36. Strange Feeling
Dillon
A strange feeling had begun forming inside Dillon lately, a feeling he just couldn't ignore. It had been a week since he last saw Libra and even though they've been talking via text every day something had changed between them. Her phone was always close to her and as soon as it vibrated her attention would shift to whomever she spoke to and rarely shifted back. In the beginning he thought she might be seeing someone else, but Libra wasn't that type so he dismissed that thought quickly. Then he thought about his own secret and that there was a chance she had found something out.
Charlie had been careful enough not to tell anyone and he was the only one he had to worry about, then his thoughts shifted to the text message he'd gotten previously. The message where Laura had implicated that she knew something about Dillon, something that he'd done in high school. He'd thought Laura was harmless; that she was just a popular girl who didn't want her reputation ruined and was used to getting her way â but she was far more vindictive than he'd first thought. Had his rejection caused her to do some digging around in his past and was her goal to expose him to Libra?
Today he was going over to Austin's place an invitation he was surprised had been sent his way but he wasn't going to turn it down. He'd asked Austin briefly if Todd had said anything nasty about him, but Austin had shook his head and said that he hadn't seen Todd that much at all. While heading to Austin he read through an old conversation with Libra and re-read her last response that informed him that she would call him later tonight and he smiled at her last words 'I miss you too'.
"Hey man, come on in. I was just playing some Xbox." Austin announced when he opened the door to his place.
Dillon smiled and entered the small room slowly, taking it all in. He hadn't been here in a long time but he saw little had changed. Austin still had the same NFL posters up and still playing FIFA like the last time he'd hung out here.
"How have you been man? I haven't seen you in class that much lately." Dillon asked and took a seat on the couch while Austin placed a soda can on top of a coaster and handing him the other Xbox console.
"'I've been busy catching up on my FIFA game actually, I think Economy class isn't for me anymore. I'm looking to change." Austin said and cleared his throat. Dillon nodded silently.
He was tired at feeling worried all the time but the feeling had followed him to Austin's place. The air between them seemed tainted somehow and Dillon wondered if Todd had done some damage between them after all. His mind started spinning and the tiny sweat drops on his palms had begun to multiply.
"I don't want to cause any trouble or anything but are we alright? We haven't hung out that much since I kicked out Todd â kind of thought you and Keith picked sides." Dillon heard himself sound insecure and hoped that Austin hadn't caught on.
From the looks of it Austin was oblivious to Dillon's insecurity and shot him a relaxed smile once he started the game again and focused on his TV. So Austin had simply fallen off because of his love for FIFA; Dillon decided to buy it for now and not push the subject anymore.
"No side picking here. Todd hasn't really been around either so don't worry about that." Austin said after a long time of silence and once Dillon got that confirmed he picked up his console and asked to join in.
After multiple rounds on Austin's Xbox Dillon decided it was time for him to head back home. Libra would call him soon and he wanted to grab something to eat before he spent the rest of the evening talking to her. His worried subconscious had eased up a bit after today and that included Libra too. As he reached the lobby of The Arc he saw a familiar figure lurking next to the elevator, he sighed and prepared himself for a conversation that most likely would go left.
"What do you want Laura?" Dillon asked as he pressed on the 'up' button to the elevator.
Laura was dressed in a short black skirt with a matching black crop top, giving any guy in here a taste of what they could have. Dillon remembered her sweet manipulative lips on his and shivered at the thought of it. He should have never gone to her place that night, bad things happened when he was alone with Laura.
"That's no way to greet a friend, Dillon. I came with good intentions." Laura said and slipped in the elevator with him.
He said a silent prayer that Jack wasn't home and that he hadn't brought Sophia or worse Libra to the apartment. He wasn't going to kick Laura out in fact he was going to invite her in and hope she'd spill the beans on what she had on him â he assumed that's why she was here anyway. With girls like Laura there were hardly any 'good' intentions involved and he wasn't dumb enough to believe that either.
"I'll ask you again; what do you want Laura?" Dillon pressed on and stepped of his floor when the doors swung open. He waited for Laura to do the same and waited patiently for an answer before opening his door.
"I thought you'd like to know what interesting things I found out about you, and I was hoping you could fill in the blanks for me."
"If you want to come in you better start talking clearly, because I'm not letting you in to attempt to fuck with my head." Dillon retorted back and narrowed his eyes at her.
Laura smiled innocently toward Dillon and leaned against the wall of his apartment and didn't look rattled at all. That had to mean something, Dillon thought, she probably knew more than she let on and was trying to scare him. Dillon went over the list of people who knew about prom night and concluded that it was only Charlie who knew the truth â Charlie would never snitch and not to Laura.
"I would dare fuck with your head Dillon Holden â not like you're doing with Libra Jones or could've done to me had I let you."
"To you? I was never interested in you to begin with and you knew that all along, you're just mad that you got rejected by me."
"Maybe you're right; I was a bit shocked that you rejected me the way you did. But when I understood what type of guy you are I realized I dodged a bullet. I just wanted to let Libra know who she's dealing with." Laura said provokingly.
For a moment his blood ran cold and his breath was hard to release. She had indeed found something out and was now blackmailing him. If Libra got a hold of this information that would be the end of them, and they hadn't even begun anything yet. If he admitted to doing something Laura would get the upper hand but he couldn't play it off like it was nothing â what if she actually had something big?
With feet frozen and his breath caught in his throat he realized that Laura had the upper hand either way and that she was well aware of it. Dillon didn't have much wiggle room here but he could buy himself some time.
"Stay the fuck away from me and Libra, or else." He said with a dark voice.
Laura raised her hands next to her and looked half shocked at his tone, she'd probably expected him to give in at once but he wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. Suddenly a noise to the left of them snapped them both out of their private conversation and took in the hallway. Dillon's eyes grew wide when he saw a stunned Libra look at them with confused eyes. She was holding two pizza cartons struggled to hold the large drink she had between her thumb and index finger.
"Libraâ" Dillon said and started walking toward her before Laura stopped him.
"Libra Jones; just the girl I wanted to see. How about you hand those pizzas over to the gentleman behind me and we can have a quick talk." Laura said in her most cheerful voice.
Dillon shook his head no to Libra but he already knew she would do as Laura said. Libra looked worried when she handed the pizzas to Dillon, without saying a word, and then turning to Laura.
"We can talk in my room." Libra mumbled silently and showed Laura the staircase leading up to Libra's apartment.
Dillon could only stand there and look after the two girls who had left him by himself with two pizzas and a drink. He desperately wondered if Libra would return to share the food with him or if this would be the beginning of many consolation meals.