Chloe quickly got up and passed him. “I can get—”
“I can get it myself!” He put his hand on Chloe as she passed him, pushing her forcefully out of the way.
Opening her mouth to scream as his hand made contact with her arm, only her breath came out as she fell to the floor.
All of a sudden, she could feel the rough hands holding her down while she tried to scream and fight them off her as she lay on the cold table.
The sound of the door opening and the cold air of the night touching her face brought her back to the present.
“Hello, Mr. Ma—Chloe, are you okay?” Elle’s face had changed from a smile to concern as quickly as her tone did.
Staring at her face from the floor as Elle stood on the other side of the doorway, Chloe was too stunned to speak.
Maxwell took it upon himself to answer for her. “She’s fine … She tripped. Who are you …?”
I tripped. No one hurt me.
Desperately trying to shake off the fall and the memory banging at the door in her head, she began to get up to avoid raising any alarms for Elle.
“Um, I’m Elle. We are supposed to finish our science project.” Her eyes danced between father and daughter.
“Do-Don’t you r-remember?”
“No, because-s-she you didn’t tell … me.” He went back to fetch his alcohol. “Get rid of her,” he voiced to Chloe as he walked past, uncaring if the girl at the door heard.
Putting her eyes on the floor, Chloe did as she was asked. “I-I’m sorry. Now’s not a g-good time.”
Elle waited until Maxwell was no longer seen and hopefully out of earshot before she went up to Chloe, whispering, “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Yes, I-I tripped.”
“Bullcrap!” Elle whispered harshly. “I’m calling my mom to come back. You can come home with me.”
“No, I’m fine!”
Elle pulled out her cell phone, not listening to Chloe’s pleas, and told her mom to come back. Once she hung up the phone, she addressed Chloe again.
“Is he the one who hurt you?”
Shaking her head, she looked back at the floor.
“And I’m supposed to believe you!”
“Yes. He’s just been drinking. T-that’s how he handles what … happened to me.”
Knowing she was telling the truth, Elle relaxed just a smudge. “You’re still coming with me.”
“N-no, really. It’s okay. I swear he’s never physically hurt me before. My falling was an accident.” I’m sure he didn’t mean to. “Mom is almost home. I don’t want to leave him alone.”
She could see the wheels turning in Elle’s head before she nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask my mom if you can come over to my house tomorrow to finish our project.”
“I thought you said your parents didn’t want company over?”
“Yeah, well, I lied,” Elle answered as she headed back out the door. “See you tomorrow.”
“Um, okay …” Chloe closed the door behind her when she saw Elle’s mom pulling back into the driveway.
Heading back into the house, she hoped that she could tiptoe up to her room unnoticed.
“Sit down, Chloe.”
Stopping in her tracks, she saw her father sitting at the dining room table. She also noticed his tone had changed to a somewhat more pleasant one. Maybe he wants to apologize…
Taking the seat in front of him, she sat down at the table.
“Does she know what really happened to you …?” He took a sip from his glass.
Chloe violently shook her head, scared of where this was heading.
“Why not? It’s written all … over the paper what really hap-p-p-pened to you.”
Staring at him, she didn’t know what to say.
He quickly reminded her, “Tell me what happened to you, Chloe.”
Wringing her hands, she began to dig her nails into her palms. “I was in a car wreck; that’s all I know. I was in a car wreck. No one hurt me.”
Ten
I Can’t Tell If I’m Scared of You, Or If … You Just Became My New BFF
Letting Chloe spend the night at Elle’s the next day was her parents’ way of making it up to her after what had happened. Plus, the girls really did have to finish their project if they didn’t want a big fat F.
Her mother driving her to Elle’s house consisted of straight complaints since it wasn’t in “the suburbs” and was too far out for her “taste.” Chloe had just kept her mouth shut and was thankful when they reached their destination.
Walking up to the house, Chloe felt embarrassed to see Elle again after what had happened. She just hoped they could pretend yesterday hadn’t happened. That’s what I’m going to do, at least.
Before getting to the door, she could see Elle peeking her head out the front window of the house, and then she was gone.
“Hi!” Elle opened the door wide for her.
Cracking a small smile was the best she could do with her nerves. She was still not used to showing her face, and she wasn’t sure how Elle’s parents would react to her scars.
As soon as she came through the door, she was pretty much in the living room, and the first thing she noticed was a cute, little boy playing on the floor with his cars. Her eyes then went to the wheelchair that held a man who was watching his son play beside him. Chloe had known what to expect, but seeing it was different.
Finally, when he looked up, she expected his face to turn to shock, if even for a moment, but it didn’t.
“This is my dad and my little brother Josh, and this is Chloe Masters,” Elle made the introductions quickly, pointing to the person the name correlated to.
Josh didn’t look up from his toys.
Chloe only nodded her head, not wanting to stutter out a hello first to her dad. Another shocking thing happened when he just nodded his head and went back to watching his son play.
She saw it right before his eyes left hers—an understanding. The understanding was one of loss, and she could feel he wasn’t any used to his new body than she was.
From what Chloe knew—thanks to big mouth—was that he had suffered a forklift accident and lost the use of his legs, which had happened during the beginning of the school year. He had gained a huge promotion at the factory before the accident and had pulled Elle from public to private school. So, Elle being new at school this year had made the perfect target for Cassandra. Hence, why they were all here at this moment.
“Hello!” A sweet and very pretty woman wearing an apron came from the kitchen.
Elle smiled. “And this is my mom, of course.”
“I would give you a hug, but Elle already warned me you’re not a hugger like me.”
Chloe looked over at Elle, even more nervous now.
“Yeah, I told them you were a germaphobe. You know, touching creeps you out because of germs.” Elle gave her a look, wanting her to play along.
Genius.
She began nodding her head. “Y-Yep. Sorry about t-that.”
“That’s okay, sweetie; no need to be sorry. I’m just glad one of Elle’s friends was finally able to come over. I keep telling her she can have a big sleepover with all her little girlfriends at school.”
Excuse me?
“Oh, Mom, you know I will one day.”
Say what?
“Are you on the soccer team with Elle?”
No thought came to her. Blinking and trying to figure out if this conversation was real was the only thing she could do.
Her mother laughed. “Sorry. I forgot—germaphobe.”
“Yeah, Mom, she doesn’t like getting dirty. Okay, well, we’ve got a bunch of work to do.” Elle headed toward a hall. “Come on, Chloe.”
Realizing this was very real, she quickly went after Elle, not saying another word. Frankly, she had no clue how on earth to respond.
Once they were in her bedroom, Elle went straight to her backpack on her bed, pulling out their project materials.
“Um, Elle …?”
“Yeah?”
“You really are a good liar.”
The strawberry-blonde flashed a smile. “It’s a gift.”
Chloe blinked a few more times, looking at this side of her she hadn’t known existed. “I can’t tell if I’m scared of you or if … You just became my new BFF.”
Elle laughed. “BFF, for sure. Of course, you want to be best friends with the most popular girl in school. Uh … duh!”
“Just as long as you tell all of your friends that I’m your best friend.” She began laughing with her.
Their relationship had just changed for the better. Within a matter of minutes, she felt extremely comfortable around Elle. It just felt right.
“Deal!”
They laughed so hard they started to cry.
“How come you haven’t invited your best friend to any of your soccer games?”
Elle wiped away a tear. “I hear the stands are really germy.”
“Where on earth did you get germaphobe from?”
“Web MD.”
The two laughed until their faces and stomachs began to hurt, and then finally, they were able to stop their laughing fit.
Elle wiped away the final tear. “It also says we might have cancer.”
Eleven
Stuck Between Realities
Chloe lay stiffly in the bed, staring at the white ceiling. She hadn’t thought this far into a sleepover.
Her sleep had been non-existent, but when she did, the nightmares came for her. She had gone many nights without sleep since what had happened to her, and she was going to do that tonight.
Staring at the blank ceiling for hours, she watched her nightmare play before her, unmoving like she had done every night, praying sleep would never come to throw her to the devil once again.
The screams were what first brought Elle out of her deep sleep. The violent shaking of the bed was what had completely awakened her.
Sitting up in bed, Elle looked down at the sleeping girl beside her. In sleep was where you found peace, but the dark-haired girl looked like she had found the opposite: torture. Even in the night, she could see the glistening tears that fell from Chloe’s hollow eyes and pained face.
“Chloe … Chloe …” She hoped her voice would be enough to wake her, not wanting to touch her, afraid it would make the nightmare worse.
Chills ran up her spine from witnessing what seemed like possession.
“Chloe!” She reached out…
The cold, metal table underneath her was a stark contrast to her burning face from what seemed like pointless crying.
“Please! Stop!” No amount of her kicking and fighting was a match for what felt like millions of hands holding her down.
The laughter from the evil man who held a knife rang through her ears, mocking.
“Stay still, little girl”—he drew the knife closer to her face—“or it’ll just hurt worse.”
Looking at his abnormally large, black eyes, she was sure she was looking into the eyes of the devil …
“Chloe!”
Waking up to a hand coming for her, she jumped up from the bed. Her breathing was heavy and rushed, feeling as if she were slowly suffocating. She couldn’t catch her breath.
Elle quickly turned on the bedside lamp so she could see she was no longer in her nightmare. Then she ran toward Chloe’s side.
“It’s okay. It was just a dream. Breathe, Chloe.”
Taking deep breaths and looking around at her surroundings, Chloe realized she was no longer trapped in her nightmare.
Exhausted, she sank to the floor, holding her knees to her chest and silently crying into them, unable to show her face to Elle. She knew what Elle would think of her now. Freak.
Her skin still crawled from the devil’s touch. That was how vivid her nightmares were. It was as if she were reliving it all again.
Elle sat on the floor beside her, making sure there was plenty of space between them. “What you dreamed about really happened to you, didn’t it?”
Chloe didn’t respond, continuing her silent cries.
Taking that as a yes, Elle asked a different question, “Will you tell me what happened?”
Again, no response.
Elle took a deep breath. “I come home every day and lie straight to my parents’ faces, telling them about all my friends and how I had such a great day at school. It’s a heck of a lot easier than telling them how scared I am at school to even use the girls’ bathroom.
“When the kids started getting violent, that’s when I told them I joined the soccer team. It helped explain why I was getting bruises every time I was pushed into a locker or whatever mean thing they had planned for me that day.
“My parents believe whatever lie I tell them because they haven’t figured out how to handle my father becoming paralyzed yet. My dad’s addicted to his painkillers, so it’s like he’s not even here, and my mom is working as much as she can to support us all, along with caring for Josh and now Dad. I help with whatever I can when I get home, but I mostly fade into the background. I can care for myself, and I pretend that everything is fine.”
Chloe looked up to see that some tears had fallen down Elle’s face.
“I have a feeling that whatever happened to you doesn’t compare to what happened to me behind the school that day. But I do understand what you’re going through more than anyone else probably.
“When I came over to your house yesterday, I thought your dad’s drinking might be like my dad with painkillers, but now I’m not so sure. I asked my dad to take it easy since you were coming over, and he did. His pills also don’t make him mean; they just make him non-existent.”
Chloe didn’t know what to say.
“Now that you know all my secrets, whatever you tell me about what happened to you or about what it’s like at home, I swear that I will never, ever tell anyone. I lie and pretend every day, too, and I don’t want my parents to suffer with the truth, and I definitely don’t want Cassandra or Sebastian to find out that my dad is addicted to pills. I wished every night to find someone to talk to so I know that it’s real, and now I can with you.”
So I know that it’s real … That was Chloe’s problem; she was stuck between realities, questioning if her nightmares or what they said in the papers was real.
It was as if Elle could read her thoughts.
“What everyone is saying happened to you isn’t real. The car wreck wasn’t real. No one knows what really happened to you, but now you can tell someone you can trust.”
Chloe knew, if she were going to ever tell anyone, it would be Elle. She believed her when she had said she would never tell, and they did relate to each other in many ways. She’d had no clue of the extent of Elle’s suffering, and she was glad she had told her everything.
Chloe wanted to tell her, but she was afraid to, because once she said it out loud, she couldn’t take it back. Once the words were spoken… Then it is real.
“What really happened to you, Chloe?”
Taking a deep breath, she mustered up enough courage to unzip the thin jacket she had worn to bed. Slowly, she removed the jacket and revealed the various scars that marked her arms. This was the first time she had revealed the fact that she wasn’t just marked on her face.
Elle covered her mouth in shock, having no clue Chloe had been hiding further injuries.
Wiping away the tears on her face, Chloe rested the back of her head on the wall. Then she looked up at the white ceiling, her nightmare starting to play from the beginning.
“T-The day you got beaten up was the n-night … I got my scars.”
Twelve
The Murder of Elle Buchanan
The crazy events of the weekend had come and gone, just like their last week of school. Sitting in science class, the final class of the semester, they turned in the project they had finished at Elle’s.
Chloe had an emotional breakdown that night after she had awoken from her nightmare and become vulnerable enough to reveal he
r dark secrets. She had ended up telling Elle everything that had happened to her that horrible night. She had also told her about her parents and what it was like for her at home. Thankfully, Chloe didn’t regret it. She and Elle were in the same boat of secrets and had nowhere to turn except each other.
She’s the only one I will ever tell.
Chloe looked up to Elle. She was strong, whereas Chloe was not. She didn’t show her fear to the world, whereas she did. Therefore, she found herself depending on Elle to survive this hell and to keep her sanity. At this point in her life, at its lowest, the most important thing to her was their friendship.
Brrring.
Quickly, all the students ran out of the classroom, eager for Christmas break. Even the teachers were scurrying to leave.
Elle and Chloe continued to stay put, waiting for the hallways to clear. They were being extra careful because, now being two, their target was bigger.
“You’re going to come and spend the night at my house during the break, right?” Elle asked.
Um …
Laughing, Elle could see what she was thinking. “Next time, we can stay up all night, watching movies. We will just pull all-nighters, so no need to sleep.”
Chloe’s lips turned up into a smile. “Okay, deal.”
“I think it should be good now.”
They both stood, gathering their things, and ventured out into the hall. Chloe followed a step behind her, and even though the hallways were pretty much cleared out, she still kept her head toward the ground. The science class was in the back of the school, so they had a good distance to go, and Chloe didn’t want to take the chance of someone mocking her face on the way out for the last time.
They were getting closer to the front of the school and only had one turn left to get out of the halls. When Elle took the sharp turn first, Chloe heard the massive whack that sent Elle flying back to her butt.
As she held her nose, the blood started to trickle down her hand and face.
Chloe (Made Men #3) Page 4