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One of them opens the door for me, a somber look on his face. “Miss Harlow, you should have stayed in your dorm. That was very dangerous, and because of your reckless behavior, we have to report this back to your father.”
“Oh no, anything but that…” I say, sarcastically, letting out an exaggerated gasp and rolling my eyes. “You do realize that I’m an adult, right? That I’m in college, and that I’m not actually required to listen to you or him?”
“Your father just wants you to be safe.” So he keeps saying, almost like he’s trying to convince everybody around me that his intentions are pure, but not everyone knows the things I do, or the gut feelings I’m experiencing.
“Goodnight, Harlow,” Oliver calls from the front seat before I get out of the car, obviously having heard the entire exchange.
“Goodnight,” I respond and shut the door behind me. As soon as I do, he speeds off. I guess he couldn’t wait to get out of here. Shrugging, I walk back into the dorm, ignoring the two lugs that follow behind me until I make it to the door. Escaping inside, I walk up the stairs, stopping once I reach my dorm room door.
I realize then that I never did find Shelby, and the thought of her alone at that party is unsettling. Maybe I can go back and get her? No, I’m too exhausted for that. I’m seconds away from having a breakdown when the door to my room opens, and Shelby appears before me, her thin arms wrapping around me, pulling me into her chest. I’m briefly aware of her tugging me inside the room and closing the door behind us.
“Oh my gosh! I was worried sick, Harlow. I went looking for you, and someone said they saw you leave with Oliver. What happened? Did he hurt you?” The panic in her face has my knees buckling. All this time I was worried about her, while she was here looking for me.
“He didn’t hurt me,” I mumble as she helps me to my bed. There’s a throbbing directly behind my eyes that makes it feel like I’ve been beaten over my head half a dozen times with a brick. “He saved me,” I add.
“Saved you?” Shelby says, completely baffled.
“Yeah, some guy was getting handsy with me, and he told him to go away. He helped me out to his car and then I fell asleep for a little while. When I woke up, I felt better.”
Shelby looks, well, like she’s about to be sick, “Oliver didn’t protect you, Harlow, he set you up. The entire time I was inside, it was because he refused to let me come out to you. I went in to make you a drink, and he blocked the exit when I tried to come back outside. Then he put something in the drink I made you and gave it to some guy, told him to bring it to you saying it was from me, but I would never do that to you.” Shame fills her eyes. “He drugged you, Harlow! He wasn’t trying to save you, he was trying to use you, hurt you, and this isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened. I think it’s time I tell you the whole truth.”
“What whole truth? What the hell are you talking about?”
Shelby sits down on the mattress beside me, “I wanted to tell you, but your parents thought it would be too stressful, so I’ve tried not to say anything, but you have to know about the Bishops for your own sake, and apparently, your safety now too.”
My stomach drops, and I stare at her, waiting for her to start speaking.
“Before the accident, the Bishops followed you here, to Bayshore. They wanted revenge, and I’m pretty sure, though, I don’t have proof, I’m positive, that it was one of them that hit you with the car. It wouldn’t surprise me, at all. They tried to kill you once before, by pushing you off a boat we were partying on. You almost drowned!”
“Why? Why would they do that? Why do the police not know about these things?”
Shelby scoffs, “They’re not stupid, they covered their tracks, but if you are looking for proof that they’ve tried to hurt you, I can give you a lot of that and then some.”
“Proof? What proof?” My chest hurts simply thinking about Oliver trying to hurt me. He was so nice earlier…so kind, and tender-hearted, and I felt safe with him. Can I really be that bad of a judge of character?
Shelby grabs onto my hand, a frown overtaking her lips, “They didn’t just try to hurt you physically. They bullied you the entire time you were here. You can ask almost any student at the university. Most of them know about it or have seen it first-hand. They spread rumors about you, saying you slept with a bunch of guys, and even worse they told people you liked threesomes, kinky sex, and that you were pathetically lovesick over them because they rejected you.”
