All About Me (35 page)

When I don
’
t spot him outside, I take out my mobile and try again. It
’
s strange because Oliver is a little bit of a control freak. He assured me that I would be in his arms as soon as I got out of the train. Something isn
’
t right and I bite my lip, wondering why I can
’
t get through to him. I wait another twenty minutes and then decide to take a taxi to his place. In any other circumstance I would have called Jacob, but Dora mentioned that he was going back home.
 

Once I pay the fare I stand outside Oliver
’
s house, staring at the empty bottles of beer. Maybe he got drunk and forgot that he was supposed to pick me up this morning. That
’
s so typical of him. The door isn
’
t locked and evidence of last night
’
s party is still in the kitchen. Obviously, he had the boys over. I put my bag down on the table and head upstairs. The door to his bedroom is also unlocked, so I walk in, feeling oddly nervous to see him.

I look around the room. Oliver is sleeping, looking so peaceful. Then I spot bottle of his favourite beer by his side. Right now I
’
m angry. This is not what I expected when I was leaving Gargle this morning. Shaking my head, I walk to the window and open the curtains, hoping that this will wake him up.

I have to lean over his desk and I accidentally move the laptop. The screen turns itself on, and then something else attracts my attention. A white envelope at the bottom of his bed. Hesitating, I pick it up, wondering if it
’
s another surprise for me. Inside I find a pile of fifty-pound notes. It looks like a couple of hundred pounds with a handwritten message. Normally I don
’
t stick my nose where I shouldn
’
t, but right now I
’
m too curious too pass on this opportunity.

Congratulations, bro, you got her back. It
’
s all there, you don
’
t have to count.

I read that note a few times over and I try to swallow and breathe at the same time, but my body stops responding. I look at sleeping Oliver, feeling the pounding in my ears as the blood drains from me. My heart starts hammering in my chest dangerously fast. I turn my head to the screen of his laptop. Somehow I manage to walk back to his desk, seeing quite clearly his Facebook profile. He must have left it open last night. When I notice his picture blackness obscures my vision, and white dots starts dancing in front of my eyes. It
’
s him
—
Oliver, in bed with MacKenzie. They are both naked. She is smiling, taking the selfie while he has fallen asleep. Underneath there is a comment.

Things got out of control last night.
  

I drop the envelope, shaking, feeling like this can
’
t be happening to me again. Oliver couldn
’
t have been playing with me all this time. A human being cannot be capable of this kind of cruelty. The pain, so much pain, but all of a sudden everything makes sense. He tricked me again. He never, ever loved me. It was all fake.

Chapter Thirty-four

Motions.

Present

“
India baby, what
’
s going on?
”
I ask, stretching, aware that I lost it last night. Fuck, I must have fallen asleep. Now I remember that I was supposed to pick up India this morning. My head feels like shit. I drank way over my limit. India
’
s face is ashen and there are tears in her eyes. Something is wrong. I glance at the computer screen with my Facebook picture, realising that someone has changed it. I jump off the bed feeling a little dizzy. My muscles are stiff, my head banging. My pulse increases rapidly when I realize that it
’
s me, half-naked with some girl in my fucking bed. I glance back and India is not moving, but keeps staring at me blankly, trembling. Tears are streaming down her face and I feel like someone is punching me right in my gut. I wet my lips.

“
India, I don
’
t know why that picture is on there,
”
I say, taking a step forward.

Her face contracts with anger and then she hits me. Yeah, I don
’
t even see that one coming. At one point she is standing in front of me, shaking like a leaf, and a second later she punches me straight in the face with such strength I am surprised. I never knew she had it in her.

“
Liar, fucking liar, and I thought you changed!
”
she screams and then she runs away from the room, bursting into tears. I try to shout, but the blood is spilling through my nose. It
’
s probably broken again, but I don
’
t care. I need to get to the bottom of what is going on here. I scream after her, but blood is everywhere, so I run to the bathroom. Then I come back to my room and lean to pick up the old T-shirt and I spot the money on the floor, a lot of fucking money.

It
’
s a white envelope and inside there is a note, presumably for me. I read it and touch the cash. My head still hurts from the amount of alcohol that I consumed last night, but all of a sudden, everything starts to come together.

I don
’
t wait around. I storm out of my room and run downstairs. My clothes and face are covered with blood, my nose is probably broken again, but I need to find India, explain to her that I have no idea what is going on, before she disappears. I get to the street and run, but she has vanished, thinking that I hurt her again. My stomach feels like someone dropped a ton of weight inside, contracting with a new dose of fear. She is never going to trust me again. She
’
ll never believe that I didn
’
t make a bet over her again. I swear a few times, trying to stop the bleeding.
 

I get back to the house, ready to tear someone apart. She is convinced that I
’
m capable of doing something so sick again. When I get back to my room, I recognise the picture of MacKenzie next to me in bed. She is naked and she is taking a selfie while I
’
m passed out.

I smash my fists into the laptop, breaking it, breathing hard.
Fucking bitch
. MacKenzie was always obsessed with me. I run my hand through my hair, wondering what to do. I pick up the envelope but when I start counting the money, I notice that the notes have a different feel to them.
Fake, the money is fake
. Maybe a hundred pounds looks legit, but the rest is fake. Anger starts building inside me, rising fast, creeping into my bones, and it
’
s that sort of anger that pushes steamy rage out of my ears. I
’
m ready to rip someone
’
s head off. I put some cotton in my nose to stop the bleeding. This distracts me from smashing my fists into a wall over and over just to get some release. India is much stronger than I thought. She has fucking punched me, but that doesn
’
t even matter now. I need to find her as soon as possible and then deal with the person that set me up.

I throw some clothes on and ignore the broken nose. I grab the fake cash and my phone. My pulse is racing. That fucking bitch might have destroyed the trust that had been re-building between India and me for months, but she couldn
’
t have done this on her own; someone else was helping her. Now she despises me more than my dead fucking brother.

Without realising what I
’
m doing, I jump into my car and drive until I have to stop; otherwise, I
’
m going to kill someone. My stomach churns as I continue to take long pulls of air. A few minutes later I park the car in a familiar street. I know if I go into her house, I
’
m going to kill her with my bare hands. There is nothing stopping me. I don
’
t even care about the consequences. I just want MacKenzie to suffer.

India means everything to me, and now I feel like I
’
ve lost her again. First we took a few steps forward, and now we are going backwards. What the fuck is going on?
 

There is no way that she is ever going to let me explain to her that I didn
’
t do anything wrong. Finally I leave the car, breathing like there is no oxygen left inside me. I lose my balance because the anger crawls under my skin, penetrates me, and wrecks my fucked-up soul. I start banging on MacKenzie
’
s door for a good five minutes. She
answers the door, not looking surprised at all. I
’
m not a lady-beater, but when she is standing in front of me with that smirk on her face, I want to clench my hands over her precious neck and suffocate her.

“
Hello, Oliver, nice to finally see you.
”

I don
’
t let her say anything, instead I charge inside and push her against the wall without a warning. My face comes close to her face, only inches apart. I need to know who else was in on this. She is too stupid to come up with prank like that by herself. I move my elbow over her neck as fury radiates out of me like a steam.

“
You fucking cunt!
”
I snarl.
“
I swear to God I
’
m going to use my own hands to hurt you. You deserve to rot in hell!
”

Her face goes blank, her eyes pop up and she swallows, not taking her eyes off me. I must look like some psycho right now, but she disgusts me so much that I can
’
t even stand looking at her.

“
What did you do last night and who was helping you?
”
I shout, spraying her with my spit. My face is so close to hers that I can smell her fear. Her body trembles, but nothing I do to her will bring any kind of satisfaction.

“
I
’
ve done what I had to do. You used me once, then you got bored of me. You gave me the impression that I was going to be your girlfriend.
”
 

“
So you decided to ruin my relationship with India?
”

“
Sam came up with the idea of spiking your drink. He bet with a few other guys that Gretel won
’
t take you back. He was pissed off that he lost the money.
”

I laugh, shaking my head. Fuck, I should have known that it was Sam. He was probably fucking MacKenzie last night.

“
So he put me to sleep, playing a cool mate. After that you sneaked into my house and fiddled with my Facebook profile?
”
I ask. She doesn
’
t need to say anything; her face says it all. MacKenzie couldn
’
t get past the fact that I rejected her again.
“
You were my fuck buddy, so don
’
t delude yourself thinking that I would have ever gotten serious with you.
”

“
I don
’
t care what you do to me. I
’
m glad that I tore you and that loser apart. She is never going to try
—”

I punch the wall inches from her head. I won
’
t miss the next time if she opens her mouth. She whimpers, shaking. I clench my teeth, trying to breathe, but then something else pops into my head. MacKenzie and Sam, they will both win if I lay my hand on her. She and that prick deserve to suffer, but I have another idea.
 

“
India is going to be mine again, then you and that arsehole are going to regret coming to my home and doing shit like that. Mark my words, bitch!
”

I pull away and storm out of her house, shaking. MacKenzie fucked everything up, but there is a simple solution. She and fantastic fucking Sam are going to regret what they
’
ve done to India and me for the rest of their lives. Karma always comes back.

A new hollow feeling tears my stomach apart. I call India
’
s phone, but it just keeps ringing and ringing. I drive to her apartment on campus, but the door is locked. Her neighbour tells me that she left two hours ago. I call Dora straight away.

“
Have you heard from India?
”
I ask her.

“
No, why what
happened?
”

Fuck, there is no time to explain, but Dora needs to know what is going on. I
’
m lucky enough that I deleted that Facebook picture. I tell Dora how I passed out last night. I run over the story and MacKenzie
’
s prank. This sounds worse than it is and I have no idea where to look for India. She should get in contact with Dora sooner or later.

“
That bitch, I knew that I should have punched her when I had a chance. I bet Sam was fucking her and she used him,
”
says Dora.
 

“
Either way, I
’
m going to finish them, but I have to find India first. Do you have any idea where she might be?
”

“
No, she
’
s probably walking around town. heartbroken. Fuck, you have to find her fast. I can
’
t believe that I didn
’
t come back with her.
I
’
ll just keep trying her mobile.
”