K. Robinson - Twisted Ties

“Sure, that works for me.”

We finished walking to our dorm together. I waved good-bye as I exited the stairs at my floor. I spent the next hour trying to get some of my homework done. After I finished, I changed and hurried downstairs to meet Abby. She was already waiting for me at the edge of the parking lot. I’d never seen her look so excited before.

“Ready?” she asked.

I stopped in front of her. “Yep, let’s go.”

We drove to the mall where the movie theater was. She tried to get me to pick the movie, but I refused. It was her birthday, so that meant that she got to pick. We debated for a few minutes before deciding on one that was about zombies. Her choice surprised me. I never would have picked Abby to be the zombie-movie type.

I paid for her popcorn and drink as a present to her. I couldn’t help but frown at how excited she was. It was obvious that she’d never really had a friend. I sat through two hours of zombies popping out of random spots. The movie wasn’t bad. I just didn’t like scary stuff. I rolled my eyes as I realized I’d be sleeping with all the lights on tonight.

“That was awesome!” Abby said as we walked back to her car. “Did you like it?”

“It was great,” I lied.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

We drove back through Morgantown toward campus. My hand tightened on the door as we pulled up at the restaurant where Ally worked. Abby didn’t seem to notice my discomfort as she stepped out of the car. I looked around and saw Ally’s car parked a few spaces away.

This is going to be a disaster.

I followed Abby into the restaurant, scanning the place for Ally. I didn’t see her anywhere, but I knew she was here. I made sure to take the seat where I could see the waitress station and the counter. There was no way that I was going to let Ally sneak up on me.

“You okay?” Abby asked.

I tore my eyes away from the restaurant to smile at her. “I’m fine.”

“You seem kind of nervous. Do you not like this place?”

“No, I love it.”

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I was going to say that we could go somewhere else if you didn’t.”

I was tempted to tell her that I hated it, but I decided not to. It was her birthday, and I wouldn’t let Ally ruin it for her. If Abby wanted to eat here, we would eat here.

“What can I get you guys to drink?” a familiar voice asked.

I looked up to see Ally standing by our table with a pen and a pad of paper in her hand. I’d been concentrating on Abby so much that I hadn’t even noticed Ally walking up.

“A water for me. What do you want, Emma?” Abby asked.

“The same,” I said as I stared at Ally. There was no way that I was going to let her out of my sight.

“I’ll be right back,” Ally said sweetly.

She made sure to push her stomach out as she turned to walk away. I wanted to vomit.

“She seems nice,” Abby said, completely unaware of what was happening around her.

“Yep.”

My eyes never left Ally as she walked to the waitress station and filled two glasses with water. When she returned, she was just as sweet as before.

“Are you ready to order?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, I want a cheeseburger and fries,” Abby said as she handed Ally her menu.

“And you?” Ally asked as she stared at me. Her back was to Abby, so she didn’t try to hide the hate in her eyes.

“The same,” I answered calmly as I shoved the menu in her hand.

She stumbled back a bit with the force of it, but the smile never left her face. “Great. I’m going on break, but I’ll put your order in before I go. I should be back by the time your food is done. I’ll be sure to bring it out to you.”

There was just something about Ally that made me nervous. I hadn’t given it much thought when I’d been with Jesse, but now, the feeling wouldn’t go away. She was a hateful bitch. I had no idea why she hated me so bad. She’d won—she had Jesse. That was all that mattered to her.

I sipped my water and chatted with Abby as we waited for our food. Ally had disappeared into the back room as soon as she put our orders in, so I tried to relax while she was gone. If I didn’t like Abby so much, I would have left the second I realized Ally was our waitress.

Ally came out of the back room just as our food was placed on the counter. Another waitress walked to the register to ring someone up, blocking my view. I cursed as I tried to watch Ally. I didn’t want her to spit in my food or do something gross like that. By the time the waitress moved away from the cash register, Ally was already walking toward us with our food. She placed them on the table in front of us and walked away without a word.

I inspected my food closely before I finally took a bite. It seemed to be okay. I laughed at myself as I ate. I was being ridiculous. Ally was hateful, but she wouldn’t do something that could cost her a job that she desperately needed. She had a kid to support after all. I lost my appetite as I thought about her baby. I felt like a horrible person for having any bad feelings for a baby, but I couldn’t help it.

We finished our burgers, and I paid. Abby tried to fight with me, but I won. I knew it was mean of me, but I didn’t bother to leave a tip. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Ally smiled as I walked past, but I refused to acknowledge her. The sooner I get out of here, the better.

Abby was grinning from ear to ear as she drove back to the dorm. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight. It means a lot.”

“No problem. I had a lot of fun,” I told her.

Despite seeing Ally, the night had been fun. It had been so long since I’d had any girl time that I’d forgotten just how much fun it was.

“We’ll have to do it again sometime,” I said.

“That would be great!” Abby said as she pulled up to our dorm.

It wasn’t that late, but I was exhausted. I told her good night as I walked slowly to my dorm. As soon as I hit the bed, I was out.

* * *

I barely made it to the bathroom. The second I dropped down in front of the toilet, I started throwing up violently. I heaved until there was nothing left in my stomach to expel. After that, I just curled up into a ball and willed myself to die. My stomach was cramping so badly that I honestly felt like I really was dying. I’d never experienced anything like it.

I felt another wave of nausea hit me. I sat up and started dry-heaving into the toilet. I couldn’t breathe. Sweat was sliding down my face as I tried to move. I half-walked and half-crawled to the sink to wet a washcloth. My hands were shaking so bad that I could barely turn the knob. I finally managed to get the cold water turned on. I ran the cloth under the water until it was soaked, and then I ran it across my face. I wiped my mouth before tossing it in the general direction of the hamper.

I waited until I was sure that my body wouldn’t revolt again before I crawled back to my bed. My stomach was still cramping to the point that it actually hurt to breathe. I took shallow breaths as I reached for my phone. I pushed Andy’s speed dial number and prayed that he would answer.

“Emma? What’s wrong?” he asked groggily.

“I need help. Sick,” I whispered. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as my stomach started cramping again.

“I’ll be right over. Stay put,” he said before ending the call.

Like I could go anywhere right now.

I pleaded with my stomach to stop hurting as I waited for Andy to arrive. Ten minutes later, he knocked on my door. He obviously had no problem sneaking into the dorm and up to my room.

I stumbled to the door and cracked it to make sure it was Andy. As soon as I saw him, I unlocked it to let him in. I had to lean on the wall. If I hadn’t, I knew I would fall over.

“Fuck, Emma, you look horrible.”

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Andy helped me back to my bed. I cried out when my stomach started twisting again. I was going to die. I just knew it. He ran to the bathroom and returned a few seconds later with a glass of water. He helped me sit up enough to take tiny sips.

“What happened?” Andy asked.

“Woke up like this,” I managed to gasp out between cramps.

“Why don’t you try to go to sleep? Maybe it’ll go away while you’re asleep.”

Nothing short of someone knocking me out would put me to sleep while I was in this much pain, but I didn’t argue. I didn’t have the energy. Andy lay down beside me and put my head on his chest. He ran his fingers through my drenched hair and tried to keep me calm as wave after wave of nausea and cramps attacked me.

I finally passed out around dawn when the cramps started to ease. When I woke up, the clock beside the bed said four. I reached for Andy, but he wasn’t in bed. I winced as I tried to sit up to look for him. My stomach felt like I’d done a thousand crunches during the night. I’d never been this sore in my life, even during cheer camp my freshman year.

“How are you feeling?” Andy asked from the window.

“Like someone killed me—twice,” I groaned.

“That bad?” he asked.

I nodded. “That bad.”

“You seem to be better now.”

“My stomach doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall out at the moment, so I’d say I’m better.”

“You either had one nasty stomach bug or food poisoning. Either way, that was horrible.”

I sat straight up in bed despite the tenderness in my stomach. “That bitch!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ally! I went to the restaurant with Abby last night. Ally was our waitress.”

“Emma, I know you and Ally don’t like each other, but my sister wouldn’t poison you.”

“There’s no other explanation for it. Think about it!”

Andy shook his head. “I know you think the worst of her, but she wouldn’t do something like this.”

“I think she would,” I said stubbornly.

I could just feel it. Ally had done this to me.

“Look, why don’t you try to sleep some more?” Andy suggested.

“I’ve slept enough. I want to go to that diner and kill your sister.”

“Emma, stop. There’s a difference between two girls who can’t stand each other and two girls who would poison each other.”

“I’m not enough of a bitch to poison her. Obviously, she doesn’t have my morals.”

“I’m not going to fight with you,” Andy said.

I knew I was pissing him off, but I didn’t care. It was too much of a coincidence that I’d eaten where his sister worked and then had gotten food poisoning.

“I have to head to work. Is there anything you need me to get for you before I leave?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”

He seemed unsure. “Don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not,” I said as I slowly stood up. Every muscle in my body protested. I ignored my screaming body as I walked to my dresser and pulled out clean clothes. “I’m going to shower. Go to work. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Call me if you need anything. I mean it.”

“I will.”

Andy waved as he left. I slowly made my way to the bathroom and pulled off my clothes. I knew Ally hated me, but I hadn’t realized that she hated me enough to do this. There is something seriously wrong with that girl.

Things had been tense between Ally and me since she’d discovered Emma’s clothes in the bathroom. She tried to pretend that she wasn’t mad anymore, but I could see the resentment in her eyes every time she looked at me. I’d done nothing wrong, yet she was making me feel like I’d betrayed her. Maybe in her eyes, I had.

I had hoped that our talk would help her understand a little better where we stood. It might have helped if she hadn’t found Emma’s clothes. It seemed like Ally had completely forgotten about the conversation as she focused on being angry with me.

I knew it was a douche move, but I avoided being at home as much as possible. Instead, I spent my days in class and my evenings at the library. The only good thing that had come of this entire situation was the fact that I was ahead in all of my classes. I had papers done that weren’t due for weeks. I’d also memorized every song on my iPod. I never thought I’d see the day when either of those things happened.

I was walking across campus to spend yet another night in the library when I saw Emma. I stopped walking, so I could watch her. She kept her head down as she moved in the opposite direction of the library. At least she looked better than the last time I’d seen her. She wasn’t battling a hangover from hell at the moment. I wished that she had stayed like she’d agreed to instead of running away when my back was turned.