“How! He’d disown me! As I said, my parents had always been strict and I had no choice but to do what they wanted. Do you know what's the only clause to access my trust fund? That I turn twenty three and marry a suitable prospect.”
I’m starting to understand what happened that night.
“So you knew that you’d never pass the medical. You were too scared to come clean with your parents ...”
Her eyes are trained on the floor.
“Yeah. The only way out of the situation was if me not being a virgin wasn't my fault. My mom had given me until prom night to break up with Max. And that was my last chance.”
I feel bile rising into my mouth.
“So what did you do? Did you roofie them?”
Emily shrugs.
“I didn't need to. They were drinking and I passed along some pills saying that it’d be fun to get high. I pretended to take one too. When the guys passed out, I planted the condoms wrappers in the trash can in the bathroom and then just waited until they woke up.”
I’ve never wanted to hit anyone as much as I do Emily right now.
That scheme is worthy of my father, seriously!
“And you almost let the guys go to jail? They were your friends!”
Emily looks only mildly perturbed.
“I knew they wouldn't go to jail! Because nothing had really happened! So there would be no evidence! The condom wrappers weren't enough to ...”
“But you destroyed their reputation! And their friendship with Max.”
Now she's crying.
“I thought that Max eventually would believe them, after the initial shock. I’m sorry, I never meant for it to go that far ...”
I laugh and the bitterness in my voice makes it almost unrecognisable to my own ear.
“Is that so? You thought that accusing someone of rape wouldn't go that far?”
“I know ... I didn't think. I thought that when they found no trace of drugs in my blood, there wouldn't even be enough for a trial. But I was a minor and the DA was my dad's friend ... but the guys were acquitted ...”
“So did you at least get what you wanted? Are you with Keith?”
She sighs.
“The prince backed out of the arranged marriage and my parents were supportive instead of mad. But Keith ... he was actually fired from his job because he got a girl pregnant in another house he worked at. I was so heart broken, he was just looking for a rich girl to have his baby so he would get money ...”
I can't help but think that she deserves it.
And I know that the nuns would tell me all that stuff about turning the other cheek but in this case ... Emily’s a twunt©.
I’m still struggling to keep my anger in check when Aubrey tells her what's in her heart.
“Emily, you need to put this right! I’m sorry but you were a real fucking bitch!”
“I know.”
“You need to tell the guys the truth.”
Emily freaks out.
“I can't! My parents can never know that I lied to them twice! And if the guys go to the police, I’ll go to jail.”
My gaze is hard when I say that that's what the guys risked because of her lies.
“I gotta go. And you can't tell the guys about any of this or I ...”
“What will you do? You can go, Emily. You aren't fucking welcome here anymore. And Aubrey and I won't be complicit in your lies. I’ll let the guys decide what they wanna do about it but they’ll know about this, you can bet your ass on it.”
Emily leaves saying that she'll call her lawyer and I call Chaz asking him to pick me and Aubrey up and take us to his place for the night.
Then I call Max and ask him to meet us there.
This is gonna be a long night.
25.
Broken
Abi
HERE COMES A BIG, FAT ... nothing!
We’re all sitting in Chaz's living room and I’ve just told them everything that Aubrey and I learned from Emily.
If I expected a tearful reunion among the boys and Max, I’m definitely disappointed.
For a long moment no one's talking, the guys just stare at each other and I almost wanna go and shake them into having a reaction, any reaction.
Reece isn't saying ‘I told you so’ and punching a wall, Chaz isn't even trying to pour a drink and Pryce isn't making anyone share their feelings and hug it out.
Max looks defeated.
His brown eyes are shadowed by so many emotions, that it's impossible to pin down how he feels.
Chaz is the first one to talk.
“Well, if anything now we know why we had to go through all that shit.”
Pryce looks at Max and his words surprise me.
“I’m sorry, dude. I know you really liked her. Fuck, we all did. She just saw us as a way out from a situation she didn't want. It's just sad that she could've ruined all of our lives to save herself.”
I look at Reece and he looks angry.
That's one emotion I can relate to so I ask him something.
“Reece, I’m not asking you this because I want you to get vindictive. I’m actually relieved that you're calmer than I expected. But when you thought that I used you guys, you could've killed me and now ...”
He takes my hand and brings my knuckles to his lips.
“Baby, and you taught me a lot. I was a fucking bully and I almost lost you. To be honest, that's one of the things that's going on in my head right now. That I don't wanna disappoint you by being a dipshit. Also, what would we gain from any type of retaliation now? Our reputation is what it is and it’d be hard to change people's perception. This is why I was so mad at you when I thought that you were trying to exploit it. And I think that people are more inclined to believe negative press anyway. The damage is done. No one can take away the fear and the stress we went through during the trial. And it wasn't just fear of being found guilty. A small part of each of us feared that we could somehow be guilty. If we press charges, we’d have to go through all that again. My dad is running for governor and he used his influence to keep everything as discreet as possible last spring. So even if we know for sure that we're innocent, digging it all up could bite him in the ass anyway. And I’d rather not get into another fight with him. Finally, there's her. Of course I hate her for what she did to all of us. If she'd told us what was happening, we could've found another way to help her. We could've worked together. But she lost everything too. She lost her boyfriend, the one she really loved. Do you think that being the girl who was assaulted is a lot easier than being the attacker? People still whisper behind your back. And unfortunately in our society, the victim of a sexual assault is still looked at with suspicion. Is she telling the truth? Did she bring it upon herself? How was she dressed, was she drunk? Did she initiate things? People look at you differently and it isn't always with sympathy.”
I take in everything he's saying and he isn't completely wrong.
My sense of justice obviously wants to start kicking and screaming and I think that Emily should face the consequences of a potentially life ending lie.
But I get that the guys don't wanna go through another trial and all the stress that goes with it.
“But what about you? The four of you could patch things up, now that you know that they didn't do it ...”
I’m looking at Max.
He hasn't said a word.
But Reece is the one who answers my question.
“I’m sorry, baby. I miss Max and losing a brother is the worst thing in this whole situation. But it's too late and the damage to our relationship can't be repaired. Max never even thought that we could be telling the truth. He believed her over us. He let a girl come between us. I’m sorry but why would I wanna be brothers with someone that thinks me capable of rape? And Emily was his girlfriend and my friend. So what kind of fucking pieces of shit did he think we were?”
I’m about to tell him that I forgave him for not believing me but I know it's different.
I know that
not believing that I hadn't spread those rumours is very different than believing that your best friends raped your girlfriend.
Max nods.
“Reece is right. For what it's worth, bro, I’m sorry.”
They stare at each other for an intense moment and then Reece whispers.
“Too little, too late.”
“Fair enough.”
He walks outside and I follow him: I can't help but feel that the guys have each other and me in this situation but Max is alone.
“Max, wait!”
I grab his hand and pull him towards me.
“Please don't give up on them ...”
He looks at me with deep sadness in his brown eyes.
“You heard him, Abi. And he's fucking right. I made my own fucking bed and now I must lie in it.”
I don't wanna accept it, I can see how they miss each other and I realise that this is what their bond is with one another and what ties us all together: loneliness.
Without each other, we’re alone and we're lost.
This loneliness is what has always drawn me to Max, even when I didn't like him nor trust him.
And this is what made the guys wanna hold onto me through all the rumours and the misunderstandings and what drew them to me from the very first moment.
We recognised the same loneliness in each other.
“Max, you miss each other, I can see that. Please don't give up. I know it's hard but trust can be earned back. And I’ll help you ...”
He suddenly pushes me against the wall, his body touching mine, his minty breath on my lips.
“Why? Why do you even care, rally girl?”
He says ‘rally girl’ to piss me off, like he did at the beginning but things between me and Max have changed and I feel that he's an important part of the guys and that might make him a part of me.
“I care because I’m your friend and you’ve been there for me when I needed someone and ...”
The corner of his upper lip lifts arrogantly, reminding me of the Max I first met, the football team captain, the popular jock, the image he shows to the world.
“Is that why, rally girl? Or is it because you know that I want more than just being your friend and you want the same?”
I’m trembling when I look into his eyes and I admit it.
“Maybe. But I’m with them and the only way to be together is to be all together.”
His eyes darken and he comes closer, the tip of his nose is touching mine.
It would take the smallest of movement from either of us for our lips to touch.
“Then I’m afraid that we’ll have to stay just friends. Unless you want to choose. You can't have them and have me. You heard them. Too much has happened and now there's no way back.”
“I can't choose, Max. I ...”
“But you just have. And you made the right choice. They're good guys, they’ll love you and protect you. I can't say the same thing about myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that from the first time I saw you, at Lissa's party, when I saw you with Pryce, trying to get Chaz's drunk ass back home, I planned to use you to hurt them. I wanted to make you fall for me and then dump you when you chose me. So they’d know how I felt when Emily chose me but they took her from me. Everything I ever said to you, everything I’ve ever done was to hurt them.”
I feel tears rolling down my cheeks and for a second his gaze softens but it's fleeting and there's no tenderness in his voice when he tells me that he doesn't deserve me nor them.
“That's all bullshit. You were there for me when I needed a friend and they couldn't be there. And you told Reece that I wasn't the one who spread those rumours and posted that awful stuff on Facebook.”
“It was just a way to get in your pants.”
I hold his gaze.
“If that were true, you’d have made sure to tell me that Reece only came around to believing me because of you. But you acted selflessly.”
“You heard Reece. Too little, too late. Good night, Abi. Go back inside to your boyfriends.”
He walks away and despite all the things he just said to me, I feel like I’m losing an important part of myself.
Chaz
AFTER I LEARNED ABOUT Emily's lies, I was relieved that the others didn't wanna press charges.
We just wanted to forget about the girl who almost destroyed our lives and definitely cost us our relationship with Max.
We all need to move on, graduate from BHPA and go to college.
There were some fights to be had about that too: while Reece's dad was more than happy for Reece to go wherever Abi decided to go and I’m free to do what I want, Pryce's father wanted him to go pro and play football, possibly for the Cowboys.
When Pryce protested that college was important, his dad told him that he could go to school online and not waste lucrative years for his career.
Pryce has been really depressed about it so we decided to go out for a nice dinner at his favourite restaurant to take his mind off his family drama and celebrate the fact that despite his dad's disapproval, he was accepted at Stanford with the rest of us.
Reece and Pryce also got offered a football scholarship.
Abi is ecstatic that we all decided to go to college together, as if there was any way that we could've been apart from her!
She's practically been living at my house and that has been made easier by the fact that after the wedding, her father has resumed his constant travelling for his business and his new wife keeps a really close eye on him and follows him virtually everywhere.
This means that Aubrey has been mostly left to her own devices, under the housekeeper’s lax supervision.
So whenever her parents aren't around, we pick her up and she has her own room in my house.
The two sisters have become really close and it's heartwarming seeing that they formed such a strong bond in such a short amount of time.
And their relationship isn't the only one that grew: the guys and I were talking the other day about how we’re certain that we've found the one.
We know that we're still young but like we’ve been friends forever, we’ve found our soulmate in Abi.
She completes us and takes care of us, she loves each of us the way we need to be loved and she forgives our stupid asses when we screw up, especially Reece's.
Our relationship with her has grown both individually and as a foursome.
Since the morning after the wedding when we all made love to her in my bed, we’ve been exploring our relationship both one on one and as a group.
We can't keep our hands off of each other and once she overcame her fear of sex being painful, Abi has proved to be a passionate and generous lover.
Things have also settled down at school: the other cheerleaders really had it out for Abi but we made sure to convey the message that if anyone messes with her, they also mess with the A-Team.
And this is where having a dangerous reputation has actually played to our advantage.
The only ones that still try to make a show of the fact that they don't like our girlfriend are Lissa, Marlene, and Kylie.
But the only one that really bears a grudge to Abi is Lissa: she’s always wanted Reece and she’s bitter about being overlooked.
The other two are simply her minions and carry out her dirty work, so Lissa can look like a nice girl in front of the whole school.
And the fact that Abi is dating Reece officially not only at school but out in the social circles that all our families gravitate towards, makes Lissa more determined to take every opportunity to embarrass Abi in public.
Max has surprisingly kept his distance from all of us: it's a weird truce.
We aren't back to being friends, not even close, but that animosity and tension that was a constant source of conflict is now gone, at least with us.
Because things between Abi and Max can only be described as tense.
They don't really talk to each other but I haven't misse
d the looks he gives her when she isn't watching.
And he's stepped in a few times to put Lissa and her henchmen in their place.
Abi won't talk about what happened with Max and I told the guys, especially Reece, to leave her alone: she’ll talk to us about it if and when she wants to.
Pryce's favourite restaurant is called Islands: it's a Hawaiian themed burger joint where they serve endless fries.
As soon as Abi realises that, she jumps on Pryce's lap and kisses him.
“A man true to my heart! Endless fries is my idea of heaven!”
It's the first time in days that Pryce's smile isn't shadowed by the feud with his father.
He tickles Abi’s side, making her squeal and buries his face in her neck.
She looks like a real angel tonight with her long blonde hair flowing down her back and a white shirt dress that hugs her curves in all the right places.
We joke and laugh during the meal and while we wait on our dessert, I ask for everyone’s attention.
“Hey Pryce, is going pro what you really want? Do you really wanna play football for the next fifteen years?”
His expression darkens immediately and Abi shoots me a warning look but I’ve got my reasons for bringing this up.
“Does it matter? You know it's been expected since the day I was born. And you know how my dad has tied my access to my trust fund to being drafted in an NFL team after high school graduation. I have only two choices: play ball or get a job. Either way, I won't be able to go to college with you all.”
I shrug and give him my most encouraging lopsided smile.
“I understand if you don't wanna disappoint your old man but if that ain't the issue, I’ve got you, man.”
He doesn't seem to understand what I’m offering and I clarify.
“It's not to brag, dude, but I’ve got more money than I could spend in two lifetimes. I know your old man didn't even let you apply for scholarships, so I’ll be your scholarship. And before you start saying that you can't accept it, can I remind you how we’re brothers? We’ve always shared everything. Damn, we’re sharing the most important thing in our lives. Our sweet Abi. And I’m selfishly doing it not just for you, I’m doing it because I know how sad my angel would be to not have your ugly ass by her side every day!”
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 60
