Edge of the Dark // Noa Olivar

ii. joey doesn't tolerate the boys

Something was off about Noa.

Joey wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that Bennett asked for her number or if she was still pissed off about their argument in the bathroom, but she was ignoring Joey all throughout their hours of picking up trash.

She usually tried starting up a conversation or made dumb little comments or jokes, but today she was dead silent. And then, she moved away to a deserted area to pick up more trash alone. The rest of the group stayed together near the front of the building, some of them complaining about having to do any of this at all.

But then, some guy started talking about Noa.

"I swear, she gets so much hotter by the day." He laughed, picking up an empty water bottle with his stick and putting it inside their trash bag. "I wonder what her pretty little ass did to get herself stuck here with us. That girl looks as innocent as one could ever, but you know what they say about those types of girls. They're a good fuck! Maybe I should stick my dick—"

Joey quickly scanned around to make sure Beasley wasn't around before dropping her stick to the floor and grabbing him by the collar as she shoved him against the wall roughly. He yelped at the sudden harsh connection with the wall, furiously staring at her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"You talk too much." She hissed, her nails digging into his skin as she held him tighter.

"Let me go, you bitch!"

"Listen to me!" Joey grumbled, pulling him away from the wall before shoving him back into it to inflict more pain and shut him up. "If I hear one more thing come out of that disgusting mouth of yours, I'll make sure the only thing coming out of it is your own fucking blood. Are we clear?"

For a person acting like he was all that, he sure was a fucking pussy. He nodded, fear in his green eyes as she let him go and slowly tidied up his collar for him with a malevolent smile. "Good boy. Now get back to picking up shit."

He grumbled something under his breath whilst he was picking up his stick from the floor.

"I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear?" Joey taunted, raising a brow.

His eyes widened and he shook his head, heading off towards the group of people who were picking up trash and minding their own damn business. She grabbed her own stick and looked up to see Noa heading straight for her, worry evident on her face.

Joey ignored the endless amounts of trash there seemed to be and met her halfway. "Hey, what happened?!"

Even though they were on odd terms and they left things kind of nasty earlier that day, she would never ignore a distressed Noa.

"I—I saw someone inside one of the buildings. They were just staring at me from one of the fucking windows and it freaked me out so I went to tell Beasley but he was inside his car with a—" Noa hesitated, closing her mouth and deciding in not bringing up what she saw him doing.

"With what?" Joey asked, obviously noticing her current state.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "I just got really scared 'cause of the guy. . . I don't know. Maybe it was nothing. I could've just been seeing things."

"Hey, no, let's not assume it's nothing right off the bat. Did Beasley check it out?" Joey asked, assuming he already heard about the guy in the window.

"Yeah." She lied, because otherwise, she'd have to explain why he didn't. "He said he didn't find anyone."

"Okay, well, that's good. But, uh, just to be on the safer side why don't you stay around here for the rest of the day." Joey suggested, knowing she wouldn't be as worried if Noa was close by. If whoever she saw was still inside the building then it was better to be around other people.