Psycho #OpenNovellaContest

Chapter 5

The words rush through Alya's head. Lizzie's dead?

James gives her a strange look. "She was found outside of the parking garage after we finished filming, remember? She went out to get coffees and never came back."

The memories rush back to her all at once. She remembers the puddles of red liquid gathering like rainwater. She remembers the awful stench of cold coffee and dried blood. She remembers the sirens and the flashing lights. Lizzie was one of her best friends and the most talented camerawoman she had ever seen. How could she be dead? No, she couldn't be dead...

"Alya," James says, snapping her out of her trance. "Are you all right?"

Alya looks down to see that her hands are shaking. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I just can't believe she's dead."

"Me neither," James says softly. He grabs a fistful of her blanket and twists it around his hands nervously. "And that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about..."

A knot forms in Alya's stomach. "What?"

James tears his eyes away from Alya. "Alya... Lizzie was-" He runs a hand over his face, pushing his dark brown locks back. "There's no easy way to say this..."

Already, tears are forming in Alya's eyes. "James?"

James sighs. "Lizzie was... Lizzie was really important to me. I first met you when I was still in a relationship with her. She suspected something between us; I know she did, but now she's gone before we even got a chance to properly break up and-" He pauses. "I guess I'm just trying to say that she meant a lot to me and..." He takes a deep breath. "I think we should spend some time apart."

Alya swallows and clasps her clammy hands together. "What?"

He finally meets her watery eyes. "Alya, I want to break up."

Alya's eyes widen in shock and a burst of anger runs through her. "Break up? We weren't even dating!"

"Alya-"

Alya's heart is pounding. No, he can't leave her. Not now, when everything is coming together. "You cheated on me!" she says desperately. "You were still in a relationship but you told me you weren't! I remember when-"

"I was never in a relationship with you-"

"I thought you cared about me, James!" She huffs out her breath and slumps back against the pillows. "It would be have been perfect too. Tom is out of town and we could have had the whole place to ourselves..." Her lips tremble; the tears have returned.

James says nothing, but pulls her close to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Alya doesn't- can't- respond. She buries her face in his sweatshirt and sobs.

After a moment, James speaks. "Why's Tom gone?"

"He has cancer," Alya mutters.

James sits up straighter. "Cancer? What happened?"

Alya props herself up with a pillow. "He doesn't really have cancer," she says defensively. "He's trying to get away from me so he can spend more time with his mistress!"

"But what if he's not lying," James says. "Maybe he does have cancer and you're just-"

"But he doesn't!" Tears drip down Alya's face. "I know he doesn't!"

"You don't know that, Alya." James shakes his head sadly. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Why do you care?" she mutters.

James silently gets up off the bed. He pauses at the doorway. "I think we should stop doing this."

"Good," she says. "I'll see you at the funeral."

"Maybe you shouldn't go-"

"Oh, I'm going!" Alya yells. "Lizzie was my friend too! You're not the only one who misses her, you selfish prick!"

James is gone downstairs even before she finishes her sentence. She hears the door slam, then silence.

Alya screams and throws the teddy bear at the wall. She collapses on the bed and buries her face into her pillow. To her dismay, her tears are all dried up. Good, she thinks. She's been crying too much anyway.

She rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling. She remembers a few weeks ago, when she sprained her wrist trying to replace the light fixture. After she hadn't answered her phone, James had come to her house and found her crying on the floor. He brought her a cast, a few bottles of painkillers, and cookies- the kind without chocolate chips because he knew how Tom felt about chocolate.

As if in a trance, Alya gets out of bed and stands up. The teddy bear is lying on the floor next to the doorway. She picks it up and walks back to bed. She slides under the blankets and cuddles the bear close to her. She nuzzles her nose into the pillow. It still smells like him- a mixture of fresh linen and cinnamon. She closes her eyes and sighs. A tears slowly trickles down her cheek, even though she promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore. She hates this; she hates James and Tom and Edward and- Her breath hitches in her throat and her eyes burn tradiously. She tries to force the tears back, but it's no use. She cries into her pillow, inhaling his scent and trying to forget the part of her that wants to be in his arms right now.