Jill slumps against me, her head rolling forward. I catch her as she keels over.
“Has anyone called a fucking ambulance?” I yell.
Both girls shake their heads.
“Girls, get in the car. We’re going to ER.”
“Um, is that a good idea? Can’t she just go back to your place?” Alice asks, flashing me a surprised look. I choose to ignore it. These girls are fucking hopeless when it comes to the dangers of drugs.
Throwing my keys at Alice, I rattle off where my car is for the girls to bring it to the front of the house. I scoop Jill into my arms and hastily walk to the street, thankful that my presence seems to have gone unnoticed. Alice pulls up and goes to get out of my truck.
“Stay there, you’re driving. We don’t have time to fuck around.” My teacher mode is in full play.
I buckle my belt with Jill lying across my lap. Her skin is pasty white and she’s no warmer than she was sitting outside. Smoothing the hair away from her face, I’m absolutely livid. Just fucking wait till I find out who spiked her drink. I’ll fucking kill them.
We’re sitting in the emergency room. Alice has relayed all the info to the nurse at the desk, and I’m making a mental note to ban Jill from attending any parties in the future without me there—college or not. I can’t protect her if I’m not there to look out for her.
A nurse in scrubs comes storming out of the emergency doors with tears in her eyes. I notice the resemblance immediately: this is her mom.
“Shit,” I mumble under my breath. Alice throws me a triumphant look. Jill has told me so many times that her mom works at the hospital but in the heat of the moment, all I wanted to do was make sure she was okay.
“Jilly baby,” she whispers, running her hand over Jill’s hair.
I feel awkward, because she’s still unresponsive in my arms.
“Bring her through here,” she says to me.
I nod and follow her through to the ER, placing Jill on the stretcher. The doctors tell everyone to leave the room to so they can check her out. After a moment, her mom walks over to me, frowning. I tense, because I know what’s coming.
“So, who are you?” Jill’s mom eyes me suspiciously. “A little old for a high school party, aren’t you?”
Should I tell her I’m her daughter’s boyfriend? Her teacher?
She’s going to find out eventually, and I want her to know how much her daughter means to me—though based on the look she’s giving me, I doubt she’d believe me. Can I blame her?
“Eli. I’m a friend of hers.” I do my best to be vague. This isn’t the right situation for her mom to find out the truth. “Alice called me when she noticed something wasn’t right.”
“I appreciate you bringing my daughter in here,” she finally replies.
We’ve been sitting in the waiting room for hours and the sun is starting to come up. Alice and Sophia have been asleep for the last couple of hours, but I haven’t even closed my eyes. I want to be awake in case she wakes up.
Jill’s mom comes through the doors and announces quietly to me that Jill is asking for me. The look in her eyes tells me she knows I’m more than just a friend. I nod, and go to wake the girls but she shakes her head, telling me to let them sleep.
Probably a good idea. They’ve been through a lot.
I walk through triage to a small cubical in the corner with the curtains drawn. I move around and see Jill. She’s hooked up to a drip but she’s awake. Her eyes meet mine and she starts crying.
“Oh Eli, I’m so sorry.” She sniffles. She holds her arms out and I hug her. I lean over and kiss her on the forehead, trying to calm her down.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby. It’s not your fault.” I reach down and caress her face, wiping away her tears. “None of this is your fault, okay?” I hug her again, and we stay that way until she tells me she needs a tissue.
“Come home with me tonight? I want to take care of you,” I ask Jill quietly.
She nods and looks at her mom. She’s standing by the curtains with her arms crossed, as if she’s trying to work me out. I hope to God she hasn’t figured out I’m her teacher.
“You can look after her,” she finally responds. “Only because we’re that short-staffed here that I can’t take her home myself. We will be discussing exactly who you are though, you know that?”
I nod.
“Oh, and one more thing: you’ll need to take both Sophia and Alice with you. Is that going to be a problem?”
I shake my head.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jill
The sun blinds me as I squint my eyes through my pounding head. My mouth is dryer than the Sahara Desert and my bladder is about to burst. How much did I have to drink? I sit up in bed and look around, tying to place where I am.
I’m in Eli’s room. My mind is hazy, and trying to think makes my head hurt more, but I recognize his timber-framed bed and the matching dressing table that sits near the door.
How the hell did I get to his house last night? I don’t remember anything of the party but I do recall being in the hospital and seeing Mom. What the hell happened? Oh God… Does Mom know about us?
I can hear Eli shuffling around outside the room. Getting up to use the bathroom, I hurt so much that it feels like I ran a marathon last night. I’m aching everywhere and so fucking tired. I stumble over to the bathroom, taking what feels like hours to pee, and then I stumble back to the bed. Fuck, I’m freezing. My whole body shakes uncontrollably. As I’m getting back under the covers, Eli walks in, talking on the phone. He stops by the door.
“Dad, I’ve got to go. I’ll come over this afternoon.” He hangs up and walks over, helping me with the covers. Once I’m tucked in, he crouches down beside me. There’s no emotion on his face and I’m not sure what he’s feeling right now.
“How are you feeling?” he asks. His voice cracks, and I see the concern in his eyes.
“Sore,” I mutter. My mouth feels as though it’s full of cotton. “What the hell happened last night?”
“Rohypnol, Jill. You were fucking drugged,” he growls, running his hand through his hair. “Jesus fucking Christ, you could have been raped last night.” He turns and punches the wall on his way out of the room.
Who would want to drug me? I can’t remember last night at all and I’m scared. Eli comes back in with some aspirin, water, and buttered toast. Even though I know his anger isn’t directed at me, I feel upset that I’m the cause of it.
“Here, drink this.”
He sighs and sits beside me on the bed as I struggle to sit up. His eyes are red, and I can tell he hasn’t slept.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go lose it. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry at the fucking dickhead who did this to you. I’m angry that I wasn’t there for you.”
“So nothing happened to me last night?” My voice is laced with worry.
He shakes his head no.
“How did you know to come and get me?” I ask, puzzled. Did I call him?
“Alice and Sophia called me.” His jaw twitches. “I take it they know about us?”
I nod, not meeting his gaze. He sighs, then closes his eyes.
Where does this leave us?
I have a bit more of my toast, take the aspirin, and then roll over and close my eyes. I rouse from sleep a few times. I can hear Eli on the phone again, but I can’t make out what he’s saying before I fall back under again.
Eli drops me at home in the early evening. He doesn’t come inside, for the fear my mom will be home. As I reach my front door, I can sense someone watching me. Looking around, I make the mistake of looking toward Jamie’s house. And there he is: sitting on a chair on his porch, looking directly at me with a smirk.
God, I hope he didn’t see Eli.
I shiver, remembering him pressing himself against me last night. Did he have something to do with my drink getting spiked? I tighten my jacket around me and walk inside. Fucking creep.
Mom is in the living room w
hen I walk in, just as I expected. I texted her on the way and I know she’ll be ready with a thousand questions. I smile at her, ignoring the anxiety in my stomach, and sit down, bracing myself.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, wrapping her arms around me.
I shrug, snuggling into her embrace.
“I’m okay. Tired, but okay. Nothing happened, Mom. I’m okay,” I say, as tears begin to form in her eyes.
“I know you are, but if the girls hadn’t found you . . .” She shakes her head.
“But they did,” I remind her.
She nods and kisses my head. “So, are you going to tell me about Eli?” she asks, her lips turning into a frown.
“What about him?” I ask. I know there’s no point denying something is going on, but I’m not ready for her to know exactly who he is just yet.
“I’m not buying this friends bullshit.”
“Mom.” I laugh. I’m not used to hearing her swear. “He’s a good guy.”
“A good guy who looks at least six years older than you.”
“And last time I checked, I was eighteen,” I remind her. “He is older than me, yes, but I like him a lot. He looks after me, Mom.”
She stares at me for a moment, and lets the discussion drop.
I spend the rest of the afternoon lying on the sofa with Mom waiting on me. I think she feels bad that she couldn’t be there for me last night. I’ve had messages from Sophia and Alice—who is staying with Sophia—and Eli, all checking on me to make sure I’m okay.
Alice walks into the living room as I stir awake.
“Jillybean. How’re you feeling?” She leans over to hug me, and by the look on her face I can see she feels bad. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the asshole who spiked my drink, Al.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe anyone would do that to me.” I smile at Mom as she carries in a tray of cookies and chocolate milk—my favorite thing to snack on as a kid.
“Sorry you had to stay at Sophia’s.” I wince. I hate that she came all this way to see me and we’ve barely spent any time together. I raise my eyebrows as she flushes. Alice is never embarrassed, so right away I know something is up.
“Spill,” I grin. “I mention her name and you blush? What happened?”
“We kissed and fooled around a bit.” She looks up at me. “I like her,” she admits, her fingers fidgeting like crazy. I laugh because I’ve never seen her so nervous.
My eyes widen. “As is like like her like her?”
Al nods. “The first one.”
I shouldn’t be surprised—especially since I knew she’d fooled around with plenty of girls—but I never saw this coming. Actually, I didn’t think Sophia would be into girls. Even though she kissed me at the party, I assumed that was for show because everything that comes out of her mouth is boy-related.
“Good for you.” I grin, reaching for her hand. “I think it’s cute that my two closest friends are crushing on each other.”
She groans, her head falling into my lap.
“God, don’t put it like that. I feel stupid. It’s been a while since I’ve been this into someone.” Her muffled voice chokes out.
I stroke her hair and smile. “Does this mean you’ll be back to see me soon?” I giggle.
“You’ll get enough of me next year,” she mumbles. “Both of you will, actually. She might have mentioned attending UC…”
“Oooh,” I tease. “Allie’s in lurve.”
She reaches over and whacks me on the arm, a smile on her face. “I wish I didn’t have to go, Jilly.” She throws her arms around me and squeezes tight. “Call me, okay? And for the record? Your teacher is hawt. I’m so proud of you for tapping that.”
“Thanks,” I laugh, glancing at the open door. God, I hope Mom isn’t lurking around in the hall. “Text me when you get back. Love you.”
She blows me a kiss as she walks out the door. “Love you too.”
***
I knock lightly on Eli’s office door and wait for his reply. The hall is empty, but I’m still nervous about being seen with him. He calls out, so I push the door open and sneak inside. He’s sitting at his desk. His face softens when he sees me and he stands up.
“How are you?” he says, walking over to my side.
I smile as he touches my cheek, then leans down to kiss me.
“I wanted to call, but with your mom . . .”
I nod, because I understand. “I’m okay. Still a little shaken up, but I’m better than I was. I wanted to say thank you for coming to get me from the party. I know how much of a risk that was for you, because anyone could have seen us. I just want you to know I appreciate it.”
“You always come first, Jill. I didn’t give a fuck about my job. All I could think about was you.”
“What if someone did see you?” I ask, nervously. “Jamie was there.”
“Then we’ll deal with it.” He shrugs. “Why worry about that now?”
I nod. He’s right: worrying isn’t going to change anything. I lean over and press my mouth against his. We avoid each other as much as possible in school, so I want to make the most of the moment I have with him.
“I’m running late for a class,” he mumbles, kissing my lips. “And I’m sure you have class. Call me tonight, okay?”
I nod and pull away from him. He watches me as I back out of his office, a smirk on my lips.
I check my watch and realize I am running late. I was supposed to be in Chemistry as of four minutes ago. Shit. Maybe I should’ve gotten Eli to give me a late pass. I laugh at the thought of asking him for one.
I see Jamie standing in the hallway ahead of me, and my heart begins to pound faster. I’m hoping to God he didn’t just see me leave Eli’s office. His eyes narrow as I near him, and he steps forward, blocking my path.
“Running late, are we?”
“Looks that way, huh?” I retort, my voice stiff.
He chuckles and falls into step next to me.
“What do you want, Jamie?” I sigh. I’m getting sick of his games.
“Hey, I just want to talk,” he says, throwing his hands up. “I was thinking how little we really know about each other.”
My grip tightens on my backpack as I pick up my pace. “Yeah, and I’d like to keep it that way,” I mutter.
“That’s not very neighborly of you, Jill. You didn’t seem to mind listening in on my private conversation with my dad the other week.”
My skin prickles at the reminder. He laughs at my reaction, enjoying my discomfort.
“If it were that private you wouldn’t have been yelling at the top of your lungs,” I snap. “You know what? This ends now. Whatever you think you have on me, just let it go. I’m not going to let you get under my skin anymore. I have no idea why you hate me so much, but please, do me a favor and leave me out of your stupid little games.”
“Yeah, it’s stupid until I start telling people,” he replies, his eyes hooded with anger. “Like your dad. What do you think he would say if he knew?”
Something inside me snaps. I turn around and shove him. “You got me, Jamie.” I hold my hands up, sarcasm dripping off my voice. “Do whatever you need to do. Tell my dad about Eli. Tell the whole world, I don’t care—”
“Wait, what?” His eyes widen, a little smirk creeping across his lips. “What exactly are we talking about? You and Eli? You and a teacher?” He laughs as though he can’t believe his luck, and shakes his head. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
Oh, shit.
“What do you mean?” I say, frustrated. “You’ve been all but telling me that you knew since last fucking semester.”
“Last semester? Holy shit, Jill. You’re a regular little slut, huh? You’ve been putting out for Mr. A all this time?” He laughs. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
My face reddens. I need to shut my mouth. “I’m late for class,” I mumble quietly. I storm past him and into class, leaving him chuckling
by the door. As I sink into my seat, the enormity of what just happened hits me.
I just gave my worst enemy all the ammunition he needs to ruin Eli and me.
We’re fucked.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Eli
Jill: Are you free? I need to speak to you now. Important.
I text her back, telling her to come to my office. Galleu and most of the senior staff are away for the afternoon at a conference. If anyone were to ask, Jill was just here to ask about an essay. I have the notes ready to go.
She knocks on the door and I rise from my chair and walk over. My pulse is racing, but that’s not unusual. Every time I’m faced with the possibility of seeing her at school, I feel like we’re on the verge of getting caught. What I hate most is there’s a small part of me that enjoys the rush it gives me.
I open the door, letting her slip inside. She smiles at me, her eyes falling downcast as she moves over to the seat opposite my desk.
“So, what’s going on?” I say, clearing my throat. I walk back over to my desk and sit down while I wait for her to speak.
She breathes out suddenly and closes her eyes. “I’ve fucked everything up,” she mumbles. “I thought he knew, I was just sick of him trying to push me all the time. I’m so sorry.”
“Who are we talking about?” I ask her. I’m trying to remain calm, but the thought of anyone knowing about us…I loosen my shirt, aware that the room has suddenly become very stuffy.
“Jamie. He knows. He knows because I fucking told him,” she says with a bitter laugh. “How could I be so stupid? I swear, I thought he knew.”
“Hey,” I say. I reach across the desk and take her hands in mine. “Whatever happened, we’ll deal with it, okay? You haven’t ruined anything, Jill. We can cope with this, okay?”
She nods, her expression doubtful.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
She recites the story and my body goes tense. Okay, this is pretty bad. But I refuse to let on how deflated I’m feeling because the last thing we need right now is her breaking. I have to keep her strong, make her believe that Jamie knowing means nothing.
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