Ever After

by Heather McBride

  “I’ll be with you and all your friends are waiting to see you.” He looked into my eyes. “You will be fine, I promise.” I was speechless as usual. His eyes had me in a trance. How could anyone be so gorgeous? I thought to myself smiling up at him. “If you need me for anything just text me, and I will be there…ok?”

  “Ok.” He took my hand, walking me to his car, the engine still running and the heat on. The air outside was still frigid as spring was still a few months away. Will closed my door and I took a deep breath, trying not to get nervous.

  The day went better than I had expected. I got a card and flowers from all my friends welcoming me back. My professors were all happy to see me, and helped me get my work organized. I felt almost regular as I walked to my classes with all the other students. The drama of the frat party incident was basically old news on campus by now. Not a soul asked me about it, either out of courtesy or kindness. I was just happy nobody was talking about what happened or Todd Downs.

  I was not too far behind, thanks to my home classes. Will was with me except for two hours that he had biology and history, advanced courses. I unfortunately got a jolt of bad news after Will and I had lunch. Beth rushed over and told me Todd had been making comments on his Face Book page about me. She said he mentioned something about how I should watch where I walk on campus. I didn’t know how he could get to me, with him still on house arrest. I did know Todd’s father had hired a new set of attorney’s and our official court date was March 15. So far, they hadn’t been able to put off the trial any longer, and I was going to be glad to get it over with.

  William’s eyes grew dark as Beth told us other comments she heard Todd had been posting on line. Will had a dangerous look about him, and I tried not to get scared. He put his arm around me protectively. “I won’t let him near you love, don’t worry.” He kissed my forehead.

  “You are so lucky, Corrine.” Beth looked over to Will, a grin on her face.

  “Are you sure you don’t have a brother?” Beth asked.

  “Nope not to my knowledge. I do have some cousins…that’s all.” He shook his head smiling. Beth sighed.

  “Just my luck, well anyway, watch out for psycho Todd. I got to get to class, call ya later, Corrine.” She dashed off. Will never moved his arm around me still. He seemed tense just like I was. I felt sick just knowing Todd was saying things. It didn’t matter if they were online or not, Todd was insane and threats could easily become reality. I hadn’t forgotten the creepy voice mail he left me a few months ago. I knew he still wanted to get me back.

  The day was far from over. I had to ignore the fact Todd could possibly be anywhere on campus if I was going to make it through. William was so tense; he reluctantly let me go to my next class. It was the last one of the day. I had lecture to attend for history and Will had a class across campus. He argued with me, he wanted to wait out in the courtyard until my class was over. I couldn’t let him do that.

  I had to buck up and be tough. Todd’s stupid comments weren’t going to scare me. I had to learn to put him in my past. Will gave me a kiss, his eyes filled with concern as he turned to head across campus. I quickly walked down the busy halls to my lecture, which was in one of the oldest parts of the college. I found a seat in back and tried to focus on my professor’s monotone voice, and his ungodly boring lecture.

  I was so happy when it was over. I was starving and couldn’t wait to see Will. I knew he hated to leave me alone, but it was obvious everything was going to be fine. The lecture hall quickly emptied as I realized in my hurry to see Will I had left my purse behind. I quickly ran back to the hall and grabbed it before they locked the doors. I carried my armload of books and decided to pack it all into my messenger bag. My arms were aching from the heavy books. I knelt down and started to load up my bag. It was then that I heard a voice that made my skin crawl and my stomach go into knots.

  “What are you doing, Whitmore?” Todd’s nasally voice cut through my thoughts like a knife.

  I turned and looked up into the face of the person who had turned my life into a living hell. Todd was glaring down at me, hate oozing from his eyes. I knew he had to have been watching me today, to know I was here. The delusional thoughts I had of everything being ok, went up in smoke at that very second. I could hear William’s pleas to wait for me in my head, and I wished that I had just let him.

  “Uh…I have class here.” My throat felt tight. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry but was I physically paralyzed. I crouched over my books, wishing I could fit into my bag and hide. I could only pray Will was on his way here.

  “I have a lot to say to you. I owe you one for screwing my life up, you idiot!” He knelt down, now inches from my face. His breath was hot on my cheek as I turned my face away. “Being on house arrest had given me plenty of time to figure out away to sneak out and track you down.” He laughed and shook his head. “The system’s not fool proof.”

  “We have nothing to say to each other!” I gasped. “I have a restraining order on you Todd, five hundred feet. You better get out of here.” I felt bold now for some reason.

  “Forget that, this is the perfect time to remind you why people don’t cross me. Did you forget how powerful my family is…do you really think taking me to court is going to do anything.” He assessed the empty hall. The professor had already left for the day, and we were completely alone.

  “You did remind me!” I snapped back, quickly shoving my books into my bag. “I have the scars to prove it.” I didn’t look at him as I turned to walk away.

  I knew I was in a bad situation. I was with the devil himself in this hall all alone, threatening me in the flesh. I started to move away, as I expected his fingers grabbed my arm digging into my skin. Todd pulled me back next to him. I tried to jerk away, but his other hand wound up into my hair, holding me back.

  “Let me go,” I begged. This only made him laugh more as I struggled to get free. He yanked my head back harder, so I could not move.

  “Not just yet princess, you know the old saying, don’t you?” He was in my face again; he smelled like a vodka bottle. “What goes around comes around.” He laughed. “We have some catching up to do. It’s been so long since I have seen you.” I felt a major panic attack coming on, my head started spinning, and my vision was getting blurry. My heart was pounding in my chest, as he tightened his grip on my hair.

  “Let her go if you don’t want to die right here!” William’s voice echoed into the empty hall. He truly sounded menacing, even to me.

  “Screw off man! This isn’t your deal here dude!” William moved right next to us in a split second, which totally amazed me. I had never seen anyone move that fast.

  “Corrine is my deal and you are bothering her. I will not repeat myself Downs, let her go now or I will tear your throat out.” Todd looked around nervously. He stared at Will, who was now in his face, his stunning blue eyes filled with hate. I had never seen such anger in anyone like that before.

  “Oh I get it, you’re that loser she’s dating now. Mr. Moneybags himself, Mr. GQ in person.” He smirks. He was still holding my arm; his nails were digging into my skin. “You better run man. You might break a nail or I might just turn your pretty boy face into ground beef. You got that?” Todd puffed up, trying to intimidate Will. It wasn’t working.

  “I can assure you the only person turning into ground beef will be you…dude. If you want to play it like that, let her go and face me like a real man.” The look on Will’s face was much like the one I had seen at lunch. I could see him clenching his hand into a tight fist. He was trying to control himself he was nearly shaking. I had never seen such anger before.

  “Let go of her arm, you idiot! Unless you would like me to rip it, off. I will not warn you again!” Todd suddenly seemed almost paralyzed by William’s stare. He just stood there, his eyes fixed on him. I felt Todd’s hands drop from me. I quickly ran to Will’s side opposite the one facing Todd. I was speechless. Todd just stood there as if he couldn’t even m
ove. He was terrified of William now, absolutely terrified to the core.

  William pushed me away from him gently with one hand, never looking at me, his eyes locked on Todd. “Go out by the door Corrine. Please move away from us, you don’t need to see any of this.” I took a deep breath. Reluctantly I backed away, clutching my backpack to my chest. I watched William. He moved so slowly and carefully around Todd, he was like a lion stalking his prey. He narrowed his eyes as if assessing him from head to toe, deciding how to handle him.

  “Who do you think you are, touching Corrine? You don’t deserve to breathe the same air she does, let alone put a hand on her.” He got in Todd’s face, shaking his head in disgust. “It’s comical. You are a parasite Downs you are nothing! Do you understand me?” He laughed softly. Todd was still frozen in fear, the color drained from his face.

  “What the hell are you?” Todd asked, his voice shaking. He took a jagged breath and swallowed hard.

  “I’m what people have nightmares about, Todd.” He smirked smoothing his hair back, stepping back slightly from him.

  “You’re crazy man, crazy.” He stammered his eyes wide. He was sweating and blinking fast.

  “Yes you could say that. I am a lot of things Todd, never doubt that.” He grabbed Todd by the neck. He choked at the force of his grip. “I will kill you if you ever come near Corrine again. I will hunt you down and tear you apart, a worse death you could never imagine in that pea-sized brain of yours. I am something you cannot even comprehend, the worst kind of thing.”

  William leaned in closer to Todd. “I am something your kind fears, the worst kind of thing that you can comprehend. Killing you would only bring me pleasure.” I grabbed onto the door in shock. Will had said the last sentence in a whisper. He had clearly not intended for me to hear I’m sure, but I did. I gasped wondering why he said that. What did he even mean, by saying he was (something your kind fears?)

  “William.” I croaked, my voice failing. I felt my knees going weak and the room was starting to spin. I slipped down the wall to the floor.

  “You win this time freak, but I don’t give up. This isn’t over man…” Todd yelled running from William as fast as he could, stumbling over a hedgerow. He was as pale as a ghost with fear. He didn’t look back after that, he just ran like a mad man.

  “What is it, love?” Will knelt to my side rubbing my back.

  “I… feel sick.” I whispered, my head still aching. “Take me home please.” He swiftly picked me up and carried me out of the lecture hall to his car. I closed my eyes inhaling his cologne, trying to forget the menacing words I had just heard him speak.

  Chapter 10

  The Dark Truth

  I did my best to forget the incident with Todd, but the police definitely did not. He was placed into the county lock up for a few weeks, for breaking his house arrest. His father used his massive bank account, and heavy connections in the political world to get Todd put back on house arrest exactly three weeks later. The court date was coming near and my father’s attorneys swore they would get him jail time. I prayed they were right.

  It was now February and the heavy gray overcast sky spit snow out like a machine, drawing out kids and kids at heart to romp in its winter magic. William and I had decided to go sledding along with the other half of our town. William’s cousins tagged along, all five of them.

  I was amazed at his gene pool. All five were super handsome but not better looking than William of course. The one thing I noticed first off was they all had this amazing ivory skin most models would die for. They were all pale unlike Will; his warm skin tone was different from theirs.

  The two closest to our age were Roth and Taylor. I had Roth in my history class and Taylor was in my economics class. Roth was Will’s height with dark brown hair. Taylor had blond hair cut in a spiky style, and he was a bit shorter. His other cousins were Kyle and Sam they were twins, both with wavy sandy blond hair and amazing green eyes. I could not tell them apart since they were identical twins. Riley was the youngest cousin. He was sixteen, and had black hair like Will. He also seemed to follow Will a lot. He looked up to him, that I could tell right away.

  Will and Roth started a major snowball fight. Taylor and Kyle were cheating using their sleds as shields. I took cover behind Will’s sled. Riley was on our side with Roth; we all were half frozen before Taylor and Kyle surrendered. The snow was falling harder as we all started sledding. The hill we were at was the best sledding hill in Cambridge.

  I smiled watching Will and his cousins acting like ten-year-old boys. They were all so adorable, rough- housing in the snow. His cousins had to leave a short time later. Will and I decided to stay and sled longer. It was nice to do something simple, and not think about Todd or the upcoming court date.

  I was starting to get cold; I pulled my coat up around my neck, pulling my hat tighter around my frozen ears.

  “Are you cold?” Will asked as he took my gloved hand into his.

  “I’m okay.” I chattered, unable to hide my shaking hands. Heck, I would turn into a human Popsicle to be here with Will, cold be damned. He pulled my scarf gently, tucking it around my neck. He leaned closer to me, kissing my cheek, and then nuzzling my ear playfully. I as usual sighed. Every time we touched, I was unable to move, barely able to breathe, and loved every minute of it.

  I leaned into Will thoroughly enjoying the moment, when he suddenly pulled away. A look of anguish crossed his beautiful face. I was speechless at his strange reaction to me getting closer to him. He stepped back, his hand covering his mouth. His eyes were slightly damp. I felt a stab of physical pain in my chest, at the way he moved away from me.

  I couldn’t believe he was acting like this. I tried to think of what I might have done or said that afternoon to cause him to act like this. I couldn’t think of anything.

  The whole afternoon we had so much fun and I loved finally meeting some of Will’s mysterious family. I never pushed him to introduce me to any of them. I felt he would do that when he was ready. I watched him act as if he suddenly didn’t even want to be in the park with me anymore and it hurt.

  Chapter 11

  “William”

  I watched her, her cheeks red flushed with joy all afternoon. We had made so many wonderful memories the past few months. I noticed more and more she asked questions about my past, growing up, and things of that nature. I hated myself for having to lie to her and make up ridiculous stories. I had to tell her the truth; she deserved to know who and what I truly was. I would have to accept her choice if the reality of my existence was too much for her. I must let her go. I could feel the pain inside at even thinking she would hate me and send me away once she knew what I really was.

  I was expecting it, of course, to see the look of disgust in her eyes, which would destroy what little soul I still had left inside me. I would have an eternity to live with her choice, to grieve the loss of her love, to swim in the pain of knowing the only person I ever loved hated me. I had no choice. I could feel the darker side of me seeping into my mind when we kissed. I found myself moving too close, the old hunger pushing me again. I was ready for her to look at me like the freak I was and turn and run, never looking back. I deserved it.

  This would be my pain to bear for I had let myself fall in love with someone I should never have been close enough to touch. Corrine was all that was pure and good and I was all that was dark and bad. Even though I had sworn myself to end that behavior, it was a part of me that is deeply imbedded and I couldn’t rid myself of it even if I wanted to. I stood there surrounded by happy families, kids laughing life going on around us. I felt like I was in that Jerry Maguire movie where his boss fires him in the middle of the crowded restaurant.

  Chapter 12

  Back to “Corrine’s point of view”

  “Will, what’s wrong, what did I do?” I bit my lip trying not to cry, so hurt by his sudden coldness toward me.

  “You,” he said pinching the bridge of his nose as if he was in pain. “You
have done nothing wrong, Corrine.” His voice was so soft he seemed exhausted by just saying those few words.

  “Will, I don’t understand what’s going on.” The look on his face was worrying me. I knew it now as I watched him closely. The “it’s not you, it’s me” speech was coming. The classic textbook line played out in movies and real life too many times to count. This was it. He was dumping me I could feel it. I should have expected it, why would someone like him, so perfect, want a certified lunatic like me for a girlfriend. I couldn’t blame him. Hell, I was on suicide watch just less than a year ago, and even today, I still had to go to a therapist every Monday at 4 p.m.

  I dug my numb hands into my coat pockets, staring down at my snow boots, too sick to look at him now that I “got” what he was trying to tell me. I couldn’t believe that he promised me my problems in the past meant nothing to him and he loved me no matter what had happened. It was clear something about me bothered him enough to want me out of his life.