Prying my eyes open, I get a look and there’s three of them.
All standing at the end of the bed. There is something so familiar about their stance as they stand there watching me.
I try to scream, but the sounds don’t escape. I try to move, but my body feels paralyzed.
What’s happening to me?
15
Zack
“Where the fuck is she?” I storm past Brock. My eyes searching every face in the back yard.
Brock lags behind me. “What are you so worked up for? This was your plan.”
Spinning around, I grab him by the collar of his shirt and lift up. “Where is she?” I shout even louder.
“Upstairs. Spare bedroom. She’s fine. Jonas is waiting with her.”
My eyes bug out. Giving him a toss back, I lose it. “You fucking left her with Jonas!”
“Dude, chill out. We did what you wanted,” Brock continues, but his voice fades as I leave him behind.
Moving as quickly as I can, I hurry through the garage, into the house, and up the stairs to the spare room. With no hesitation, I ram my side full force into the door, knocking it open.
Blinking a few times, I make sure my eyes aren’t deceiving me before I lunge at Jonas, taking him down to the floor. His body hits with a thud, his head knocking over the table lamp on the stand beside the bed. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
One punch. Two punches. Three punches. I don’t stop, until my bloodied knuckles can’t take anymore and I know that he’s not getting off this floor without help.
Once I’m certain, I climb off of him and pull Nadia’s shirt back down into place and button up the top of her jeans. She’s sleeping peacefully with no idea that Jonas was seconds away from taking advantage of her. My body fills up with a combustible fury at the thought of what might have happened had I not gotten here when I did.
Scooping her limp body in my arms, I carry her out of the room. Brock walks hurriedly down the hall with confusion written all over his face. “What the hell is your problem?” he asks. His chest puffed out like he’s ready to fight, but he knows I’d take his ass down, too. I’d knock them all out to keep her safe. Even if this was the plan all along.
“What the fuck did you guys do to her? Dump an entire bottle of liquor down her throat.”
“Lacey gave her the drinks. I’m not sure how much she had. You made it clear as day that all you wanted us to do was get her drunk and upstairs, so you could interrogate her to get whatever answers you needed.”
Lacey and TJ join us and I push for answers. “What did she drink?” I ask Lacey, rage dripping off my tongue.
“Two cups of punch….and maybe a few of my mom’s sleeping pills.” She grins like this is some sort of fucking joke to her.
“What?” I huff. “You gave her fucking sleeping pills?”
Lacey rolls her eyes and begins picking at her nails. “We did what you wanted. A thank you would be nice.”
“You expect me to thank you! I asked you guys to get her tipsy. Not comatose. How would I even talk to her like this?” It doesn’t matter. None of this fucking matters. “If you guys would have fucking told me that the party was starting early, I would have had time to tell you that I changed my mind.” I push past them, letting Nadia’s dangling feet hit Lacey in the back. I don’t tell them that I couldn’t call or text because my phone was just shut off.
Brock throws his hands in the air. “I had no idea. I swear, man. I just thought it was some strong punch.”
Lacey continues to holler as I walk away, “You wanted this. It’s all on you. Don’t try to blame us for this shit.”
Fuck him. Fuck her. Fuck them all.
My eyes begin to shut, but I jolt upwards suddenly when Nadia starts rustling around on the couch. Jumping up from the chair, I grab the glass of water from the table that I got for her as soon as I put her on the couch. I hurry over to her side, ready to explain because I know she’s bound to be confused as hell.
Pushing herself up with her elbows firmly against the cushion at her side, she looks around the room then stops when her eyes land on mine. “What’s..what’s going on?” She smacks her lips together. “Where am I?”
“Drink this.” I hand her the glass of water.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I’m not drinking anything anyone gives to me. I know someone put something in my drink last night. I’m a lightweight, but I can handle two drinks.” She scoots up and puts her feet on the floor in front of her, rubbing her temples aggressively. “Tell me what happened now, or I’m calling the cops.”
“Ok,” I say, attempting to calm her down. “I’ll tell you everything.” I drop down on the couch beside her, ready to finally lay it all out there. I set the glass on the coffee table in front of me. The lantern from the kitchen begins flickering and I fear it will go out, leaving us in the dark.
“Whose house is this?” she asks, suddenly tense and on her feet. She walks toward a picture on the wall. “Why is this picture here?” She points at a photo of me, Aunt Nikki, and Uncle Jay at a wedding last summer.
“This is my home.” I walk over in slow strides until I’m at her side, looking at the picture with her. “And theirs.”
Her jaw drops and she looks at me with wide eyes. “You live with Jordan...err, Coach Sanders? But, why?”
I continue to stare at the picture, unable to look at her as all the hate I’ve felt over these past couple of months begins to dissipate while being brought to light. “He’s my uncle. And that’s his wife—my aunt Nikki.”
“Wait?” She begins to back away. “So you knew this whole time, didn’t you?”
“That you slept with my uncle—your volleyball couch and the gym teacher at the Academy? Yes, I knew.”
“This is why you’ve been so cold to me? You didn’t bring me here to help me. You want to hurt me, don’t you?”
She starts to walk briskly toward the kitchen but stumbles over the leg of the coffee table. I reach out and grab her. “I won’t lie, Nadia. I did want to hurt you. But now, I just need the truth. Why did you lie?”
Puzzled, she looks up at me. “Lie?”
Still holding her arm, I observe the glow in her eyes from the lantern. Eyes so full of questions, so full of pain. “My aunt and uncle are getting a divorce because you claimed that you two were having an affair. Yet, when you were caught in the locker room together, Uncle Jay said that you threw yourself at him. He wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
She lets out an airy laugh and it only infuriates me further. “If anyone is lying, it’s him. I never threw myself at him. In fact, he’s the one who pursued me. What we had wasn’t just one night, Zack. I’m sorry, but we had a relationship that lasted months. He’s the one who won’t let go. He’s the one who is lying.”
Dropping my hold on her, I turn away and rake my fingers through my hair. “I don’t believe you.”
“Then don’t. No one does. And personally, I’m done caring. You can all believe what you want. I’m done with all of this.”