14. I'll Look Out For You
Dillon
Last night had been a rather sleepless night for Dillon and when his alarm rang he shot out of bed in a second. On his feet he felt slightly wobbly but as he made his way to his closet he caught a glance on his bedside table watch and saw it was 9 am. At least he had been able to sleep for three hours.
"I get panic attacks whenever I'm in a small place or in any locked room â it's triggered by that night at prom."
Those words echoed in his head and he let out a tired groan as he tried his best to forget them. He had damaged her good, he knew that now. Had he known that she was going to be effected for life he would have never...stop thinking about it he told himself. He had been utterly terrified when her panic attack had started and for a few minutes he debated calling 911 and get her to a hospital. Libra had said something about feeling embarrassed about what had transpired and to that Dillon wanted to laugh. She had nothing to feel embarrassed about and he would hate it if he was the reason for those emotions.
She hadn't replied to his last text message last night so he wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him more today, but Dillon needed to know how else that night had affected her. It couldn't be that difficult to figure out which floor she lived on if he truly tried. He hopped into the shower with the mission of finding out where Libra and her roommate Sophia lived and then convince her to have a conversation with him.
"Where are you going pretty boy? I thought you didn't have class until noon today." Todd said when Dillon emerged from his bedroom.
"Pretty boy?" Dillon repeated confusingly and looked down on his clothes. Apparently a clean shirt and a pair of black jeans meant dressing up to Todd, "I don't have class until noon but I have an errand to run."
"What errand would that be? Could it have something to do with your new girlfriend and my tutor?" Todd got up from the couch, wearing nothing but a shirt and dirty boxers, "What were you two doing in your bedroom yesterday?"
Typical Todd to let his imagination, and jealousy, let his fantasies run wild. The Libra Jones that Todd saw was not the real Libra and he wondered if he would ever consider her to be this 'new and improved person' that she wanted to become. After yesterday it would be far more difficult to see her as anything but the shy bookworm from his old high school.
"Dude I don't know how many times I have to say this to you: nothing is going on between me and Libra. I was helping her out with something yesterday, that's all. I'm not a creep like you." He pushed past him and grabbed a Gatorade of the kitchen counter.
Behind him Todd's laugh rung harsh in his ears. It was clear that he didn't believe him and in some ways he couldn't blame him. Libra looked different now and for someone who didn't look beyond her clothes and the makeup it would be hard to know what was lurking inside that head of hers. But he knew, to some degree, the pain and fear that was tattooed inside her and the worst thing was; he knew he was responsible.
"If you're not seeing her, then prove it. I want to bring her back here after tutoring and I'd appreciate it if you could disappear for a few hours." Todd challenged.
Dillon swallowed some harsh words and pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to trust that Libra would know better than to go home with Todd but she was also a naïve person, a born follower who would easily get manipulated by Todd. But if he came to her rescue once again Todd would start wondering and so would Austin and Keith â and that was the last thing he wanted. He wasn't in love with Libra, not even a crush, but he owed her something and to him that meant protecting her from any more pain.
With a defeated look he shrugged his shoulders and gave Todd the most nonchalant look he could, "Fine, I guess I'll call up Austin and see if Brittany and Laura are free to hang out."
"See, you have tons of babes flocking around you. If you want nothing to do with Libra I'll happily keep her entertained." Todd said before slamming the door to his room.
So Todd had now made it very clear that he was going to pursue Libra no matter what he said and he had cornered Dillon enough to not put a stop to it. I have to warn her about Todd again, he decided and headed out the door to find Libra's apartment.
Completely out of breath and slightly sweating Dillon took a seat on the last step that lead to the fifth floor. He had taken the elevator down to the first floor and worked his way up, taking the stairs, but by the time he got to the fourth floor he had given up hope. Had she lied when she said she lived here or did she actually live on the top floor? He did have her phone number and perhaps if he called and told her to meet him she would guide him the right way, but for all he knew she could be in class.
He glanced at his phone and saw that an hour had passed since he left his apartment and he only had another hour to go before he had to be in his Marketing class. Reluctantly he got up on his feet and started walking down the stairs again, heading for the fourth floor to catch the elevator down, but he noticed that he was not the only one here anymore. With a quick head turn he looked up to the steps on which he had just sat and to his surprise a wide eyed Libra Jones was standing in front of him.
Both of them stayed silent while looking at each other with a sense of shock in in their eyes. Dillon took a look at Libra's outfit and wetted his lips slightly. Yet another pair of tight skinny jeans and a eggshell colored top that hinted a baby pink bra underneath. It took him by surprise when he got a sudden urge to touch her and the curiosity of what she felt like sowed another seed in his stomach.
"What on earth are you doing here?" She said while slowly making her way down toward him.
Her hair was casually up in a ponytail that looked like it was getting looser by the second. Please fall down. He said a silent prayer to see her long hair fall down and frame her beautiful face, but when he saw the look in her eyes he realized he had yet to answer her question. He instantly felt foolish for his reasons of being here but now that he was looking at her the feeling of foolishness disappeared. He could see the scene of Todd trying to come on to her and how Libra wouldn't be able to defend herself, because he doubted she had even been pursued by a guy let alone rejected one.
"I'm looking for your floor actually," he laughed nervously, "but I got a little too windy to make it to the firth floor, let alone the sixth one." He tried to give her an innocent pleading look to simply just tell him where she lived.
"Why would you do that for?"
"Because I have toâI mean I want to know more about what happened yesterday. I need to know more, Libra."
He could tell she had gotten nervous in these last few seconds but she didn't need to be, not anymore. Seeing her like this allowed his mind to go back to the incident in the elevator and it made him want to embrace her. He needed to know how else he had hurt her, since he was responsible for what had happened yesterday and what had happened to her that night at prom. Because he would be damned if he was responsible for her pain again â and by that he meant allowing Todd to work his creep magic on her.
"I have tutoring with your creepy roommate and I don't want to be late, can this topic waitâ"
"No it can't Libra. I have to talk to you about Todd, too, how about I walk you to the library?"
"You don't have to do that either, talk to me about Todd I mean, I'm not some dumb bimbo that doesn't know what he's up to." Libra huffed and pushed passed him to continue down the steps.
As badly as he wanted to take the elevator he had no other choice but to run after her and talk for as long as she allowed him to. She was sure making this difficult, warning her that was, but he knew that was because she didn't know better. Had she lived the high school life he had she would've been at least mildly experienced.
"Well if you know about Todd so well then please fill me in, I'd love to know what you know."
"I'm sure you know plenty already."
"Come on; I'll share my information if you share yours." Dillon challenged her and eventually her fast steps stopped and she turned to face him.
Libra frowned but in a very teasingly way. Dillon wondered if she was even aware how beautiful she looked when she did that and from the looks of it she had no idea. Those were the things he needed to inform her of, because guys like Todd never stopped to read body language or any social situation.
"Guys like Todd are very similar to a certain Dillon Holden that went to my school back in North Haven. From experience I can tell you that I have no interest in hooking up with a guy like that." She gave him a cocky smile before turning around and continuing down the steps, motioning with her hand for him to follow her.
Dillon stood frozen in his tracks and blinked a few times. Was she ever going to move on from high school or had she planned on making him pay for it his whole life? You have done a lot of bad things that she doesn't even know about yet, Dillon. She was right about something, though; he recognized himself in Todd. His primary focus in high school had been: partying, girls and pranks. Homework and responsibilities was never his forte, but he was changing that. Now his priorities were put toward the things that mattered to him and he had vowed to never go back to who he used to be â he was never going to be Todd again.
"You are quite judgmental, you know that?" Dillon said when he finally caught up with her. She threw a casual laugh over her shoulder and kept a steady pace down.
"I'm simply cautions that's all and I would advise all women to be when it comes to creeps," when they made it to the lobby she finally stopped and turned toward him, "look I mean this; you don't have to look out for me when it comes to Todd â I wouldn't dream of getting involved with him. But if it makes you feel better I won't go anywhere but the library with him, okay?"
The sudden urge to pull her back to the stairs and kiss her washed over him for a second, but he wasn't Todd and he wouldn't give him any favors to pull a stunt like that. Instead he faked a smile and nodded at her words. If she could only realize that he was telling her this for her own sake perhaps she wouldn't make such light of it. He just had to trust that she knew what she was talking about.
"You have my number so if anything happens or he makes you feel uncomfortable just text me." Dillon said with a defeated voice and turned to leave but was stopped by Libra's touch on his shoulder.
"Why are you doing all of this? I thought Todd was your friend, so why are you warning me about him?" She said shyly.
Finally he saw the old Libra that he once knew. He could tell she wasn't used to having someone else than her roommate look out for her, but Dillon was going to make sure he became that person for her.
"Because I want to, in case you haven't noticed that yet."