“Like I said, it was a long time ago. Now, can we talk about something else?”
“What would you like to talk about?” he asks after a long beat of silence passes between us.
“I’m really sorry about tonight,” I blurt, just needing to get it off my chest.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Actually, it kind of is.” I swallow hard, staring out the window because I find it impossible to look at him.
“How’s that?”
“I may have encouraged her.”
“What do you mean, you may have encouraged her?” The tone of his voice compels me to look at him, and when I do, he briefly meets my gaze, his expression unreadable, before his eyes once again find the road.
“We bonded over our mutual dislike of you,” I say apologetically. “So when you pissed me off the other day, I may or may not have vented to her about you, and that’s when she said we should get even, give you a taste of your own medicine. I figured she was popping off at the mouth, and when she never said anything else, I forgot all about it. I had no idea she was planning to drug one of your friends and make it look like we were having a threesome with him when you walked in. I also don’t know why she thought you would care enough that she felt compelled to go to such extremes.”
“Because she seems to know what you still don’t.” It’s his turn to avoidmygaze.
“Which is?”
He continues without answering my actual question.
“Lana has pulled a lot of shit over the years, but nothing quite like this. I can deal with her being in half of my classes. I can deal with her sitting in the stands at nearly every practice. Hell, I can even deal with her stalking around my apartment building like a fucking creep. But this... This is...”
“Way too far.” I finish the sentence for him.
“Way too far,” he agrees.
“Well, I really am sorry for my part in this.”
“This isn’t on you, and I don’t blame you. You should be able to vent to a friend without worrying that she’s gonna concoct some sadistic plan to get back at the person you’re angry with. But that’s what Lana does. She manipulates and twists things to meet her own narrative. She’s so sure that I’m the villain that she’s convinced herself she’s the victim, when really, it’s the other way around. You want to know why I pushed you away the way I did... Why I made sure I did it with an audience... It was because she was there. She was there and I knew that if I didn’t make a spectacle of humiliating you, that you would become her next target and I simply could not let that happen.”
The reality of his words settles over me like a thick blanket, making my skin feel overly warm despite the cooler temperatures.
“You... She...” I can’t seem to formulate the right words.
“I know it doesn’t make what I did okay. I know that. But despite what you might think, my intentions were good. I liked you, Maisie. I mean, I really fucking liked you. But as soon as Lana showed up, I knew I could never haveyou. Better that you hate me than fall prey to whatever sick, twisted thing she would no doubt have planned for you.”
“Why haven’t you told me this before now?”
“Would you have believed me?”
I think over his words, deciding no, I likely wouldn’t have. Still, I keep the answer to myself.
“You hated me,” he continues. “What would be the point in telling you anything when I knew there was no way you would believe me? Even still, I did try to warn you about Lana. But as expected, you blew me off, and rightfully so. But now that you’ve seen it... Now that you know what she’s capable of... Despite everything I did in order to keep you off her radar, somehow you still ended up on it just the same. And now that you’ve stood against her...”
“You think she’ll try to retaliate against me?”
“I honestly don’t know what she’ll do.”
“Fucking great,” I mutter, blowing out a slow breath. “Just what I need in my life. A psychopathic roommate who goes around drugging people to get what she wants.”
I glance back at Joey, staring at him for several long moments to make sure his chest is rising and falling at a normal rate.
“He seems okay,” I finally say.
“I’m sure he will be. Now let’s just hope he doesn’t get pulled for a random drug test this coming week.”
