Lean on Me Forever || rini au

08. manipulated

nini spent the entire day of school looking over her shoulder and her hidden fear now rushing through her veins at the thought of having to end up somewhere alone with noah.

he knew things about her that no one knew, she was naive enough to tell him about her past before him and she was naive enough to let him hurt her both emotionally and physically. he had so many things about her embedded in his brain that he could tell anyone she cared about as another opportunity to hurt her.

when nini was at her shift, she kept her eyes on the door and continued her way around the restaurant, also seeing her friends all seated at their table.

the bell of the door was heard and she snapped towards it to see noah walking in with a smug grin on his face, nini's blood going cold when he looked at her.

she quickly averted her attention and stayed behind the counter as he walked towards her.

"what do you want?" she asks harshly, feeling more confident than the first time she interacted with him recently.

"don't you mean 'welcome, how may i help you?'" he asks with an evil smile, leaning closer against the counter.

nini felt her breaths becoming shorter and she leaned back ever so slightly "no, i mean 'what do you want?'"

noah let out a breathy chuckle and looked at the menu "i'll just take a black coffee."

she tapped onto the cashier computer and noah stayed against the counter, looking back to see ricky with his eyes on them.

"you're boyfriend seems protective," he points out, turning back to face her

nini didn't look up, she just swallowed and stayed silent.

"you seem to have a lot of friends." he continues, leaning closer "how many of them know about your little secret then?"

nini froze and her eyes shot up at him, he could see the little amount of fear in her eyes that she was trying to cover up completely and that only made his grin widen.

"why are you here?" she asks, her voice coming out shaken.

"well, you left so quickly," he begins "and i thought you owed an explanation."

nini took the plastic cup and placed it on the counter, still feeling ricky's gaze on her from afar "i don't owe you anything."

noah let out an evil chuckle and shook his head "there are a lot of things you owe me. our little deal isn't over until i say so."

the chill went down her spine again and noah took the cup, his hand touching hers as she flinched at the contact and quickly pulled it away.

noah grinned and put the money on the counter before giving her a look "just remember that i know everything. you're friends don't know the real you, and if you want it to stay that way, then you'll do just as i say."

she swallows as he walks off and out of the café, nini letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she blinked a few times and made her way towards the bathrooms, rushing inside and locking herself in.

her heart was pounding and she felt her vision become blurry as she took in short breaths, pacing around and running her hands through her hair.

she leaned her hands against the sink and shuddered her breaths, a few tears falling down her face as she tightened her eyes shut.

she felt her chest tighten and her stomach turn at the thought of having to relive her past, but she didn't have a choice. she knew how noah was. he would hurt her friends, he would manipulate them, and he wouldn't hesitate to tell them everything about her that she wanted to keep locked away.

nini stared up at her reflection. she hated herself. she hated the fact that she had to live with herself. the guilt of what she did, no one can say it wasn't her fault because it was. and she hated seeing her thirteen and fourteen year old self again. no matter how happy she is in her life now, no matter what she does to try and get through what she's lived through, she's stuck with the fact that she had been broken and manipulated by him. and now he had that opportunity to strike again, no matter how much she wanted to fight.