The Hopes and Dreams of Libby Quinn by Freya Kennedy

Author:Freya Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2020-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

17

Fight Club

Libby Quinn did not fall out with people. In fact, she normally went very much out of her way to make sure that no one ever thought badly of her. She had been born a people-pleaser and she was pretty sure she would die a people-pleaser.

It was quite extraordinary – the lengths she would go to just to make sure she kept those around her happy, frequently tying herself up in all sorts of knots to be there for everyone. Even if it meant saying yes to things she absolutely wanted to say no to. Even if it meant smiling sweetly and turning the metaphorical cheek if someone was overtly mean to her. Even if it meant not correcting someone when they got her name wrong for the forty-seventh time in case it embarrassed them. For the full three years of her university career, she was called Elaine by the girl who lived across the hall from her and she never once corrected her.

Libby was the sort of person who would apologise to people when they walked into her. She had even been known to apologise to inanimate objects. If she thought she had annoyed someone, she would genuinely lose sleep over it.

So, if she absolutely did not fall out with people she barely knew, then falling out with people she considered as close as her own family was definitely not something she had much experience of.

Falling out with Jess knocked her for six. It gave her a constant dull feeling, which pulled her down and filled her with doubt and self-loathing.

First of all, she knew there had been real hurt in Jess’s voice. And truth in her words. Maybe Libby was not as much of a people-pleaser as she thought.

The thought that Jess had made some valid points hit her in waves of differing strengths throughout the day. She had neglected her friend. And she had been focused on the shop, and all the preparation that had brought her to this point. But she needed to focus on the shop. It was important. Probably the most important thing she had ever done in her life. Surely Jess understood that. And she would have been there for Jess if she needed her. In a heartbeat. She’d have dropped everything and come running.

She lay on top of her bed and looked at the reminders of her teenage years and of simpler times. The posters were gone now, but she could still remember where they had hung. Westlife and Robbie Williams, grinning down with their pop-star pouts.

This place had been her sanctuary. If she closed her eyes, she could conjure an image of her teenage self, sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the wall, long bronzed legs stretched out in front of her. Jess sat opposite, legs crossed, singing along – badly – to whatever they were listening to as they drank from Coca Cola cans and laughed about their current crushes. Although, for Libby, quite often her crushes were the dark and brooding heroes of whatever book she was reading.

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