Catch Me If I Fall

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  I nod.

  He takes a deep breath.

  “Alright. Well, I guess I will stalk her page in case she posts any pictures, but seriously, this is insane. Maybe we need to change the locks too.”

  SKYLAR

  In the morning, I have a bad feeling when I grab my phone to turn it on. It’s full of messages - voicemails and texts.

  I listen to the voicemails first. It’s Alec. I contemplate just deleting it, but I start listening and he sounds off. He goes on and on about Mike and not being able to protect me, and about how stupid he was, and how much he loves me.

  I feel conflicted about talking to him, until I check the text messages and I just drop the phone on the floor.

  My heart sinks.

  We are over.

  ALEC

  “What?” I look over toward my door. Kyle is back and standing there like something is seriously wrong.

  “What?” I ask again.

  He throws his phone at me. “The bitch used my phone to text Skylar.”

  With shaky hands, I grab his phone and look through the text messages. There are pictures of her kissing me while I’m passed out.

  I drop the phone and run past Kyle to the bathroom, and puke my guts out. I don’t even think it was the beer, which I will never drink again, but I’m just sick to my stomach at the whole situation.

  “What are you going to do?” asks Kyle when I get back.

  I look at him. I feel like crap. A few drinks are not worth losing the love of my life.

  “There is nothing I can do,” I tell him. “She is never going to look at me again.”

  “Alec—”

  “No. It’s over, okay? Just. Please, just get out.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  ALEC

  I hear Kyle yelling right outside of my room: “Everyone, clean up and get out. Take the beer with you too.”

  “What’s going on?” one of the guys asks.

  “Nothing to worry about. Just please, clean up and get out.”

  Kyle comes back in my room and I hear him close the door behind him. I’m still sitting on my bed, in disbelief that this happened. I look up at him.

  “Are you sure nothing happened?”

  “What the hell, Kyle. I was passed out. I didn’t do anything.”

  “I’m not saying that you did anything. I’m talking about Lizzie. Are you sure nothing happened?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t remember anything, man.”

  “Get dressed,” he says. “We’re going to the police. You are filing charges.”

  In the middle of this mess, I actually laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  He crosses his arms across his chest and waits.

  “I can’t do that, Kyle. For starters, they are going to know I’m underage and I had a few drinks. And there is no proof that anything happened.”

  “You mean, besides the pictures she took?” he asks.

  “It’s going to be her word against mine, Kyle. Do you really think they will believe I was passed out and she took advantage of the situation? Come on.”

  “Look, man, whatever she did was wrong. She was sober. I know it. James knows it. Do you really think she will stop there? She harassed Skylar all through high school and now, it is you, and she crossed the line to a whole new level. She is not going to stop.”

  I stop to think about it, “Worse case scenario, they do what? Grant me a restraining order and give her a slap on the wrist?”

  “Alec, just stop, okay? You don’t know that. This is wrong. Just go in, tell your side of the story, and let them take care of the rest. You have James and me to back you up. Just please don’t keep quiet about this. She is crazy and she already took too much from you.”

  I put a shirt on and follow him out, still not sure I’m doing the right thing, and hoping like hell that no one hears about this.

  We go into the police station and Kyle does most of the talking. I expect the cop to laugh in my face, but he doesn’t. Surprisingly, he says this happens more often than I can imagine. One cop takes us to a room and asks a million questions. About halfway through it, he sends someone out to bring Lizzie in, and after about thirty more minutes of questioning, I can hear her yell at the cops in the room next to us.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong!” She pauses. “No, I don’t need a lawyer! Look at me! Do you seriously think I did anything wrong?”

  Someone closes the door and it gets quiet.

  “I’ll be back,” says the cop who’s been talking to us.

  He comes back about an hour later. He hands me a sheet of paper that was signed by her. She described everything that happened, likely because she really doesn’t think she did anything wrong. I read the paper, thankful that she didn’t take things as far as I thought she could have, but still in disbelief that she did what she did to get those pictures.

  “There is enough on there to file charges for sexual battery,” says the cop.

  “Really?” I ask confused.

  He nods. “She touched you without your consent. And the pictures with her statement are enough proof.”

  I take a deep breath. “Is there any way that this doesn’t become public?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “The news will be all over this. They are going to make an example of her, as they should, but your name doesn’t have to be mentioned anywhere.” He pauses. “I do recommend you stay off social media. People can be cruel. There will be people saying stupid things to justify what happened. You are better off ignoring everything until it goes away.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I say and start to get up.

  “Not so fast, son. Let’s talk about the drinking situation.”

  Kyle, James, and I just look at one another.

  “Who bought the beers?” he asks.

  “I’m not sure. It was brought over to our apartment. There were a lot of people there,” says James.

  “Let me guess, you don’t remember the names of everyone.”

  We shake our heads.

  He nods. “I believe you learned the lesson that you shouldn’t be drinking at all?”

  “Definitely,” I say.

  He lets us go and we leave shortly after. In the car, the first thing out of Kyle’s mouth is, “You’re not going to tell Skylar, are you?”

  I shake my head. “I can’t, Kyle. You warned me. She warned me. Just let her be. Please.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  SKYLAR

  Mom opens the door and gives me a look that says it all: She knows. My guess is that Kyle called Sebastian, and Sebastian told her. I don’t think she knows what to say. I keep looking at her expecting her to say something, but she doesn’t say anything at all. She is probably thinking, ‘I’m sorry, but I warned you that long distance relationships don’t work and you didn’t stand a chance’.

  At the thought of that, I break into tears.

  She sits on my bed and hugs me. I then lay my head down on her lap and cry as she plays with my hair until I fall asleep.

  I’ve gone through a lot over the past year, and this is just the cherry on top of it all. And it hurts. It hurts almost as bad as losing Kristi. It feels like losing someone I love all over again. When Kyle calls, I don’t answer. Alec never calls. I cut off all social media from my phone because I couldn’t handle it anymore.

  I can’t sing anymore. It’s like I lost the part of me that used to enjoy that.

  I avoid going outside because I’m afraid he will come home and I fear seeing him again. I fear that this pain will get so much worse.

  Mom and dad don’t know the details of what happened. I made it very clear that I don’t want to hear his name again. I know they tried to find out from Alec’s mom, but I don’t think she knows either.

  Time passes.

  He doesn’t come home anymore, but things aren’t getting any easier. I spend my time either at home, or at the cemetery talking to Kristi. Sebastian turns out to be the brother I always wished I had. He is always
trying to keep me busy and although I’m thankful everyday for having him around, I still don’t feel like… me. Today, when I got to the cemetery, mom and dad follow me. They find me weeping at Kristi’s grave. I’m not sure how long they’ve been here but I’m sure they heard all about how much I miss Alec.

  “Honey?” Mom says as she sits next to me.

  I look over at her with tears in my eyes.

  “Please tell us what happened between you and Alec.”

  I’m about to tell her no, when daddy says, “I feel like I should pay him a visit and find out for myself.”

  Mom gives him a look.

  “Come on, honey. Let’s go home,” she says.

  “I need to be here a little longer,” I say. “Please. I will be home soon.”

  “Thirty minutes,” says dad and I agree.

  After about twenty minutes, I force myself to get up and walk home. I walk fast, as it’s already getting dark. I’m almost home, when I hear the sound of a car speed up by me and cut me off, almost hitting me as he does so. That creepy guy, Jason, jumps out of the car.

  “Get in!” he orders.

  I don’t even stop to think. I run the other way. He catches up to me, grabbing the back of my hoodie and pulling me against him. I start kicking and screaming, until he puts his hand over my mouth to prevent people from hearing me. I bite his hand… hard… Surprised, he lets go long enough to where I can get away and I take off running again.

  I pull my phone from my pocket, but I can hear him. He is so close. I turn to see where he is and I trip on the sidewalk. My phone goes flying. I quickly get up and start running again, until he grabs me. He puts his arms around my waist, picks me up, and carries me to the car. Again, I kick, scream, and give him a hard time while he tries to get me in the car.

  “Damn it, girl. I’m trying really hard not to hurt you.”

  “Let me go!” I yell as loud as I can.

  I hear someone say, “Hey! I’m calling the cops!”

  “Get in the car!” he orders again. “Or I will go after your little boyfriend.”

  “He is not my boyfriend. Let me go!”

  “Ha. Funny.” He gives up on trying to get me in the front seat. He opens the trunk, throws me in, and closes it.

  I kick and scream some more, but I don’t feel the car moving, and then, the trunk is opening and Sebastian is standing there, with his nose all bloody.

  He helps me out of the car. I’m in full panic mode.

  “Where is he?” I ask.

  Sebastian nods over toward the front of the car, and I see dad has him pinned down on the ground, and then I hear sirens.

  “We came looking for you when you didn’t get back on time,” explains Sebastian.

  Officer Barrett takes us to the police station while the other car takes him in. Mom meets us there shortly after. I’m still in shock and I can’t stop shaking. I don’t notice that Sebastian is gone until he is already back and cleaned up. He has a huge bandage over his nose.

  Officer Barrett comes to talk to us and asks us to step into her supervisors’ office.

  “Who is he?” asks dad.

  I can see the look of concern in her eyes.

  “Why was he trying to kidnap my daughter?” he asks.

  “Sam,” she says, and I know this is going to be bad. I just have a feeling. She glances at me before looking at my dad. “He says he will only talk to Skylar. No parents in the room.”

  “Not a chance,” says dad.

  She nods. “It’s your decision, but if you allow this, he will be handcuffed while they talk and there will be two officers in the room with her the entire time. And you can watch everything that is said from the room next to it.”

  Dad looks at mom, then back at officer Barrett. “Why was he even locked up before?”

  She hesitates. “He tried to abduct his high school girlfriend from her home. There was also a long history of abuse there, which, of course, her parents didn’t know until that night when she got scared and told them about it.”

  He shakes his head.

  “I will do it if Sebastian is allowed in the room with me,” I say.

  “Skylar,” warns dad.

  “I want to know, Dad.”

  He sighs. Officer Barrett steps out for a few minutes and when she comes back, she says, “Okay. Are you ready?”

  I stand up and start to follow her with Sebastian next to me. To my surprise, he reaches for my hand and holds on to it.

  The guy, Jason, grins when we walk into the room. I have this horrible feeling and I can feel my hand shake until Sebastian gives it a squeeze.

  I take a deep breath. One of the officers says I can sit across from him, but I choose to stand up close to the wall, in between the officers.

  “Who are you?” I ask.

  He is handcuffed to the desk, and he starts to tap his fingers on it. “Just someone who has a friend in common with you.”

  “You’re lying. You didn’t know Kristi.”

  He tilts his head to the side. “But I feel like I do,” he says, “Mike told me all about her, you, and your little boyfriend.”

  “Mike?” My voice breaks as I say his name.

  He grins. “I met him before he got transferred. He seemed pretty desperate. He said he needed someone on the outside to protect you from your boyfriend. That it was only a matter of time until he destroyed you. I volunteered for the job,” he winks at me and it creeps me out even more.

  “What the hell were you planning to do with her?” asks Sebastian.

  He shrugs. “Take her away from this damn town… for starters.”

  I can hear officer Barrett’s voice, “Get them out. We have everything we need.”

  We get escorted out and mom hugs me right outside of the room.

  “Can we go home now?” I ask, fighting back the tears.

  Dad looks at officer Barrett but she doesn’t answer right away.

  “There is more, isn’t there?” asks dad.

  “We had someone check out his hotel room. They found pictures of Skylar and Alec everywhere, but mostly Skylar. He seems to have become very infatuated with her. Honestly,” she says, “He might not be the only one. If Mike was determined to ‘protect’ Skylar from Alec, he could have talked to others about her just like he did with this guy. I’m going to keep one of our guys outside of your house until we know more.”

  Mom helps me up and we go back to the house. I’m about to disappear into my room, when mom stops me.

  “Can we talk to you?” she asks.

  “I don’t want to talk about Alec, Mom.”

  “That is fine sweetheart. We just want to run an idea by you.”

  I nod and we sit down on the couch.

  “We were wondering if you’d like to stay with your uncle for a while.”

  “How long is a while? I have school.”

  She seems uncomfortable. “Skylar, honey, after whatever happened with you and Alec, your uncle had suggested that maybe you can homeschool. Maybe even graduate early, like you wanted to at one point.”

  I shake my head. The reason why I wanted that was to be with him… But getting away from this town doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

  “We didn’t like the idea before,” says mom, “But after what happened today… I think that this is the safest option.”

  “I’d like to do that.”

  I look at dad and he seems sad.

  “But I don’t have to. I will be fine here too.”

  “You should do this, Skylar. It will be good for you,” he says.

  I officially move to Atlanta that weekend. I feel relieved. No more fear of some random person stalking me. No more fear of running into Alec.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  TWO MONTHS LATER

  ALEC

  Mom and dad surprise me Saturday late morning by just showing up. They say they came to see me play but I know this is about a lot more than that.

  I let them in the apartment and as soon as I close th
e door and turn around, mom says, “Did you forget how to use your phone, son?”

  “Sorry, Mom. I have been practicing a lot.” And it is the truth. To keep my mind busy that is all I do with the little free time that I have. I haven’t even been back home since that one day when I went to try to talk to Skylar, before everything really went down.

  Mom takes a look around the apartment in disgust. It is a complete mess. Kyle and I work when we are not in school or practice, so James spends most of the time here and he is not very good about cleaning up after himself. Not to mention that he always has people over.

  “Let’s go get some lunch before you have to leave for the game,” she says.

  “Okay. Can Kyle come too?”

  She hesitates. “Maybe we should go alone. You haven’t been home in a long time. We have a lot to talk about.”

  “I’ve been busy with baseball, Mom.”

  “Kyle can come,” says dad.

  Mom looks over at him and he just shrugs.

  I go get Kyle from his room and we go to a nearby pancake house.

  We sit down, order, and mom starts to play with her straw.

  “What?” I ask.

  “What happened with you and Skylar?”

  “Mom. I’m not talking about Skylar.” I shake my head. Why did she have to bring her up? I clear my throat. “How is she?”

  Dad tilts his head to the side. “I thought we weren’t talking about Skylar,” he says in a cold tone.

  “Dad. I just want to know how she is, okay?” I snap.

  His tone changes, “First of all, I don’t care how old you are. Watch your attitude. And if you want to know how she is, you better talk first.”

  Kyle shakes his head. “Dude. Just tell them!”

  Mom and dad both stare at me. I can’t tell them. I just can’t say the words. I just look over at Kyle. “Go for it.”

  Mom and dad look from me to Kyle.

  “Do you remember Lizzie?” he asks.

  Mom nods. “The girl who got expelled and is living back at home, right? We heard people talking about how she is out on bail but could get one to six years in prison for taking advantage of some guy.”