I hold my phone in a feeble attempt not to buckle under the pressure of what might be on it. “I’ll do it,” Sam offers. “There’s nothing on here that can shock me. So . . . I’ll do it.”
“You know what I’m scared of, right?”
“Whoever sent me that picture, has probably sent it to you too.”
I desperately want to look but I’m terrified of what might be there. Dread is bubbling away inside me, and panic prickles from my scalp down to my toes. “I’m not sure I can do this,” I whisper while still holding the weightless phone to my chest. “It hurts, Sam.” I look at her and see the same pain I’m feeling reflected in her eyes.
“I know it does, but it has to be done.” I nod, agreeing with her. “I’ll do it.” She holds her hand out to me, silently asking for the phone.
Hesitantly, I unfold the arm hugging my phone close to my chest. It takes me forever to find my courage, so long that I’m sure the moon is at its highest point for the evening. I know it’s not. Reality is outside of time for me now. “I’m not sure I can do this.” Gripping the phone I pull my hand back hastily. “I can’t.”
“You have to know what’s going on. We don’t want to be surprised if anything is said in there.” Sam points to my phone. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
She’s right. She’s always right. “I’ll do it,” I say taking a huge breath. “Okay.” I move to sit on my bed, and Sam sits beside me. She puts her hand on my thigh and gives me a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I turn my phone on, wait until it’s powered up, and enter my PIN.
Messages upon messages, a register of countless missed phone calls all brightly display on the screen. First, I scroll through the missed calls. There are over forty of them, from practically everyone I know. There are also four calls from an unknown number which corresponds with what Mr. C said at school.
“You need to look at all the messages too,” Sam says encouragingly.
“Yeah, I know.” I meet her eyes for a moment before turning away completely consumed by shame. “Here goes.” My body violently reacts to the knowledge of what may possibly be on my phone. “Oh God,” I mumble as I roll through the messenger app. There’s a vast catalogue of communications, mostly my friends asking where I am and what’s happened to me. I’ve got messages from Levi, Reece, Jordan, Mariah and Lindsey as well. A few from Mom asking if I’m having a good time, and even one from Sam.
Then there’s an unknown number with an attachment in the body of the message. My finger hovers over the message. I want to click and see what it is, but at the same time, I’m scared too. “It’s okay,” Sam says. She moves her hand from my thigh, and drapes it over my shoulder, bringing me in close to her. “No matter what it says, we’re going to get through this together.”
I nod and offer her a weak smile. “Okay,” I worriedly sigh while letting out a huff of air. “I can do this.”
“You can.”
I touch on the message from the unknown number and it takes me to the top, the very first message. It’s from the night of the prom and it reads, ‘You’re a whore.’ The next message says, ‘You’re a lousy lay.’ My heart is frantically pounding, and my entire body is vibrating so violently I can barely control my hand as I try to get to the bottom of the message. The third message is the worst so far. It says, ‘You were moaning like a two-dollar hooker, but I’ll never fuck you again.’ There’s still more, but I can’t bring myself to look at it. “Oh shit.” I feel the phone slipping from my fingers and hear the quiet thud as it hits the floor. “What the hell happened?” I ask, but know there’s no one in this room who can give me an accurate answer.
Sam leans down and picks up my phone. She stands and leans against my bedroom door. “I’m going to see what’s happening.” I turn away from Sam. Out of sight out of mind, right? But there’s nothing ‘out of mind’ about this. It’s completely consuming me. My life has been dramatically altered. This has changed me forever and no part of me will ever be the same. “It’s the same picture that was sent to my phone. And one more message which says ‘Enjoy the show, I have plenty of pictures with you as the star.’”
“Oh.” Sitting on my bed, I’m numb. Completely dazed, and non-responsive to whatever the hell happened. Something died inside me the night of prom, and now, another piece of me has cascaded down to the pit of eternal darkness.
“It’s okay, Dakota, we’ll get through this.”
With no expression, and absolutely no emotion, I simply nod at whatever Sam said.
“Dakota.” I can hear her calling my name, but I can’t bring myself to respond. I’m powerless. “Dakota,” Sam’s tone has now taken on a sense of urgency. “Dakota!” she almost shouts at me. Blankly I turn my face to where her voice is calling me. “Screw this,” she says. She looks down at my phone, does something then lifts it to her ear. “Damn it, the number has been disconnected. Hang on.” Vaguely I register what she’s doing. I think she opens her messenger, compares the number, then brings her phone to her ear. “Bastard,” she spits. “Different number and they’ve both been disconnected.”
“It’s okay,” I say in a detached tone. My voice reflects my lifeless emotions. On the inside, where no one can see, I’ve . . . departed. That’s exactly how everything inside of me feels. Empty, cold . . . extinct. “You tried.” My stomach churns with those two words stumbling out of my mouth. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
“Like hell there’s not. We’re not going to give up on this, Dakota.” Sam is igniting a tiny spark deep down in the pit of my stomach. “We may not know who the hell this person is, but we’re not going to let them rule your life either.”
I collapse on the bed and absolutely hate myself. “I’m so damned weak. I’m not sure I can get through this.” Hugging my pillow, I bury my face in it, completely ashamed of myself.
“Jesus, Dakota. Weak? Are you serious?” The bed dips beside me. “Weak is not the word I’d use.”
“I can’t do this.”
“Then we have to tell Mom and Dad.”
“NO!” I say with authority. “You promised me you wouldn’t say anything.” I look to where she’s sitting.
“Then you can’t blame yourself either.” Sam takes a deep breath and moves her hand out, silently asking for my mine. “I don’t know what you’re feeling. But I can imagine how painful, and . . .” She looks off into the corner of the room, trying to find the words she wants to use. “And humiliating this must be to you. But you didn’t bring this on yourself, all you did was go to your junior prom, expecting to have fun with your friends. There’s nothing you could’ve done differently, and if it wasn’t you someone else would have been targeted at the prom.”
“That makes me feel sick. The thought of someone else waking up in the back field. I can’t even imagine it. I don’t wish this on anyone, Sam.”
“Come on.” She pulls me up from my bed. “We’ll get through this,” she says as she engulfs me in a hug. “Together.”
“Together,” I say, though really, I feel so alone.
Chapter 10
“What happened to you two last night?” Mom asks as she sits down opposite Sam and me with a cup of coffee.
My hand freezes, with my spoon mid-air and my stomach nervously churning as a cold wave covers me. Sam elbows me, and her gaze goes to my spoon. “Dakota bet me she’d win in a race down to the park, but she cheated. She took off before I even had a chance to put my shoes on. She cheated, because she went barefoot.” Sam lifts her eyebrows and looks at me.
Crap, she’s good at lying. “Yeah, I did,” I confirm and smile at Sam’s story. Taking another spoonful of my cereal, I block out the sound of Mom and Sam’s insistent chatter.
“Did you hear what I said, Dakota?” Mom asks while Sam kicks me under the table.
“Sorry, what?”
“What’s happening with you? I could swear you just transported somewhere else, like you weren’t even here,” Mom says, standing to take her cup to the sink.
“I said when you’re ready, let me know. I’ll take you two to school today because I need to head over to the mall.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I say and go back to my cereal.
“You have to watch it, Dakota. She’s going to know something’s not right if you’re always spacing out and not being here.” Sam says in a low voice, pointing to the floor, trying to tell me to be more aware of what’s happening around me.
“I know. I’m trying.”
“You have to try harder.” Her voice of reason screams at me. Her stern features tell me she’s right, I do have to try harder. Not to forget, but to hide the truth and the shame. I hate the fact Sam knows, but there’s not much I can do about that now. She’s involved because of a malicious, gutless person hiding behind their phone. But I need to protect Mom and Dad from what happened. I’m not sure I would be able to bear their judgment if they knew.
“Okay, I’m going to make more of an effort. But you need to let me know if I go weird.”
Sam’s lips turn up in a quirky smile. “Like more weird than normal?”
Playfully smacking her arm, I smile at her. “Thanks, Sam,” I say, standing to take my bowl to the sink.
“Don’t forget it when I want to borrow something of yours to wear.” Rolling my eyes, I simply nod. “Including that cute red sweater, and black knee-length pencil skirt.” This time I shake my head, but smirk. “Oh, and that purple dress.”
“How about I give you free reign over my entire wardrobe?” I say sarcastically and turn on my heels to look at her with raised eyebrows.
“Yay!” She claps her hands together and brings her bowl over to the sink. “I knew you’d see it my way.” Her smile is cheeky, and her eyes reflect the playfulness of her words. “Now, let me see, what should I wear on my date?” She rubs her hands together and leans against the counter.
“With Calvin?” I tease. “Has he even asked you out yet?”
She pushes on my shoulder and laughs. “His name is Taylor, not Calvin. And noooooo,” she draws out her response. “He hasn’t asked me out yet, but he will.” She does a little jiggle on the spot. “I just know it.”
“How about we wait for him to ask you first, then we can pick what you can wear.”
Sam stops dancing and gives me the funniest look. It’s a cross between ‘how dare you’ and ‘he’s so asking me out, sister.’ “Whatever.” She flicks her hand at me. “He’s asking me out.”
Her features turn serious, and for a split second I think she’s mad until she starts laughing. I can’t help but join her with my own chuckle.
“You ready, girls?” Mom calls while slinging her handbag over her shoulder. “Hurry up, we’re going to be late.” Mom’s already at the front door, and Sam and I grab our book bags.
“Hey,” Sam shouts from her room. “I call shotgun.”
With my bag on my shoulder, I run past Mom, and out to the car. “Hurry up, Mom!” I yell for her to unlock the doors so I can get in the front.
“I called it,” Sam pushes by Mom who’s now locking the house. She bolts over to me, and with her hips, shoves me out the way.
“Hey,” I protest.
“I called it.”
“So?”
“I called it.” She stands guard over the front door, like an offensive lineman ready to block me from getting near the front passenger door.
“You two,” Mom sighs as she unlocks the car and gets in.
Smiling, I get in the back and Sam slides into the front, not before turning around and poking her tongue out at me. I was going to let her have the front regardless.
It’s a quick ride to school, and when we pull up, Mom lets us know she can pick us up after school if we want. Sam jumps in and tells her we can catch the bus home. I’m really grateful for Sam and her quick responses, it means I don’t have to think of anything.
“Hey, thanks for everything,” I say to her as we walk up the steps into the corridors of school.
“We’re sisters, we’re supposed to stick together. Anyway, I gotta go. I want to see if Taylor’s around.” She fixes her hair then runs her hand down over her jeans. “Do I look alright?”
“You look cute.”
“Cute? I don’t want to look cute, I walk to look, hmmm.” She pushes her chest out. “Like a woman.”
“Well you’re not, and don’t rush trying to be one.”
Sam nods, then looks down at her shoes. “You know what I mean,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Sorry.”
“I know. Anyway, I’ll meet you out front. See ya. Oh, and good luck with Calvin.”
“Taylor,” she corrects immediately.
I get to my locker, open it and put in my bag, taking out the books I need for my morning classes. When I close it, Mariah is walking toward me. “Hey,” I say when she reaches me.
“Did you and Levi break up?” She leans against a locker and eagerly looks at me. “’Cause he’s telling everyone he broke up with you.”
“Yeah, we broke up yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you call me? Oh my God, are you going out with someone else?”
“What? No. I wasn’t feeling my best yesterday. I went home and crawled into bed, I wasn’t really up to calling or talking with anyone.”
“You should’ve called me. Anyway, why did you guys break up?”
We both start walking toward our first class for the day. I shrug and choose to remain quiet. “We just did,” I finally say after a few moments.
“You just did? What kind of lame answer is that?”
We get to Mrs. Walker’s class and sit in our usual seats. Levi walks in, with Reece a step behind him. Levi looks at me, his gaze travelling all over me, then his top lip curls up into a snarl. “You don’t belong here. These seats are reserved for my friends.”
“What?” I snap toward him. “This has been my seat all year.”
“You’re no longer welcome to sit here anymore. Go sit somewhere else.” He hovers over me, trying to intimidate me with his size.
“Levi,” I hear Reece call him. “What’s going on?” Reece comes to stand beside Levi and looks between us.
“I was just telling her she’s no longer welcome to sit here. These seats are reserved for my friends.”
I watch Reece’s left eyebrow rise as he looks at Levi in a disgusted way. “Dude, since when are those rules in place?”
“Since we broke up,” Levi barks at Reece.
“Don’t be a dick, man. Just leave it alone.”
Levi looks down at me, then back to Reece. “Whatever, but next class, you’re not sitting there.” He thumps his hand on my desk, causing me to jump back in my seat and my heart to startle with fright.
“She can sit wherever she wants.” Reece pushes on Levi’s chest to get him away from me. It’s not an aggressive gesture, just one basically saying to leave me alone. “You can sit there again if you want, Dakota.” He smiles at me, and pushes into Levi to get him to leave.
“Thanks.”
When Levi and Reece are on the other side of the room, Mariah leans over to me and rubs her hand up and down my arm. “What’s gotten into him?” she whispers in a voice only I can hear. Lifting my shoulders and shaking my head I opt to not answer. I know why he’s being a jerk, because I haven’t had sex with him.
Mrs. Walker enters the room, and everyone goes quiet. She starts talking about the book we’ve studied but her voice becomes a persistent hum in the background. Nothing holds my attention because the only thought drumming through my mind is the way Levi is acting toward me. I try and not look over in his direction, but I can feel his intense gaze boring into me.
I’m fighting myself, because as much as I know I shouldn’t look, I almost can’t stop myself. As the class continues, the frustration builds and my hands become clammy. A nervous knot in my stomach grows. I can feel my shattered nerves, tension building to a point where I think
I’m about to lose my mind.
Suddenly everything starts blurring as my throat closes and I can barely breathe. Sweat snakes down my damp skin, creating an uncomfortable sensation. “Damn,” I whisper, lifting the hem of my t-shirt to wipe away the moisture gathering at my temples. Everything inside me begins to seize. Panic is rapidly rising and choking every one of my senses. “What’s happening?” I mumble and try to stand from seat.
“Miss Bennett, sit back down,” I vaguely make out Mrs. Walker yelling from the front of the class.
“I’m not feeling well . . .” Crap, my legs go completely weak and wobbly as the room spins in every direction.
“Miss Bennett?”
“Dakota,” someone calls in a desperate voice.
“I . . .”
“Dakota.” A warm hand gently strokes my face. “Can you hear me?” Blinking my eyes open, the first face I see is Reece. He’s holding me against his chest with one arm, and his other hand is slowly stroking down my cheek.
“What happened?” I try to sit up but Reece holds me even tighter to his chest.
“Don’t try to move,” he orders me. “You passed out, Dakota. You stood up and started swaying, mumbled something, and collapsed.”
“Did I?” I ask as I look around to see all my classmates’ faces staring back at me, not even trying to hide the whispering behind their hands.
“You did. I noticed how you were unsteady on your feet and got to you just as you collapsed.”
“You did?” Reece comforts me by smiling. “Thank you.”
“Any time.”
“Dakota, can you stand?” Mrs. Walker asks.
“I think so.”
“You need to go to the nurse. Reece, can you help Dakota?” Mrs. Walker asks him.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Reece moves me away, and jumps to his feet. “Here, take my hand.” He stretches his arm down and offers me his hand so I can pull myself up.
“Thank you,” I say and turn to grab my books and clear my desk.
“Here you go.” Mrs. Walker holds out a slip for us to take to the nurse.
Reece and I leave and he grabs my books. “I can carry them,” I say while we slowly walk down the hall.
Edge of Darkness Box Set Page 33