Her trembling and red face tell me that she’s more angry than scared.
“Megan,” I say softly. She doesn’t answer me but gets out and marches up to the apartment. I follow her slowly, giving her space but she’s back out before I even enter the apartment. She brushes past me.
“Megan,” I say again.
When she reaches her car, her clothes and purse in hand, she finally looks up at me. “I…I need time. I…can’t handle this right now. I’m going home for a bit.” She pauses and keeps her eyes focused on my chin. “I’ll call you.”
And with that she gets in her car and drives away, leaving me standing on the sidewalk watching her car get smaller in the distance.
I frown. Our presentation is this week at work. We have a ton of homework to do. Now is not the time for her to lose her shit. I have no idea what to do to help her.
I look down at my phone and do the only thing I can think of.
Me: I need help.
Kent: Finally! Just when we were about to stage an intervention.
Kylie: If it involves a keg stand, streaking, or a road trip, no.
Lanie: I’d be down for the road trip.
Di: Please tell me you didn’t eff things up with Megan.
Kylie: Oh, he better not have. I picked out the perfect outfit for her.
Me: Kylie, we will discuss your antics later. I need a video chat. This is way too much for a text.
I hit video call and pretty soon all my siblings' faces fill my screen in little boxes.
“What’s up?” Kent asks, his face is all “big brother serious.”
“Remember Anthony and Jimmy Allen?” I ask.
“Vaguely,” Kylie says. “They were both younger than me. Wasn’t Jimmy your age?”
“Those two have quite the reputation,” Di scoffs.
“Yeah, with the police department,” Lanie adds.
I nod. “Apparently, Anthony tried to assault Meg when we were younger. She managed to get away. He saw her at a club a few weeks ago and got aggressive with her. I stepped in and he cooled off, until the other night. I found him outside the sorority house, and we got in a fight. I guess that pissed him off because he ransacked the place, well, you guys heard about that already.”
“I thought it was frat guys or something?” Kent asks.
“We thought it might be, but then last night, Meg’s car got messed up. And today, she found a note in it. It has to be him. He references the high school incident.”
“Shit,” Lanie says. “Did you call the police?”
I nod again. “We filed a report last night and I’ll get them the note today. Meg just left. She…I think she’s freaking out. She didn’t go to class today which is completely out of character and now she says she needs some time and is going home. I don’t know what to do. We have that big presentation on Thursday at work and this is a bad week to miss classes.”
“Do her parents know?” Di asks.
“Yes. She called them. But they don’t know about Anthony, well, I don’t think they do.”
“I have a friend who owns a security firm. I’ll have him come by and we will secure your apartment. I have a plan. We just need solid evidence against Anthony. That fucker has been dodging his judgment day for a while now and it’s time he pays up,” Kent states.
“You need the grand gesture,” Garrett’s voice comes from beside Di.
“Yes. You need the eighties movie moment,” Di agrees.
“You. Are. Brilliant,” I say to my sister. “Kent, give me the info on your dude that’s going to secure my place. I’m going to fix things with my girl, get her to come home with me, and we are going to catch this fucker and put his ass behind bars. I’m done playing games. I want the dream job and dream girl.”
“That’s my boy!” Kent says in his best impression of our dad.
Lanie sighs. “OK, but we need to be careful. No fucking around on this one, guys. Someone could get hurt.”
“No one will get hurt. I’m calling professionals,” Kent states.
“OK, Don Kent, just keep it legal,” Lanie says.
“I’ll call you guys later. I need to get home,” I say.
I hang up and run inside. I explain what’s happening to Grif and Evan while I get ready to head home. And then, I hop in my car and hope that I can fix things, particularly the woman I am in love with…Megan.
Megan
My heart pounds in my throat as I drive home. I’m not even sure what I’m doing. It’s like some weird trauma reaction just took over my body. I can’t process what has happened, what happened last Saturday night. I need to get away, to think.
I pull into my parents’ driveway and go up to my room. It’s quiet. They are both at work. I sit on my bed and then stand and pace.
Why is Anthony being so crazy? I don’t see the guy in forever and then he gets all psycho possessive. It makes zero sense to me.
I pace some more before I sit on my floor and look at my bookshelf. I run my finger over the spines of my favorite books before it settles on a gift from the Moores. A photo album Mrs. Moore gave me at graduation.
It was a sweet gesture. I pull it out and thumb through the photos. There are a ton of us growing up but only a handful from high school.
A few at school plays that both Clark and I were in. Another from a charity event we both helped organize for student government. But it’s the last photo, the one of us at graduation that makes my blood run cold.
I never noticed it before now. Our parents had made us take one photo. A few of our friends are off to the sides. But in the background is…Anthony. And he’s looking right at me.
Was he always watching me? Did it really end for him that night at the party or did he not let it go?
I shiver at the thought.
I set the album back on my shelf. My phone pings.
Stella: You OK? I heard your car got messed up. Call me.
Her message brings a small smile to my face. I look down and see another text.
Brynn: You weren’t in class. Are you OK?
My smile widens. Then I see a third missed text.
Kendra: OMG! Stella told me about your car. WTF? Do we need to start the sisterhood security squad for you? Seriously, I will activate that bitch. Just say the word.
Now I’m laughing. A few years ago, one of the older sisters was in a pretty toxic relationship with a guy who had gotten physical with her. We decided at a chapter meeting that we would institute the sisterhood security squad for any sister in trouble who needed a squad to be with her, whether that meant sitting with her if she needed a good cry, or not letting her walk on campus alone, or even confronting an asshat if need be.
I text them all back that I’m fine and just needed to get away. I let Stella know what happened and she immediately writes back.
Stella: Shit. Do we need to activate the squad?
Me: No. LOL. Kendra just asked the same thing.
Stella: Uh, ’cause that’s why we instituted that. You are like the poster child for needing it.
Me: I’ll figure it out. I need to talk to my parents when they get home, but it was definitely Anthony. I found a note in my car.
Stella: Fuck. That’s serious.
Me: I know. I also think he might have been around more than I thought.
Stella: I’m calling you.