Stockholm Syndrome || Book Two || DISCONTINUED

|| Acquaintances ||

I walk over to where Tammy was stocking. I glance at my neck and I notice a purple mark on the skin.
"Damnit." I mumble, trying to fix my shirt collar so Tammy and or Aaron wouldn't ask and I wouldn't have to talk about the fact that I just had sex with my boyfriend in the back room.
I begin stocking the shelves of the cafe. I suddenly feel eyes on me, so I turn to see Tammy and Aaron. Aaron was smirking and Tammy had this look on her face.
"What?" I ask, continuing to stick, but slower. "N-Nothing..." they said in unison. I give them a look before turning away and continuing to stock.

"So..." I hear Aaron begin. "Ho-How was his pull out?-" Tammy asked as she and Aaron snicker. I feel myself beginning to blush as she asked this.
___________________

I'm gonna be honest, I felt a bit nervous walking home by myself at night, considering what happened last time I tried to walk somewhere at night. But I didn't let it faze me too much because I don't live too far from my work.
I felt as if my heart was going to jump out of my chest as I walked down the now, quiet, streets of New York, paranoid that I was going to be followed again by that really mysterious boy, Dave. I tried and tried to tell myself, you're overreacting. The odds of you running into him again are slim to none. There's no way you'd run into him a third time.
But, much to my dismay, none it of helped my discomfort and paranoia. I couldn't stop myself from occasionally glancing behind, and around me, in fear of seeing that same black hooded boy that attacked me in that alley way, but only this time, Richie isn't here to protect me.

And as I crossed the street, I felt my stomach growl. I sighed. Have I really not eaten a thing all day? Whatever. I suddenly notice a convenient store, so I decide to go in and buy some chicken tenders or something. Yeah, I could've waited until I got home, but I was really hungry and I was craving something. Anything, at that point.

As I step inside, I notice that there was no cashier behind the counter. I chocked it up to them probably stocking or something so I carry on with trying to find some type of food. At this point, I'd honestly take anything.

I ended up picking some energy bar. Yeah, that's a breakfast food, but whatever, I'm starving and like I said before, I will literally take anything.
I walk over to the counter, setting down my item and I wait patiently for a cashier. I look down at my watch for a moment, before looking back up, and I swear, for a second, my heart just...skipped a few beats. There in front of me, was that boy. That boy that followed me. The boy from the art gallery. Dave. I immediately back up a bit as I felt my entire body starting to shake out of pure fear.

"Relax, sweetheart..." he said, scanning my item. "I didn't follow you. I work here." He assures. But that still didn't help anything, it only caused me to freak out even more. I stay silent, still too shocked to say anything. He chuckled. Does he seriously think this is funny?

"Listen. I know you're probably still scared, but you have no reason to be. I wasn't even going to hurt you, Eddie."

"You pinned me against a wall and tried having your way with me." I say, crossing my arms. He smirked, shaking his head menacingly. "No. Well, partially. But I was trying to get you to calm down so we could...talk." I furrowed my brow. "Talk?" I repeat. "Talk about what?"

He leans on the counter. "That...uh...boyfriend of yours. Richie." He says.

"How the hell do you know my boyfriend?" I asked. He smiled. "We were...acquaintances at one point. Before you moved here actually." He said. I scoffed. "And why should I believe you? You're not exactly the most trustworthy person." I say, turning my back towards him. I hear him snicker. "Because...I know about your little...secret." My eyes widened and my heart dropped as I felt my entire world come to a sudden hault. I turn to face him. Mortified. "How...How in the fuck do you...do you know about that?" I ask, to which he chuckled once again. "Well, you're little boyfriend confided in me one night and told me everything."

"Everything?" I repeated in a questioning tone. He nodded. "Yup." I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I felt that lump in my throat begin to appear. "Aww, don't cry, Eddie. I would never tell anyone such a thing. It'll be our little secret." He said.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
He frowned. "Oh, it's not what you did. It's what he did." He says. "Wh-Who?" I asked, wiping my tears. "Your boyfriend. He and I have history, but not very good history." He said. I snatch my item from off the counter, placing the money on it. "Leave me alone." I say, about to walk out. He grabs my arm, causing me to drop the bar. He didn't look happy. "No. It won't be that easy to get rid of me. No."

"Listen, whatever Richie did, I'm sure he only did it because he had to-"

"Oh, like he had to tell me your secret. That you murdered your ex in cold blood and buried him in a field and then leaving your ex boyfriend for dust just because you couldn't handle all of it?" He whispered. I pulled away from him. "Well...n-no-"

"Exactly!" He laughed. "You're crazy!" I yelled. "I'm crazy?" He asked. "Because I don't remember me murdering anyone...because that's, crazy. Don't you think?" He asked. I picked up my bar from the floor and I make my way over to the door. But before walking out, I turn back one last time.
Before immediately walking out because I realized that at that moment in time, he had won. He won that time.

What the hell is the matter with Richie?

Telling Dave my fucking dirty secret?

And, if that's not crazy enough, how on earth does Richie even know him?

All these question, but yet, no answers.
But one thing's for sure, I'm gonna kill Richie.

Metaphorically, not literally.