Page 45 of Wallflower No More

Scarlett

My phone rings, making me burn myself with the straightener. Hot damn. It's London calling me back.

Hey London. I'm glad you called me back. I've been worried about you. I haven’t stopped thinking about this girl since she told me her story.

She sounds semi upbeat. Hey. I’m okay, actually. I’ve just been studying, and I finally went out with some friends the other night.

I’m relieved. Oh, that makes me so happy. That's great. I just want you to know we're working hard to bring him down.

Thank you, Scarlett. I’ll talk to you later.

Talk to you later. Bye.

I’m glad London isn’t letting those assholes win.

As I’m getting ready, I can’t help but think about Axel and his dad. His dad is in town, but Axel has kept true to his word and kept me out of the line of fire. Some of the things he's told me about his childhood have broken my heart. His Mama is a drug-loving bitch, and his dad is a power-loving asshole. His grandad basically took him to a prostitute for his first time. He had a terrible childhood. One without any love except from his nanny, who raised him and died too early. The dislike and possible hate I feel inside for those people who should have cared for him is substantial. How dare they do that to my Ax.

It’s because of them that he thinks he's a villain, and while his moral compass is sometimes gray, he's still one of the best men I've ever met. Axel is starved for love, and the whole stalking thing was because he saw the same thing hiding in me. He couldn't find love in the arms of all the girls he'd slept with, and I couldn't find it hiding against the wall while watching everyone else live their lives. Those three little words that hold so much power haven't been spoken between us yet, but that doesn't make them any less true. We're in love. It's in the way he holds me, the way Axel looks deeply into my eyes when we're lost in conversation. How he's bought me an endless amount of books, and how he kisses my forehead when he has to leave for early football practice and thinks I'm still asleep.

All the girls, minus Karen, Toby, and Jared, decided to get ready at Dani and Jake's tiny apartment. We've not really spoken yet, but I have fallen in love with Granny Betsy Jean. She is Dani and Toby's granny, but we've adopted her as ours, too. She's the best, and since I never got to meet my grandparents, I’m stuck on Granny Betsy Jean. Both my parents were older when they had me. Dad was 43, and Mama was 38.

Toby knocks on the door of the bathroom. "You done yet, Lou?"

I open up and he attacks me with a hug. Toby can be on the dramatic side, but something is definitely wrong with him this time. "What's wrong, Tobes?"

He sighs. "Everything." Toby pushes me back in and closes the bathroom door behind him. "I need to talk to someone, and you and Jaxon are my go-to's. Everyone else won't look at this subjectively. Karen is acting strange. She doesn't want me to come over or even be seen with me anywhere. She's also hidden her relationship status on all her socials. Am I being too sensitive?"

Oh, I will kick her ass because this does not sound good. "Have you asked her what's changed?"

He nods. "Karen says that I'm being melodramatic, that she needs space, and she's never had it visible on her profiles."

Bullshit, because I've seen it with my two eyes. "Has she clarified what space means to her?"

His face turns ghostly pale. "She says that we're still together but that we don't have to hang out all the time."

The resting bitch face I didn't even know I had comes out in full force. "Toby, if I'm out of line, please tell me, but has Karen, in the entirety of your relationship, ever asked you what you may want?"

He shakes his head. "No, but she's been through so much."

"Toby, a person's past doesn't give them an excuse for bad behavior. We've all watched how she's treated you these past few weeks, and it's not fair. Something else has to be going on." I gently squeeze his arm.

"She's cheating on me, Lou." He says it with such conviction.

My heart is literally being torn in two for him. I will end her. "How do you know?"

"I don't have solid proof yet. But when she's supposed to be at work, she's not, and when she says she’s with friends, she's not. Karen will not leave her phone in the same room as me if she's not in there. And we haven't had sex in months. She won't touch me or let me touch her. No hugs, kisses, nothing." He takes a deep breath.

She's cheating on him. No other explanation will suffice. And what a bitch! "Toby, I wish I could explain away her behavior, but..."

"You can't." He sadly responds.

"I can't. Want me to help you catch her?" Because I will.

He shakes his head. "I'm not ready yet."

I open the bathroom door. "When you are, I'm here."

"Please, don't tell the others. I'm going to, but I'm not at that point yet." He whispers.