Break Away: A Midwest Small Town Romance

by Vanessa Sheets

  “Ok, yeah... so please spare me all of the erotic details of what that man did to you in bed. Because I can guarantee that Chase is not going to be at that point of taking care of me until well into our college years. Trust me. We were at his sister's house, dog sitting the other night and we finally did it.” I barely miss smearing lipstick across my cheek as I whip my head in her direction, all wide eyed and full of questions.

  “What do you mean you did it? Oh. My. God. Ez, I need details and I need them now! This is the best distraction ever.” She rolls her eyes at me and laughs.

  “The details? Hmm, where should I start? Well, about the time we were all hot and heavy, he decides to tell Alexa to play sexy songs, but she thinks he is saying Lexi’s Songs, who is his five-year-old niece. So, picture it. We’re on his sister’s couch, about to have sex for the first time and he’s arguing with Alexa. Finally, I tell him to forget the music and he does. Maybe thirty seconds into ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ he’s done.”

  “Like, the song from Toy Story? That ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’?”

  “Is there another one? And now, every time I hear that song or see that movie, I will think of the very moment that I lost my virginity.” I can't stifle the laugh that explodes out of me. Hell, I don’t even try.

  “And the irony of this is all too much for me. You, Sofia Lombardi, losing your virginity before me and to top it off, with him. Shit girl, and he’s your first. Just think about it. You are going to compare every man from here on out to him. I don’t know if my first sexual experience is worse, or yours. I have to say, talking about this has really put things into perspective for me.” She playfully slaps my thigh and laughs.

  “So glad I could help. You know me. And Ezra, thank you.” I don’t have to tell her what I am thanking her for; she knows. I turn the radio up and start singing along and Ezra joins in. As we pass the town square and head down Center Road a rush of excitement surges throughout me. This is the last hoorah before both our worlds are going to change forever. As we fly down the road, windows down and hair blowing in the wind, we sing louder and more freely than we ever have. This is going to be an amazing night that we will never forget.

  I AM OVERWHELMED BY the amount of people that are here. There must be two hundred, if not more. This is a lot to me, considering my graduating class has maybe sixty people in it. Chase hired a band and kegs line the barn walls. People are doing keg stands and shots are being thrown back left and right. Laser lights set the mood and the smell of weed fills the barn. I already have downed two cherry bombs and am finishing off my second beer. The alcohol is going down way too easy, but I am here to forget. And dammit, forgetting is what I am going to do. Ezra and I dance with a group of people that we have never met before, throwing our hands up and laughing. I start to feel the effects of the shots, which are amped up by the natural high I am already on. And I am loving every minute of it.

  I feel someone's hands on my waist and Ezra gives me a mischievous look.

  “Sof, I think someone wants to dance with you.” I turn to see who it is, and I am staring into those emerald greens that I haven't seen since the night in his Mustang. My heart stops and my blood goes cold.

  “Hey, Sof, can I talk to you, please. Alone.” His voice is soft and caring. Nothing like it had been the night that he threw me out of his car. I probably look like a deer caught in headlights, as I frantically search for the words to respond to him. I look back at Ezra and plead for her to get me out of this. She doesn’t get the hint though. Why would she? I never gave her the deets about that night. She leans forward, so that I can hear her voice over the music.

  “Go on, girl, I’ll be fine. I need to find Chase, anyway.” I grab for her hand but before I know it, she is swallowed up by the crowd.

  I turn around to face Cameron, conjuring up the courage to tell him to go fuck himself but before I can, he leans in close and brings his lips to my ear.

  “Please Sofia, I just want to talk to you about how I treated you that night.”

  That night.

  I shudder at the very thought of it.

  Yes. I would love an apology so that I can spit in his face. If it hadn’t been for Cam and that night, I would have never reached out to Noah and I wouldn’t be missing him right now with every aching bone in my body.

  “Fine.” I motion my head towards the back of the barn, where the doors are open to the field. On our way out, I grab two shots off a table and slam them, one right after another. Nothing like a little liquid courage. I storm off before he finally catches up with me just as the music from the barn becomes muffled and distant.

  “I see that you have learned to throw a few back since our date.” He flashes me a flirtatious smile as he sits down on a wood pile and takes a drink out of his Solo cup. I sit down next to him, not hiding the fact that I am already very much fed up with his bullshit.

  “Yeah, Cam, our date? Is that what you want to call it?”

  What a fucking douche.

  “Listen, Sof, I... I don’t even know where to start. I don’t know what came over me. I keep reliving that night over and over again in my head and wish to God that I could take it back! I had no right and I just want to tell you that I am so sorry.” He reaches over and tries to take my hand in his, but I yank it away.

  “Fuck you, Cam! You relive that night in your head over and over? How dare you! You left me in Rockford because I wouldn’t fuck you. You dumped me in a park. I had no idea how I was going to get home! Who the hell does that? God, you can’t be serious?” I slam the rest of my drink and feel tears start to well up in my eyes.

  Don’t you dare give him the satisfaction, Sofia. Pull it the fuck together.

  I need to get as far away from this asshole as I can, before I slap him clear into tomorrow. Another drink is definitely needed. I start to get up and he grabs my arm. I shoot daggers into his piercing green eyes.

  “I wish I could go back in time, Sofia. Then I might be the one holding you instead of that motherfucker. I drank too much that night and I let my emotions get the best of me. I have wanted nothing more than for you to be mine since day one. I fucked up and I would do anything to take it back.” His words do nothing more than add gasoline to the fire that rages within me.

  What an egotistical, narcissistic asshole.

  Completely ignoring my body language, he leans in and tries to press his lips to mine. I jerk back and without hesitation slap him across the face, instantly sending a burning sensation to my hand on contact.

  Fuck. Ouch.

  He slowly brings his hand to his cheek, rubbing at it as I watch his facade of caring slip away into the dark night.

  Run.

  And I do.

  But not soon enough. Not fast enough. Before my mind can even make sense of what is happening, he is grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking me backwards, my body slamming against his chest. His hand covers my mouth, instantly muffling the screams that I try to release into the night. I begin fighting his hold on me, but he is much too strong. I shudder as his lips press hard to my ear and his arm restrains me with such force that I know I will be bruised.

  “I tried to be nice, Sofia. I really did. This will be much more fun for the both of us if you don’t fight it.” I shake my head frantically and try to struggle out of his hold, but it only gives him more leverage and power. He slams his knee into the back of my thigh and I fall forward, my chin slamming onto the ground.

  This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.

  He grabs hold of my hair and I fling myself onto my back as he quickly climbs on top of me and straddles my waist with his legs. Before I know it, I feel his forearm pressing down on my neck. Just hard enough to hold me in place. I look up at him with pleading eyes.

  “Please, Cam, don’t do this. Please just stop! I didn’t tell anyone what you did that night. I won’t tell a soul, let me go. Please!” My voice is shaky, but he doesn’t even flinch. I can see it in his eyes. He is going to mak
e good on that night in his Mustang. He is going to rape me and there isn’t a damn thing that I can do about it. The faint music from the barn confirms that. We are too far away, and nobody will hear a thing.

  He slides my skirt up with such force, that I cry out as the denim scratches across my skin. I can feel him struggling to pull his joggers down and I start kicking my legs. He presses down harder on my neck, restricting my air and I have no other choice but to stop fighting. His breath reeks of stale beer and I clamp my eyes shut, as if that is going to block out the horrific smell. His hand makes its way down to my panties, tugging the crotch to the side and I wince at the feel of his hand on my bare skin. The only escape that I have right now is in my mind. I close my eyes and begin to focus on the music that plays softly in the distance.

  I am no longer here. I am at the park sitting on the top of a picnic table, while Noah pushes Lorenzo on a swing.

  “Higher, Noah, higher. Do the doggy thing you do, pweeease.” Noah’s laugh pulls my eyes away from the book that I am reading. I smile at them and embrace this feeling of bliss that has been so foreign to me my whole life. I can’t help myself from getting lost in the blue summer sky that is dotted with clouds resembling little fluffy marshmallows. It takes me back to the summer nights when we used to sit around a blazing fire. Me on my mom’s lap, twirling a stick slowly over the hot embers. I would try so hard to be patient because I wanted my marshmallow to be surrounded in that golden crisp perfection. That never happened, though. It always caught on fire and my mom would grab my stick and blow it out. Leaving me with a black and charred outer shell, filled with white fluffy goo. Now, that is the only way that I will eat them. Maybe it is because that is one of the only good memories that I have of my mother and I am holding on to what was and what will never be.

  “Ooh, you mean the Underdog. Well, you asked for it, buddy. Hold on tight.” Happiness fills me as I watch Noah run underneath Enzo, who is flying high in the air, kicking his tiny legs and giggling. Noah tumbles to the ground, in what looks to be a very dramatic and forced fall and I roll my eyes at him. He looks over at me with soft, caring eyes and dimples that I can only hope our future children will be blessed with and mouths to me, “I love you” and with no hesitation, I mouth back, “I love you too, Noah—”

  I am pulled back to the now when I hear rustling and feel the weight of Cam’s body being lifted

  off me. Cam yells out and I scramble backwards, pulling my skirt down frantically. I try to make sense of what is going on as tears start to cloud my vision. Then I hear him.

  Noah.

  “I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!” I frantically push myself off the ground and watch as Noah is on top of him punching him over and over and over and…

  Oh, my God, he's going to kill him.

  I am conflicted as what is happening unravels before me. I want him to beat Cam. I want him to beat him until he is barely hanging on to life. But I don’t want Noah to get arrested. I don’t want to lose him forever.

  “Noah, STOP!” I lunge at him, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling on him with every ounce of strength that I have left in me. “Noah, please. You’re going to kill him!” He doesn’t stop. He just keeps hitting him over and over again!

  “You piece of fucking shit! I told you not to come near her!” I start hitting Noah on the back, trying to awake him from the black-out rage that he is lost in. He turns to me, with his raised arm paused in the air, ready to come down on Cam’s face again. I stare into dark eyes that are narrow and full of promises of an execution. Bringing my hands to my mouth, I stifle the sobs that are trying to cut through my hands. I watch as his face reveals that he sees what Cam has done to me. That he has hurt me and there are marks to prove it. He speaks in a very low and controlled voice that chills my blood.

  “Go. To. The. Truck. Now.”

  I back away slowly, in shock at the scene that is unfolding before me. Cam looks at me from the ground, with a bloody face and terror in his eyes. Noah nods his head towards the direction where I imagine his truck is parked and I turn around and run towards it as fast as I can. I am struggling to catch my breath and my side is screaming at me by the time I make it to the sea of vehicles. Just as I spot Noah’s truck a few rows back, I hear Ezra screaming for me as I weave in and out of the maze of cars.

  “Sofia, STOP!” I turn around and she knows right away by the tears that blur my vision and my scraped and bloody chin that something is terribly wrong.

  “What the fuck happened to you? Noah came into the barn looking for you. When I told him you were with Cam, he ran off. Who did this to you, Sofia? Did Noah....I’ll fucking kill him!” With the back of my hands, I anxiously swipe the tears from my face.

  “No, Noah didn’t do this to me, Ezra, it was...Cam. He tried to have sex with me when we went on our date and I said no. I fought back and he left me in the woods. He left me. When he wanted to talk tonight, I wanted so badly to tell him off. I’m so stupid. He just tried to rape me. He was going to fucking rape me, Ezra! Noah... he... he found us... and pulled him off me and I left them—” Sobs release from me, cutting my words short.

  “Oh. My. God. Sof.” She pulls me to her and wraps her arms around me. “I hope he fucking kills him.” Her whisper in my ear summons an uneasy feeling that blankets my entire body. I shake my head and pull away.

  “No, God Ezra, he will go to prison. Fuck, I have to go back.” I start to push by Ez but stop in my tracks when I see Noah running towards us. He looks frantic and dazed. Not himself. I feel like I am going to be sick. When he reaches me, I feel his arms cloak me and my feet lift off the ground. I bury my face against his chest and welcome the familiar feeling of his protection, releasing muffled sobs as we cling to each other like something lost. My mind is a mess of colliding thoughts and questions. What if’s and why’s.

  “Noah, God what did you do?” My feet meet the ground again as he takes my face in his hands. I look up at him and watch and his eyes madly dart over the war wounds from the hell that I just went through. He gently tips my head back and his eyes travel down my neck. I grimace as the pads of his thumbs run over the marks left by that monster. His eyes are wide and crazed.

  “Let’s get you the fuck out of here.” I feel his arm slide to the small of my back and he walks me to the truck. We pass by Ezra and she quickly follows. After Noah helps me into the truck, I roll the window down so that I can talk to her before we leave.

  “Sofia, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have made you go with him, I should hav—”

  “Stop it, Ez. You had no idea. I should have told you about what happened. I should have told you.” She steps up on the running board and we embrace each other, crying and falling apart in each other's arms.

  “I want to go with you, Sof. I don’t want you to be alon—”

  “Ezra, I’ll be fine. I just want to go home. Noah will get me home.”

  “You need to call the police; you can’t just let hi—”

  “No, I can't get them involved. They will take Lorenzo—” I turn when I hear the shifter on the truck being put in drive and Noah’s voice cutting me off.

  “Cam isn’t going to be a problem anymore. I’m sure of that. But we need to leave, Sofia, and we need to leave now.” He stares at me and Ezra, with his hand white knuckling the shifter. Ezra grabs my hand and squeezes it.

  “I love you, Sof. Call me as soon as you get home.”

  “I love you, too. Don’t say a word, promise me.” She nods her head and jumps to the ground, looking up at me, her eyes full of worry. Noah guns it, throwing me back against the seat and I watch her disappear in the side mirror as we pull out of the field and onto the gravel road.

  As we speed off, Noah shifts his body and reaches around his back, revealing a gun. I sit, frozen and mute as I watch his bloody hand that is holding it, shove it in between the seats.

  Oh, my God. Oh, my God. He has a fucking gun.

  “What the hell, Noah. Are you shitting me? You have a gun, wh
y do you have a gun? Oh, my God, did you—?” I’m starting to feel like there’s not enough air in the cab for the both of us, let alone me. He, however, looks calm and collected. In control again. The Noah that I fell in love with. A chill surges through me. I don’t even know this man.

  “No. I didn’t kill him. Although, I had to fight every instinct in my being, not to.” I jump when he hits the steering wheel and a growl releases through his clenched teeth. “I have a gun because you don’t travel through the states without one. It’s called conceal and carry and up until tonight, I have never wanted to pull the trigger more.” He rubs at his chin and inhales a sharp breath. “He won’t be a problem anymore. I told him that we wouldn’t call the police if he left town. I told him that if he told anyone about what I did to him, that I would come back for him. I’m pretty sure that I got my point across. He is heading back to Chicago tonight.”

  He reaches over and squeezes my thigh, but I pull my leg away. Pangs of guilt instantly begin to flip flop in my gut because I am pushing him away, but I press my body to the door anyways, putting as much space between the two of us as I can. He bites down on his lower lip and sighs.

  This in no way, whatsoever, was what I signed up for. I am in way over my head. I need to end this, and I need to end it tonight. Before everything I have worked towards disappears. Including Lorenzo.

  I SWEAR, YOU CAN hear our breathing as we drive down the road. I am glued to the door, looking up at the stars and passing fields as we head back to town. I can’t take it anymore, so I muster up the courage to break through the silence.

  “You’re taking me straight home, right?” I look over at his dark shadow, the moonlight enhancing his already breathtaking features. My stomach somersaults as the magnetic pull begins to grow, as it always does between us. He just keeps staring straight ahead. Silent. Unreadable. An uneasy feeling starts to take over me, making me fall silent.