by Iris Taylor
I shook my head. It was exactly what I felt, I just never knew how to put it into words. “That’s pretty accurate, actually. I’ve never heard him raise his voice, and my mom certainly doesn’t unless she’s super excited.”
“And it helps that they are both in similar places in life,” he remarked. I didn’t ask him to know what he meant. Both had lost their spouses and first loves, and both had college-age children to raise. Thankfully, Brody, who was soon to be my stepbrother, was an okay guy to be around.
“Wanna hang out some more this afternoon?” Victor asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.
I shook my head in regret. “I’m so far behind with school.” I couldn’t keep the worry and whining out of my voice. The only way to get rid of it was a proper, undisturbed study session, and being alone at home was going to be a very good thing today. “There is no way I can let you study with you there. Honestly.”
His pout was adorable. He squeezed my hand. “And I doubt I’d be able to let you study with you looking so pretty like that.” He glanced at me and I caught the tender look in his eyes. “Alright, I’ll let you be for today. Promise me we’ll hang out tomorrow?”
I mentally made a list of all the things that needed to be done by then, because I doubted we would be studying. The list was long, but doable. “Promise.”
He left me with a scorching kiss on the lips, almost making me forget we were in the car, where anyone could see. My hands had moved to his hard shoulders and I was close to climbing onto his lap.
“I gotta go,” I said breathlessly, pulling his upper lip with my teeth.
“Okay,” he replied, his hands on my waist, pulling me closer. His scent was so addictive, I could drown in him and be in heaven.
After a few more breathless moments, I pulled away and reached for the door. “You’re good.”
His lips curled up in a gorgeous smile. “I try.”
Chapter Twenty
I looked down at the now-destroyed colorful notes I had written down so painstakingly the day before. Splotches of color and black ink now marred the pages, and the sheets were limp from the water. There were at least twenty pages there, about three hours’ worth of work. I saw red.
“Boo hoo hoo. Is that your hard work, hillbilly? You should really keep up with technology and start typing up your notes. Just in case someone accidentally spills something on them, you know? At least you have the option of reprinting them.”
I looked up to see a gloating Adrienne. Noah was sitting next to her with what looked to be pity in his eyes – which meant I hadn’t caffeinated myself enough today, because why would he sympathize with me? I wiped away what I could of the water on my paper and table and now my lap. Adrienne must have paid Josh enough to get him to pull the trick, because it had been a while since he had done anything to rile me. We were, in fact, almost on good terms.
“Just like you’re so up to date with technology, Adrienne? Any new videos you’re enjoying lately? Since you enjoy your fill of porn and all. Younger girls, too, right?”
A few of the guys sniggered and elbowed each other, looking at Adrienne who turned and glared at them. Surprisingly, she had nothing to say to me, and I got distracted when Victor walked into class and slid into the seat next to me. I could see Jessica giving me a death stare but shrugged it off.
“Hey, you.” He planted a kiss on my lips, oblivious to the audience we had. He saw the limp, wet papers I was holding and his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion before understanding dawned on him. His lips thinned into a line. “Who did this?”
I shook my head. “I told Adrienne off already.”
His gaze went towards his old group of friends, who were already talking amongst themselves, incident forgotten. All except Jessica who was giving Victor googly eyes. I counted to ten in my head to stop myself from throwing my textbook to her face. Thankfully, she turned back towards the front of the class before I could do it.
“Listen, Cara. Adrienne will bring out her bag of tricks and maim you with it. I need you to stay level-headed and remember she’s out for revenge. She’ll do anything to take you out.” Victor looked at me earnestly. “Elijah’s been suspended from school until further notice.”
My heart jumped at this last tidbit of information. It was a victory, one I wanted to share with Simon and the girls. Our actions had made a difference, we had made a difference. They were no longer the invincible, ruling elite. My smile must have tipped Victor off because he said quietly, “Be careful.”
Class went by quickly, and I no longer cared that my notes were destroyed. I gave Victor a peck on the cheek before grabbing my books from my locker and hurrying to Biology. Professor Davis had already set up the lab and I was excited to see we were covering new material, stuff I had revised a few weeks earlier. My lab partner Leo looked at me wide-eyed before he looked back down at his notes. His hair was gelled in short spikes that made him look like a large porcupine, especially with his heavy-set wrestler’s body. We had barely exchanged a few words outside of class. He made a good partner but we just didn’t share the same circles at all.
He cleared his throat. “Hey, uh. Cara.” His bright blue braces peeked out as he spoke.
I dreaded the tone in his voice. He rarely smiled, and wasn’t the kind for small talk. “Yes?”
“The guy you’re dating. Victor?”
I glanced up at him. What now? He actually looked worried. “What about him?”
“He your boyfriend?”
I hoped this wasn’t going where it sounded like it was going. Was it rude to tell him it was none of his business? Were we going to be majorly awkward around each other for the rest of the year? “Um, why do you ask?”
“Have you...have you heard the rumors at all today?”
“What rumors?” Even as I said it, my heart was dropping like a heavy stone in a deep, endless lake. Adrienne will do anything to take you out.
He scratched the back of his head. Prof Davis was handing out some papers to guide us for today’s lab. It was crucial that I scored well in this class, because it would make my college applications stand out. No guy is going to get between me and college. Even as I repeated my mantra in my head, I knew it didn’t ring as true as it used to before.
“Um. I think it’s best I show you.”
My heart plummeted. Show me? Show me what? I put on the earpiece he handed me, not caring that we were going to have to rush to finish our lab assignment. He took out his phone and pressed a few buttons.
It was a POV video of me and a guy. I couldn’t tell yet who he was, but it didn’t take very long for me to recognise the familiar muscular arms and my blue dress. It was a video of Victor and I, and we were making out at home. It took me some time to remember, but I soon realized it was when he had come to pick me up for our first date, right before Noah’s party. I was tugging on his lips with my teeth and grinding against him as he carried me and dropped me on the couch. I looked like a wanton hussy, my head tossing left and right as he kissed me on my neck.
“I think we should stop if we want to make it to the party,” Victor was saying. I had answered with sighs, obviously reluctant, and the video ended there.
My hands were shaking as I handed Leo his phone back. Victor had taken a video of us without my knowledge? And he was sharing them with people?
“Where’d you get this?” I asked, my broken voice barely a whisper. Leo looked at me in alarm, and replied, “I got sent this just before Biology today.”
My vision blurred, and I realized my eyes were wet with tears. I felt rather than saw Leo sit me down onto a chair, and the room started spinning. “Miss Bradley, is anything the matter?”
Their voices seemed far, far away, and I shook my head emphatically. Nothing’s wrong, I wanted to say. It was nothing I hadn’t been through and survived before. I was going to be okay. Soon everything turned pitch black, and I was enveloped in a peaceful silence.
When I came to, I saw Lucia and Simon both sitting next to
me, talking in hushed whispers. I sat up and immediately felt giddy. A steadying hand guided me backwards, back onto the soft mattress. After a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes again and realized I was in the nurse’s room. My throat felt like it was on fire.
“Water,” I croaked.
Lucia quickly looked around the room and poured me a glass from a jug on the table. I sat up, carefully this time, and closed my eyes to savor the cool liquid.
“What time is it?” My head was throbbing painfully, but otherwise I was ok.
“It’s lunchtime. Victor came here but Simon told him to get out.” Lucia looked at me warily, like I was a bomb about to go off. I pushed all thoughts about Victor to the back of my mind.
Adrienne. She was out to destroy my life. “Elijah’s been suspended.”
Lucia looked at Simon, both of them questioning my response. “We know. Apparently one of the girls’ parents refused to be paid off and want actions to be taken. They know about Elijah doing the same to other girls.”
“Good for them,” I replied grimly. So we weren’t alone in our battle against the elite. They needed to be put in their place.
“Um, Cara? Don’t you wanna talk about it?” Lucia asked, her tone hesitant and gentle. “The video of you and him?”
“I need to talk to Victor first.” I could see Simon about to protest, but he was silenced by the look on my face. “I need to hear from him exactly what had happened.”
Lucia nodded and stood up, nudging Simon to follow suit. Only when they left and Victor entered did I realize he must have been waiting outside for me the entire time.
“Cara.” His voice was shaky, and looking at him closely, I saw that his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot.
“I’m so sorry. I...have nothing to say in my defense.” His tone was morose, like he expected me to push him away. Why wasn’t I? His face was shut down in defeat, and I felt a surge of sadness for him. Stupid me.
“Why did you take that video?”
He stood there, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. It took him a while to answer, and I realized he was crying. “It was part of the plan. Adrienne wanted me to seduce you, and I went along with it - for laughs. Partly also to get Jess off my back...because I had been trying to break up with her for some time. But once I got to know you, it turned out you weren’t just the new girl. You showed me you were something else, someone special...and I began to really, really like you. So I told her I wanted out. She wouldn’t take it at first, but I put my foot down. That was all after the party at Noah’s. And it was after the video was taken, after I had given it to her.”
I remembered that night only too clearly. His kisses were soft and sweet, and mine were hungry, spurring him on. He had stopped and managed to control himself whilst I had wanted more. I remembered him telling me he wanted to do it right, because it was our first date. And then you found him going down on Jessica at the party.
I shut my eyes and willed the painful images to go away. We had come a long way since, and my trust in him had strengthened. I had put my feelings on the line a second time, and now this. How many times was I going to do this to myself?
“Cara...when I told you this morning that Adrienne was out for revenge, this is what I had hoped wouldn’t happen. She knows exactly how to crush someone. She’s done it so many times it’s like this perfected art.” He spat out the words, venom in his voice. “She’s going to tell you all sorts of things about me, about what I did.” His voice cracked. “And a lot of it will be true.”
I stared at him unblinkingly. I knew I wanted to hear everything in his own words but sometimes there was such a thing as too much. Now just wasn’t the time.
“Leave me.”
“Cara...”
“Now.”
He looked dejected, and I willed myself not to care. I had to be brave all over again, all alone. I turned my face away from him to look out the window. His sharp intake of breath was followed by hesitant footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing. Finally, the hot tears that threatened to spill let loose, the dam broken.
Adrienne’s face flashed in my mind, together with her painted, evil smirk and long, glossy hair. I hated her. I wanted revenge.
Chapter Twenty-One
My locker had been decorated again. This time, a few sentences in big, bold letters printed onto crisp white paper were taped to my locker door. I ripped it off, attempting to ignore it, but a word caught my eye. Victor.
I read it before I could stop myself.
Victor spiked your drink at the party.
The condom on your locker – his.
Photoshopping is one of his best skills.
And your dinosaur of a phone? It was with him the entire time.
My hands shook.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. He didn’t know you then. This was all before we got together.
I headed to the nearest washroom to cry anyway.
THE DAY HAD GONE BY in a blur. I had gone through the motions, barely saying a word to anyone, Simon and the girls included. April had seen the paper as I held it towards me in class, and looked equally devastated with the news. I think she was hopeful for a fairytale ending for me and Victor, who she had always looked at with star-struck eyes.
Afterwards, I started my shift at the bookstore with a large pair of sunglasses to cover my swollen eyes, attracting Suzy, my supervisor’s attention.
“Sweetie, is something the matter? Why do you look like something the cat dragged in?”
She had always given me a kind smile and space to work as I wished, even let me read all the new releases, and now I felt the need to honor her with an honest reply.
“Guy troubles,” I mumbled, hoping I wouldn’t have to go into it further.
Her face instantly changed to one of understanding and sympathy. “What’d he do to you? Did he hurt you? Cheat on you? Be a dickhead in general?” I almost laughed at her casual use of the word, given she was at least twenty years my senior.
“How about all of the above?” I replied quietly. From the corner of my eye, I could see Joshua listening as he unwrapped the new shipment of hardbacks.
Suzy crouched down to sit next to me on the floor, huffing as she did so. Pushing the crisp new books aside where I was labelling them, she crossed her legs and patted me on the thigh. “See, guys...it takes them some time to recognize a good girl when they see them. And even when they do, they always, always mess up. Ain’t that right, Joshua? It’s like this inbuilt self-destruction system. But some of these guys, they’re worth that second chance. Follow your gut. It’s never failed me. That’s how I took Ben back after he messed up, like, the fourth time. And we’re happy now, see?”
She stroked my hair with a kind smile. Ben and her had been married since right after high school, and had three kids together. I didn’t even want to think that far.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You deserve to be happy."
Her words stayed with me throughout the day. Follow your gut.
I actually managed to get some sleep that night, and woke up rested, even though I hadn't come to any conclusions. Somehow, I had a feeling things would fall into place. There were just some things that were out of my control, and I trusted a higher being to sort them out. It was probably this belief that stopped me from driving myself insane with all the what ifs and the unknown.
After the last class of the day, I headed towards my locker and stopped. Noah was standing there, waiting for me. What now? I looked around warily, just in case Adrienne was lurking around to ambush me. The hallways were becoming quiet, everyone in a hurry to leave for the day.
Noah shook his head, and I noticed he looked exhausted. "I'm alone. I came to talk to you about this whole thing."
I raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to move so I could get to my locker. My books were getting heavy.
"I know how to get back at Adrienne."
I paused. "And I should trust you because...?"
He pinched his nose, his eyes downcast. "Because she's made a fool out of me." His voice cracked, and I could see that he was truly and madly in love with the monster.
"Okay." After emptying my bag, I turned and finally took a good look at him. His tie was hanging loose, and his white shirt partly unbuttoned. He was a buff guy, his muscles straining against his top. Any other day he would have looked good, but today he simply looked sad and dejected. The dark circles under his eyes were a dead giveaway, as were his slouched shoulders.
"Tell me how."
"How about I show you?" He walked down the hall towards a room with two heavy doors. I hesitated at the entrance. It was an empty lab, the computers lined up in neat rows.
He cocked an eyebrow when he saw me hesitating. "I promise I won't do anything to hurt you."
I had no option but to take his word for it. My phone was in my pocket, and I left one door open just in case. He took out his laptop and set it on the table. A video was open on the screen, and the moment he pressed play I could hear the horrible sounds of a girl shrieking. It was a home video of a naked, young girl who couldn’t have been more than fourteen, tied up with rope in some sort of complicated pattern, and Elijah was standing over her, fully naked. She was kneeling on the floor, her hands tied behind her back, and it was the ropes that were keeping her from falling forwards. The other girl next to him was wearing a mask but it was easy to see who it was. Adrienne. She was dressed in some sort of black jumpsuit, obviously reliving some sort of wicked fantasy. Her high, black ponytail swung as she hit the bound girl over and over on her back with a whip, and she kept on looking at Elijah for his response, and smiled when he nodded his approval. It was disgusting and depraved, and I looked away. I wondered how Noah got his hands on it.
“I found this a few weeks back,” he told me glumly. “It was on her laptop. I didn’t realize how sick my girlfriend was. My ex-girlfriend,” he corrected himself with a harsh laugh. “When I confronted her about it, she had no qualms about telling me off for snooping around and breaking up with me. She broke up with me. As if I was doing something wrong. She’s with him now.” Despite his words, it was obvious he was shattered about losing her.
