The Arrangement 10

by H. M. Ward

  Yes. “No. I’m leaving in a sec anyway. My friend is coming to pick me up. He’s a big scary guy.” Ha. I added that for good measure, but the dim wit doesn’t seem to care. It so wasn’t him. This guy couldn’t find his way out of a barrel. He’s too obsessed with his pecs.

  I feel his eyes on the side of my face and know he’s watching me. “So, are you and Amber going to the Astronomy Lab to watch the meteor shower this weekend? I heard it’s supposed to look really cool from up there.”

  “Not my thing, babe. If a girl wants to see big rocks, I got a pair right here. ‘Nuff said.” He grabs his crotch as he pushes off the counter and steps closer to me, which makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. Ack, I can’t stand him. What the hell does Amber see in this loser? Still holding the pan, I turn to look at him. There’s a smile on his lips as his eyes dip to my chest, and then back to my face. Asshole. “But I don’t think that’s what you really want to talk about right now, is it? I mean, not after the other night.”

  I try not to react. That damn video was seen by way too many people, and they were happy to let me know it when I walked into the dorm. The girls nicknamed me ‘slut,’ which was very clever, and the guys let their eyes rove over my body in hope that I’d give them a second glance. I assume Naked Guy is in the ogling camp. What a jackass.

  My eyes narrow to slits before I roll them. “Which night are you talking about? The one where you fucked my roommate and locked me out? Or the one where you two did it against the window so everyone in the quad could see?” I step toward him and press a finger to his chest, even though he towers over me. “Let’s get one thing straight, my sexual life is none of your goddamn business and if you want to keep your head on your shoulders, you won’t mention that video to me ever again.” I turn back to the sink and scrub the pan so hard that the sponge tears.

  Naked Guy steps in close behind me, which makes me way too nervous. It’s paranoia, that’s all. This guy couldn’t hurt a flea. He acts like he’s tough shit, but he’s not. Mel’s chased him out of here so many times. And every single time the dude ran away screaming like a girl. But this time, he doesn’t run. I tense as I feel his breath on my neck. “Which video would that be, Avery? There were so many.”

  My body tenses and I clutch the pan like it’s rope and I’m in a freefall. He’s lying. There’s no way he knows there is more than one clip. But then his phone is shoved under my nose and I see one of the other videos. Video-me is naked and breathing hard, ready to move the camera much lower.

  Jutting my hand out, I try to grab the phone, but he doesn’t let me. He holds it up high, just out of reach. The sponge goes flying and I’m left there, horrified, as my voice fills my ears. He cranks up the volume so I can listen to myself come.

  I should call Sean.

  I should kill Naked Guy and bury him under Amber’s bed.

  I need that phone. He can’t have those videos.

  I lunge at him again, and swing the pan at his head. Naked Guy shrieks in an octave way too high for a guy his size, “Whoa! You can’t beat the shit out of me for being a paying customer. Miss Black wouldn’t like that, would she?” His words don’t register until I’ve taken two more swings. Both attempted whacks were wild and not thought out. He jumps out of the way and the pan connects with the counter, sending the remnants of the horribly loud DONG up my arm, which makes me madder.

  “You bought me?” I hiss at him and crouch lower, holding the pan like a tennis racket.

  Naked Guy looks less smug than a few moments ago. He nods, slightly. “Of course, but I was told you wouldn’t care. Why are you freaking out?”

  “Who said I wouldn’t care?”

  “Miss Black! She said you were a professional. I’m going to tell her that you’re a raving psychobitch. You can’t jerk off with me one night and then hit me with a fucking frying pan the next! What’s wrong with you?”

  “Why’d you upload that video?”

  “Yeah, right. Like I’d do something like that? The videos are enough for me. When Black said you worked for her, I couldn’t believe it. I told her that you act like a fucking nun, and of course I’d like to nail you. The sexting was a necessary evil, babe. I thought if you saw me, you’d walk out. So when you assumed I was someone else, I went with it. I mean, why not?”

  Working my jaw, I bounce on the balls of my feet. I want to hit him so hard that his teeth fall out. “How’d the video get online?”

  “How do you think?” he squeaks. “Amber. She saw it and thought we were having a thing. She might be a whore, but she’s jealous.” He laughs. “It’s funny that you two room together. Do you guys do it when—”

  “OHMYGODSHUTUP!” All the words run together as I piece together what happened. The pan lowers slightly and Naked Guy reads me wrong. I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on, but he thinks it’s an invitation for more. His hand touches my arm and the pan flies up and bangs into his wrist. “Do. Not. Touch. Me.” I growl the words at him and he steps back cradling his arm.

  “You didn’t have to hit me!”

  “How did you afford me? You’re a leech.” And this is the part that scares me. Naked Guy is broke. He bums stuff off his friends and lovers. He borrows money from Amber all the time, and helps himself to our food. He’d be wearing her clothes if they fit him.

  He shrugs as his eyes dart to the side, following the movement of the frying pan as I tuck it under my arm. “I’m not totally broke, and I wanted to give you the chance to let it sink in before next weekend. I was being nice, Avery. But this Saturday, I won’t be.”

  “What?” My voice barely comes out.

  “I booked you, babe.” He presses his finger to the tip of my nose and grins. “I told Miss Black that I wanted the kinkiest girl she has. Imagine my surprise when she showed me your picture. So, get ready for some serious fucking.” He leans in and adds, “Because there are a few things that Amber won’t do, and I’m so glad to hear that you’ll do anything for the right price.”

  As he speaks, every muscle in my body tenses. My brain is telling my arm to swing the pan into his skull, even as I’m shaking. I don’t know if it’s fury, disgust, or betrayal, but I do it—I swing. The arm holding the pan flies up from my side and before Naked Guy can blink it connects with his shoulder. He’s too tall. I missed.

  His eyes narrow into thin slits after he bites back a scream. Advancing quickly, he rips the pan out of my hand and tosses it onto Amber’s bed before taking my wrist and bending it behind my back. I fall to my knees as tears form in my eyes. Naked Guy pulls my arm in a direction that it doesn’t want to go. I open my mouth to scream, but he covers it with his big hand. Leaning in close to my ear, he whispers, “You’re going to pay for that.” Yanking my arm hard, Naked Guy pushes me forward, releasing my arm as I let out a yelp and fall into the rug.

  CHAPTER 8

  When he turns around, something changes. I’m still doubled over, breathing hard, when I glance up and see Amber standing in front of Mel.

  “Where the fuck is Ferro?” Mel says, rushing into the room. I tried to tell her I was back, but she wasn’t in her room. Then the stench hit me and I forgot to text her. A knife appears in Mel’s hand and she lunges at Naked Guy. “Get your filthy ass outa here right now!”

  Naked Guy laughs at first, like she’s kidding, and then turns on his heel and runs. He’s out the door before Mel can stab him.

  While Mel chases him down the hall, Amber walks over to help me off the floor. Placing her hand under my arm, she lifts me up onto my bed. “Are you okay?” I nod, not wanting to speak. My arm is aching and my head feels like it’s going to split open.

  How much did she hear? I want to bury my face in my pillows and cry. Or scream. How did he find Black? My mind is thinking in fragmented pieces. Nothing is stringing together. A high pitched shriek echoes from the quad below. I press my fingers to my temples and ask, “Did she stab him?” I hope not. That’ll totally mess up everything she’s been trying to fix.
r />   Amber moves to the window and looks out. “No, Mel has him pinned to the ground, face-first, and is making him eat dirt.” She laughs lightly. “You should come see.” I walk over and look at the spectacle below. Mel has his face to the ground and is force-feeding him the lawn. The crowd watching is getting bigger, but Mel knows not to stay long enough for a teacher to walk over. She pushes up fast, kicks him in the side, and hurls a clump of grass at his head. Amber doesn’t look at me. Instead she stares out the window at her boyfriend. “I didn’t know he was like that, with you. I mean, I knew he slept around, but—”

  “We didn’t have sex,” I blurt out. “I thought he was someone else or I wouldn’t have sent him those messages. They were for this other guy.” I take a deep breath and push my hair out of my face.

  Amber doesn’t lift her eyes from the window sill. “I’m sorry. I was the one who put the video online. I won’t post any of the others.” I nod, and don’t look at her. For some reason, I’m not mad. I’m not really sure why. “So, it was a wrong number?” She sounds hopeful, like after what she just saw could be explained away.

  “No, he knew it was me, Amber. And he would have broken my arm if you didn’t walk in right then.”

  She nods, like she knows. “He has a temper.”

  Mel walks into the room and swats the dirt off her hands. There’s a thin sheen of sweat on her face. “Where the fuck is Ferro? I thought you were with him and that’s why I didn’t need to be keeping an eye out for you. I’m gonna rip that boy a new—”

  “Mel, stop. He dropped me off so I could grab my things. I told him to leave me.”

  “And he listened?” She plants her hands on her hips and gives me a how-dumb-is-he look.

  “Who’s Ferro?” Amber asks.

  Mel lies, “Her cousin, Miss Nosey. And why did that piece of white trash have this?” Mel holds up a key. “He said you gave it to him.”

  Amber has a worried look in her eyes, but hides it quickly. “I did. It’s my room, I can do what I want.”

  “No, you can’t Dumber Than Dirt. Don’t hand out keys or I’ll take your ass and toss it out the window. Do we have an understanding?” Mel looks like she’s ready to grab Amber right this second. When my roommate doesn’t answer, Mel steps toward her.

  The smug smile falls off of Amber’s face and her hands dart up, palms out. “Fine! Don’t touch me! I won’t give out any more keys.”

  “Who else has a key?” I ask, concerned. Amber’s an idiot, but I didn’t realize part of her calling card included handing out copies of keys to our room.

  Amber laughs nervously and shrugs her shoulders. “Your boyfriend.”

  Mel’s caramel eyes cut to the side and meet mine before I ask, “Marty?”

  Amber laughs, “Not the gay guy. The other one. He came by here looking for you a few times, wanting to celebrate something, but you weren’t around. He gave me the bottle of champagne and left. I told him that you’re working a lot and never around. He was trying to surprise you with a gourmet dinner and wine that cost more than my car,” she shrugs, “so I gave him a key and told him that he could try to catch you late on a Thursday. It’s the only day you’re around anymore.”

  “Awh, fuck. Amber, how stupid are you?” Mel sounds pissed.

  I just stand there and wonder if Amber is really trying to kill me or if she’s that stupid. “So, you don’t know his name? Or you won’t tell me?”

  “I don’t remember. He told me, but I thought you only had one boyfriend! I was trying to help.”

  Glancing over at Mel, I ask, “Do you think it’s Henry Thomas?”

  She nods. When her gaze flicks back over to Amber, she asks, “Is there somewhere else you can stay?”

  “You can’t throw me out of my room!” Amber stands and pokes Mel in the chest.

  One of Mel’s dark eyebrows lifts as fairy-like laughter flutters out of her mouth, which sounds totally wrong. She swats at Ambers finger and growls, “It appears that you’re too stupid to be here and since we’re knee-deep in a real life horror movie, complete with psycho stalkers, I thought you might want to opt out before someone kills you.”

  Amber blinks her big eyes too many times. “What? That guy was a stalker?”

  I nod and rub the heels of my hands over my eyes.

  Sean chooses that moment to show up. His knuckles wrap the door and he pushes it open, peering inside. “What’s wrong?”

  Mel goes crazy on his ass for leaving me alone, while Amber tries to tell me something that I can’t hear.

  Sean finally holds up his hand, and yells, “Enough! Avery, get your things. We’re leaving.”

  Mel is standing there like she wants to rip Sean’s head off. “He had her pinned to the floor, Ferro. And where the fuck were you?”

  “Too far away,” he finally answers. Looking directly at Mel, he says, “It won’t happen again, and thank you.”

  “For what?” Mel spits out.

  “For pounding that guy into the ground. If I did it, well, let’s just say it was better that you walked in and not me.”

  “Hmm. Meaning Naked Guy would be a smear by now.” Mel nods and rolls her eyes, like Sean is all talk. The blood on his shirt the other night would suggest otherwise. I’ve wondered what that was about and what he did, but I’m very certain that it wasn’t Sean’s blood and that means I don’t want to know. Mel reaches into her jean’s pocket and hands me a piece of plastic.

  “What’s this?”

  She grins. “Naked Guy’s cell phone. I swiped it from him while I was kicking his ass.”

  CHAPTER 9

  My eyes go wide as I clutch the phone in my hand. The screen is cracked, but it still works. I turn it on and find my videos. Oh thank god. I flick through and only see some of my pictures, and a few of the videos are missing. Glancing at Amber, I ask, “Where are the rest?”

  For once Amber is helpful, and just answers the question. “I deleted them.” She grins like a five year old in a candy store, showing way too many teeth. “What can I say? I’m the jealous type.”

  “Who knew,” Mel snorts and shakes her head.

  “I know, right?” Amber laughs and plops down on her bed. “He doesn’t have copies anywhere. I asked.”

  “He could have lied to you,” Sean says bluntly.

  Amber shakes her head. “Not him. He likes to show off, and if he uploaded them to his computer in his dorm, let’s just say that more videos would have shown up this morning. Plus, he tends to keep stuff like that on him at first because he doesn’t like to share. Speaking of which, give me the phone.” She holds out her hand, but no one hands it to her. Amber sighs dramatically. “My videos are on there too. I want to delete them before the asswipe posts them everywhere.” I hand her the phone and let her find her files in silence.

  Sean watches her and from the tension in his arms, I can tell that he wants to smash something. My nerves are totally gone and I feel like I’m going to lose it and burst into a ball of snot and tears. Amber tosses me the phone, which I hand to Sean. He pockets the thing and looks down at me. “Come on.” He tilts his head toward the door, like I should automatically follow.

  What am I? A dog? Woof. Here I come Sean. Pant. Pant. Fuck it. I fall into step behind him, and walk down the hallway with him and Mel. She’s still pissed. I know how much she wants to bite his head off. Her jaw is locked and she finally comes unhinged in the stairwell.

  “I don’t trust you with her.” Mel snaps as she stomps down the metal steps.

  “No one asked you to.” Classic Sean response, and like always, I’m caught in the middle.

  “Guys, stop it.” I’m so diplomatic. I could have ended the Cuban Missile Crisis in a day. Did you just see that massive about of diplomatic action? Sha’zoom! Yeah. Okay, I suck at stopping fights and I can tell that they’re both brimming with stress and ready to kill anyone that steps into their path, including fuzzy bunnies. God save the bunnies.

  They stop on the landing one floor down, ready to due
l—verbally or with weapons—it’s hard to say with these two. “You had one job, Ferro, and you left her alone! How fucking stupid are you?” Mel bites her lips as they curl into a sneer.

  Sean faces off and steps directly in front of her. “You’re not the only person who cares about her, so stop acting like you are. There was no way to know who was trying to hurt her.”

  “It was him, ass hat!” Mel yells and points up the stairs toward my room.

  “Seriously, guys, cut it out.” No one listens to me. I could toss my ass over the railing and jump. I wonder if I could grab one of the railings in a Spiderman fashion. I’d probably rip my arms off, which means Peter Parker is cooler than me.

  Mel and Sean are in each other’s faces, growling like rabid animals. I hate listening to people fight. It makes my mind wander down slightly insane routes, so I don’t have to endure the yelling. My mom must have dropped me down a flight of stairs when I was a baby.

  Awh, what the hell. I throw my leg over the metal railing and they don’t notice until both feet are on the wrong side.

  Sean turns and looks at me wide-eyed. “What are you doing?”

  Mel glares at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have, because I’m afraid of heights and I don’t really care that it’s a long way down. “Get your scrawny ass back over here right now. I ain’t even playing with you, Avery. So help me God!” She actually stomps her foot. On me it would look ridiculous, but on Mel it looks scary. It probably has to do with the anger in her eyes and the fury on her face. Think Rumplestiltskin right before he fell through the floor. Hissy fit to the max, man.

  “I hate this,” I say, not looking directly at either of them. Instead, my eyes wander to the cement floor in front of me. It’s really dirty. “I hate not knowing what’s happening or who’s trying to hurt me. I hate that you two think you have to watch out for me, that I’m too stupid to look after myself.”