The Ink That Haunts Us

Chapter Eight

The results were in and I had survived another year at Uni. Relief swept through me and I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to go out with the girls and have a good night out. Just as I stood to go find Freya, I remembered why that wasn't the best idea. I sank back into my chair mentally cursing Declan.

    Freya burst through my door, waving her phone in the air.

    "I'm officially a senior!" She danced before the smile fell from her face. "Are you okay?"

    "I'm fine. Congratulations!" Standing again, I moved to give her a hug. "Looks like we're both seniors!" I mustered up some enthusiasm, and she seemed to buy it.

    "We have to celebrate! We could try to track down June and have a girls' night!" She started clicking on her phone. Thinking quickly, I said the first thing that came to my mind.

    "Or we could get the guys and have poker night!" At least I wouldn't have to worry about trying to stay safe in a nightclub. With everyone at my apartment, I would be safe. If the guys didn't get tanked, I could have Mack come crash at my house after they left.

    "That is a brilliant idea! It's been so long since we've had a poker night! I'll round the guys up." She was out the door before I could say another word.

    I ran out after her in search of Mack. He was sitting in his office when I barged in shutting the door behind me and locking it.

    "What's up, baby girl?" He looked up at me curiously as I paced back and forth in front of his desk.

    "Freya wanted to celebrate the end of finals with a girls' night, but I couldn't do that. It's really not safe, so I panicked and said that we should do a poker night. I haven't been home in a week! What if they suspect that? How can I explain why I don't have food or... or anything at the apartment." Mack was out of his seat and putting his hands on my shoulders.

    "Whoa, whoa. Calm down. It will be okay. You were thinking on your feet and honestly, poker night is the safest way to celebrate right now. We'll stop by the store on our way to your apartment and get you some snacks. They won't notice a thing." It sounded logical. As long as they didn't wander into my bedroom, they wouldn't notice that I wasn't currently living there.

"Okay," I nodded in relief. "Um... what if no one crashes there? Will you be up to come get me?"

"If not, call me anyway."

The doorknob raddled and someone banged on the door.

"Mack you in there?" Derek called from the other side.

"Just a second," Mack called, then looked at me. "You good?"

"Yeah." I smoothed out my hair and wiped at my face, making sure everything was fine. Mack pulled open the door and Derek stepped in. His eyes seemed to narrow on me.

"Hey," I said. "We're having poker night to celebrate finals, you coming?" That sounded normal, right? Why was I having such a hard time being around him?

"Um, yeah," he nodded, slowly. His eyes kept bouncing from me to Mack.

"Cool," I smiled, then looked to Mack. "I'll see you later."

    The way Derek was looking between Mack and me was making me uncomfortable. He had the most skeptical look on his face and I couldn't quite figure out what it was from. Something told me it had to do with his obsession with the amount of time I spend with Mack. And it was going to make me angry if he said something stupid. I slipped past him and out the door before he could utter a single word to me. Maybe Mack would deal with him and he would leave me alone.