And with that, I grab my keys off the edge of the counter and make my way out to the car, listening to the utter silence behind me. Guilt fires through me and the need to text Mom with an apology itches at my fingers, but I hold off. I don’t know why I’m particularly crabby today. Perhaps it was the embarrassment of knowing Tanner saw me last night, or maybe it was Mom’s refusal to have my back and allowing her boyfriend to speak to me like that. Hell, maybe it’s just the fact that she’s so desperate for this bullshit lifestyle that she refuses to see what’s clearly in front of her, refuses to listen, and refuses to put me first.
Or … I just had one too many mimosas yesterday.
In the space of three days, I feel like my mother has flipped a switch and is a complete stranger. She’s so desperate to impress this asshole, that she doesn’t remember what’s important in life. I mean, who just moves out of their home on a whim, uproots her daughter’s life, and becomes a cheerleader for a guy just because he can offer her a life full of luxury?
Dropping into my car, I pull my door shut and just sit, needing a moment. Only when I see my mother racing out the front door with a takeout container filled with breakfast, I wish I had just driven off.
She opens the door and thrusts the pancakes at me, and I reluctantly take the container. “Please just eat something, honey,” she says, looking at me with sad eyes.
“Are you serious?” I laugh. “That’s all you have to say?”
Mom presses her lips into a tight line. “I’m sorry, but Orlando has promised me that Jensen is perfectly safe. It was just a silly teenage girl who was embarrassed that she’d been caught with him, so she accused him of an ugly, heinous crime rather than own up to the fact that she had consented. She didn’t want her parents to know that she was sexually active.”
I stare at my mother, not knowing this stranger before me. “Are you kidding me?” I question. “Tell me that you’re not blaming the victim here. Let me guess, her skirt was too short, so she was asking for it? She bent over in front of Jensen and he accepted that as her consent? What if that were me? What if he forced himself onto me and raped me? What would you say then? Would you tell me it was my fault, or would you just insist that I was lying?”
“Brielle, what on earth has gotten into you?”
I shake my head and thrust the pancakes back at her before slamming the door between us. What the hell has gotten into me? More like, what the hell has gotten into her? She gets dicked down every night now, so apparently, she doesn’t need to have respect for herself, her morals, or her family. Give me a fucking break.
Slamming my Honda in reverse, I floor it, peeling out of the driveway before I get the chance to really let my mother know what I think of her right now.
I pull up at school ten minutes later, the early hour allowing me to bypass the usual morning traffic, and instead of going in and working on my essay, I just sit and stare up at the big school, unable to stop replaying my morning. That wasn’t right, that wasn’t my mom. Had I said that to her this time last week, she would have fought tooth and nail to protect all innocence, but now, she’s taking on Orlando’s corrupted views and bullshit morals. This isn’t right. Is he forcing this on her? Is he making her say these things? Is there more at play here?
Heaviness weighs down on my shoulders and minutes begin to pass where I just stare out the window, feeling more lost than ever before. A loud rumble of a familiar motorcycle cuts through my thoughts, and I jump, my gaze falling to the small digital clock. I’ve been sitting here for over an hour.
Students fill the parking lot, lingering around Tanner, trying to get his attention, and I use it as my chance to escape through the crowd. My stomach grumbles as I dart toward the school, and having a few spare minutes, I detour past the cafeteria and grab myself a slice of toasted banana bread with a caramel latte.
The hot beverage sails down my throat and somehow manages to warm the chill left behind from my morning. It’s exactly what I need to be able to face the day. Making my way through the crowded senior hall, I find my locker and throw everything inside before quickly glancing at my class schedule again.
As I’m finding what I need, Ilaria appears at my side, a grin on her face while Chanel and Arizona talk shit behind her. “Did you do it?” she asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Do what?”
Ilaria rolls her eyes and laughs as I close my locker and start sipping my latte once again. “Break into the lion’s den,” she murmurs, looking around to make sure no one is overhearing.
I laugh, unable to believe I didn’t catch onto that one, but it feels like so much has happened since then. “Oh, yeah,” I tell her. “We scaled a tree outside his bedroom and slipped in through his window.”
“What did you end up doing?”
“I returned the lipstick and casually let him know that particular shade would look better on a bitch like him.”
Her eyes bug out of her head, and I watch as Chanel catches onto what we’re discussing and moves in closer to hear the rest of the story, Arizona grinning proudly. “Bullshit,” Ilaria laughs. “Did he retaliate?”
Panic slams through my chest, not ready to share the fact that he sure as hell did. I’m trying to choose my words carefully when Arizona cuts in first. “Fuck yeah, he did,” she says. “He came over.”
Chanel’s eyes go wide. “What?”
“Yeah,” Arizona continues. “All his friends were there anyway because we were having mimosas and they made themselves welcome when they heard us, but then Tanner let himself in through the front door a few minutes after. It was clear that he’d just seen her message, and he was pissed.”
“What did he say?”
Arizona shakes her head. “I … I don’t know. Bri went over to kick his ass out and then he grabbed her and said something, but we couldn’t hear it. Looked kinda hot though, but knowing Tanner, it was probably some kind of threat.”
All eyes turn to me, gaping and demanding answers, and I roll my eyes, trying not to remember just how hot he’d made me in that moment. I was so close to caving, so close to giving him exactly what he wanted. “Nothing, he was just talking a big game, acting like he could get me on my knees anytime he wanted. Usual ego bullshit from a football god.”
Ilaria laughs. “Not gonna lie, if a guy like Tanner Morgan was asking me, I would have just done it.”
An unladylike snort pulls from the back of my throat, and before I can even respond, a heavy arm drops over my shoulder. “Morning, babe,” Riley says, leaning into me, a cocky grin spreading across his face. “What’s going on?”
“Ugh,” Chanel groans. “You hung out one time. Don’t tell me that this is going to become a thing?”
“Damn right,” Riley says. “What can I say? She’s got a nasty backhand and I fucking love it. No one has ever dropped me to my knees like she did, and for that, I claim her as my own.”
I scoff, slipping out from under his arm. “No chance in hell,” I tell him. “Besides, it’s bad enough that I already have to deal with Tanner on the regular, I don’t have time to brush you off too.”
“Then don’t brush me off,” he says simply, his lips pulling into a cocky, shit-eating grin. “Let me take you out. Just you and me. I’ll show you a good time, then you can return the favor. It’s a win-win all around.”