family friends

19 - dreaming

Samantha hugs me the instant I walk in the door. She already has two bags of trash leaning by the doorway and she dropped a third when she saw me. I breathe her in for a minute before finally letting go. The worry lines on her face are prominent as she thinks about what to say. "Sam, I'm okay," I whisper, breaking the silence. 

"There's no way you aren't terrified out of your mind after last night, Y/n. Did Clay get you home okay? I hope he didn't leave you alone."

"He took us back to his house and sat outside the door the entire night while I slept. He's really scared to leave me alone. I think he mostly blames himself for not being there when Rachel showed up." Having her name back in my regular vocabulary is not a pleasant feeling.

"I feel the same to an extent. Like she would have found a way to get you alone no matter what, but I feel like we just handed it to her. It hasn't been that long. We should've been watching you more closely."

"She's been dormant for three months. There was no way to know that she was even gonna come back in the first place. Besides, all that matters now is that I find some way to get rid of her without... well," I stop myself. I haven't told Sam why I can't just go to the police. I'm afraid she'll think it's stupid, but I know how important Clay's privacy is.

"Y/n, you can't cut yourself off like you did last time when things got bad. Please be honest with me. I'll never judge you for how you handle this." That was exactly what I needed to hear from her.

"She knows who Clay is. I think she's been stalking him and she's going to reveal him to the entire world if I don't comply with her."

"Shit."

"I know it maybe doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I can't let that happen."

"Have you talked to him about any of this? Maybe he can say the claims are false."

"I don't think it's going to be that simple. She's clearly done her research. I-" I want to tell her about the mug, but I'm not sure how to without explaining the entire story about stealing it. She might think it's a stretch anyway and I just don't remember using it.

"Hey, no judgment. I'm on your team," she says, reaching out for my hand. 

I sigh, but she's right. I have to trust her. "She was in my house. There's a mug that we accidentally stole from the dining hall in college and it was sitting out on my counter with her lipstick on it. I haven't used that mug in forever. It's just been tucked in the back of my cupboard. She knew I would understand."

"What are you going to do? I understand why you don't want the police involved now, but also, what else can you do?"

"I have to talk to her."

"No."

"You said you're supporting me, Sam."

"I am supporting you, but I refuse to encourage you to throw yourself into direct danger. How do you know she wouldn't just kidnap you or something?"

"I don't know, Sam. But I have to do this and find out what she wants."

"She wants you back, Y/n. She's demented and she doesn't understand that you don't love her. She thinks you're soulmates."

"But maybe we can come up with a compromise. She says she only wants what's best for me. Maybe I can convince her that what's best for me is her leaving me alone." Sam looks skeptical and I can't blame her. The chances of that happening are pretty slim but I have to at least try.

"If you have to meet with her, you need to take someone with you. Or at least tell me where you'll be and I can be nearby in case anything goes wrong." I nod and pull out my phone. I changed all of my contact information, but I know I still have her on my old email from sending assignments back and forth.