by Iris Taylor
She placed down two mugs and looked at me. "Ever since...my uncle got caught attacking me. It was Brody who rescued me." It all came out in a rush.
A few thoughts raced through my mind then, all bombarding me at the same time.
Brody. So that's the guy's name.
And: "He attacked you?! Where? Here?"
She nodded.
White hot fury seared through me, and for a while I couldn't breathe. "When?"
It was when she looked down at her mug that knew. I was a filthy bastard who had hit her at her lowest. "About a week ago. After school. I was alone. The only person talking to me at that point was Simon."
She paused. I was alone. She didn't need to explain to me why. My old friends and I had destroyed her reputation with our selfish need for amusement and drama. I hadn't thought too hard when Adrienne told me I could get Jess off my back by screwing around with the new hillbilly. It didn't hurt that she turned out to be gorgeous either. Legs that went on for miles, perfect rack, and that smart mouth that needed to be sealed shut one way or another. And the way she riled up Jess was hilarious. I closed my eyes. I was such a repulsive prick.
Too bad I belatedly realized how delicate this girl was, how so very down-to-earth and real, how hard she worked. And the things she had been through. Something no one should ever, ever have to go through, no matter at what age.
When Adrienne had shown me those videos it was easy enough to believe the girl had been leading a double life. People did all sorts of things for cash. But after Adrienne let slip that she had discovered those videos from a guy who personally knew the older guy in the video, and that it was actually her uncle and his group of friends, I saw the videos in a completely different light. Cara wasn't enjoying herself. She had been in pain. The number of times she cried “no” and the defeat in her eyes screamed out to me - this was no normal pay-per-view.
When we had confronted her outside her locker, her words had stuck with me.
"The next time you make assumptions of people, make sure they're the correct ones."
It rang true, the way she said them. I had gone on to ask Adrienne exactly how she got a hold of the audio clip, and from there she also somehow managed to get the videos from some guy making a quick buck out of her. "Why the sudden interest?" She had asked suspiciously. "Don't tell me you actually believe her? She's just a sad, pathetic lowlife strapped for cash. Probably enjoyed all those men too."
I had never before considered hurting a girl the way I wanted to hurt Adrienne then. Strangling her didn't seem like a bad idea at all. Her eyebrows cocked up at my barely reined-in fury, my fists tightly clenched to my sides. She had run her perfectly manicured nails up and down my chest.
"I mean, if it's something that turns you on, we could always arrange for her to play onscreen whilst you and I have our fun. It's been a while. I'm sure Noah wouldn't mind joining us."
Her words made me sick to the stomach. "Get your hands off me."
My answer must have surprised her, although she didn't let on. I had never blatantly turned down her offers before. She and I, we were the same. Two players looking for more and more. Except now I was sure I had found what I wanted, and she was still stuck in the games she loved to play.
"Don't do anything more to hurt her."
Her sweet smile had turned into the taunting, evil snarl I had only seen her use on the people we toyed around with. "Or else what, Vic? What are you going to do to me? Tattle to the principal? Our parents? The police?" She tossed her head back and laughed, and it made me wonder how I ever thought she was beautiful. She wasn't beautiful, she was a perfectly carved slab of stone, an ice queen who had everything she could ever want in life and still wasn't happy. She thrived on other people's pain - even her own best friend's, Jessica's. Noah had no clue who he was in love with. The only person I was sure she hadn't managed to dig her claws into was Elijah.
Elijah was hot and cold with her, always had been. Adrienne wanted him. Elijah had eccentric tastes, as I had learnt from a cursory perusal of his laptop when he had left his room briefly. Eccentric and sick, the kind I worried would get him in trouble with the law. And Adrienne wasn't exactly his taste. Not unless she was thirteen with an almost pre-pubertal body. He liked younger boys too, if the videos he had downloaded were anything to go by. It almost made me wonder if anything had happened to him as a kid to corrupt him so much.
Thinking back on what I had newly discovered about Jack and Lily, it made me realize that even the most seemingly docile of the group of people I had hung out with since we were kids had their own twisted secrets. No wonder Jack rarely dated anyone. And I had been wondering where he had been getting any, if at all. It had also to the point where I had wondered about his sexual preferences. Lily had her own on-and-off relationships, but they barely lasted more than a few weeks. Did their relationship with each other run that deep?
As I looked at Cara now, it was obvious to me that she was going to be my only chance at redeeming my own lost, corrupted soul. If she would let me in again.
"Did he...did he manage to do anything to you?" The thought of her filthy uncle laying his hands on her made me want to snap his neck into two. Right after I let him bleed out after sawing off his dick.
She shook her head. "Brody came just as he was chasing me. He knocked him out and called the police."
Her new hero. Him, not you.
"I see. Where is he now?"
"Sam? He's being held. Awaiting trial."
I wasn't sure the law could ever serve him the kind of justice he deserved. His kind of sick, twisted tastes warranted a slow, painful torture, one that made him remember God, or whoever it was that made him stop preying on young girls he was supposed to protect. And if the law couldn't do that, I guess some things need to be taken into one's own hands...
I was a frivolous type of evil, but I was definitely not as sick as him. Not so far, anyway, my mind piped up.
I reached across the table and held her hand, hoping she wouldn't pull it away. When she didn't, I let go of the breath I was holding and said, "I can't begin to tell you how much I wish I had been there for you."
She removed her hand then, and reached for some forks. Handing me one on a plate, she took out the cake and started helping herself to it. "Mmmm, this is so good. Thank you."
I watched as she ate. I could wait until she could look at me in the eye to tell me she hated me. I didn't deserve to be allowed to sit here with her, yet here I was. I could become the world's most patient guy, just for her. After all I had done to her, I was happy to know I was allowed to breathe the same air as her.
"Cara. Just so you know - just so you understand how sorry I am - I've given up being around the people who've put you through all this. All of them. It's...it's something I should have done earlier. I feel like my eyes have been pried open and my world's been turned upside down."
This time she set her fork down looked at me straight in the eye. "Why?"
Without thinking, I answered simply, "Because of you. You've shown me what it means to be good and honest and real and not play any games. It's not a good reason for my actions thus far but...I haven't had the best role models in my life. I've been let loose to live my life as I want and I hung out with the wrong crowd. I just never knew it until recently. The past few months have made me question the person that I am and who I will become if I don't make a drastic change. It's ugly. I'm...feeling really ugly deep inside."
I watched as she reached for my hand and squeezed it tight. "No. Everyone deserves a second chance. It's good that you realize this about yourself now. It's a gift, really, since most people never learn the truth about themselves and think they're so great. But you, you've been blessed to see the truth."
Ouch. She definitely wasn't singing praises about me. But as she held my hand, her warm skin warmed me deep inside, and I realized she was the saving grace I needed, the angel who was my reason to stand up and try again. I had to shake off the coat of grime and sludge t
hat had built up deep inside me over the years, the same ones that made it difficult for me to differentiate between right and wrong. A new set of standards.
As we chatted about less heavy topics, her new bio classes and how she was saving up for a bike, I thanked the heavens above for giving me this second chance.
I wasn't going to waste it. I was going to show her my worth, even if it killed me. And Adrienne was just going to have to deal with it.
Chapter Thirteen
"So what's the plan?" I whispered to Lucia as we sat in English. It was the day she and Simon planned to get their hands on any incriminating evidence on Elijah - and Adrienne if they could manage it. Personally, I was doubtful it would work, but my view on life should be discounted now, given everything.
April scooted closer to us. I looked over to Miss Connelly, who, thankfully, had given us twenty minutes to brainstorm on the major themes we could find in Wuthering Heights, something I had already covered as supplementary material for English last year. It was assigned for us to read three weeks ago, but I was fairly sure my classmates hadn't gotten around to it.
I could see Connor doodling in his notebook, and behind him, Simon looked equally morose and disinterested. I wondered if they weren’t speaking to each other at all, and made a mental note to ask Simon later. Jessica, Elijah and their gang were definitely not brainstorming, each of them looking bored. Victor was sitting across the aisle from them, in front of Connor, and he too didn't seem to be thinking too hard. I wondered how he was faring, and what he did at lunch since he wasn't hanging out with his group of friends anymore. I felt a twinge of guilt then decided I hadn't done anything wrong - he had. I'll just ask him sometime if he wants to sit with us. I made a mental note to run this by Lucia, Simon and April first. I had a feeling it wouldn't sit well with them.
"Sssh. I'll tell you later," Lucia whispered back. She eyed Elijah and snapped her gaze back down onto her book, pretending to peruse it.
"It's the wrong page," I whispered back with a laugh.
She quickly shut her book and looked at me crossly. "Not everyone is super ready like you."
I smiled. "You can borrow my notes if you want."
Her smile returned. "Now I remember why I'm still friends with a nerd like you." I rolled my eyes and pretended to push her.
April shushed us and handed a piece of paper to us. "From Simon."
Unfolding it, Lucia quickly read the single word written on it and nodded. It read "GREEN". What did he mean?
"Ohhhh." Lucia suddenly clutched her stomach and fell sideways towards me, nearly toppling me over on my seat.
"Lucia? What's wrong?" Her eyes rolled upwards then squeezed shut, and I had to nudge April for help because her full weight was on me.
"I'm - GASP - in - GASP - pain."
I looked at where she pointed on her abdomen, and this time had to climb out of my seat before I completely fell off of it. Simon was next to me in a rush, his arms around Lucia's form. "Do you need the nurse?"
Lucia nodded weakly. "Owwww...hurry..."
Miss Connelly appeared alarmed and half-shooed Simon as he half-carried Lucia out the classroom. "Well, that's enough drama for this class...anybody want to hazard some suggestions about the themes covered in Wuthering Heights?"
AT LUNCH, THERE WERE still no signs of either of Lucia or Simon. April and I were starting to get anxious, and were picking on our food - some shrimp aglio olio. I guess I was getting used to all the luxurious food served here. My latte was also getting cold, only half-touched.
"Where on earth are they?" April mumbled, shifting in her seat.
"Maybe she really did have some tummy pain. She could still be resting in the nurse's room," I suggested. April looked at me like I was dumb, and I shrugged. It was easier to believe that than believe they had been caught in the thick of their plan, which April too had been kept in the dark about.
After a while I saw them both heading towards us. I couldn't tell from their expressions what had transpired, but it didn't appear that they were in trouble. When they both sat down with their bags and kept silent, April turned towards them with her hands on her hips. "Well? Wanna update us? We were worried sick about you."
A slow smile spread across Simon's face. He nodded towards Lucia who slowly reached into her bag and produced two large brown envelopes. "Meet me at my place right after school."
After a few agonizing hours we finally sat around the large dining table in Lucia's kitchen. The envelopes were torn open and we found ourselves looking at photocopies of both Elijah's and Adrienne's school records. The word CONFIDENTIAL was boldly stamped onto the front covers of both.
"How'd you guys manage to get a hold of these?" I asked, both stupefied and impressed.
"Well, it was Lucia's idea to go today. She had overheard Miss Marshall say she had an urgent meeting to attend outside of school. We weren't absolutely sure she had gone however, so after dropping Lucia at the nurse's I went straight to her office and knocked."
My eyes grew round. "And? Just like that?"
Simon rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Her door was locked, of course. So I got the janitor to open it, under the pretense that I had left a book there. He didn't agree at first, but I said he could come inside and wait for me whilst I grabbed it. And this is where Lucia comes in."
Lucia shook her head at the invitation for her to continue the story. "It gets embarrassing."
"It wasn't so bad. I knew the guy had been checking you out for a while."
April's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "What did you do?!"
Lucia sighed. "I saw that Simon had managed to enter Miss Marshall's office. Ian, the janitor, was standing there, looking quite annoyed. Apparently Simon was taking too long to find his book. So I pretended to stumble into his arms with a second attack of pain and he had to carry me all the way back to the nurse's office, where I almost fainted."
"Her acting must have been pretty wild because I even had time to make copies! Theirs were so easy to find, all the way at the top of her filing cabinet. Looks thicker than everyone else's too. I hope we find something juicy." His glee was evident as he rubbed his hands together with a crazy look in his eyes.
Seeing how thick both sets of copies were, we decided to split them between the four of us. April and I started flipping through Elijah's, whilst Lucia and Simon took Adrienne's, hoping to find something scandalous.
After a few minutes April let out a cry. "This sucks! All I can see are his obviously inflated grades and what his father's flashy contributions to the academy are!"
I wasn't doing any better. It seemed there were dozens of printouts of online receipts made out to the school for various charitable activities. "Hang on a sec..." Looking at the list of recipients, I found that most were made out directly to the school but a few were made out to the principal's accounts herself.
"Guys, check this out..."
The dates of those paid to Miss Marshall's bank account were spread out over a period of three and a half years. I saw that the most recent ones were when I had started attending the academy.
"Is that thousand made out to Miss Marshall herself?"
As we looked at the receipts, a sickening feeling set in. Miss Marshall appeared to know quite a few things and must have been covering them up, given how many times she had been paid off.
"Lucia, find anything?"
I turned to see her deep in thought, her eyebrows scrunched together. "Adrienne's records appear to be missing. Huge chunks, too."
She held up a page. "See this? It starts off by saying Adrienne verbally assaulted a freshman. No names. Nothing else is said after - not the action taken, no repercussions, no details at all."
I took a look at the date written on the page and saw that it coincided with one of the payments Miss Marshall received. "Hmmm. Let's see if we can compare all Adrienne's reports with the payments."
Soon we found a pattern. Adrienne's reports had, at most, verbal assaults of at le
ast three freshmen between junior year and senior year. The latest appeared to be the same day as when I had met Elijah's parents at the principal's office, and a payment was also made then.
Elijah's records made no links between him and any of the girls.
"So where does this lead us to?" April asked, scratching her head.
"Nowhere. Poor record-keeping, on purpose," Simon said, his lips in a grim line.
"Hey, look at this, guys." I tapped at the bottom of one of the last pages of Elijah's folder where there was a hastily scribbled note in blue ink. "E.L.M. - sorted?"
Lucia gasped. "The girl I spoke to - the one who ran when I told her I was from Elijah's year and wanted to help her - her name's Emmy. Emmy Louise Martinez."
We were silent for a short while.
"Sorted? What the fuck? What kind of principal says those things about the students she's supposed to protect?" Simon asked.
April looked around the table at us. "One with well-padded pockets. And one who knows she won't get caught by the law. Because these elites - they are the law."
The mood turned somber after that. My mind ran through the things that Elijah and Adrienne - and their families - got away with. Mr. Wilkins was right - Ravenshaw Falls was their playground. April's mom, all the young girls Elijah had his way with, myself - all were just toys for them to toy with - meaningless, cheap, and completely temporary. Easy to pay off, bully or crush to the ground.
It made me even more determined not to bend to their will. Mine had been broken once before, and I had triumphed. Now was not the time to back out and concede defeat. Not when Adrienne was destroying everyone's lives like brittle, old leaves in the palm of her hand.
Chapter Fourteen
"Hey."
I looked up from my reading. The colorfully scribbled notes I had penned in the margins of my book needed rewriting and the gazillion post-its were at serious risk of falling off. Exams were coming up and it just wouldn't do to have everything so haphazard.
