “You can start the movie. I’ve got to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back. I’ve seen it before, anyway.”

“Of course you have. You can quote them both by heart. So, which one is it? ~Dirty Dancing~ or ~Notting Hill~?”

But instead of answering, Keesha just jogged down the hall while cackling her ass off. That was answer enough.

I started the movie and heard the intro of “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes, followed by the red-and-black letters that stated what I already knew.

Keesha was ready to dance. However, after a couple of minutes she was still in the bathroom, and I was just about to call for her when I heard some strange noises.

“Keesha? Are you okay?”

Moments later, I heard footsteps from down the hall and relaxed.

“I thought you’d drowned in there,” I said, reiterating her own words, but froze when I saw someone who was definitely not my best friend.

“Kemar? What are ~you~ doing here? I thought you left? Where’s Keesha?”

He just smirked, and I couldn’t quite decipher the look in his eyes. I just hated the eruption of fear that welled up inside me. The closer he came, the more worried I was for Keesha. I called her name again.

“Don’t worry about her,” he said dryly. “She’s…Let’s just say she’s asleep.”

A chill ran down my spine as I slowly got up from the couch. I wanted to run for the door, but the need to check on my best friend was bigger.

However, I didn’t get to do either, because I ended up being more concerned about backing away from him to keep my distance.

“What did you do to her? How did you get in? The door is locked, and…”

I was cut off by a crass reply. “I opened the window to your parents’ bedroom, sweetheart. Simplest trick in the book.”

“What?” I gasped. “You broke in through their bedroom? Who does that? And…why?”

He suddenly jolted forward and grabbed my arm before I could even react and started pulling me toward the door.

“What are you do…Keesha!”

“Shut up, bitch! Or I’ll do the same to you as I did to her!” he threatened and yanked my arm harder.

“Stop it! You’re hurting me!”

He just laughed. But his usual charming, short laughter was everything else but charming now.

“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

“Stupid? Why…”

He interrupted me. “I heard about your little plan, Skylar. Play it nice and dump him? After all I’ve done for you, and that’s how you treat me?”

“You eavesdropped?”

He put on a fake sad face.

“Aw. Feeling bad for going behind your boyfriend’s back now? You’re so naive, sweetheart.

“And if you’re wondering, yes, I recognized Keesha and that fucking dipshit that was literally dry humping her all evening. I was pretty drunk, but I wasn’t ~that~ wasted.”

I was at a loss for words. “What are you ta…”

“AND YOU WOULDN’T EVEN LET ME KISS YOU!” he yelled, and suddenly pulled me flush against his body, clamped his hands around my throat, and squeezed.

His eyes, which had always captivated me, looked nothing like they’d been before. They were black with anger and wide open.

It was like he channeled all his rage through them and bore them into mine to stab my soul. His whole demeanor was so threatening that it scared me to the point that it felt like my blood had turned into ice.

I tried to scream for help, but because of his strong grip around my throat, it only sounded like a wheeze. I focused all my energy on trying to break free, or at least make him loosen his grip, but he was simply too strong.

I felt the need to cough, but I wasn’t able to. Instead, my vision grew blurry.

Black spots started to block out the furious face with hateful eyes and a mouth that spat the most despicable words imaginable. Until everything gradually disappeared around me, and my body turned limp and heavy.

Then I was gone.