Against the Tide by Nikki Groom Read Free Book Online Page B

stomach pumped or something.”
    “Megan, your dickhead of a boyfriend sold dodgy illegal drugs to a girl who was taken to hospital.  Don’t you think it’s time for you to take your head out of your arse, and open your eyes to the real world?”
    I know that every word that comes out of her mouth is right. I know I’ve been overlooking Damien’s growing dealings. I’ve tried to keep my head in my own little bubble, only coming out when I feel that I don’t have to deal with anything too serious. But I don’t like that she’s calling me on my shit. I don’t like her waving it around in my face like that. I slam my coffee down and stand up abruptly.
    “You gonna walk away from the truth, Megan?” she says gently as I start to walk past her.
    “I don’t need to hear this.”
    “I think you do.”
    “Well, then you’re a shit friend.”
    “I’m your best friend. I would be a shit friend if I lied to you and watched you go down the slippery slope of denial.”
    “I’m not in denial,” I snap, stopping in the doorway and spinning around to face her.
    “No?” she laughs bitterly. “So you’re happy? One hundred percent happy? With a boyfriend whose drug habit means he has to deal to keep it up, that sees you as no more than a possession, who has poisoned some poor innocent girl and cares so much about you, and her, that at the first sign of trouble he left the country?” She stands in front of me with her hands on her hips. “You’re that happy with your fucking perfect life that you fucked, sorry,” she holds a finger up and corrects, “you were fucked by a stranger in an alley? That sounds really happy to me, Megan.” She pushes past me bumping my shoulder.
    “Jamie,” I plead, turning to her.
    “No, Meg. I’ve kept my mouth shut for a long time about a lot of stuff. I’ve watched you get dragged down by Damien and you can’t even see it. You’re my friend and that’s why I’m telling you this. Look at you … You’re too skinny, you have massive sunken rings around your eyes the colour of coal and after everything, you’re still trying to redeem Damien in my eyes. You won’t ever redeem him, the guy is an arsehole. You need to wake up and start living in the real world. The real, legal world.”
    “What if I don’t want to?” I counter with an edge of desperation to my voice. I don’t even know why I’m trying to hold on to what my life has become. It’s what I know. It’s what I’ve grown to know as normal. Do I like it? Fuck, no. But I’m scared of the alternative. I’m scared of what I don’t know.
    “Then I guess you’re on your own,” Jamie replies sadly with a small shrug of her shoulders before walking off down the hallway.
    Shit.
    “Jamie,” I call out behind her. She waves a dismissive hand but continues to walk. “I don’t want to be on my own,” I cry desperately knowing that my reactions are that of confusion, tiredness and a hangover, but I feel so lost I need her to tell me everything is going to be okay.
    She stops halfway down the hall and sighs before turning and coming back to me. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and hugs me tight.
    “I’m sorry, that was a shitty thing for me to say. You’ll never be on your own, I’ll always be here, Meg. But you need to open your eyes.” I nod in to her shoulder and when I start to sniffle she moves away. “Do not snot on my top. I only bought it last week,” she orders which makes us dissolve in fits of laughter. “I think we need more coffee.”

    Twenty four hours has passed. The sun has risen and set behind the sea again. The world keeps turning and everyone else on Earth is going about their day as they usually would.
    Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
    Not me.
    My world has stopped. An empty void of time. A continuous plateau of nothingness.
    Occasionally Mum’s soft sobs break me from my trance like state. I move my hand to hers and stroke the back of her knuckles to let her know that she’s not alone.