He inched to the edge of his chair. “Then who was it?”
I couldn’t tell him. He wasn’t from Clovert, but it was a small town. I couldn’t risk that word would get out and Josh would share those pictures or, God, the video. But if Camden was still sitting there, wearing his hero cape, thinking he could fix even one of my problems, he had to know that it was an impossible pursuit.
And the sooner he realized it, the better off he’d be.
“My, um, date didn’t go so well.” Staring at the floor, I grabbed the bottom of my hoodie and pulled it over my head, revealing a black tank top that almost blended in among the watercolor of my bruises.
“Nora,” he breathed, walking over to me, stopping only inches away. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“No. No. No. You can’t show me these and leave it at that. You look like you were in a car wreck.” He prowled around me in a circle, not touching me. But his gaze became tangible, raking over me like the softest feather.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, God,” he whispered, cupping both hands over his mouth. “Is that a splinter in your shoulder?”
I fought back a gag, and I didn’t even realize tears had started to drip down my cheeks. After everything Josh had done to me, I still felt more exposed standing in front of Camden, looking like I did.
“Yeah,” I croaked, my voice feeling like it had traveled over a mile of gravel before escaping my throat. “They’re all over my back.”
Then I waited, bracing for the explosion.
Camden was a good kid, so I was fairly confident he wouldn’t just leave because he’d seen them. I had an overprotective brother, which meant I was familiar with how some male brains worked. Camden would get mad first. He’d lecture me on why I needed to tell somebody. He’d rant and rave about how he was going to kill whoever had done it to me.
Yet the universe loved to prove me wrong.
Maybe one day, I’d learn to stop underestimating Camden Cole.
He stood in front of me, bent at the knees to bring us eye to eye. With soft and gentle hands, he wrapped them around my forearms. “Are you okay?”
Short of playing Slapjack and me giving him the occasional titty twister, Camden and I didn’t touch often. We were kids; that kind of intimacy was still a foreign concept. But with one simple gesture, a connection from such a thoughtful and caring human being, who when faced with some of the most embarrassing and disgusting things life had to offer, all he wanted to know was if I was okay. And for a girl like me, it didn’t just open the flood gates. It tore them off the hinges.
“No,” I cried, crashing into his chest.
He released my arms but only so he could wrap me in a hug. It hurt like hell, but I shuffled close, our bodies becoming flush head to toe. A chill rocked down my spine—not because of the temperature in the room, but because Camden was so warm and safe that any part of me that wasn’t connected to him felt as though it were at risk of freezing.
“Oh, God, Cam, it was so bad,” I confessed through sobs. “I didn’t want him to touch me like that… He, he, he… He just pushed up my skirt… And he taped it. And, now, I don’t know what to do. He says he’s going to tell everyone. Oh, God. I didn’t even want to be there. I just wanted to go back to the creek and be with you.”
“I know. It’s okay. I’m here now.”
Pinned against his chest, I could hear his heart pounding at a marathon pace, but he kept his cool, murmuring gentle words I couldn’t make out. They soothed my soul if for no other reason than they were coming from his mouth.
Standing there in the middle of the room in damp clothes, he held me until every last tear had drained from my body. When I had nothing left to give, I sagged in his arms, broken and spent.
And still, he didn’t leave.
“Have you told anyone else about this?” he asked.
“No.”
He sighed. “Is there anything I could do to convince you to turn this kid in? We could call the cops or my mom. She could be down here in a matter of hours.”
For a brief second, the drawer in my head slipped open, snapshots of bone-chilling memories assaulting me from all angles.
Josh’s smile.
My screams.
The weight of him as I pleaded for mercy.
I slammed the drawer shut so fast it made me jerk. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
He rumbled a muted groan but hugged me tighter. “Can you do me a favor, then?”
I nodded against his chest.
“I’m not much of a nurse, but I’m clumsy enough to have gotten my fair share of splinters. How about you grab me some tweezers and let me get those things out of your back before they get infected?”
Great. I was sure that was exactly how he wanted to spend his day.
“You don’t have to—”
“Nora. Please. Just let me take care of you. I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I’ll respect that, but there is no possible way my legs are going to be able to carry me away from you today. So, please. Let me do this.”
In that moment, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t have given Camden.
When I finally stepped out of his arms, the loss was huge, but he smiled, making the warmth linger.
I started to walk away, but he suddenly stopped me.
“Hey, Nora.”
“Yeah?” I whispered.
“It’s gonna be okay. It probably doesn’t feel like it right now, and I’m not even going to pretend to know how you feel. But I promise I’ll make it okay.”
He couldn’t possibly promise that, but I was so desperate for any sort of relief that I allowed myself to believe him anyway.
After slipping on a dry pair of Ramsey’s basketball shorts, Camden sat on my bed and picked every single splinter from my back with the patience of a saint. When day shifted to night, I expected him to race home for dinner the way he always had when we were at the creek. Instead, he reclined on the bed beside me, kicked up his legs, and asked for another sandwich.
We talked for a long time about nothing but somehow also everything.
He even got a few smiles out of me.
Eventually, we started laughing and it was the euphoric reprieve I never thought I’d feel again.
Nothing was fixed. Nothing was better. Nothing was even remotely close to being okay.
But with Camden beside me, I wasn’t alone.
I fell asleep that night listening to him talk about why he believed aliens would one day inhabit the Earth—that is, if they weren’t here already. I woke up a while later and he was asleep too, but his arm was under my head and I was snuggled into his side.
I should have woken him up. With my luck, he’d get shipped back off to Alberton again for staying out all night. But when the bitter chill of reality is all you’ve ever known, you learn to hold on with both hands to whatever warmth you can find.
So I went back to sleep—safe with my one true friend.
Or so I’d thought.
Just after midnight, I snuck out from under Nora. She was sound asleep, her lips parted in peaceful slumber. I hated to go, but if I wanted to see the light of day again, I needed to get home and do some serious lying about falling asleep at the creek.
I found a colored pencil on her nightstand and a tore a scrap of paper out of a sketch pad on her vanity.
Nora,
I have to get home before my grandparents send out a search team. I’m sure I’ll have to do a million extra chores in the morning, so I’ll probably be late getting to the creek. Here’s a fun thought… You should meet me at my grandparents' house and do them with me. You like picking up dog poop, right? You could finally meet Satan’s Chihuahua. Tempting, I know.
2560 S. Turner Hill
I liked hanging out with you last night. You snore like a Grizzly bear and there was a puddle of drool on my shoulder when I woke up, but you didn’t kick, so that’s all that really matters.
Thanks for trusting me. You won’t regret it.
Your true friend,
Cam
P.S. My parents have forbidden me from going by Cam because “If they had wanted me to go by Cam, they wouldn’t have named me Camden.” I’ve always liked the way you say it though. I wish I could always feel like Cam.
P.S.S. I’ll make lunch tomorrow. Fair’s fair.
P.S.S.S. I got an A in English this year and still have no idea if I’m doing the P.S. thing right.
P.S.S.S.S. I’d rather be there with you.
She didn’t budge as I left the note and our ten-dollar bill sitting on the nightstand. Thankful she didn’t have a screen, I snuck out of her window. How she slept at all after what had happened to her, I had no idea.
I’d tried to play it cool and not pressure her into talking about it, but as I’d picked those splinters from her back, I’d plotted the death of a kid I’d never even met a dozen times over.
My Nora was feisty and filled to the brim with attitude and giggles, so to feel her crumbling in my arms was a rusty knife to the gut. I had not one damn clue what I was going to do about the things she’d revealed to me. Her house was falling apart around her, the stench of smoke and mold worrying me the most. Her room was nice though, and I’d double checked that the lock on her door worked, so it eased my mind to know she at least had a safe and comfortable space to sleep at night. Though, if she didn’t do something about the fucking asshole who had forced himself on her in the process of leaving those marks on her, there was no guarantee she’d stay safe.
As to be expected, my grandpa was sitting on the porch when I got home just after midnight. I braced as I walked up the driveway, mentally preparing myself to witness my own murder.
But whatever hell he was about to rain down over me, Nora was worth it.
Being there for her. Holding her. Making sure she knew I’d always have her back. Totally worth it. The fact that she’d actually trusted me enough to let me into her life proved it had been the right thing—the only thing—I could have done.
Grandpa had a cigar between his fingers and a glass of lemonade at his side, his gray beard casting a shadow on his belly in the porch light. If he was smoking, it was a guarantee that Grandma was already asleep, and I couldn’t decide if it was a good sign or not.
Squaring my shoulders, I stopped at the first step, rested my hand on the wooden railing, and peered up at him. “Sorry, I’m—”
“How’s Nora?” he asked with a wicked grin.
Outstanding. Grandma had been running her mouth again. Now, not only was I in trouble for staying out late, but I was in trouble for staying out all night with a girl. Awesome.
Ignoring his question, I rambled on with a carefully crafted lie so mediocre that it had me wishing the lemonade was a beer instead. “I was at the creek and got tired from work. Then I fell asleep under the—”
“Save it, Camden. We’re all just relieved a girl actually wants to spend time with you. Give me a heads-up next time you plan on knocking boots all night. Your grandma was worried sick.”
I blinked up at him, stunned into silence.
On one hand, I was thoroughly insulted by the way they were all relieved. I mean, what the hell was that? I was thirteen, and they kept me busy with chores and stupid sports I hated with a passion. When exactly did they think I had time to find a girlfriend? Or even run a girl off trying to become her boyfriend?
But on the other hand… “Does this mean I’m not in trouble?”
“Now I didn’t say all that. Your grandma doesn’t like to worry. But you aren’t in trouble with me.”
Grandma I could handle. In addition to the dog poop, she’d make me dry dishes after dinner and play crossword puzzles with her on Sunday, but at least it wasn’t manual labor.
I grinned, and he smiled right back.
“Now, when you gonna bring this Nora girl around? You’ve been hiding her like she’s fat and ugly or something.”
He continued to smile, but mine fell and not because Nora was fat or ugly. Rather, it was because this was the first time in my entire life that I realized my grandpa wasn’t just stern, trying to raise his grandsons to become men. He was a total dick in general.
“Um, yeah,” I muttered. “She might come by tomorrow. She’s not really my girlfriend though.”
“Maybe not yet, but if you're anything like your grandpa here, she’ll be begging for more first thing in the morning.” He clucked and shot me a wink, and then he took a huge toke off his precious stogie.
Yeah. Huge fucking dick.
Keeping the thought to myself, I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded.
He snickered and then jerked his chin at the house. “Go on, boy. Get up to bed so you can be up bright and early to help your grandma with breakfast.”
I stared at him for a beat, but when I was absolutely positive this hadn’t been some kind of trick before banging the gavel and grounding me for life, I raced past him, through the house, and straight to my bedroom.
Grandma was indeed pissed when I woke up. I spent the morning whisking eggs—my only talent in the kitchen—and then washing dishes as she prepared a massive family breakfast that seemed overboard for just the three of us. But it made more sense when my aunt pulled into the driveway with my two asshole cousins in tow. I managed to avoid them for a solid hour by pretending to do my chores. Though the majority of the time I just hid behind the shed, thinking and worrying about Nora.
I had no idea what I was going to do to help her yet. Until I figured it out, all I wanted was to be there for her.
Yeah, okay, fine. That was a little selfish too.
Being with Nora was my favorite thing to do. It didn’t matter if we were laughing and talking or just sitting in silence. Wherever she was, that was exactly where I wanted to be.
When the clock hit nine, I grabbed the weed-eater and moved to the front yard, hoping like hell she’d take me up on my offer to hang out at my grandparents’ before we went to the creek together. I nearly cut my ankle off twice, squinting down the hill and hoping to catch a glimpse of her in the distance.
A huge smile split my face when she appeared, her long, brown hair catching in the breeze as she marched up the sidewalk, my note held out in front of her as she scanned the houses for the right address.
I immediately turned the weed-eater off and jogged out to wave her down. Her eyes flared wide when she saw me, pure confusion wrinkling her forehead.
“Hey, you,” I said when she stopped in front of me.
Anger pooled in my gut as I took in her black turtleneck. The weatherman had predicted triple digits for the high. She was going to melt in that thing. After last night, I knew she wasn’t hiding from me, so I felt pretty confident that I could convince her to swim with me at the creek.
“You… Um, your grandparents live here?” She swallowed hard as her eyes locked on the front porch over my shoulder.
Normally, I never would have invited anyone out there to see the place. The six-bedroom mansion with its two levels of wraparound porches surrounded by acres upon acres of plush pastures was over the top. Hell, just the twenty-stall barn filled with Grandpa’s precious racehorses at the edge of town was ridiculous on its own. Most people didn’t realize this, but nothing—not even being the clumsy, unathletic nerd who was obsessed with books—made a kid more of a target than being labeled as the rich kid. Especially when said kid lived in a town like Clovert or Alberton where struggling to survive was the norm.
But this was Nora. We were friends. If there was ever a person in my life who wouldn’t judge me, it was her. And damn if that didn’t do something in my chest.
Smiling, I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah. But don’t hold it against me. This place has been in the family for—”
That was all I got out of my mouth before the front door flew open and my cousin came flying down the steps.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he hissed.
; “I live here, asshole,” I snapped back. God, it was always some bullshit with him.
He ignored me completely and stopped in front of Nora, leaning into her face as he seethed, “Why are you here?”
All the blood drained from her face as she stumbled back, tripping over her own feet before falling.
I lurched forward but didn’t get there in time to stop her from hitting the sidewalk.
“What the hell, Josh?” I snarled, bending over to offer Nora a hand.
She didn’t take it. On all fours, she scrambled away, her eyes locked on Josh, pure terror showing on her beautiful face.
“You know what will happen if you make a big deal out of this,” he whispered. “You tell one single soul and I’ll—”
Realization hit me. It wasn’t like a light bulb going off over my head at all. It was more like being strapped into an electric chair and somebody throwing the switch.
My vision faded to black in the corners, all of my focus honing in on my cousin and one single scratch on the side of his neck.
Vile puzzle pieces began clicking together until the final image of Josh on top of Nora—my Nora—as splinters embedded in her back was all I could see.
I exploded, shoving him as hard as I could and swinging a fist into the side of his face. He was bigger than I was, no disputing that, but I was more evenly matched with him than I was his older brother, Jonathan. However, this would be the first time I beat the ever-living shit out of him—for no other reason than he was going to have to kill me before I would be willing to give up after what he’d done to her.
I threw punch after punch, nothing making me feel better. Not even the pain when he landed a few of his own. It wasn’t until I heard her feet pounding the sidewalk as she sprinted away that I took a moment to breathe. I could have punched him until my hands fell off and it still wouldn’t have helped her.
In that moment, Nora didn’t need vengeance; she needed a friend.
When I was sure Josh wasn’t getting back up, I took off after her. I could barely see her as she weaved through backyards and out to the main road. I’d never run so hard or so fast in my entire life, and as she cut through the woods just past the grocery store, I finally caught up.
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