AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
KYLER
“Ky! Oh, my God!”Melissa squealed as Ian and I walked into school on the first day back from break.
She came running toward me and attacked me with a hug, making me laugh. I hadn’t even realized how much I’d missed her until just now. She’d left for Omaha to spend Christmas with her grandparents the day after school ended, so we hadn’t really had a chance to talk about everything that had happened over the break. We’d texted a lot, but we hadn’t actually talked since school had let out.
When I pulled back to look at her, I saw what looked like the faint outline of a bruise on her neck. And it looked like…
Oh, my God. It was a handprint.
“Liss, what happened to you?” I asked.
She just gave me a look, pleading with her eyes for me not to say anything else in front of Ian. I knew he wanted to be with me as much as possible since there was still a fourth perpetrator walking around somewhere on campus, but my best friend was hurt, and if she didn’t want to tell me what happened to her in front of him…well, he’d survive being away from me for fifteen minutes.
“Babe, I’ll see you in Spanish,” I told Ian, turning to give him a kiss. “Liss and I need to catch up.”
“Okay,” he sighed. “Love you.”
He kissed my forehead and walked away, and I turned back to Melissa, who gave me another hug.
“We need to find somewhere private,” she whispered into my ear.
I pulled back to look at her. “What? What’s going on, Liss?”
She shook her head. “I can’t. Not here. Not like this.”
Pulling my phone out of my purse, I checked the time. We still had half an hour before school started. I set an alarm so we wouldn’t be late to class before linking my arm through hers and walking back in the direction of the student parking lot.
“Come with me. Let me show you the car my dad and Jody bought me.”
That made her smile. “Yes! And youhaveto tell me what the hell happened over break. You’re actually living with Ian now?”
“Yeah, I am,” I chuckled.
As we walked to my car, I gave her the shortest version of the story that I could. I told her about what happened with my mom, moving in with Ian, making the police report, my attackers getting arrested, and the events of New Year’s Eve.Allof the events of New Year’s Eve, including the part where it was still one of the best nights of my life, even with the threat we’d gotten.
“Oh. My. God,” she chuckled weakly when I was done.
“Yeah,” I chuckled too as I unlocked my car and we got in. “My life’s a hot mess right now. But I’ve got an appointment with a good friend of Maya’s, Christine, next week. She’s a certified trauma counselor, so hopefully she can help me figure out how to cope with everything.”
“I’m sure she’ll be able to. I’m just glad your dad and Jody were able to come out here and help you get on your feet,” she sighed. “And that you’re getting help. I’ve wished you could see someone for so long, but I knew why you couldn’t, so I never said anything.”
I nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Now that I don’t have to worry about figuring out what to tell my mom, I can actually get the help I need. Anyway, it’s your turn now. What didn’t you want to say in front of Ian?”
Melissa’s eyes immediately started to water, and I pulled her into a hug. She squeezed me tight, taking deep breaths for a minute before she finally spoke.
“I’m…I’m applying to the University of Nebraska in Omaha,” she sniffled.
My heart sank, and I found myself blinking back my own tears. Melissa had been my only real friend since I’d moved here, and we’d talked before about applying to the same schools because we wanted to be roommates in college. So why was she changing her mind now?
“I…I thought we were going to apply to KU and K-State together,” I murmured. “Why Omaha?”
“I have to get away from here,” she said quietly. “Away fromhim.”
My stomach twisted into a knot as I processed what she was saying. She was scared of someone. Scared enough to move two states away just to get away from them.
“From who? Your dad? Is he who gave you that bruise?”
