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CHAPTERTEN
KYLER
Since my carhad gone into the shop to get the alternator fixed over the weekend, I had to take the bus to school on Monday morning. I hated having to cancel my tutoring this week, but it couldn’t be helped. My mom’s shifts at the hospital started too early for her to have time to drop me off.
As I got off the bus and started to head toward my locker, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist, and I immediately knew it wasn’t Ian. His touch would have been gentler, and he would have known better than to grab at me from behind like this.
I whirled around, ready for a fight, only to come face-to-face with Max Taylor. Even though my heart started to race and my breaths started to speed up, I still raised my free hand to hit him, not caring who saw. He’d started it, and I’d tell that to anyone who tried to discipline me. But he yanked me close to him and I felt something poking at my stomach.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ky,” he said with an evil glint in his eye.
I started shaking as my mind went into panic mode, but I forced myself not to let my fear take over. I couldn’t let him hurt me without a fight. Not again.
Looking down, I saw that he had a pocketknife against my stomach. How he’d gotten it on school property without getting caught, I had no idea.
“Now, here’s what’s going to happen.” Max’s voice was eerily calm. “You and I are going to take a little walk. And you’re going to be a good girl and not let anyone know what’s poking against your back. Understand?”
I nodded and choked back a terrified sob. I couldn’t show him any fear. Not this time. I could break down later, after I got through this. Whateverthiswas.
“Good,” he chuckled darkly. “Now turn around and walk next to me.”
I did as he asked, and he moved his hand to stick the knife behind my back, making sure I felt the pressure of the blade against me but being careful not to actually cut me. He wouldn’t be that stupid in a place full of people like the bus entrance.
Right?
Max led me over to the area by the gym and P.E. classrooms and then took me into a little alcove where there were some vending machines. He brought me all the way to the last vending machine and then forced me behind it. Then and only then did he turn me around and force my back against the wall, putting the pocketknife against my throat as he pressed his entire body weight into me, just like he’d done that night.
“I hear you’re getting pretty cozy with Thomason, Ky.” His voice was barely above a whisper, but ice-cold. Void of any humanity. “Having lunch with him. Going to homecoming. Movies. Football games.”
“It’s a free country,” I warbled, my trembling voice betraying my terror. “I can date anyone I want.”
“See, normally I’d agree with you. But when Yates starts telling me stuff Thomason’s been saying to him, it makes me think you’re getting a littletoocozy with him.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
No fear.
I knew that Ian saying what he’d said to Tucker yesterday would make things worse. But, as much as I wanted to be mad at him for doing that, I couldn’t be. He’d still been upset from our conversation on Saturday night, and when he’d heard Tucker and his father antagonizing me like that, he’d just reacted, trying to protect me in the only way he could think of. How could I possibly get mad at him for loving me enough to want to shield me from more torture at the hands of one of the monsters who had ruined my life?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Max,” I said, unable to stop my voice from breaking. “Yeah, Ian and I ran into Tucker and his father at the Chiefs game yesterday. Tucker started laying into us, saying stuff about how Ian needed to get tested because of me, and Ian snapped. Maybe if you were capable of a feeling like love, you might understand why he would do that.”
“Ky, youknowthat’s not all Tucker told me. I think you knowexactlywhat I’m talking about. You know your little boy-toy said something about how my boy wasn’t getting any action fromwillinggirls. That makes me thinksomeonesaid something she shouldn’t have,” he growled like the monster he was. “I told you what would happen if you talked, Ky.”
“I didn’t talk,” I squeaked, squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears. “I didn’t. I can’t control what Ian says or does. Maybe if you don’t want him saying stuff you don’t like, you should tell your cronies to lay off me when he’s around.”
“You know what, Ky?” he snickered. “I’m going to pretend I believe you, because I can’t prove otherwise. But next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
He acted like he was moving his knife away from my neck, but then, with a flick of his wrist, it was back against my neck. I bit my lip to keep the sob in my throat from breaking free as I felt the sting of the blade and the warm liquid trickling down my skin.
“Oops. Clumsy me,” he said, pulling the knife away and wiping it on his black shirt, where my blood just disappeared into the fabric.
As Max turned and walked away, I finally let the tears break free as I slid down the wall and sat on the cold concrete, shaking and sobbing. I couldn’t catch a breath and it felt like there was a two-ton weight on my chest, and I couldn’t move to go get help. I was just stuck here, trapped in my absolute horror.
“Ky?” came a voice that I vaguely recognized, sounding far away. “Oh, my God, Ky. Are you okay?”
I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw Braden standing there looking like he’d seen a ghost. He knelt down in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“No, don’t touch me!” I screamed, slapping his hand away like he was carrying the plague.
