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Shaking her head, she pulled back to look at me. “No. Not my dad. Eric.”
I covered my gasp with my hands as my stomach started to twist into a knot.
I’d known there was something going on with her. We hadn’t talked nearly as much since she’d started dating him, and when we did talk, she either kept the conversation light or focused on me. And the way she acted with Eric …it was like she was walking on eggshells around him. Like she was doing everything she could to make sure she didn’t upset him.
“How long?” I asked quietly.
“The first time he hit me was on Halloween. We were at a party together, and he was drunk. He apologized the next day and said it’d never happen again swore it’d never happen again, and he bought me this necklace.” She held out the silver chain containing a rose charm that was around her neck.
“Except it did happen again,” I guessed.
She nodded. “Lately, it’s all the time. He…he was so mad when I got back from Omaha. Told me I was his, and that he didn’t give me permission to leave for two weeks. And then he backed me against the door in my bedroom and choked me so hard I blacked out.”
“Liss,” I murmured. “Oh, my God. Please tell me you saw a doctor.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t. What was I supposed to tell them when they asked who did it?”
“He could have been arrested. Then you’d be safe,” I told her, but even as I spoke the words, I knew that was a lie.
She hadn’t seen a doctor or told anyone other than me for the same reasonI’dnever seen a doctor or told a soul about what I’d been through. She was too scared to accuse him and risk that he’d get away with it and then hurt her worse.
“I can’t, Ky,” she whispered. “I can’t do it. I’m not brave like you.”
I gave her half a smile and pulled her back into my arms. “I’m not brave, Liss. I’m still terrified. But I have a support system now. And you’re part of it. For a long time, you were theonlysupport I had, and you’ll never know how grateful I am for that. And that’s why I want to help you now.”
“There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do. I tried to break up with him after Thanksgiving, and two hours later, he was in the hospital because he’d tried to slit his wrists. He told me that if I left him like everyone else had, he had nothing to live for. But if I go to school out of state, he can’t argue with that. I mean, how many high school relationships really last, anyway?”
My heart felt like it was physically breaking as I listened to her tell me that she felt the need to have a plan to break up with her boyfriend in a way that wouldn’t make him mad. And, realistically, I knew there waszerochance of that happening, no matter how she did it. She’d be putting herself in danger no matter what. The only thing waiting until she went to college would do was let her put enough distance between them that he probably wouldn’t think it was worth following her.Probably.
This was so many levels of not okay, I didn’t even know where to start.
But Melissa didn’t need to hear any of that right now. What she needed was love and support. She needed to know that I had her back, just like she’d always had mine.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Do you think you can come over to Ian’s house this weekend? We haven’t had a girls’ day in way too long.”
She smiled. “I’d really like that.”
“I’ll talk to Gary and Maya tonight. I don’t think they’ll have a problem with it, but it’s their house, so I feel like I need to ask first.”
The alarm on my phone went off, and I sighed.
“Back to the real world,” she chuckled weakly.
“Yep. Just…promise you’ll tell me if you need anything,” I insisted as we got out of my car. “I hate knowing you’re hurting and not being able to do anything to help.”
“I will,” she said, walking around to my side of the car and hugging my arm. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before now. I hated lying to you, but I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“I know. It’s okay,” I assured her. “Come to my locker with me? We’ve still got a little time.”
“Sure.”
We walked back into the school and headed for the hallway my locker was located in. When we got there, I set my backpack down and quickly spun the combination lock until it popped open. And as I opened the locker, I let out an ear-splitting scream.
Sitting there in the otherwise-empty locker was a toy rat that was so lifelike I thought it was real for a split second, and taped to the back wall was a sloppily written note.
Do you know what happens to rats who squeal?
“Oh, my God,” I gasped as my chest tightened and I started shaking violently. “Oh, my God.”
