Loving Raylynn

by C. R. Marcum

  She dressed quickly before deciding to wake Jax.

  “Babe.” She said, gently caressing his face.

  He stirred and opened his eyes. He smiled slightly at her and reached up and grabbed her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

  “Mornin sexy.” He whispered.

  “Mornin yourself.”

  “Everything okay with Girl Scout?” he asked, stretching.

  “No, not really, she’s hiding in the bathroom right now.”

  “Shit, really?” He asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

  “Yeah, I gotta take her some clothes and she really wants to go home. Is there any way you could take us?” She asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll take you. Just let me get dressed.” He said.

  “Kay, I gotta take these clothes to her. See ya in a minute.” She replied, standing.

  “Kay babe.”

  Raylynn stood outside the bathroom door and gently knocked.

  “Pais, open the door. I have clothes for you.” She said, pressing her cheek to the door.

  She heard the latch click and with a gentle turn, the door opened. She stepped inside and found Paisley sitting on the floor next to the door. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, and she had pulled Drake’s shirt down over them. Raylynn knew why, but didn’t say a word.

  “Here Pais.” She said, handing her the clothes.

  “Thanks.” Paisley muttered.

  “No problem.” She said, sitting next to her on the floor.

  “I need my bracelet’s Ray, I don’t have them.” She whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

  “We’ll find them, Jax is gonna take us home kay.” She said, reaching out to brush a piece of hair out of Paisley’s face.

  Paisley jumped back out of her reach.

  “Don’t touch me. I’m fine. Now if you could go find my bracelets so I can get dressed that’d be great.” She snapped.

  “Pais, it’s just me. Why are you being like that?” Ray said, hurt in her voice.

  “I just don’t want anyone touching me. I…I…ya know what, I don’t have to explain anything to you. So, please go find my fucking bracelets.” She spat.

  “Jeez Pais, what in the hell is wrong with you?”

  “For God’s sake Ray, just go!”

  Raylynn sat there in shock. Paisley had never spoken to her like that, not even when she was mad.

  “Fine Pais, I’ll go find your fucking bracelets.” She said, standing and leaving Paisley alone in the bathroom.

  She found herself in the living room. Drake and Ty sat on the couch talking. Syn was sitting in the big chair, drinking a cup of coffee. Aspen was standing in the doorway just watching.

  Raylynn handed Aspen the clothes and watched as she turned towards Ty’s room. Raylynn stepped further into the room.

  “Is Pais okay?” Ty asked.

  “Not really. Have you seen her bracelets? She’s freaking out about not having them.” She asked, sitting on the table.

  “I haven’t seen them. Was she wearing them when we got home?” Ty asked.

  “I don’t know, I was focused on cleaning her up and getting her dressed.” She replied.

  “I have them.” Aspen said stepping into the room. “She gave them to me last night at the dance. They kept getting snagged on her dress.” She finished.

  “Good, maybe now she will change her attitude.” Raylynn said, holding her hand out.

  Aspen reached into her bag and pulled out the stack of bracelets and handed them to Raylynn. She looked at them for a moment and counted nine bracelets. Nine.

  Without another word, Raylynn headed to the bathroom. When she opened the door and stepped inside, Paisley was sitting on the side of the tub. She was wearing the clothes Raylynn had given her, and the sight of her made Raylynn sad. She had her head in her hands and she could hear her crying.

  “Pais, I found your bracelets. Aspen said you gave them to her last night.” She said gently.

  Paisley lifted her head and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her eyes. She straightened her posture and smiled a meek smile at Ray.

  “Thanks.” She said as she stood. “Is Jax ready to take us home?” she asked, sounding perky.

  “Um, I don’t know. He hasn’t come out yet. Are you sure your okay?” Raylynn asked, confusion in her voice.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just needed to find my bracelets. I’m gonna go wait in the car okay.” She replied.

  “Okay…I’ll go see if Jax is ready. We can talk more at home.” Ray said, opening the bathroom door.

  “Sure, sounds good.” Paisley said, walking out the door and into the living room.

  Raylynn stood there in shock. She had just witnessed Paisley go from one extreme to another in only a few minutes. She knew that Paisley would be upset when she found out what happened, but for her to wipe her tears away and turn on cheerleader mode was scary.

  Raylynn’s thoughts were broken by the sound of the front door slamming shut.

  The ride home was awkward. Aspen and Paisley sat in the backseat, while she sat up front with Jax. Aspen had given Jax her address before sitting back and trying to talk to Paisley about last night’s events. Paisley hadn’t said a word to anyone since getting in the truck. Aspen kept trying until Paisley had finally looked at her.

  “Aspen, please just leave it alone. I’m fine.” Was all she said before turning her face back towards the window.

  Aspen looked to Ray. All she could do was shrug her shoulders.

  “Just leave her alone Aspen. She doesn’t want to talk right now.” She replied to the shrug.

  Jax had pulled up to the house and before the truck had even come to a stop, Paisley opened the door and hopped out. Raylynn watched as she ran to the door and disappeared inside.

  “You gonna come back later tonight?” Jax asked, rubbing her hand.

  “Probably not tonight. I have a lot of shit to talk to Paisley about, and if the ride here was any indication of what it’s gonna be like then it’ll probably be tomorrow before I can even get her to talk to me.” She said, looking towards the house.

  “She’s gonna be okay babe, she’s a tough little thing.” He said, “but I get it. Take your time, just call me later okay.”

  “I will. I love you Jax.” She said, leaning over and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

  “I love you too.” He said when the kiss was over.

  “I’ll see you later.” She said, opening the passenger door.

  “Go take care of Girl Scout. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  Raylynn watched as Jax pulled away and disappeared from sight. With a heavy sigh she turned and made her way into the house. It was quiet for a Sunday. She was glad that it was. Paisley needed some time to figure things out.

  Raylynn made her way upstairs to her room. She heard the shower running and figured it would take awhile for Paisley to finish. She herself needed a shower, but she would wait patiently.

  Paisley

  The water cascaded over her as she sat in the back of the tub. She was holding the razor, watching as the blood ran from her thigh. Changing color from a deep crimson to an orange before slinking down the drain. There were two new cuts, one on each thigh. She tried not to do it, she really did, but the urge was so strong that she couldn’t stop herself.

  She was trying to remember what had happened last night, and her frustration grew the more she tried. She could remember bits and pieces, but nothing more. She remembered getting dressed, and making it to the dance. She remembered dancing and Brian getting her drinks. She barely remembered drinking them. After that, everything was gone until she woke up with Drake.

  She climbed out of the shower once the blood stopped flowing and dried herself off. She grabbed some gauze pads and tape and placed them over the fresh cuts. She had went a little deeper than usual this time, and they were still oozing blood. Once the wounds were bandaged, she went over her body, looking for any other marks.

  She found bruises on both her thigh
s, and with the help of the mirror, she found the bruises on her back. She was disgusted with herself. How could she have possibly slept with Drake. She had gone on a date with one guy and woke up with another. Did she have sex with Brian too? Her mind was going faster than she could fathom. What in the hell happened last night.

  She knew Raylynn would tell her, but she was afraid to ask. She wanted to know, and didn’t want to at the same time. Besides, Ray should have stopped her. Ray should have realized that something was wrong and stepped in and stopped it. Instead she was sulking in the corner. Ray was there, in the house. She left her to go do god knows what with Jax, instead of keeping her safe. Ray fed her to the wolf. Ty too. He could have stopped it, but he was too busy with Aspen. What wonderful friends she had.

  She had just finished dressing when her phone started to vibrate. She wasn’t in the mood to talk, so she grabbed the phone with the intention of sending the call to voicemail, but instead she stopped and stared at the incoming notifications.

  Raylynn

  Raylynn lay on her bed, arm slung over her eyes. She desperately needed a shower, but she understood why Pais had jumped in so quickly. Pais had been through a lot in the last twenty four hours, and she still wasn’t sure if Pais remembered everything. She planned on talking to her as soon as she was done showering.

  She lay, thinking about how to bring up the scars to Pais when she felt her phone buzz next to her. Shaking her head, she reached for it. She fully intended to send the call to voicemail, but instead her eyes focused on the notifications that were pouring in.

  She opened the notification and started reading. Her eyes focused on the name, Paisley, followed by Good Girl Gone Bad. As soon as she wrapped her mind around what she was seeing, she jumped up and ran towards Paisley’s room; hoping that she had left her phone in there. She had to get rid of the notifications before Paisley had a chance to see them. She had to talk to her first. She couldn’t let her see what everyone was saying.

  She looked everywhere, but Paisley’s phone was nowhere to be found. The reality hit her like a bullet. Paisley had taken her phone into the bathroom. She made her way down the hall and stood outside the door. She had just raised her hand to knock when the door opened. Paisley stood in front of her, dressed in long pajamas, with her phone in her hand.

  “Pais, are you okay?” she asked, looking first to the phone, then to her face.

  “I’m fine, why?” Paisley replied, a little to sweetly.

  “Well, because you’ve been through a lot in the last two days.” She said, confused.

  “No need to worry about me Raylynn. I’m perfectly fine.” She replied, with a grin. “Now, I am really tired so if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m gonna go lay down for a bit.” She said, pushing past her and making her way down the hall to her room.

  Raylynn was so confused. How could Pais be okay after everything that was being said about her online? Ray wasn’t stupid, she knew Pais had read it, her phone was opened to the app when she opened the door. She could only stand there and watch as Paisley disappeared behind her bedroom door.

  Raylynn decided to let Pais have some time to decompress before she talked to her about everything. She decided that as soon as she was done showering she would make a couple bowls of ice cream and help Paisley through all of it. With that last thought, she made her way back to her own room to grab what she needed for her shower.

  She had only been in her room for fifteen seconds before her phone rang, and Ty’s ringtone sang out.

  “Hey Ty, can I call you later? I’m getting ready to jump in the shower.” She said.

  “Ray, have you seen this shit? People are saying really messed up stuff about Pais.”

  “Yea, I got the notifications a few minutes ago. I only looked at one of them though.” She replied, sitting down on her bed.

  “Which one did you see?” he asked.

  “The good girl gone bad one. Why, are there worse ones?” she asked.

  “Yeah, just look at a few of them. Someone took pictures of her Ray.” Ty said.

  “What!? Are you serious?” She exclaimed, before putting her phone on speaker so that she could pull up the notifications.

  “Ray, this is bad. Someone got a picture of her being put in the back of our truck by Drake.” He said solemnly.

  “Fuck! This is really bad. She’s gonna lose her shit when she sees all of this.”

  “I know. You gotta talk to her Ray. Make her understand that nothing happened between her and Drake. She has to know that.”

  “I have to talk to her about a lot more than that. She needs to know what happened between her and Brian too.” She said, shaking her head.

  “Yeah, well I gotta go. Talk to you later.”

  Raylynn heard the familiar click before the line went dead. She really needed a shower, but she had to talk to Pais before she was able to draw her own conclusions about the night.

  “Pais, you awake?” Ray asked, knocking lightly on the door.

  She waited for longer than she thought necessary before knocking again.

  “Pais, I’m coming in. We need to talk okay?” she said before turning the doorknob and finding it locked. “Pais, unlock the door please.”

  Still no answer. She knocked louder. Still no answer.

  “Paisley Jo, I am going to keep knocking until you answer this door.” She said louder than she intended.

  She could hear rustling around on the other side of the door, but still no answer.

  “Paisley please open the damn door, I am begging you.” She pleaded.

  She waited for what seemed to be an eternity before raising her hand to knock again. She had almost made contact with the door when she heard the click, and pulled up short.

  Paisley opened the door just enough so that Ray could see her.

  “What Ray?”

  “We need to talk Pais.” She said, trying to open the door.

  “I’m fine Ray, I don’t want to talk right now. I just want to take a nap, we can talk in the morning okay.” Paisley said, pushing against her.

  “Pais, we rea…”

  “I don’t want to talk right now. I want to take a nap. What part of that don’t you get?” Paisley interrupted.

  “Pais, I’m just worri…”

  “You don’t need to worry about me Ray, I’m fine. Now, I’m gonna take a nap.” Paisley said before closing the door and locking it.

  Ray could only stand there in disbelief. Paisley never locked her door, nor did she ever refuse to talk. She thought about knocking again, but changed her mind at the last minute. She waited a second longer before hanging her head and heading back towards her own room to grab her clothes and take a shower.

  Her phone was ringing loudly when she walked back into her room after showering. She knew the ringtone well.

  “Hey.” She said.

  “Hey beautiful, how’s it goin over there?” Jax asked.

  “Not great.”

  “Why, what’s wrong?” He asked.

  “Well, Paisley won’t talk to me.” She stated flatly.

  “Just give her some time babe, and some space. She’ll come around sooner or later.”

  “Well, I don’t really have a choice. She won’t talk to me at all, and with all the stuff that people are saying…” she trailed off.

  “I know you worry about her, but honestly babe, girl scout isn’t gonna talk to you if you try to force it. She’s pretty stubborn from what I can tell.”

  “I know, but she has to know what really happened last night Jax. I can’t let her try to figure it out on her own.”

  “You should just give her the day to work through this, then in the morning you can talk to her. She has to come out of her room at some point.”

  “That’s true, but still.”

  “Why don’t you come over. You can hang out with me and take your mind off of everything.” He said.

  She could hear the smile through the phone.

  “I’ve got homework to finish.
” She said smiling.

  “Bring it, I can make you something to eat while you work.”

  “Not this time Jax. I really need to focus on this, and if Pais decides she wants to talk then I really need to be here for her.” She said, sitting down at her desk.

  “Alright, but you are coming over tomorrow right?”

  “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

  “I don’t like that answer. It doesn’t sound like a yes.”

  “Well, it’s the best you’re gonna get big boy, so take it or leave it.” She said sarcastically.

  “I don’t like that answer either.”

  “You drive me crazy, you know that right?”

  “Yep, it’s kinda my thing.” Jax said with a chuckle.

  “Uggh, what am I gonna do with you?”

  “I don’t know, but I do know what I want you to do with me, wink wink.”

  All she could do was giggle.

  “I love that sound ya know.” He said quietly.

  “Well, you bring it out of me.”

  “I’ll let you off here so you can focus on your homework. I love you Ray.”

  “I love you too Jax. Bye.”

  “Bye babe.” He said before hanging up.

  The rest of the day progressed quicker than Raylynn had thought possible. Before she knew it, her uncle had come to announce dinner. She sat in silence at the table, looking over and finding Paisley pushing her food around the plate. When Richard had asked what was wrong, Paisley had only said that she was tired.

  After dinner was over, Ray had tried to talk to Pais again, only to be shut down. She hoped that by the morning, Paisley would be feeling more like her usual self, and she would be ready to talk. She held onto that hope as she lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take her under.

  Raylynn woke to the sound of the front door closing. She rolled to her left and saw that her clock read 7 A.M. She stretched and groaned before climbing out of bed. She could hardly believe that Paisley hadn’t come to wake her. Paisley had woken her every day since school started, but today she hadn’t. With a sigh, Raylynn opened her closet and pulled out the first thing she laid her hands on.