Secrets In The Dark

Garbage

You slowly walk into your apartment with a million thoughts running through your head. It had been such a long day that you even forgot to eat something. Your stomach growls as you remember this. As you flick on the living room light, you see Audrey sitting in the corner of the room in her pajamas.

"Audrey?" You say as you raise an eyebrow and throw your keys in your purse.

"Where the hell were you? I've been trying to call you all day!" She shouts as she jumps up from her seat.

"I'm sorry. I was just busy..." You say with a small shrug.

"With what? Taking photos of random people?" She spits out as she throws her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?" You whisper as you look her straight in the face.

You can't believe that she's just said that. She's always been supportive of your work. Why would she have such an attitude about it now?

"You heard me. You were probably strolling the beach, taking photos of weird people and sipping a latte, huh? Is that what you were doing while I was busting my ass at the diner?" She says as her voice raises.

"Audrey, what the hell is your problem? Did you have a bad day at work or something?" You ask as you shake your head and throw your hands on your hip.

"Actually, no. I had a wonderful day thanks for asking. I just wish that my best friend would actually do something with her life and get somewhere..." She says as she walks past you, heading for her bedroom.

"Why are you being such a bitch all of a sudden?" You ask as you spin around.

She slowly turns around in the hall and her eyes grow dark. She takes a single step towards you and let's the words that you just said process. She lets out a small laugh and shakes her head.

"I'm just telling the truth..." She says as she spins back around and rushes into her bedroom, slamming her door behind her.

You stand in the middle of the living room for a few minutes trying to understand everything that just happened. You've never been in a fight like that with Audrey. You've never had a fight with her since you've been best friends actually. Besides, why should she care if you were out late? She's always out late with other friends or guys.

You set your purse on the seat that Audrey was sitting in and let out a loud sigh. As soon as you do that, you hear your phone buzz. You bend down and quickly take it out of your purse. Maybe it's your mom calling to see how you are. Nope. It's Niall actually.

"Hello?" You say as you answer.

"Uh, yeah, hi, I'm supposed to tell you that tomorrow you need to be at the concert..." He says with a tired voice.

"Oh, okay. What time?" You ask as you sit down on the couch.

"It starts at 6:30 so you should be there by 6:00." He says with a yawn.

"Okay. I'll be there then." You say with a small smile.

"Cool. See you tomorrow then." He says quietly.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow..." You whisper.

"Bye." Niall says coldly.

"Bye..." You say with another sigh.

You shake your head and set your phone on the table in front of you. You're trying so hard to be nice to Niall but if he keeps being so rude and short to you, you're going to say something. You've never let anyone walk on you. That's how you met Audrey actually. In 8th grade there was a bully picking on you and you let her have it. Audrey was the one that pulled you off of the girl. You've been friends since.

You get up from the couch and rummage through the cupboards in the kitchen a bit before deciding not to eat anything for the night. Nothing sounds good. It's been such a long day that all you want is sleep. Then, you have another long day tomorrow. You wonder if anyone will notice that you're there for Niall. Probably, their fans catch on to everything.

The lights turn off for the night and so does every though that you've had for the day. All you need to do is sleep and let everything rush away from you. Your new job, your fight with Audrey, everything just needs to disappear for a few hours. You chase them away in your dreams.

"Beep. Beep. Beep."

The sun is shining through your curtains and are leaving shadows on the right side of your room. Your eyes jolt open and your heart panics for a second. You hate that damn alarm clock. It's far too loud. It stops as you slam your hand hard against the top of it. Groans escape from you as you rise from your bed and slowly walk into the bathroom.

Everything is messy and it smells heavily of perfume. Audrey must already be gone for work. You check your phone. 8:45. Shit, it's a lot later than you thought it was. Normally you set your alarm for 6:45, not 8:45. You must have made a mistake with how tired you were last night.

You slip into the shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast. As your eating your bowl of cereal, your phone buzzes. It's Sandra.

"Hello?" You answer with a mouthful of Fruit Loops.

"Kelly? Is this you? You sound strange darling..." She says with a small laugh.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm eating." You say as you gulp your food.

"Oh. What are you eating?" She asks.

"Fruit Loops..." You say as you take another bite.

"No, no, no! We need you eating right! Don't fill your body with that garbage." She says with a serious tone.

"Seriously?" You ask as you lean back in your chair.

"Seriously..." She says, mocking you.

You can imagine her sitting in some little rich cafe sipping a fancy coffee adorned with whip cream and cinnamon, mocking you. Treating you like a child. Treating you like her personal toy. Like she owns you. Oh, wait, she does.

"Well, at least let me finish this bowl and then I'll be done." You say as you take another big bite.

"Fine. Listen, did Niall call you last night?" She asks.

"Yes." You say, not really wanting to talk about Niall.

"Great! Did he tell you about the concert?" She asks, her voice growing warm.

"Yes." You say again.

"And we'll be seeing you tonight?" She asks, her voice growing annoyed with your one-worded answers.

"Yes." You say again, knowing it will bug her.

"Is there a reason that you're answering with one-worded answers?" She asks, her voice cold now.

"No." You say as you rise from the table to put your cereal bowl in the sink.

"Alright. We'll see you tonight at 6:00 then. Dress nice." She says before she hangs up.

You groan and throw your phone on the couch and throw your body down over it. You cover your face with the couch pillow and scream loudly into it. How could things get so messed up? You were supposed to come to Los Angeles to become a professional photographer, not to be some girl that goes around to concerts. You didn't mind getting into a good concert for free, but you do mind people treating you like garbage. Like you're worthless.

You hear a murmured voice and you take the pillow from your face. You look straight up at the ceiling, trying to see if you hear the voice again. You do. It sounds distant and scattered. You remember that you layed on your phone so you quickly get up.

It was Niall. Niall is the voice.

"Hello? Kelly?" He keeps repeating on the other end.

You take a deep breath and end the call.

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