I turned on all the lights I could find so I was feeling less scared and alone. It took me only ten minutes to be bored to death. I tried to play at Rock Band, but I was missing all the notes. I tried to read… it didn’t work either. My eyes were traveling through the page, but my brain wasn’t memorizing any word. They were only black little spots on the page, meaning nothing to my frozen brain. I stared at the same page for a long time and finally got up, confused by the complexity of each sentence.
I finally got up, stretching my sore muscles. I couldn’t stay like this forever. I walked to the front door and opened it. I already decided that I was going to see if Liam was at his home, and it was the time I fulfilled my plan. It was slowly building in my head. I would go to his house, and ask if he was there. I would tell his parents that Ben wanted to see him, but he was occupied right now, so he sent me, instead. I would get Liam outside and we would walk to my house, but only, I wouldn’t tell him that Ben wasn’t really there. If I told him, he would probably refuse to come with me… When we arrived at my place, I would confront him. I wanted to know what his problem was.
I walked alone on the side walk and cross the road to finally arrive at Liam’s house. The lights were on, but there was only Liam’s old car in the drive way. Maybe his parents weren’t there… That was going to make my job easier. I knocked three little rap on the door and waited for someone to answer. But no one came. I knocked a second time, making it louder. Maybe he was busy and hadn’t heard me. But he didn’t answer the second time either. I was beginning to worry. He probably saw me coming and he didn’t want to talk to me…? God. I was such a paranoid. He was probably busy doing his homework and he hoped that the annoying person would finally go. I always thought everything was about me.
But I wasn’t ready to give up. I turned the knob slowly in my right hand and to my surprise, the door opened. I didn’t thought for a second because if I did, I would probably run back home.
I entered his house and closed the door behind me. I could easily hear voices at the top of the stairs.
“Liam?” I called his name slowly, not wanting to frighten him. But he didn’t seem to hear me. He was talking alone, or at least, I didn’t see the person he was talking to.
“Just go, please.” He said in an unfriendly tone.
“Liam?” I called again, this time a little bit louder. But again, he didn’t answer. I took a step toward the stairs and began to climb them slowly. I couldn’t see Liam at the top of them. But then I saw his room, with the door wide open. I couldn’t see if he was there, but I continued to climb, one step at the time.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I finally saw a couple making out on the bed; I assumed it was Liam’s bed. The back of a girl was to me, but I remembered this shirt… It was Lisa’s shirt. And Liam’s hand was cupping her breast…
I ran down the stairs, biting my tongue hard, trying not to cry. I suddenly felt this weird thing… You know when you have the feeling that someone is watching you but you can’t see anything? It was exactly like that, like the other night, in Montreal. But this time, I could feel his eyes on me, feel his breath… I finally reach the door and opened it in one swift movement and closing it with a bang. My legs were hurting like hell and my heart was beating faster than it ever beat. I was scared to death and heartbroken. That was almost too much for my little heart.
I was slumped on the couch when Ben and Rose entered the room. They were talking loudly and Rose was giggling like crazy. I almost laughed myself but then I remembered why my eyes were filled with tears and I couldn’t dry them quickly enough. Rose was the first one to realize I was in the room. She suddenly stopped laughing and looked guiltily
away from me but then her eyes went back to me when she finally saw the tears streaming down my face.
“Alicia, what’s going on?” She practically screamed while she sat down beside me.
I couldn’t make myself say anything so I just shrugged. In a second, Ben was by her side, looking at me with worried eyes.
“Oh… What happened?” My brother asked in a little voice. I knew exactly what he was thinking right now. He was blaming himself for all this and it wasn’t his fault…
“I just… I got lost when I came back... And I saw this weird shadow again. It freaked me out.” I lied. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly a lie because the shadow part was true and it had totally freaked me out. But I still hated to lie to them.
“This weird shadow again…” Ben said, in a wondering tone.
“I’m sure it was just your imagination, like the other time.” Rose whispered to me. She was stroking my hair gently.
I nodded trying to look like I was relived. It looked like I was doing a great job because Ben left the room after a minute of studying me and Rose lifted to her feet, waiting for something. Ben came back with two glasses full of coke. He passed one to me and the other to Rose. He disappeared again only to come back with another glass for himself. He sat down on the couch in front of me. Rose, whom was still standing awkwardly beside me, sat graciously beside him. I dropped my eyes to the floor, shielding me from their sharp gaze.
“What did you guys do? Did you have fun?” I asked, trying to break the awkward moment.
Ben’s eyes traveled from me to Rose and then back to me. His face was set in stone but in the contrary, Rose was trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.
“We hanged out. I tried to call Liam, but he didn’t answer, do you know where he is?” My brother asked.
Liam… I almost forgot what I had seen at his house. A sharp pain flashed trough me. The image was still in my head, his back to me, and his hand cupping her… No! I couldn’t think about that. I couldn’t let myself slip in front of Ben and Rose. Perhaps, I could tell my best friend what happened after? No, it wouldn’t be a good idea. It never happened, I never saw Liam after the game even if I searched for him. I ran home because I was afraid of this weird shadow that was stocking me. I’m going to stick to that plan and never let it go.
“Alicia?” Ben’s voice brought me straight to the reality. I almost forgot that I wasn’t alone.
“Yeah. No. I didn’t see him. Sorry.” Rose was staring at me in a weird way. I probably didn’t looked normal… Oops. I pulled myself together again, taking a deep breath and putting Liam’s image away.
“So, what did you guys do, besides hanging…?” I asked, sounding way more interested than I really was. My brother nudged Rose leg when she opened her mouth to talk. I realized that this little movement had made my friend blushed. And I never saw Rose blush in the entire time I knew her. And by never, I mean never. Like I said, she was the kind of girl that was confident. Well, I would make her talk when we would be alone. If Ben won’t tell me, Rose couldn’t resist.
The silence increase and nobody talk for like an eternity. I finally rose from my spot and walked slowly to the steps that were leading upstairs. I waited for a couple of seconds until I could see Rose step away from the room. I could easily hear my friend giggle lightly and then she was at the bottom of the stairs starring at me. I got to my bedroom and close the door. Rose was popping her head in a moment later.
“Hey, you okay?” She asked while she opened the door all the way and jumped on my bed.
“Yeah… I’m just going in shock.” I gave a little laugh so she thought I was only joking. I also knew that she would leave me alone, and give me time. This was how our friendship worked. We waited for the other one to be ready. No pushing.
My hands were freezing and I couldn’t think clearly. Maybe I was really going into shock. Rose’s arms went around me and her arms warmed me up a little bit. She rose from the bed and got a blanket from my closet. She raped it around my shoulders and I stopped shivering. I didn’t even notice that I was shivering.
“What did you see exactly?” She asked, suddenly.
“I didn’t really see anything… I just felt his eyes on me.” I said, uncertain. She didn’t say anything for a while, but when she talked, I could easily hear the laughter in her voice.
“Like I said, it was probably just your imagination…” I didn’t respond to that. I was going to be mad at her, and it wasn’t a good idea right now. I needed her.
I slowly lie down and closed my eyes. My night as drown all my strength from me and I was exhausted. Rose kissed me on the forehead before she got downstairs. I could hear her and Ben talk and laugh a little bit but I knocked out not long after.
---> 
<3