Territorial / Simon Minter

15

Opening my eyes felt like entering hell this morning. The small amount of sunlight that was peaking through my curtains felt like someone had lit a fire in front of my eyes. 

I groaned as i slowly sat up in my bed. My head felt heavy and the pressure made me feel like my brain was about to come out of my ears. My stomach churned and i thought i was about to be sick all over my Christmas duvet. If this was not the worst hangover i had had in a while, i do not know what was. 

It took about another half an hour before i mustered up the courage to climb out of bed. The temperature in the house was freezing. I immediately grabbed my dressing gown which was hanging on the back of the door and began my trip to the kitchen. 

Emily was already up, with a mug of hot tea in her hand as i joined her in the kitchen. The kitchen tiles were like ice on my feet and i suddenly regretted not grabbing my slippers. 

"I made you one" Emily handed me a steaming cup and my heart swelled.

"You have no idea how much i needed this" I laughed as i took a sip. Thankfully, taste of alcohol began to leave my mouth. 

We sat on the sofa and turned on some Christmas film that happened to be on. I was trying my hardest not to think about the events that happened last night. I was close to being sexually assaulted (if you don't already count being pushed up against the wall, against my will, sexual assault), I almost witnessed someone being beaten to death, Simon revealed some shocking news to me (which i completely blame myself for, as i asked him to).

Basically a lot happened in one night, especially due to the fact that we only stayed for a few hours. I wouldn't have wanted to know what else could have happened if we had stayed longer.

I had told Emily all about the antics that i got up to last night. She was as shocked as i was about the whole Simon and the killing question. I asked how her night went with Ethan and she had said that it had gone really well.

"So, what is happening with you and Ethan?" I questioned. I had wondered this for a while. But i did not want to pressure her into thinking about the situation too much. 

"He's really sweet to me. I know it is surprising, that a guy like that could actually be sweet. But he one hundred percent is. You probably think i am mad." She shook her head and took a long sip of her tea, i think she was trying to hide her face in her mug.

"Em, i totally understand. I have seen the way Ethan is around you. If you saw him like that, you wouldn't even guess what he gets up to in his spare time. If you want to go for it, you really should." Emily's face lit up as i said this. 

I truly believe what i said. Sure, Simon's answer did scare me last night. It really made me focus on how dangerous these boys were. But when it comes to Ethan, it's not like that. I know that he is almost as involved as Simon is. I'm sure that if you asked Ethan how many people he had killed, he would have a similar answer. But the difference is, I know that if you did ask him, his face would not be hard as rock. You would be able to see the remorse, the regret, plain on his face. I believe that Ethan is a good person, behind everything he has done. 

If i am being honest, i can see that Simon is a good person too. It just may take a lot more to see that. But i am willing to prove to myself that under all the "bad boy" exterior, there is a sweet guys underneath, it just may take quite a bit of digging to find him. 

The Christmas film on the TV actually turned out to be somewhat decent. A little boy found a reindeer wandering around the forest where he lived, he hid the reindeer in his barn and looked after him. In the end Santa came and thanked the boy for looking after his reindeer. Anyway, it was sweet, unrealistic but sweet. 

I could feel my eyes becoming heavy as the rolling credits came up for the film. My head was resting against the back of the sofa, and i could hear Emily's heavy breathing from beside me as she dozed. 

The buzzing from my phone shook me from my half-unconscious state. I had to blink a couple of times so that my vision unblurred and i pulled my phone from the pocket of my dressing gown. I was really hoping that it wasn't work. An unknown number appeared on my phone, a number that i did not recognise.

I unlocked my phone and my breath got caught in my throat as i read the text message. 

Unknown:

Hey Zoe, it's Simon. I was wondering if you wanted to go and get something to eat?

The first thing i thought was how did he manage to get my number. But when you think about what they do for a living, managing to get hold of someone else's number cannot be that difficult. A hundred things were running through my mind as i decided what to say. I wish Emily was awake to help my make my decision. 

Did i want to meet up with him? After everything that happened last night, i left the party because our conversation shocked and terrified me. Did i really want to venture back into this complicated friendship thing we had going on. Not to mention that Simon was extremely dangerous, and although i said all of that stuff earlier about there being a nice guy far far beneath. Was i ready to start searching for him?

My mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour. My fingers began typing a message before i had even completely come to a decision. My heart was pumping, and i was sure i could hear the blood rushing around my body.

Zoe:

Where do you want to go?