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Another car flies into the parking lot, and my heart beats wildly as my mom gets out, looking at the scene in front of her. When our eyes meet, she looks at me sadly and goes straight for Natalie.
“We need to go now,” she says, pulling Natalie away.
“No! I’m not leaving here without money!”
“Natalie, honey, we need to get out of here.” Mom looks around, her eyes landing on Robbie.
“What the fuck, Mom? We have a plan.”
“No, things have changed. We. Need To. Go!”
Natalie doesn’t listen to the desperation in my mom’s voice, but instead focuses her hatred back to me. “You think you’re the shit, don’t you? Did you tell your boyfriend what you did? How you whored yourself out?”
“I didn’t whore myself out!” I scream.
“Yeah, you did. You just didn’t know it. Mom’s the one who made the arrangements. Brad wanted one weekend with you. Easy target since you were disgustingly naive.”
And there it is. My past collides with my present. I barely hear the growls from every man in the area as my ears ring in disbelief. My mom? She orchestrated the most humiliating thing in my life? I try to push the thought out of my mind.
“I know you hate me, but please tell me she’s wrong.” There’s a flash of regret before she looks away.
“Oh my God!” I move back to run but knock into the motorcycle, causing it to crash loudly to the pavement. My body scrambles over it as Robbie reaches for me.
“He didn’t give a shit about you,” Natalie screams as my mom continues to try to pull her away.
The shock registers on everyone’s faces and shows what I hoped to never see in my life. Pity and disgust.
I sob, trying to get to my feet. Robbie’s arms engulf me as he yells at my mom and my sister. Aunt Chloe is trying her hardest to hold Cruz and my dad back as a police cruiser flies into the parking lot, trapping in my mom’s car. I see it all through a haze as shame and horror sink in.
Nothing registers as I’m lifted and carried into the house. My body goes into shut down mode, reliving the memories and knowing I’m trash. This shouldn’t surprise me, because they hated me so much, but when Mom asked me to talk to Brad, she convinced me I could help. Natalie wanted to get clean, and if I could convince him, then he’d leave her alone.
Robbie’s growling into his phone, and I realize he’s still holding me but talking to his dad. Words like ‘restraining order’ and ‘murder’ spill out of his mouth. I clamber out of his arms and run for the stairs before he can stop me.
His face is full of disgust as I shut my bathroom door and lock it. The sound of shouting comes from downstairs, but I turn the shower on and strip, climbing in.
It’s hot, so hot I want to scream, but the need to be clean overpowers my senses. Finally, when I’ve scrubbed myself raw, I sink to my knees. The sense of security and happiness I felt thirty minutes ago diminishes, and I realize I’m a dirty fucking slut. Shame, regret, and humiliation wash over me as I cry into my hands. How can Robbie ever look at me the same way aga
in?
My lungs burn, begging for air. The pounding on the door gets louder and louder, then stops, finally leaving me to my misery. The sound of splintering wood startles me, and then the shower curtain is ripped back. I try to scream, but my voice catches in my throat as Robbie turns off the water and climbs in behind me, holding my shaking body to his.
“Don’t shut down on me. I’m not going to let you.”
“D-d-d-didn’t you hear that? I’m a slut.”
“No. What I heard was a pathetic excuse for a mother and sister trying to bring you down. They are the worst form of bitches, babe. And they’re gone. We need you to come down and talk to us. Tell us you’re all right.”
“I’m not, Robbie! I’m mortified. The most important thing in the world to you is family, and you just saw how mine is. And now everyone knows I lost my virginity to a guy as payback for my sister’s drug habit.”
He growls and tightens around my body. “Family is important, but you’re my family, too. We work through this together. You aren’t alone, babe. No way are you going back into your shell. We’re going to get through this. Together. If I didn’t have an oath not to hit women, I’d lay your sister out. You’re stronger than this, Ember. Let me help you.”
“Aren’t you disgusted?”
“I’m pretty disgusted, but not for the reasons you think. You’re precious and incredible. To know what you went through has always hurt me, but this afternoon, I wanted to fucking kill.”
I roll into his arms. “I’m not a dirty whore to you?”
“Never. If anything, you are the brightest diamond cut from the stone. Jesus, I didn’t think it was possible to love you more.”
