Ripple Effect: A Novel

by Adalynn Rafe

  “I’m not going to kiss your hound face or anything!” Hazel laughs then shoots me a glare. “I said, twenty minutes!”

  “Okay! Get out so I can change!” I yell.

  “Loves!” She shoots me a kiss before leaving my room.

  I scurry out of bed and start throwing clothes on. As I tuck my skinny jeans into a pair of brown boots, I look in the mirror and cringe.

  Pulling at the white blouse I’m wearing, I finally have to admit that my bruises aren’t going to go away and I will have to wear a different shirt. I throw a purple hoodie over my head and call it good.

  Stupid bruises. Stupid Leison.

  * * *

  We meet up in a little diner on the outskirts of the city. It is a thirty minute drive, but it is scenic and pretty. I love the fall and all of the wonderful colors.

  Checking my makeup for the third time, I ask, “Are you sure I look okay?”

  Hazel laughs as she changes the song. “You look smokin’! You feeling okay?”

  My eyebrow rises as I shoot her a look. “Just dying, that’s all.” I fake a cough.

  “How do I look?” she asks, pushing her blond hair out of her face.

  I laugh and roll my eyes at her. “Not all of us have spider-leg eyelashes, Queen Hazel.”

  Hazel blinks her eyes a few times and swerves the car.

  “Hazel!” I yell, my chest pounding.

  She laughs. “Oopsie!”

  After rolling my eyes, I force myself to laugh. Or I just might cry.

  “Are you going to tell Kelly about Mr. Stalkward?” Hazel asks me quietly.

  I chew on my lip anxiously. “Dr. Reed saw a bruise today, on my chest. He wanted to do a physical and I wouldn’t let him. After seeing the marks of death on my body, he would surely call the Sheriff. Let alone––it is procedure if there are any signs of foul play.”

  Hazel’s eyes open widely. “Was he freaking out?”

  “Understatement,” I mutter.

  “Maybe you should, Ces,” Hazel says quietly, “tell the Sheriff.”

  I shake my head. “He threatened Adie’s life, Hazel.”

  She lets out a moan. “What sick game did you get caught up in?”

  “How do I win without getting a game over,” I ask.

  Hazel bites her lip. “You think he’s ever killed someone?”

  “I don’t know,” I say, frozen in the horror of it all. “Do I want to know?”

  “Do you want to die?”

  My mouth opens in disgust. “Hazel!”

  Her eyes flash me a look. “I’m serious!” She grabs my hand. “You’re layered in his crap, but I’ll hose you down. This doesn’t have to haunt you . . . he doesn’t have to kill you. Sheriff Copper won’t let it happen!”

  “Hazel, seriously,” I say, pushing her away. “I’m not telling! No one will believe me if I do, and Leison will make it seem like he’s innocent. He’ll hurt my sister. The guy is the master of deception. Then, he’ll take the scholarship away from me––or––or something, I don’t know!”

  “Well, are you going to tell Kelly at least?” Hazel looks at me. “He’ll gladly kill him for you.”

  I roll my eyes at her. “I don’t know if I’ll tell Kelly.”

  “Well, I think you should,” she pipes in, returning her attention to the street. “Just saying that maybe this guy is like a serial killer, not just a rapist!”

  My eyes narrow. “Just because you are in AP psych does not mean you know how to profile a serial killer.” I laugh. “And don’t even say that your obsession with serial killers helps this in anyway.”

  “He’s a serial killer!” she yells.

  “He’s a rapist!” I yell back.

  “It’s the same thing!” Then, she swerves the car again because she is distracted with yelling at me.

  “Hazel, just shut up and drive!” I bark. “We aren’t talking about this anymore and I want to arrive in one piece.”

  Thankfully, the diner comes into view and I swear that the light from heaven is shining down upon it. After all of this Leison talk, I am grateful to be out of the car and heading toward the most delicious waffles in town.

  Inside the diner there’s a bunch of bear décor and it feels like I’m walking through an old cabin. The place has the best waffles in town and is “teenager-friendly”. My Papa worked with the guy who owns it. He is retired now and loves his little diner.

  “Cecily Wolf!” he yells as I enter through the doors. He’s a short, round guy with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. He feels like an uncle to me.

  “Hey, Uncle Randal!” I run over to hug him. “You’re looking sprig, my friend.”

  Randal laughs as he shakes his head. “Like your father, you are.”

  Not the first time I was told that today. I smile. “He’s a good man.”

  “Come on over here. I have a batch of fresh waffles waiting for you.” He directs us to a booth and on the way we encounter the boys.

  “Hi!” Hazel says, louder than necessary.

  Kelly looks at me and smiles. “You look beautiful.”

  My cheeks go redder than the already fever-induced-red they are, and I look down at my old hoodie and jeans. “You do too.”

  His brow lifts and he starts laughing. “Thanks, I try.”

  “I mean . . . thanks!” I smack my forehead and Hazel holds back a laugh.

  Kelly hugs me tightly before letting go. For some reason, he’s the only person that can touch me—the only person I don’t cringe away from. “I’m happy to see you.”

  “Me too,” I reply and a feeling enters me that I should tell him about Leison. I push it aside. “Have you had their waffles?”

  He smiles as he shakes his head. “I’m not exactly from here.”

  “They are to die for!” I throw my head back and my mouth waters at the thought of them.

  Once seated, we order our food and wait. The hardest part of eating out.

  “So, the royals were looking for you,” Darien tells me cautiously.

  My stomach instantly hurts and I think I want to puke.

  “Just ignore them, Cecily,” Hazel demands. “It was just the duchess.”

  “Why is she so nasty?” I ask. “I don’t get it. Our entire lives she has been like this.”

  “No one gets it,” says Darien. “Ever since her mom left and brother died, she has been the nastiest human being to roam this planet.”

  Kelly’s face fills with shock. “That’s quite a statement.”

  Sighing, I look down at the table. “What did they want?” I ask Darien.

  “Sabrina was trying to figure out why you were a no-show to her party on Friday. She was frantic about it, too . . .”

  The taste of vomit fills my mouth. “What does she even care?”

  Hazel slams her hand on the table. “Yeah!”

  Kelly can’t help but to laugh.

  “Be careful when you go back to school, okay?” Darien asks, genuinely concerned.

  “I never want to go back to school,” I mutter. “Besides, I’m sick and will be out for a while.”

  Darien’s brow lifts. “How long?”

  I smile. “I do what I want. Maybe forever.”

  The food arrives and my spirits lift instantly. The smell of golden delicious waffles fills me as I take a long, deep breath.

  After Kelly takes a bite, he exclaims, “Amazing!”

  “I said it!” I laugh and add more whipped cream to mine.

  The bell sounds for a customer. Hazel looks toward the door. Suddenly, she drops her fork into her food and lets out a squeak. She looks at me, wide-eyed and terrified.

  “What?” I whisper. I go to turn around to look, but she grabs my arm to stop me.

  “Mr. Leison is here!” she says in an intense whisper.

  I have to cover my mouth to keep from puking up my delicious waffle. Tears fill my eyes as I stare at Hazel in sheer horror. “What do I do?”

  “We’ll call the cops,” Darien whispers.
/>   Kelly stares at us, super confused. “What––who is this guy?”

  I hold my finger up to my mouth to silence him. “Don’t say anything.”

  On Kelly’s head is a ball cap for a west coast baseball team. I pull it from his head and ball all of my hair into the cap before setting it on my head. Kelly is super confused now.

  “Here he comes!” Hazel whispers urgently.

  I drop my head and pretend he’s not there . . . and that ultimately, he can’t see me.

  “Hello,” says Mr. Leison, followed by the waft of his sick smell. The sound of his voice makes me cringe. “Darien, Hazel. Cutting class today?”

  Hazel smiles innocently. “As are you . . . right, Mr. Leison?”

  He laughs at her kindly. “You are a clever child, Hazel.”

  I glance at Kelly under the brim of the cap and he’s glaring at the man.

  “Darien, what brings you to this table?” Mr. Leison asks. “You are a bottom feeder, aren’t you?”

  Darien tries not to scowl. “I was under the assumption that teachers weren’t supposed to get caught up in the student politics . . . or personal lives.”

  This strikes a chord with Leison and I sense his glare toward Darien. “I could have you put in detention for ditching class.”

  “I could have you fired for––” Before Darien can finish his sentence, I kick him in the shins really hard.

  “Who are you?” Leison asks Kelly.

  His lips purse with reluctance. “I’m not from here.”

  “Where are you from?”

  Kelly glares at him, but not on purpose. “Not here.”

  “Hazel, where is Cecily?” Mr. Leison asks, shrugging Kelly off.

  Hazel shrugs and looks away from him.

  Mr. Leison laughs. “Isn’t Cecily your right hand?”

  “Yeah.” She’s getting defensive. “She’s sick, so what?”

  “Who’s this?” he asks, tapping the top of the ball cap. I cringe.

  Kelly pushes his hand away from me. “This is my sister. She’s deaf.”

  Leison glances away with disgust and walks away smugly.

  “Creep,” Hazel whispers to Darien.

  Mr. Leison turns around abruptly. “If you see Cecily, let her know that I missed her today in World Civilizations, would you, Hazel? Actually, tell her that she has about a week of absent work to make up.”

  Darien looks ready to kill the man.

  Hazel bites the inside of her cheek in anger, but nods. “Of course, Mr. Leison.”

  Once we’re clear, I let out a loud exhale. “Oh, my––that was so scary!” My heart is pounding in my throat.

  Kelly touches my arm. “What was that? That creep teaches at your school?”

  Desperately, I look at Hazel to help me explain.

  “That psychopath molester . . . ,” Darien mutters under his breath.

  Kelly looks from me to Darien to Hazel and back to me. “Hold on!” It clicks for him.

  “Shh!” I motion. “Don’t make a fuss!”

  Rage fills Darien and it’s all he can do to not to chase down and kill Mr. Leison. “He’s a sick freak, that’s for sure!”

  Kelly tips the cap up so that he can see my face. “That man did something to you, didn’t he?” His blue eyes fill with concern.

  Tears fill my eyes and I nod my head. There’s no escaping it.

  Hazel reaches across and holds my hand tightly in hers.

  “I think that Darien explained him best,” I whispered. “Psychopath molester.”

  Kelly’s eyes narrow. All of the sudden, something clicks. His face becomes blank and holds no emotion. Glancing out the window, he seems almost catatonic.

  “Kelly,” I say, scared. My hands clench his forearm as I stare into his face.

  “Did he rape you?” Kelly asks me in a low whisper.

  Tears fill my eyes. “No.”

  Angry now, he stares straight at me. “He touched you? Molested you, Cecily?”

  Holding back a sob, I nod. “Yes.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” he says darkly. In a flash, Kelly is rising from the table, his knees banging loudly on the old wood, and he’s heading over the back of the green booth. He can hardly contain the rage he feels; his face and skin are bright red.

  “Kelly,” I scream and run after him. I barely catch him before he stalks around the corner to the entrance. “Stop,” I cry, clinging to his arms and looking desperately into his eyes.

  Settling down, he holds my face in his hand and stares down at me, rubbing my cheek tenderly with his thumb. “Cecily, I––” He shakes his head and looks down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Ces, what’s going on?” Randal asks, wiping his hands on a white cloth.

  I look at him and wipe the tears from my face quickly. “We thought that guy had stolen my purse, that’s all.”

  Randal claps Kelly’s shoulder. “Calm down, fella, it’s just a purse.”

  Kelly nods at Randal and holds me with a strong arm, before leading us back to the table.

  * * *

  Upon my return home, I walk into my house to hear my mother talking on the phone. A bad feeling hits me.

  “Mom,” I say, rounding the corner into the sea-shore themed kitchen. She’s sitting at the bar, resting her elbows on the white countertop.

  Her hand goes up to tell me to hold that thought. “Thank you, Alan.” She smiles.

  My arms cross over my chest as anger fills me. “Mom!”

  “Goodbye, now,” she says and hangs up. Looking at me, she sits straight and shrugs.

  “You better not tell me that you just talked to Sheriff Copper,” I bark.

  Mom stands up and wraps her arms around me. “Baby, things are going to be fine.”

  Fear fills me. “No, they aren’t!”

  “Sheriff Copper will take care of this. All I told him is that there have been some problems with a few kids being bullied. They are just going to put a few more officers in the school. Things will be okay. Leison’s name wasn’t mentioned once. Just as we’d discussed.”

  Does she not comprehend what she just did?! “No!” I yell.

  Her lips tighten and she’s losing her patience. “Cecily, you are a victim now and you are letting your fear stop you from thinking logically. You’re seventeen and I can’t expect you to make adult decisions yet––you’re just a girl!”

  I give her the nastiest look and storm off to my room to cry the rest of the night.

  Chapter 33

  I am trying to be normal today. Eighty times I’ve smiled in the mirror––seeing which one seems less forced––as I try to prepare my master façade. If there is any sign of distress or fear in my countenance, I will be hunted down and eaten alive by the royals. They will be watching me closely.

  Darien informed me that Sabrina was out to get me. It’s easy to imagine the bounty that has been put on my head by the royals, by the nasty duchess.

  Royal bounty plus Leison’s threats equal puke-worthy terror, coursing through my body at a rate that only Einstein could predict, the master physicist he was. But it doesn’t take a scientist to see that I am going to be a dead girl by the end of it all. Well, maybe not dead . . .

  So here I am, going to school after missing two days, plus most of last week. That horrible feeling returns to me. I have so much late work to make up.

  “Time to go,” Mom says, her smiling—though worried—face peeking into my bedroom.

  I smile pathetically. “I’ll be fine. Stop being such a mom and ruining my existence.”

  After holding me uncomfortably close and kissing me on the forehead, she sends me out the door. She told me a billion times that she loves me. I know when my mother is freaking out, when she is terrified—like she is now. It’s surprising that Sherriff Copper isn’t escorting me to the school and sitting by my side all day or something . . .

  I slowly walk to Hazel’s white hatchback and open the passenger door. She’s dancing in her sea
t––covered with zebra print seat covers––to the newest bop song. I’m just trying to be brave, to be the hero.

  “Your music sucks!” I yell and get into the car. My shoulder bag plops down on the floor.

  The volume bars on the fancy stereo are bright pink when she touches the dial. Hazel laughs as she turns the tunes down. “Let’s go! Time to show the royals who’s boss!”

  I slam the door shut and refrain from telling to shut her mouth. Stupid royals.

  Before driving, Hazel adjusts her shirt that is too low. I fancy the old baggy sweater I’m wearing. “Grandma,” she says to me before backing out.

  “Skank,” I reply, flicking her exposed cleavage.

  We begin laughing and turn up the music once more as we drive to school. What can I say? I love my bestie and she loves me. Otherwise, we’d have beaten the crap out of each other by now.

  All is fine until we reach the parking lot. My nerves are firing and I want to throw up so badly . . . just to relieve the giant knot that takes up my entire stomach. There is something horribly wrong here, I can sense it. And I am not talking about the royals. Something sinister is taking place and this is the epicenter. It’s like the school building is Hell and I am walking into a mess of demons.

  “Here we go!” Hazel says with enthusiasm, after she pats my leg. “I got your back.”

  Smiling, I nod. “Okay, let’s go.” I swallow my fear so that my pride can shine again.

  “Remember, Ces. Be the hero, stop the disaster.”

  Automatically I glare at her. “Thanks for the reminder.”

  The first half of my day goes fine. Painting is always therapeutic and I start the beginnings of the golden bridge in outer space. My favorite part is the glowing pink star that I call Diamond Heart. Who knows if it is real or not? Iles hovers over me, as if I am some sort of miraculous art piece and is constantly asking me how I’m doing. I just hum along as I paint, happy for the first time this day. The poor guy is baffled at my rapid transformation. Relieved, absolutely, but baffled. I don’t like to mention the suicidal Cecily.

  Then it’s on to Math––boring, tedious, and easy. My concerns in that class are falling asleep or allowing my mind to wander about my imminent death caused by Sabrina or Leison. I hate my life sometimes.