Ten Dates

I couldn't register what was happening. It felt heavy and stomach twisted in disgust. If he dared to do such thing until this point I couldn't imagine what would happen to me.

He was smirking in front of me and my hands were into a fist holding back the urge to knock out a tooth or two. My mind wasn't thinking about any other way out. 

Even if I managed to take his phone and crash it into million pieces there was a high possibility of him having it copied. Because I know for sure, it wasn't he who took the video. And the person who took the video was dying in my hands.

The memories of the video blocked my throat. I shouldn't cry in front of him. I took a deep breathe, wiping my residual tears and looked at him. The eyes that were once  attractive was sickening.

No amount of pleading and reasoning was going to work with him. Every word from my mouth was provoking his ego.

He was a menace and a very cunning one in that. I wished I had my friends with me or my Papi to put some fucking sense into him. Shorthandedly  I had to comply with him but my throat was blocked.

His eyes were roaming on my body flushing with disgust. He was everything that I wanted to avoid.

"So?", he trailed clearly irritated by the lack of response, as if it was easy to accept it. Connor warned me about this a lot but none of it made sense until now.

Was Connor's friendship worth it? No, I was not going to throw away my life and sanity for the person who I barely knew even so he was a good guy.

"Okay", I spit out with a bitter taste.

His eyes sparkled with a smug and I could see wheels turning in his head of my impending wreck.

My hand wouldn't move the entire day. I ended up messing two orders in the cafe and almost killing a person by giving the food he was allergic to.

My manager was irate about my absence of mind on the work so she put me in the cleaning duty where there was no possible harm involved. I was grateful for the change of environment knowing it would kill me if I had caused havoc to someone. 

Luke seemed to catch that I was off, never asking me anything and giving little pats whenever we crossed with a smile. That didn't mean he was letting it go. He was the gossiper of the group and I happened to be the source today.

The drive home was silent than I expected, not that I was complaining. I wanted to sleep this day as a bad dream. 

"You okay?", Luke asked holding my hand after we settled in the couch. No, I wasn't okay. I was threatened to date someone to protect someone I truly care.

"Just tired", I mumbled chugging the water to avoid anymore questions. I knew better that Luke figured I was lying. The suspicious glance and far away look tell he was contemplating.

"Okay", he said putting an end to the conversation.

I excused myself to my room. My mind was over thinking about all going wrong if I made a mistake. Before that I wanted to talk to someone who was involved with it. 

I thought a cold bath would appease my anger but no it wasn't helping. I was taking deep breathes before hitting the call button.

Two full rings as anxiety crept through my body. The moment I heard voice on other side my anger took over.

"You better come and meet me. Now", I shut my phone before hearing a voice. I strolled through the pool area waiting for the person to come before I lose my fucking mind.

My head snapped towards the door when  a familiar figure walked towards me. Cue to my anger I started counting and putting all the rational thoughts in line.

He stood in front of me with guilt in his eyes. "Emily", he said.

"Do you know what happened today?", I asked gritting my teeth. His face changed into a confusion clearly indicating that he didn't know a damn thing his twisted friend did to me.

His face morphed into a shock as he stood in front of me holding my shoulders in a fine grip. "Em, did Ryder do something?", my silence answered his question.

"Em, you have to tell me what happened? I will talk to him. Please, tell me what happened today?"

Of all the near to nothing options, Connor was the only one who could help me. So, I told him everything about how Ryder showed me the video and asked me for ten fucking dates. 

Connor face went pale. Okay, date with Ryder was a bad idea and Connor knew it. 

Connor pulled me into a hug startling me with sudden skin ship. "I am so sorry. This is all because of me. I shouldn't have started this", he mumbled into my neck.

"Nothing he does is your fault Connor. We are grown enough to make friends of our own. What he is nothing is utter bull shit", I assured him though I had planned other way of reassurance that involved my hand and his cheek. But Connor was sincere with his words.

"You don't understand. I shouldn't have..", he dragged.

"No Connor. It isn't your fault", I said more firmly looking into his eyes. He cracked into a smile pulling me into a hug, again. He was warm and smelled like chocolate and I was melting. Thanks to my anger that I could state was the sole reason for my flushed face.

After the words of reassurance from Connor and having the hope that the problem would be solved, I ate whatever they left me for dinner and made my way to my room.

I stopped in my tracks when I heard Abby's giggle. With my hands on her door I started to wonder what would happen if I opened up to her. She was gonna freak out and the entire floor would know or she would cry and make it more obvious that I told her or she's gonna file a complaint.

Everything will go south.

I shut her door with no other option and dreaded my way to my room.