The Other Me

Chapter Twelve

Chapter 12

The next morning I was still curled up in bed and it was ten o’clock on a Monday. I had hardly moved from my bed at all since we reached home. I had been too terrified to budge from my room, let alone go outside. The way that Barratt had made such a cold-blooded manoeuvre, that he attempted murder so obviously; it scared me out of my wits.

Even Rosaline agreed that this time, we really would confine ourselves to the house, at least until tomorrow morning. He was only going to kill us faster if we wandered around the streets in open daylight. Perhaps he still didn’t even know where I lived. But I knew that I was lying to myself. Of course he knew where I lived. He was the bloody-school principal for Pete’s sake. He had that drawer in his office, rammed full of every student’s details. Including mine. It was only a matter of time before he made his next lethal move.

We had already decided that the police wouldn’t come for me. It was clear now, that Barratt or his wife hadn’t reported me at all. Barratt only wanted to take care of me himself. Which in a way; was a lot more terrifying. Because I knew this blood-thirsty man would stop at nothing.

I had suddenly remembered the night before, that I hadn’t spoken to Nat since the incident on Saturday. I had forgotten to apologise for ‘ditching’ her and well… I also really missed her. We hadn’t gone so long without talking properly and it made me feel like my happy old life was slowly disappearing before my eyes.

I had quickly phoned her up late last night, silently wishing that she would understand and that she wouldn’t be difficult.

“Hello?” Nat said suspiciously.

“Nat, it’s me. I’m so sorry I didn’t speak to you afterwards. It’s been so crazy here and I haven’t had a minute to myself -”

“Oh wow. It turns out I’m not invisible after all. And I don’t need your petty excuses. I know you’ve just been hooking up with that guy! Tell me, how long has that been going on for? And why did you think it was okay to keep this a secret from me! I thought we were best friends for crying out loud!”

“We are!” I cried desperately. “We are! And I’m really not going out with that guy. It’s all a long story, I’ll explain everything later –“

“Look, can you just stop lying? It bloody looked like you were doing something with that guy to me,” Nat continued angrily. “He was in your bedroom! Like that isn’t obvious enough. This just makes me wonder what other stuff you are keeping from me.”

“There is nothing Nat! I swear we weren’t doing anything…”

“Right. Sure. That’s what you keep saying.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Just leave me alone okay? I thought you were different from those other disgusting girls; who are always hanging off some bloke. I didn’t think you would morph into them so quickly. Do these ten years of friendship mean nothing to you? And don’t bother calling me again. I need time to myself. Maybe then I will stop wanting to hurt you.”

“Nat please, please listen,” I couldn’t keep a sob out of my voice. Then she hung up.

I had felt so distraught. For ages I had worried and worried about whether I would be able to save Nat’s life. I hadn’t thought I would ever lose her in this way. 

Rosaline hadn’t been very sympathetic either. Ever since we had returned from Rafi’s, she had been this massive cocoon of fury and had transformed into an A-class bitch again. I thought this was because she was frightened and furious; fuming at Barratt who dared tried to kill her personally. But I couldn’t help noticing that some of this hate may have been directed at me.