tears. “Oh, shit! You’re in for a long road. So did they just ban everyone from speaking to you, or do you know if it’s worse yet?”
“I don’t know. He texted me that I would be sorry.”
She touched my arm. “Keeley, if I knew now what I knew then,” she sighed. “I know how you feel. I was… I am too scared to report him, but maybe you aren’t.” Hope glimmered in her eyes. I could only imagine the fear living inside her.
The thought of calling my dad for advice popped in my head, but quickly vanished when I knew how much more I’d be disappointing him by letting him know what I was getting messed up in. I’d have to gather what I needed and turn it over to Vahn to report. I wanted to stay out of the police records for a long time.
After a little coaxing, Alison came over to my place when she got out of classes for the day. We ordered a large pizza and found a movie to watch. She kicked her shoes off by the door and bounded over to the couch. “I love this place!” she squealed. It was nice to see her relax a bit and smile. “I share an apartment with three other girls and they all hate me. The team totally has them under their thumbs. I feel bad for Stacey though, she’s one of my roommates, and has had the worst punishment from the team so far.”
I stopped in my tracks on my way to the couch. “I just met a Stacey the other night. Shy, brownish hair, a burn scar on her face…”
“Yeah, that’s her. A house fire that officials blamed on faulty wiring caused that burn, but I know better. I’m sure it was someone on the team.”
I gasped as I plopped down on the couch. “What?”
“Yeah, wait, it gets better. She was the high school hottie, everyone wanted to be her, or with her. Jonah was into her, but she said no. She wasn’t dating anyone, but she wasn’t interested either. After weeks of hounding her, Jonah gave up.”
“But?” I knew there had to be more.
“But, Steve won’t take no for an answer, even if it isn’t directed at him. Jonah’s his best friend, so no one says no to him either.”
My stomach churned. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear more.
“That weekend her house caught fire, her bedroom door wouldn’t open, and she was stuck inside. She screamed from the window. Steve and Jonah were down below in her yard looking up at her, but never moved to help. Firefighters rescued her, but it was almost too late. She barely survived.”
That was definitely not the story Steve gave me about what happened. “And no one reported it? How do they get away with it? Oh my God, I think I might be sick.”
“Yeah, well, you’re just in the beginning stages. My life is miserable, I tried to get into another college, to move away and start over, but my parents can barely afford to help me stay here and I wasn’t accepted by other schools.” She glanced away. “I’ve been close to killing myself more times than I can count just so they couldn’t threaten me anymore. Steve has a way of dragging someone through the darkest pit of despair. Other people’s misery is something he gets off on.”
“Oh, Alison, I’m so sorry. I totally understand depression. I can only imagine how Steve brought you down. I’m glad you’re alive, really. We should have done this sooner, this whole friend thing.”
She grabbed my hands and pleaded with her eyes. “Promise me something.”
I cocked my head slightly. “Sure.”
“If anything ever happens to me, I mean, you know, like ‘accidently’. Don’t let my parents think I was a bad girl. It would break their heart.”
I shook my head. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. You make it sound like you’re on death row or something.”
“Who knows what talking to you will get me. Besides, it’s not as I didn’t think about that before I said anything. And, it’s also not as if I’m not ready. Life’s been way less than happy for me and I don’t think I’ll find peace anytime soon.”
My stomach twisted in knots. I
“I don’t know. He texted me that I would be sorry.”
She touched my arm. “Keeley, if I knew now what I knew then,” she sighed. “I know how you feel. I was… I am too scared to report him, but maybe you aren’t.” Hope glimmered in her eyes. I could only imagine the fear living inside her.
The thought of calling my dad for advice popped in my head, but quickly vanished when I knew how much more I’d be disappointing him by letting him know what I was getting messed up in. I’d have to gather what I needed and turn it over to Vahn to report. I wanted to stay out of the police records for a long time.
After a little coaxing, Alison came over to my place when she got out of classes for the day. We ordered a large pizza and found a movie to watch. She kicked her shoes off by the door and bounded over to the couch. “I love this place!” she squealed. It was nice to see her relax a bit and smile. “I share an apartment with three other girls and they all hate me. The team totally has them under their thumbs. I feel bad for Stacey though, she’s one of my roommates, and has had the worst punishment from the team so far.”
I stopped in my tracks on my way to the couch. “I just met a Stacey the other night. Shy, brownish hair, a burn scar on her face…”
“Yeah, that’s her. A house fire that officials blamed on faulty wiring caused that burn, but I know better. I’m sure it was someone on the team.”
I gasped as I plopped down on the couch. “What?”
“Yeah, wait, it gets better. She was the high school hottie, everyone wanted to be her, or with her. Jonah was into her, but she said no. She wasn’t dating anyone, but she wasn’t interested either. After weeks of hounding her, Jonah gave up.”
“But?” I knew there had to be more.
“But, Steve won’t take no for an answer, even if it isn’t directed at him. Jonah’s his best friend, so no one says no to him either.”
My stomach churned. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear more.
“That weekend her house caught fire, her bedroom door wouldn’t open, and she was stuck inside. She screamed from the window. Steve and Jonah were down below in her yard looking up at her, but never moved to help. Firefighters rescued her, but it was almost too late. She barely survived.”
That was definitely not the story Steve gave me about what happened. “And no one reported it? How do they get away with it? Oh my God, I think I might be sick.”
“Yeah, well, you’re just in the beginning stages. My life is miserable, I tried to get into another college, to move away and start over, but my parents can barely afford to help me stay here and I wasn’t accepted by other schools.” She glanced away. “I’ve been close to killing myself more times than I can count just so they couldn’t threaten me anymore. Steve has a way of dragging someone through the darkest pit of despair. Other people’s misery is something he gets off on.”
“Oh, Alison, I’m so sorry. I totally understand depression. I can only imagine how Steve brought you down. I’m glad you’re alive, really. We should have done this sooner, this whole friend thing.”
She grabbed my hands and pleaded with her eyes. “Promise me something.”
I cocked my head slightly. “Sure.”
“If anything ever happens to me, I mean, you know, like ‘accidently’. Don’t let my parents think I was a bad girl. It would break their heart.”
I shook my head. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. You make it sound like you’re on death row or something.”
“Who knows what talking to you will get me. Besides, it’s not as I didn’t think about that before I said anything. And, it’s also not as if I’m not ready. Life’s been way less than happy for me and I don’t think I’ll find peace anytime soon.”
My stomach twisted in knots. I
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