Chapter 6

I stormed down the hall and punched the call button on the elevator. Fortunately, it was late at night and nobody else was using it; the car I had come up in was still there, and the doors opened immediately with a ring of the bell. I slammed my back against the wall of the elevator and waited for the doors to close. Absentmindedly, I punched the ground floor button.

By the time the bell rang again, signalling my arrival on the ground floor, I had slipped down the wall. I was sitting on the floor of the elevator, with my knees tucked up to my breasts, hugging myself and sobbing uncontrollably. My stomach felt empty and twisted up in knots. The doors slid open with a grinding noise that only comes from old dorm elevators.

"April? What's wrong?"

I blinked the tears out of my eyes and looked up. Slowly, Ann's face came into focus. She was standing over me, looking at me like she was scared. I must have looked a mess to her. Still, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I opened my mouth to speak, but choked on my tears.

"Aw, Christ," Ann said.

Ann punched one of the buttons, and the doors closed. I felt the elevator begin to ascend again, but didn't know where we were going. So long as it wasn't back to George's room, I didn't care. I didn't want to see that bastard's face ever again.

Eventually, the elevator stopped again. Ann grabbed me by the shoulder and tried to lift me to my feet. I guess I must have found my feet, because I stumbled down the hall after her, but at the same time I realized just how much pain my ankle was in. It was starting to throb. Ann pulled out her keys and unlocked a door, pushing it open and putting her arm around my shoulder. Dimly, I remembered that Ann lived in the same building as George, but in a different tower and on a different floor.

I flopped down on the first thing that looked comfortable, which turned out to be Ann's bed. Ann dropped her purse, kicked off her shoes, and sat down at her desk and waited. I must have laid there, just crying, for twenty minutes before I finally slowed down. I blinked my eyes clear again, and realized that I was tired, exhausted beyond belief.

I guess Ann noticed that I wasn't crying anymore, because she finally spoke up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

"I... I guess. I don't know," I said, sort of stumbling over the words. I sat up on her bed, and leaned back against the wall.

"Here, have some soda." She handed me a half-empty can of Coke that I hadn't noticed before. I wiped the tears out of my eyes, took the can from her, and took a long drink. Cool liquid felt really good right about now.

"I... I -- It's about George," I said, exhaling deeply.

Ann took a deep breath and settled back in her chair. 'You're in this for the long haul now, ' I thought to myself.

"I found him tonight... in bed. With somebody else. Two somebodys, actually."

"Oh, no."

"Yeah." I managed a grim smile. "Two chicks who couldn't have been sixteen. I guess he picked them up at Carnival or something."

Ann let out a low sliding whistle, like somebody passing a really bad car wreck on the highway.

I choked back a laugh and felt myself begin to lose it again. "And he had the gall to be surprised when I came into his room and found him..."

"Oh, God, honey. I'm sorry." I dropped my head into my hands, and felt Ann sit down on the bed next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. A fresh bout of tears started up, and I soaked down my hands.

"Hey," she said to me. I felt her fingers touch my chin and raise my head up until I was looking at her. "You'll be okay. Guys are bastards like that sometimes." She smiled at me, and I felt my stomach loosen up a little. She turned away from me, grabbed a Kleenex off her desk, and dabbed some of my tears from my cheeks.