33. Who's Lying?
Joe's Diner was located within walking distance from The Arc but Libra still took a detour just in case. When she arrived Todd and Laura was sitting in a booth and quickly motioned, with a nod, for her to come over. Seeing Laura there made her hesitate in her steps but she was here now and had come too far to turn back. If they truly had information on Dillon having Laura there wouldn't matter much; as long as she found out the truth. There was still a large chance for Dillon to be cleared from this, for all she knew he wasn't even a suspect â but it seemed like Todd had evidence to contra that.
"Fancy seeing you here, Libra, I hope I'm not ruining your date with Todd here." Laura said with a snarky voice.
Libra forced her eyes on Todd instead and decided to only speak to him tonight. Laura was an unwelcomed distraction and she knew her only motive was to be here to intimidate her. From somewhere deep inside her she found strength to defy her evil looks and took a seat opposite the two. The light was dimmed lit and the diner half full â she prayed no one she knew was here.
"When I told you to meet me I thought I was only talking to you." She mumbled and shook her head when the waitress asked if she'd like anything to eat.
Todd gave Laura a bothered look but as if she sensed it he quickly removed it. She had seen girls like Laura all her life: girls or women who get their way no matter what. She'd read about them and written about them too. One thing they always have in common is that they never win, not in the long run anyway â and that was something Libra could smile about.
"Laura helped me find all this out so it's kind of necessary for her to be here. So can you forget your little beef for now? Todd gave each of them a look but Libra refused to make nice with Laura.
"Enough with the small talk â can we get to the point? I have a party to go to later and sorry Libra but you're not invited." Laura faked a smile and took one bite of a fry before putting the remains back on her half eaten plate.
Libra felt her heart beating dangerously fast, so fast she caught eyes with the waiter and ordered a glass of water. She hated that Laura gave her a cocky grin when her water arrived, surely sizing her up and planning to take her down. But Libra wasn't here to play any games today; she wanted to find out who caused her to live with this trauma â and in order to do that she needed to get through this meeting.
"What kind of information do you have on Dillon? Or Charlie." Libra had almost forgotten that Todd had mentioned Charlie's name.
Charlie wasn't as mean as Dillon used to be but he was a prankster just like his best friend. Every Halloween they would do something to the school and every year they got in trouble for it. There had been times when Libra had suspected Charlie and not those suspicions came back. Charlie had never been nice to her and they had argued in debate class only a few weeks earlier â perhaps he wanted to take his anger out on her or punish her for arguing with him.
"Before I get into that I'm more interested in what happened to you. I found some newspaper articles online about what happened, it didn't have your name but someone I talked to confirmed it. What the hell happened to you?"
Todd was crossing a line in asking her that but she had a nagging feeling it would be asked sooner or later. She had a choice right now, either she could tell them both and have it all around campus or she could keep it inside and torture herself. Her mind was giving her headaches in the rapid speed she was thinking and then as if he had appeared in front of her Dr. Fine's voice became clear in her head. She couldn't let the fear hold her back; she needed to liberate herself to the fullest. So what if someone found out about what happened to her? She wasn't a victim of it anymore â she had survived it.
Even if she wouldn't tell Todd and Laura everything of the horrendous things she went through in that shed, she knew she needed to tell them the raw truth and stop protecting whoever had done this. Because whenever she chose not to speak about it the person who did this was protected and could walk free.
She looked at Todd and Laura who were waiting anxiously for her reply; so she sighed heavily and readied herself for what she was about to announce to, what felt like the whole world:
"Someone played a prank on me on prom night...theyâI had been drinking that night, it was the first time I'd ever drank so I got pretty wasted," she closed her eyes momentarily to retrieve her memories and hoped to perhaps gain more of them as she spoke, "I remember excusing myself to go to the ladies bathroom and I sat down on the floor to rest. The room was spinning so much."
"Gross," Laura whispered under her breath but earned a cruel look from Todd who nodded for Libra to continue her story.
His eyes were narrowed in on her, fixated as if she was telling him the most thrilling story ever told. Libra hesitated for a second; should she really continue this? What if they used this against her somehow? Even if they did it doesn't matter, she reminded herself with her inner voice sounding like Dr. Fine's.
"The next thing I remember is waking up with my head resting on a green plastic sheet inside that shed. I tried to bang on the door but it wouldn't open and no one came," her voice got shaky and her breaths faster, "My head was hurting, I had no food and no one showed up. I was in there f-for five whole days. People had claimed to have seen me at an after party that night so my mother and the police were searching for me in the wrong places. I-I thought I was going to..." She fell silent and looked up at Todd and Laura, their eyes had softened slightly.
Laura looked ashamed and her hands were now resting in her lap. Libra could feel her shaking her leg under the table. Todd looked stunned and fiddled with the straw of his drink before emptying the content and leaning backwards while sighing with pursed lips.
"That was quite the prank; who the fuck would want to do that? I'm all for pranking people but not a drunken girl on prom night and especially not like that." He shook his head and laughed to himself.
Libra wanted to disappear now. It was strange to have told it out loud but liberating at the same time. If Laura and Todd told people about this she would have to deal with it then, she couldn't control them but she could control how she dealt with them and their actions. A shy smile reached her lips when she realized that she had motivated herself, for the first time, without hearing Dr. Fine's voice in her head. Only seconds ago she swore she could hear him talk to her, but now the voice had changed to her own.
"Now that I've shared my story I'd like you to share your information with me. What do you have on Dillon and Charlie?"
Todd leaned forward and clasped his hands together, "I spoke to a guy called Tim Duncan, befriended him online, he told me he used to be friends with Dillon and Charlie." Todd began and raised his eyebrows for Libra to confirm what he'd just said.
"That's true; they used to eat together in the cafeteria all the time. I'm not sure they had all the same classes though." Libra said and tried to remember the tall black haired boy called Tim Duncan.
Tim was a fairly nice guy with many friends in different cliques around the school. Charlie and Dillon used to tease him sometimes, because he wasn't truly with their crowd but Tim never seemed too bothered by it. If they ever rejected him he would go hang out with another crowd.
"Well Tim told me that Dillon and Charlie were acting strange after you'd been found. The police had brought everyone in, even Tim, but Dillon and Charlie kept getting visits from the cops and they were very bothered by it. Tim said that Dillon's parents were seen going to the station to talk to the police and after that it appeared like the visits stopped."
"What do you mean they stopped? Do you think thatâ"Libra started,
"âDillon's father paid off the police? I have no idea but you know his family, don't you? Tim said they were rich folks."
"They live well, yes. They run a charity foundation, his father has a good company and I think their ancestors were one of the founders of North Haven." Libra hadn't thought about Dillon's parents in a long time.
Her family had never been invited to one of those charity balls but she had heard about them from others. They were lavish and glamorous and perfectly in line with whom Dillon's mother was â all about appearance. But were they influential enough to sway the police to drop an investigation because their son was guilty?
"Why are you doing this? Why do you want to get in the middle of all of this?" Libra challenged Todd.
"Don't be so ungratefulâ"Laura started but Todd silenced her with a look yet again.
He leaned closer to Libra and smiled mysteriously, "Just be thankful that I am in the middle of this, sweetheart."
"And what do you want from me?" Libra kept pushing as she felt herself getting stronger. Todd didn't scare her and neither did Laura â especially when she seemed so easily controlled by him right now.
"Knowing how you'll destroy Dillon when we get confirmed that it was him will be good enough for me. But it doesn't hurt to know that you're keeping a secret from him and that I could spill the beans anytime." Todd leaned back and grinned when he gave Laura a cocky look.
Libra knew she'd heard enough for tonight. The thought of lying to Dillon made her stomach ill but then again, perhaps she wasn't the only one lying?