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Just breathe. He can’t hurt you anymore. You just have to breathe.
Slowly, a sense of peace washed over me.
I came to Camp Chance with the hope of healing. Blake being here was a sign. Even if our renewed friendship didn’t last beyond this summer, it was my chance at closure.
With a deep breath, I opened my eyes and said, “Almost a year after you left, Derek tried to rape me.”
“He…what?” The color drained from Blake’s face until his pallor looked gray under the moon’s light. “Fuck, Penny, I… Christ,” he inhaled a shuddering breath. “What the hell happened? I thought he’d stopped with… you know.”
Oh, I knew.
The first time Derek came into my room and touched himself, I was fourteen. He’d caught Blake and me sneaking back into the house after my birthday. Blake knew something was up and had warned me to barricade myself in, but I thought he was overreacting.
Sure, Derek had an unusual fixation on me, but he was the same with all the girls.
He was always leering a little too long, standing a little too closely. Especially with Jessica, but she had boobs and long legs and hair that made her look a lot older than her age. I was just a girl. A tomboy, at that.
My eyes flew to the door as it creaked open.
Blake, it had to be Blake sneaking in.
But then Derek’s bulky form came into view, the light from the hallway illuminating him. He looked like the devil standing there. His eyes fixed on me as I pulled the comforter up around my chest, panic surging through me, my heart slamming against my chest.
Why didn’t I listen to Blake?
He knew; he knew something was off about Derek earlier. He never came into my room, ever, and I knew something was very wrong. When he stepped fully inside and closed the door behind him, I started to cry, tears trickling down my cheeks. Derek placed a single finger on his lips, reducing me to silence.
I. Couldn’t. Move.
He joined me on the bed. It groaned and rattled, protesting under his heavy frame. I was terrified, but through my tear-stained eyes, I noticed Derek was nervous, mumbling, and trembling. It didn’t ease the storm raging inside me. His eyes… they were hardened. Dead. He didn’t speak as he lay down beside me. I held my breath waiting. Hoping that this was all nothing more than a bad dream.
He didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
Neither of us made a sound.
And then I felt his hand move, a zipper being pulled down. Rough, callous hands reached out for me—
“Tried to?” Blake ground out. “You mean he didn’t? Please tell me that fucker didn’t actually do it?”
The desperation in his voice ripped me from the nightmare, and I shook my head, trying to rid myself of a time I’d tried so hard to forget.
“No, he didn’t,” I breathed, silently willing myself to calm down.
I was safe here.
I was safe with Blake.
“He couldn’t,” I said. “It wasn’t for lack of trying, but no, he didn’t.”
Blake thrust a hand into his hair and cursed something under his breath. The hostility rolled off him in dark, angry waves.
I knew it would do this.
His temper had always been a loose cannon.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” he snapped. “I was gone. There was nothing he could threaten you with like before.”
