Awake | Wattys Winner!

EIGHT: cooperation

   I'd locked myself in my room, blankets pulled up high above me to stop my trembling muscles, when the door knocked. It wasn't just one knock, it was at least two fists tapping, and they didn't stop.

   I whimpered, still not quite free from sleep. I hadn't even realised I'd fallen into a slumber when I'd come home from studying - or trying to study - with Isaac. The words had become fuzzy on the page, my attention never quite holding on the tedious routine of revision. My mind was far away, somewhere dangerous.

   My hand skittered out under the blankets to find my smashed phone - a security blanket. Not that I could call the police if he was here to kill me. Something told me he'd have prepared for that. A mobile phone didn't feel like something that could take Conrad Blackwood down.

   But maybe he'd sent someone else to kill me.

   The door spilled open without warning, and I bit hard on my tongue to stop a scream when I realised it was just my two best friends.

   "We have champagne," was the first thing Gia said.

   The two girls perched on the end of my bed before I could say anything. My mouth was too dry to easily form words.

   "How are you feeling?" Isobel asked, putting a hand to my forehead in a motherly fashion.

   "Um," I croaked, her touch enough to ignite a new wave of tears. I couldn't make them afraid though, I had to keep strong for their safety. To save them. "I'm feeling a little better."

   Gia had already popped the top off of the champagne bottle, distributing the liquid into three mugs looped over her fingers. "I realised we didn't actually have nice glasses, so these will do."

   "You can talk to us if there's anything wrong, Aspen," Bel said, placing a mug in my hands. I didn't feel like drinking, or talking to them at all. I felt guilty for keeping quiet, so guilty it knotted my stomach. But the idea of telling them was even worse.

   "Was it Saturday night? Isaac?" Gia pressed.

   "You really have no idea," I whispered, my lips cracked and stinging as I spoke. She was oblivious to whatever had happened to her that night, the event that had left me filled with trauma.

   "What?" Gia said, clearly offended by my words. "We're trying to understand, Aspen, we've been bugging you since the party and you've locked yourself away."

   "Gia," Isobel said, putting a hand on her arm in my defence. "There really is something wrong here."

   The pair looked to me expectantly.

   "I'm just not... well."

   "What is it? Your head? Your stomach? Period cramps? We can take you to the doctor on campus, before it gets too late," Bel said.

   "It's my head," I said quickly. "Probably a migraine, I just need some pain killers and a good sleep."

   "Here I was thinking it was boy problems," Gia said with a sigh, taking a long gulp of her champagne. 

   "You bought that for nothing," Bel noted, before turning her attention back to me. "Look, I'll go grab some stuff from the kitchen."

   When she'd left the room, and it was just Gia and I left nestled in the covers, my stomach plummeted. Just how much did she remember? Was it really nothing? And just what exactly had happened to her?

   How much power did he have over her?

   "I'm sorry for snapping," Gia said with a sad smile. "I'm just worried about you. We both are. You skipped classes and haven't even come out to say hi - have you even eaten today?"