by Addison Jane
I was just about to turn around and join in the teasing when a body hit me at full force, throwing me through the air. My leg hit the side of the pool, and I cried out.
“Fable,” Layla’s screams filled my ears before my body hit the water. The air had already been forced from my lungs, and I had no time to even take a breath before my body went under.
Shock was the first thing to hit me as I sunk through the blue haze. I didn’t know where I was or what was going on. It was then panic took over. My body realizing that there was no air and that was when I began to twist and struggle. The fabric of my dress twisted around my legs and pain shot through my leg as I fought to somehow push myself to the surface.
I’d never learned how to swim, I was just thrashing around, and my body was confused. I didn’t know which way was up anymore.
Was I just fighting myself into a watery death?
Noises, splashes filled the water around me, and my lungs finally gave in, my mind screaming at me to just breathe. I choked, water going in through my mouth and my nose.
I was going to drown.
I was barely aware of what was going on as something hit me from behind, pushing me through the thick liquid. Someone grabbed at my arms, dragging me with them.
Air hit my face, and my lungs spewed the water from my mouth, gasping and choking as it fought to fill them with oxygen and expel the water that had seeped in.
My eyes watered as I tried to open them and make sense of what was going on around me. There were crowds of people standing at the edge of the pool, their faces were mostly blurred, but there was the odd look of horror that I caught as who I had now identified as Lucas pulled me to the edge.
“Breathe, Fay. Breathe,” Heath’s soft voice was breathless, but he still managed to soothe me, and he pressed against my back, forcing me against the pool wall and holding me there. Lucas pulled himself out before taking both my hands and dragging me up until my knees hit the concrete.
I collapsed on the ground, my body convulsing as more liquid forced itself out of my body. I saw Layla’s face first as she dropped her body down next to mine and pulled my wet hair away from my face. “Let it come out, the water needs to come out.”
I did, and she didn’t even move away as I vomited up bile and pool water right next to her.
“Good girl.”
With my face at this level, I could see Payton sitting on the ground just behind Layla. Lucas was now crouched next to her, assessing her body. Blood welled from grazes on her knees and on one of her hands. My mind couldn’t make out what was going on, though. Why was Payton hurt?
Layla moved to the side as Heath dropped down next to her, his hair dripping wet and his face one of absolute shock.
There was another splash, and it didn’t take long for Braydon’s voice to fill the silence. “What the fuck happened?” I wanted to tell him I was okay, but my body was completely drained, and I couldn’t even lift my head from the hard concrete.
“Bray, it’s all right. She’s okay,” Layla told him softly, jumping to her feet to intercept him as he popped out of the pool.
“Baby,” Heath spoke quietly to me, his hand reaching out and brushing against my cheek. “Just breathe. Breathe with me.”
I watched as he inhaled deeply, imitating the way he filled his lungs. I spluttered as I tried to exhale, gagging.
He brushed my cheek again, but I could see his concern begin to morph into anger. “What happened?” he snapped, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Someone pushed me, really hard,” Payton answered as my mind was too focused on breathing and being alive.
“Who?” he snapped loudly so that everyone could hear.
The only sound that could be heard was the music still pumping in the background.
“I don’t know, man. We were all watching you two and then Payton flew forward, knocking over Fable.” Lucas tried to explain the confusion.
“Heath, we need to get her home. We can deal with this later,” Layla said, the voice of reason.
It was strange because Heath was usually that voice. The clear-headed one, the one who knew what to do in a crisis. But when my eyes met his, all I could see was anger.
“Yeah.” He hooked his hands under my knees, and one went around my back as he lifted me off the ground. People parted for us as Braydon, Layla, Payton, and Lucas all followed us out.
He loaded me in the front seat of his car, and I looked out the window to see Braydon and Sam talking by the front door. Braydon was talking fast, and Sam nodded, patting him on the back as he turned to go back inside.
Heath drove me home after a short detour to a doctor’s office.
The doctor rushed us through and checked me over.
She said events like I’d been through could be dangerous, as if there’s still fluid in the lungs I was still at risk of drowning even hours later if they didn’t get it out.
After a checkup, she’d decided that the boys had managed to get me out of the water pretty quickly and that my body had rejected what it needed to.
Heath was silent, his hand resting on my leg as we pulled up the driveway. Braydon, Lucas, Layla, and Payton were already at the house waiting for us.
Heath jumped out and jogged around the car to open my door. He helped me out and kept his arms around me as he led me upstairs to my room. I went straight to the bathroom. Dropping the towel I had wrapped around me as Heath turned on the shower. As much as I felt I’d seen enough water today, my body was frozen, and I just wanted to get warm.
“Get in,” he murmured, his hand reaching out to lift my dress.
I jumped back. “Heath, it’s okay. I can shower myself.” My throat was scratchy and raw, and it still hurt a little to talk.
“I’m not leaving you in here alone. I don’t know what might fucking happen.”
I knew he was worried, but I wasn’t ready for him to see the marks that Jay’s first attempt at hurting me had caused. “Please, Heath. Not right now. I don’t have the energy.”
He frowned and for a minute I thought he might refuse.
“Girls!” It was only a few seconds before Layla appeared in the doorway, she was with Payton in my room, patching her grazes. Unfortunately, she was a pro at that, having grown up with a father like she did. Layla looked between us worriedly as steam began to fill the room. “She needs someone to stay with her in case something happens. Can you bring Payton in here while you do that so she’s not alone? I need to call Mom.”
“Yeah, sure. It’s probably better to do it in here anyway so I can wash her knees.”
I silently thanked him with my eyes, and he pressed a light kiss to my forehead before slipping passed Layla and out the door. Payton stepped inside not long after and closed it behind her.
“We won’t look.” She smiled, and they both turned to face the door as I stripped out of the white dress and climbed into the shower, pulling the shower curtain closed. The water was hot and stung my chilled skin.
“I didn’t know you couldn’t swim,” Payton said softly.
“It’s not something I usually lead with when I meet new people.”
She cleared her throat. “I would have jumped in if I’d have known. I thought you’d just pop up again.”
“Payton, it’s okay. You got hurt, too. You couldn’t have jumped in.”
“Heath looked like a superhero.” Layla giggled softly. I heard someone sit on the toilet seat and the tearing of Band-Aids. “Heath heard me scream, and saw the splash from all the way at the top of the hill. He flew through the air so far I thought he might land on you.”
“Lucas didn’t know what was going on, until he saw Heath shooting down the slide so he jumped in, too.”
“I wish I’d seen it.” Backing up under the spray of the water, I closed my eyes, and the warmth rushed over me, and my body began to thaw.
“I think I know who did it,” Payton muttered.
I was pretty sure I knew too.
“Jay was standing back fr
om the crowd when we left. She didn’t look shocked like everyone else, she looked smug,” Payton voiced.
I sighed. “Yeah. We haven’t exactly seen eye to eye since I came here.”
“She’s evil, you know.” Payton’s comment brought the chill right back, and I shuddered. “She obviously wanted to make it look like an accident, but there must have been a lot of force behind it to throw you and me that far.”
I bet she thought she’d just embarrass me, that I would resurface, and everyone would laugh.
“I can’t believe Heath dated her.” Just the thought of it made me cringe.
“They never dated,” Payton answered sounding confused.
Narrowing my eyes, I looked to where I knew she was sitting on the basin on the other side of the shower curtain. “Someone told me they were dating, for like a year.”
“Was that someone her?” Payton snorted sarcastically. “They hooked up at parties, but they were never actually together. Maybe in her mind, but not in Heath’s.”
Maybe Liam had been wrong. It made sense, he would have only ever seen them at the odd party here and there, and I guess it would have looked to an outsider that they were a couple.
“I heard she beat some girl up because she was hanging around Heath.”
“Yeah, me.”
Both Layla and I gasped in unison. “What?”
Payton’s laugh was soft. “I’ve spent my whole life hanging out with Lucas and his friends. He was never embarrassed to take me places with him, and his dad was always happy to let me stay there too. I guess he knew what my mom was like.” I wanted to ask, but instead I kept quiet, letting her continue, “Heath and Bray are like big brothers, and as we got older, other girls started getting jealous that I was always with them, but that they never really let other girls in. Jay didn’t seem to have a problem with it at first. Heath and her would do their thing at parties, and we went to different schools. But then she started pushing me out.”
“What happened at the party?” Layla asked.
I heard Payton take in a deep breath, and Layla apologize softly, followed by more Band-Aid tearing. “We were playing table tennis, Heath and me against Lucas and Sam. She caught me in the hallway after, pushed me to the ground and started kicking me in the ribs. Heath went nuts, told her never to come near him or me or any of us again.”
The girl was crazy, that was completely obvious now.
“You didn’t press charges.”
Payton snorted. “I was at a party drinking, and her dad is the Chief of Police. There was no point really. And I knew Heath telling her to back off was going to absolutely devastate her. That gave me enough satisfaction.”
My mind whirled. Jay was insane and completely unpredictable. I wondered how many other girls she’d abused in order to keep them away from Heath. How far would she go? Just the question caused me to shudder because I knew the answer—as far as she had to.
She needed to be stopped.
“Someone needs to say something.” The accusing tone in Layla’s voice was not lost on me. “If one person says something, maybe other people will too. The more people that stand up, the better we are heard. They can’t ignore everyone.”
“Millions of tiny streams,” I whispered.
“One mighty river,” Layla finished.
Jay would continue to hurt people until she got what she wanted, and I knew for a fact, that that was an unreachable goal. Heath was too level-headed and smart to want to be with someone like Jay.
She was exactly like my father—driven by power. And because they seemed so strong, undefeated, people were scared to step up and say something. Just like I was.
I was scared. Scared no one would believe my word against my father’s. And that’s exactly what had happened when I finally took a stand and said enough was enough. The judge ridiculed me, and the press made out like I was at fault. Nobody stood for me, nobody had my back.
But that was different now.
Heath had my back.
Braydon and Flick had my back.
Helen and Arthur had my back.
Lucas, Payton, Layla, Kyle, Lee, Andre—all these people were behind me. They would believe me, and they weren’t afraid to stand by me. So maybe it was time to stop hiding. People like Greg Campbell and Jay Crowler needed to learn that they couldn’t get by in life by stepping on the people weaker than them. They needed to learn that their actions would have consequences.
I shut the shower off. “Can you pass me a towel?”
“Sure.”
Her hand popped through the curtain, and I pulled the towel around me. “I’ll be out in a second.”
“All right. I’m heading home so we can talk later. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks, Payton.”
I heard her slip out.
“I’ll be in your room,” Layla said before disappearing too.
The bathroom door opened and closed quietly, and I stepped out onto the mat on the floor. I took my time, drying myself and tucking the towel around myself as I used another to dry my hair.
When I stepped out, I noticed that it was beginning to get dark outside. “You’re going to stay the night, right?” I asked, looking over to where Layla stood, staring out the large windows.
“I guess I could,” she answered, not turning to look at me. “I told Andre where I was going. I just really want to get back to them, though. I want to tell them what you told me, that there’s hope coming.”
“They’ll be okay for one night, Lay.” I really wanted her to stay. Sure, I wanted the others to know that all wasn’t lost and that I hadn’t forgotten them, but I could also tell that Layla had a lot of weight on her shoulders and maybe being here, she could let some of it go.
“Yeah, they will be,” she replied quietly. She took a moment before taking a deep breath and turning to face me. “Are you going to tell Heath about Jay?”
I cringed and shuffled over to my dresser, pulling out some fresh clothing.
“Fable,” she growled.
“Yes, okay. I’m going to tell him. Just not right now. It’s been a long day, everyone is jumped up on adrenaline and worry, and I’d rather just leave it for when I can sit down and talk with him properly.” The excuses flowed out freely. The truth was, I wanted to buy a little time. Helen would be back from her trip in a couple days, and I wanted her to be there when I explained what had happened. She was one of the best lawyers in the country. She’d know what to do, and she’d be able to keep Heath calm.
If I was going to call Jay out, I needed to do it right. I needed to make sure it was worth it. Because if I started shouting from the rooftops that she was hurting me, people were less likely to believe me and she’d have more time to come up with a cover.
I knew if I told Heath, he and Bray would take matters into their own hands, and that would make things worse too. There was a high chance that coming out with this would blow up in my face, and really, I was being selfish. I just wanted a few more days with him before I faced the possibility of losing him.
Layla seemed to accept my stalling even though she eyed me warily. “I think the boys are making some food. I’ll go make myself useful while you get dressed.”
Layla had already taken some of my clothes and changed out of the dress Flick had given her. I gave her a gentle smile, and she stepped out, closing the door behind her.
I got dressed quickly and headed out myself. As I passed Flick’s door, I decided I should probably pop my head in and say thank you, and also apologize for possibly ruining one of her dresses.
I knocked, but there was no answer. Frowning, I turned the handle and pushed the door open just in time to spot her climbing in through her bedroom window.
“Flick?”
Her eyes looked up in shock as she pulled her leg through. She just stared at me for a few seconds before babbling, “I was just out with a friend, and I saw you guys were home and I didn’t want to disturb you so I came in this way.” She continued on and on, an
d I held up my hands to try and make her stop.
“Woah there.” I looked her over, she was wearing a tight mini skirt that was uncharacteristically short and a soft pink blouse. I probably would have let it all pass and left it alone if it wasn’t for the fact that she was holding her shirt together with her hand, as all the buttons seemed to be either missing or hanging on by a thread.
I totally disregarded the fact that I had no idea how she had even managed to scale the house and sneak in through the window and hit her with the obvious. “What happened to your shirt?”
She ducked her head and moved over to her bed, turning her body away from me. I wasn’t going to allow it and stepped around, so I was standing in front of her again.
“It just got caught on something,” she mumbled, pulling it tighter together.
I frowned. “Like on someone’s hand as they tried to rip it off?”
She flinched, and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. I crouched down so I could see her eyes, ignoring the pain in my legs. They darted around nervously, and her face was flushed. “Flick. If someone hurt you, you can tell me. It’s okay.”
“No…” she rushed out, suddenly looking shocked again. “No, that wasn’t it. No one hurt me.”
“Then what happened?” I looked over the rest of her body, but there were no obvious signs that she may have been in a fight. Because that was the only other explanation, I could come up with.
“I went to see Eli,” she whispered.
Gritting my teeth, I finally managed to ask, “He did this?”
“He didn’t mean to, we were just… it just happened in the moment. He got excited.”
“Are you sleeping with this guy?”
She shook her head. “He… he wants to, but he’s being patient. Waiting for me to be ready.”
“Doesn’t look like he’s being patient,” I said sharply.
She snapped to her feet and quickly stepped around me. “You don’t know him. He’s not like guys my age. He’s mature. He’s sweet. He’s considerate—”
“He’s horny,” I cut in dryly as I stood to my feet. My body ached. I’d been through too much today. I was feeling it all through me, but I wasn’t just going to sweep this under the rug. This was important.