Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 16

TW for some harsh language and Zoey being forceful with Joe.

Joey Richter flipped through another page in his math textbook, resisting the urge to just face plant into it and fall asleep. He was already feeling pretty lovesick after Lauren had mysteriously run out of their rehearsal. First, she'd left for a phone call. After she came back in, she left about ten minutes later to make another call. She did it two more times before finally coming back and telling Joey that she had to go. While she did offer him a ride home, she was silent throughout the entire ride.

Whatever it was that he'd done, it was a problem for tomorrow Joey. He closed his textbook, deciding to go ahead and hit the hay even though it was only 9pm. As he entered his bedroom, he felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it to most likely be a call from Brian asking for help on homework.

Instead, it was a FaceTime call from Lauren.
Joey nearly dropped his phone. After all of that, she wanted to FaceTime? Joey nervously ran a hand through his hair several times, knowing that it was an absolute mess. Taking a deep breath, he answered the call. "You requested my face?"

"That okay?" Lauren asked, and Joey couldn't help but stare. Her hair was tossed into a messy bun, she had glasses on, and she was wearing a pajama tank top. Holy fuck why did she always have to look so adorable? "I wanted to call you because I'm sorry I ran out on you earlier." Lauren bit her lip nervously, knowing that she'd been rude and blunt towards him. "Also I have huge business tea." She added.

"You're all good," Joey said, smiling ear to ear. He couldn't believe that she'd actually called him. "Is everything okay?"

Lauren sighed, burying her face into her hands. "Do you mind if I rant?"

"Of course not! I'm all ears Lo." Joey said, fighting back his smile since she was clearly upset. That said, he couldn't believe that she wanted to confide in him.

"Okay," Lauren whispered shyly, resting her phone against her water bottle so that she didn't have to hold it. "So I don't know how much you know about Joe's relationship with Zoey?"

Joey shrugged. "Not much to be honest. Just that she's a bitchy popular senior, all that stuff you've told me."

"Yeah," Lauren nodded miserably. "Well what I haven't really told you for the sake of Joe's privacy is how Zoey is completely and utterly toxic."

"You sort of have," Joey said, reflecting on their many rant sessions about how much better off Joe would be if he was with Brian instead of Zoey. "I just wasn't fully sure what you meant by 'toxic.'"

"Like abusive, if I'm being fucking honest." Lauren said flatly. "She's nothing but emotionally abusive to him, but Joe refuses to accept it."

Joey frowned. Should he have known this? "Is it obvious? That she's like that to him? Should I have noticed this in Joe?"

"No, it's not." Lauren stated simply. "She's very good at how she does it, and Joe will defend her to the ends of the earth."

"How do you know then?" Joey asked. "Like I feel horrible at the idea that Joe's been going through something like this and I haven't noticed."

Lauren froze. She couldn't believe she'd never realized what a total sweetheart Joey was. He really cared for his friends. She shook her head to clear it. "I know because Joe tells me about a lot of the stuff Zoey says and does to him. Not to mention he fact that I've known Zoey for years, and she's a complete narcissist. She does nothing but gaslight and manipulate Joe into thinking he's not a good boyfriend to her so he'll mindlessly obey her."

"Fuck," was all Joey could say. What was he supposed to say in a situation like this? "I can't believe how oblivious I was."

"Don't put yourself down Joey. You're very sweet for being concerned but in truth there's no real way for you to have known."