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I remember he was just leaving. He probably heard me scream. I run back to the front door and check through the peephole to make sure it's him. Of course it is, but now I'm super freaking out.
His eyes are wide and he looks panicked. "What was that? Did you scream?" He must see my face and he pulls me toward him, hugging me to his chest. "What's going on, Andy?"
"My room," I splutter into his chest.
He pulls back to look at me. "Can you show me?"
I nod and he takes my hand, and we walk back up the hall to stand in the doorway of my room.
"Fuck, Andy, this is bad. You're not staying here tonight."
The wall has been graffitied with… red paint—let's go with that, because I don't even want to contemplate what else it could be. The wordsyou're minein messy brush strokes. The contents of my drawers have been emptied out and spread over the room. The strangest part, though, are the twelve shriveled rose heads that are lying on my bed. They must be the missing ones from the bunch I received this morning.
A hot flush washes over me, and I feel like I could get sick. This creep has been in my room, rummaging through my belongings. This is too much. "I don't have anywhere else to go," I say, turning away from the sight to look at Brad.
He takes my hands in his. "You're coming back to my place with me. Text Luna, Darcy, and your sister and let them know not to come home either, not until we make sure it's safe. None of you should be here."
"I can't come back to your place," I whisper, trying to fight his suggestion when it's the only thing I want to do. I don't want to stay here alone, that's for sure, and right now, I don't want to be alone at all. All I can think of is how nice it would be to have his protective arms wrapped safely around me. But we can't. If anyone found out, it could mean him losing his job.
He runs his hands up my arms in a comforting gesture. "You're not staying here. I won't allow it. And right now, at this time of night, there aren't really any other options, are there? Grab some of your things and let's get out of here."
"Shouldn't I call the cops now?"
"We can do that in the morning once you've had some sleep. Nothing is going to change now."
He's right. There is no way I could deal with filling in some report right now. "Yeah, okay." I glance into my room again and I feel the roll of nausea wash over me. Nope. "I can't go in there to grab anything. Let's just go."
I grab his hand and we head for the front door, just stopping to pick up my bag and locking the door. Don't really know what the point is anyway, because clearly any fucker can just let themselves in.
Once I'm in his car, I shoot off a text to Darcy and Luna. Then decide I need to call Jasmine. I know it's really late, but I need to hear my sister's voice. She answers quickly.
"Andy, what's wrong?" Her voice is sleepy like I just woke her up, and I feel bad.
I nearly burst into tears when I hear her voice but stop myself. "I'm sorry to call you so late but I needed to talk to you. Our place has been broken into."
I can hear movement on her end, she must be sitting up. "What? While you were there? Are you okay?" she asks, panicked.
"No, I only just got home. I'm fine, just a bit shaken. It's been a weird night."
"Are you there now by yourself? Oh my God, Andy. I'm coming home." I hear a male voice in the background asking her what's going on.
"No, stay where you are. I'm okay, I'm going to stay with a friend."
"Brad?" How the fuck did she work that out by me saying friend?
I glance over to him, hoping it's okay she knows. He smiles like he doesn't mind. "Yes, he has a spare room I can stay in." I'm talking through my ass. I have no idea if there's a spare room or not, but that's what she can know. And that's the only explanation I can come up with right now, and it's probably correct. There is no way he's thinking for us to share his bed, is he? He wouldn't be.
"Be careful, Andy," she says in her mom voice, and I know she's not talking about my actual safety. She's worried because I'm with him.
"Yes, I know, Jasmine. I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Love you, little sister."
"Love you too." I disconnect the call, and a tear escapes. I don't know why but her telling me she loves me makes me feel vulnerable.
I'm glad I called her. She is the person I'm closest to, and even though she can drive me nuts at times, she knows all my deep dark secrets, and I know hers.
The ride to Brad's place is quiet after the events of today. I don't have any words left. I'm freaked out and fucking pissed that someone thinks they can mess with me like this. The other girls both message back quite quickly, surprisingly. I thought they would have been asleep or busy, but they agree to stay out for the night. So at least I don't have to worry about them. Just myself now, left with Brad, alone in his house.
