The next day is the first day since forever I don't have to go to college, study for exams, or run to one of the practice days in the dissection room. The whole day lies in front of me like a white sheet, I can do whatever I want. Although I have to call our landlord, to send someone to fix our door. The barricade I made isn't that strong, but luckily no one tried to get into our apartment last night.

I make myself a big mug of strong coffee and switch on my computer. First I check my mail. I reacted on some advertisements for rooms and apartments. I need a place to live in South Valley in a couple of weeks. Some landlords mailed me back and I read their offers. I dismiss some of them and answer others to let them know I'm still interested. There are three houses left that I think will fit my budget and other requirements, like the proximity of the hospital. I'm happy I have at least some choice.

Then I put on my headset and log into my game. This is so awesome. I don't have to keep an eye on the time. If I want, I can play the whole day without any consequences. Some of my friends are online and we decide to do some challenging battlefields. We get some difficult opponents, I like every minute of it and I lose every sense of time.

When I hear Megan shuffle through the apartment, I quit playing. I walk to the kitchen, where Megan is. By the looks of it, she has a hangover. A bad one.

"Ugh, I never drink again," she says. "Please tell me what I did last night."

"Do you really want to know?" I ask her, thinking of our door that she basically bashed in.

"I can't remember anything. Just tell me the important parts." She drinks a glass of water, popping some pills in her mouth, probably aspirin.

I take another cup of coffee, while I try to make out what she considers the important parts.

"I found you in the bathroom, covered in blood and vomit," I say. Megan turns slightly green.

"You obviously broke down our door with your bare fists, that's why they're bandaged," I continue, stirring my coffee. "O, and you broke up with... what's his name."

She groans. "I was afraid I did something stupid, but when I try to remember everything, it's just a blank space." She takes a mug and pours herself some coffee as well. "I really screwed up this time, right?"

"If you mean the door, yep. We can't lock it, and the locksmith has no time to fix it until next Monday. He will be here somewhere between eight and noon, just so you know," I say. "I barricaded the door last night, but I will try to find a way to lock us in so we're at least save when we sleep here."

Megan sighs. "I'm so sorry." Her eyes are still bloodshot. "How was your date?"

It brings back the memory of Dan and me making out in the kitchen. "I think it went fine until we came here."

"O no!" Megan says. "What did I do?"

"Bleed on stuff." I say. "The place looked like a slaughterhouse. You're lucky I cleaned up last night. Bloodstains are hard to clean, especially when they had a whole night to dry."

She grabs her head. "Please, don't yell. I really owe you one, but I think I'm going back to bed."

The thought of what Dan and I did last night, makes me all flushed again, but I also wonder what I really know about him. Back in my room, my computer screen flashes temptingly at me and I finally google him. I feel bad as if I'm some kind of weird stalker.

My stomach gets all wobbly when an image of him appears on my screen. The first link is IMDB, the movie database. I click on it and a short biography, some pictures of him with other actors and a filmography appear. I find out his actual birthday, I already know his age; he's twenty-five, only three years older than me. 

And when I go through the list of movies he played in, I find out why I didn't recognize him right away. He mostly played in romantic comedies and some high school flicks; they're not really my thing. But the last three movies that are mentioned, he drastically broke with the rom/com genre. There's the one about George Sand he told me about and one movie he made last year, a drama, about a kid with autism and how he and his family deal with it. The last one in the list has a premier date only two weeks away. According to the short synopsis, it's about a young couple, they're living an ordinary life until she gets breast cancer.

After that I watch my Google results again. I see some links to articles about some of his love interests, but I refuse to click on them, they're links to tabloids. But one thing peaks my attention. 'Actor donates money to summer camp for kids with special needs.' I click on the link. It's only a short article, but there's a picture of Dan playing with a kid with Down's Syndrome. So he's actually more than a pretty face and a hot body, I think. I click the search results away. There's probably more I could find out about him, but going through the articles creeps me out too much. The rest of the day I spend gaming, laughing with my online friends. Like a real gamer, I order a pizza online and I eat it while we're dominating a battleground.

The next two days I don't really leave the house. I plan two sightings for a new apartment the next week and I clean out my room. Not that there is much to clean, but I sort my clothes and put my books on shelves. Dan never calls me. He texted me to apologize and tell me he's caught up with things and he will call me soon, but I still feel slightly disappointed.

Megan is quiet and doesn't show her normal outgoing behavior, until Saturday evening.

"Tonight the city is ours, Elise," she says with a dramatic wave of her arms. "Put on your fancy clothes, we're going out!"

I roll my eyes, I know exactly what this means. Meg is looking for a new lover and I'm her wing girl. She  puts on some hot dress and makeup. I don't feel like wearing a dress that barely covers my thighs, so I put on new skinny jeans, my favorite Zelda t-shirt and some comfortable green sneakers. Meg's glare says enough, she doesn't like my outfit, but I don't care.

First we're going to our favorite bar. I texted some of our friends and they're already there and we join them. We're drinking beers, joking around, and soon more people join our group. The music gets louder and people start to dance. Megan is hanging around the neck of some dude I don't know, and by the looks of it she's enjoying herself.

It's getting later and later, and at a certain point, our friends are going home, one by one. Meg is still flirting with this guy. I don't like him. There's something disturbing about him, I can't really put my finger on it, but I don't trust him and I stay around. I switch my beer for a glass of water, I think I had more than enough alcohol for tonight, when Meg throws her arms around me.

"Eli!" Her voice almost squeaks with joy. "We're going to some other bar. You coming with us?"

I shrug. "Why not?"

The place where her new lover wants to go is close to the first bar, so we walk. I learn his name is Wesley. I pity the guy as he has a slight lisp. Megan is all over him, calling him all cutesy names and I'm afraid if I roll my eyes one more time, they will fall out.

The first thing I think when I see the bar where Wesley wanted to go is: Run! The place looks creepy, the people all look like meth addicts and there's just this weird vibe, but I don't want to leave Meg alone and certainly not in a place like this. Wesley introduces us to some of his friends. They are a pathetic bunch, most of them are too drunk to walk in a straight line and I suspect some of them used something else as well, judging by their pupils.

One of Wesley's friends, Gary, is hitting on me. I try to ignore him, but he's in my space all the time. I keep moving around until I find myself against a wall. Gary is towering above me. He smells of fried food, sweat and smoke. His teeth look like they haven't seen a toothbrush in a long time, his arms look like he was in a fight recently. They're full of scratches and bruises and I think he's repulsive. He even creeps me out more when I'm all pushed against the wall and can't escape him anymore.

"I love small girls like you." He says. "I love it when they wriggle to get away and scream my name."

I just stare at him in disgust. I've had enough. I push him away. "Sorry, I have to use the toilet."

I walk away, grabbing my stuff and my eyes search the room for Meg. I start to panic, I can't find her. Quickly I walk to the toilets. I don't really have to go, but I had to get away from Gary. I know I can't stay here, I have to get away as soon as possible. I want to call Meg, but when I check my phone, my battery is empty. When I walk back to the bar, I check one more time if I see Megan somewhere, but it is as if she went up in smoke.

I take a deep breath. Casually I walk to the exit and leave the building. I feel bad for Meg, I don't want to leave her in this awful place, but I can't stay here. I feel lighter with every step I take as I walk away. Suddenly I hear a voice behind me.

"Where do you think you're going?" It's Gary.

"I'm leaving," I say.

"I'm going with you." His grin reminds me of a cat staring at a mouse.

I try to keep myself calm. "No, thanks, you don't have to. I'm fine."

I fasten my pace. I hope he can't keep up with me and gives it a rest, but Gary's persistent.

"I love it when they make me work for it. It makes them all sweaty and wet." I hear him say.

At this point I start to freak out. It is late, most bars and clubs are closed, and I'm the only person on the street, if I don't count Gary. I make up my mind and decide that the only place where I will be save is my home. Finally I start to run in some random direction, but I know exactly where I'm going. I'm not sure if I can outrun this guy; I'm not in shape. But I will try everything to shake him off. 

I run through several small streets, quickly taking turns and I soon I don't hear his footsteps anymore. My heart is racing and breathing is painful, but I don't stop. I keep running and throwing glances over my shoulder. Just when I thought I lost him, he shows his ugly face again. He lets out some wolf-whistle and I feel my heart sink.

My clothes are drenched with sweat and my head feels like it's about to explode. I'm tired, my muscles burn, and I don't know how long I can keep this up, but I don't want him to catch up with me. Desperately I keep moving. Suddenly a white sports car pulls up next to me. I can't see who's in it; the car has darkened glass. I'm afraid it's one of Gary's friends and I ignore the car. But when I want to cross a road, the driver steers it quickly in front of me and it blocks my way. Someone throws the passenger's door open and I hear someone say: "Get in the car, Elise."

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AN: Thanks for reading! If you liked the chapter, please vote for it by pressing the little star :)