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My stomach turned queasy. He had been talking about someone in junior high?
“And she was young and naive. Fell for it all. She’d gone to a birthday party. He was there. That night she…” Hazel’s voice cracked.
“You don’t need to keep going,” I said.
“Yeah, you can stop.” Micah’s soft voice helped her calm back down.
“We’re still trying to piece it together,” Lillian whispered. “Either way, Benji was clearly involved. And then he treated her like absolute trash afterwards. Got others in on the bullying. And after that video….”
Hazel blew out a breath. “She overdosed on sleeping pills afterwards. Hoped to end the misery. Only after that did we realize what was going on with her. We had no clue that the people we thought were good friends had done something. We hadn’t even known she was dating Benji.”
“While the law can’t do shit, we knew how it all happened, why it did,” Lillian finally spoke. Her gaze met mine and something like sympathy flickered through them. “That was why we were at the hospital. That was why we saw you. Knew you were someone worth being friends with.”
“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling like I couldn’t breathe. They never visited me in the hospital. I made sure to not tell anyone, not that I had anyone to tell in the first place.
“We were there visiting her when we saw you. You were on the kids’ floor too, in the play area with the other kids. And you had a guitar and you were singing a song. And we saw how you looked, how you were suffering, and we understood. Not only did you go through shit in your life, but you continued to fight. We didn’t know the specifics, but we knew enough. We saw you at what you probably thought was your worst, but we saw the most beautiful, strongest girl ever. There you were, suffering yourself, and yet you were still singing to the others, trying to make their days less shitty too. You were real. Raw. And we knew you were someone worth knowing.”
I thought about the first day of school. I had been hiding in the courtyard, behind my dead tree, and then suddenly they were there, claiming I was their new friend. I thought they were crazy, playing some kind of joke on me. The most popular girls in the school were giving me attention suddenly. I was paranoid.
But now I understood why.
The only response I could give was, “I’m sorry that your cousin had to go through that.”
“We are too. She’s getting the help she needs. And she’s learned who her true friends are. Not everyone turned on her, and I’m grateful for that. It has given her some light in all that darkness that nearly consumed her. I’m just glad she’s healthy now.”
I reached over and grabbed Lillian’s hand, giving her the comfort she needed. All four of us sat in silence for a long time. Once we were calm, I started the car and continued to drive.
So much made more sense now.
And I was finally able to truly believe that the friendship Lillian and Hazel had with me was true friendship. Not a prank. Not something fleeting. What was building between us was strong, lasting, something that could potentially last a very long time between us as long as we worked for it.
Once we got over the awkwardness of the moment we all shared together, we nurtured our friendship with fun road trip games that the twins came up with, turning the rest of the drive into fits of giggles that nearly distracted me enough to have to pull over.
All too soon, we were at Paxon’s competition, ready to face this busy, packed weekend together.
Chapter Eleven
~Toby’s POV~
“Are we there yet?” I asked, forcing my eyes open after Bryan managed to hit a pothole.
“Now you wake up?” Bryan grumbled. “Did you stay up all night again?”
I glanced out the window at all the family homes we drove by. “Too excited about the game.”
Bryan blew out a breath as he took a turn. I glanced over at him. “Jealous you couldn’t sleep more?”
“Frustrated that you think I’m dumb enough to believe that answer. You enjoy Paxon’s games, but you’ve never lost sleep over it. So something else kept you up.”
My smile slipped away, and I turned to look out the window so he couldn’t see my expression. “Sometimes, you’re too smart,” I mumbled.
“I have to be to keep my parents off my ass. So spill.”
“I was talking to my mom last night,” I finally admitted. I sat up straighter in my seat. “Things aren’t going good.”
“Austin?”
I shook my head. “He’s…suffering. And my parents are feeling it too. Mom cried to me last night. She’s scared for Austin. Scared he might do something to hurt himself.”
