CHAPTER SIXTEEN
( GET AWAY )

     CARMEN STARES OVER at Zach. For the past few minutes, he had been constantly by her side. It was almost as if she were back in the hospital, all of her friends were worrying about her once again. Aurora had been particularly angry about the phone call, but didn't question Carmen about the caller.

By now, she had finally stopped crying, and had laid her soup aside. Carmen no longer had an appetite, and it surely didn't go unnoticed by Zach.

"You need to eat," Zach says sternly, handing her the bowl. "It's bad enough that you're only allowed to eat soup."

"I have to call my mom," Carmen shakes her head, placing her phone to her ear. "I'll eat later, okay?"

He didn't have time to reply, as her mother answered the call immediately.

"Hey, baby. Are you doing okay?" Alyssa asks her daughter from the line. "Is anything wrong?"

"I'm fine, mom," Carmen mutters, before squeezing her eyes shut. "But I was wondering . . . did you happen to contact Jess about the crash?"

"Of course, honey," Her mother says. "Even though you and Jackson aren't together anymore, she still has the right to know. She cares about you, Carmen. She always has, and nothing changed."

"I- why?" Carmen grows tense. "Mom, you know we moved for a reason. He's the reason, but you still spouted to his mother?"

"She called the night that you were in the hospital, and asked how you were doing. I only have her a solid answer. It's not like I called her myself, hun."

"Why did she call?"

"She calls every week to check on you, Carmen." Her mother sighs. "You of all people know that she's a great person. She got Jackson help, you know?"

"Help?" Carmen chokes out, her hands beginning to shake. "Mom, please tell me she didn't ask for the address."

"Well, she-"

"Mommy," Carmen says in a whisper. Her bottom lip trembles, Zach beginning to grow worried. "Jackson called me today. He knows where I live, and he- he told me he'd find me. You didn't tell Jess the adress, did you?"

The other end is silent. The pause triggers something inside of Carmen, causing her anger to flare.

"Why would you tell them something like that?" She snaps, tears falling from her eyes. "He's the reason we came here! Don't you remember that? He's the reason my father is DEAD!"

"Honey, things happen for a reason. That boy had no control over the car, let alone over your father's death."

"Oh really?" She chuckles darkly. "Then who's fault was it? Was it my fault that we had to rip up our roots and come to LA? Was it my fault? Did I deserve what Jackson did to me? And Casey and Laila? What about them?"

"Casey and Laila aren't at fault, either," Alyssa states. "But they are at fault for believing the shit that comes from Jackson's mouth. Carmen, you didn't deserve any of the things they pushed your way. We just needed to get away from all of it."

"You needed to get away?" Carmen cries. "You? You have no idea what I went through every day at school."

"Honey, I do-"

"But do you really? How could you possibly know when you sold me out, huh? When you told the one person I needed to get away from most exactly where I am. And you know what? Now he's coming to find me."

"I'll tell Jessica, Carmen. I'm sure she can look over Jackson, and make him change his mind."

"He's eighteen now, mom. She can't stop him." By now, Carmen's voice was soft, and her anger had finally turned into fear. "No one can."

And then she ended the call.

All attention was turned to Carmen, of which she ingored. She lets out a loud, exasperated huff as she runs her fingers through her hair.

"Caramel . . . " Aurora trails off, stepping closer to the couch that she's rested on.

"I'm fine." Carmen shakes her head, sniffling as she turns her phone off. "I just . . . I think I need some time to try and figure this out."

"What's going on?" Zach demands softly, kneeling down in front of her. "Please tell me."

Carmen stares down at the heartbroken boy, who couldn't seem to figure out why she was crying again. It tore him apart to see the girl he loves begin to slowly break.

"I moved here for a reason," Carmen starts, laying back on the couch. She stares up at the ceiling, not wanting to continue. "I loved it in Oregon. It was my home."

"So what happened?" Aurora asks.

"I met a boy," Carmen smiles slightly at the memory, causing a pang in Zach's chest. "He was a senior, and I was a sophomore. Of course mom and dad didn't really agree at first, but they warmed up to him soon enough. He was good friends with Casey and  Laila- my best friends at the time. And that's how I met him."

"Jackson was seventeen when I first ran into him in the hallway. He was talking to Casey, and she introduced us. We instantly clicked, and he asked me to be his girlfriend a week after we met. After six months, I knew him like the back of my hand. We were inseparable, and I loved him."

Zach sinks to the floor, his face visually falling. Corbyn moves to sit next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"But he . . . he never loved me." Carmen smiles weakly, a single tear falling from the crease of her eye. "In fact, I found him with Casey the day after I told him I loved him. Neither of them cared that they had hurt me, and I didn't know why Casey had turned on me so suddenly. She was my best friend. And she betrayed me."

"I found out a week later that Jackson speed the rumor that I had sex with Casey's boyfriend that had recently moved away. And Casey and Laila had the nerve to believe him. Soon enough, the whole school heard his lie and I was the laughing stock. I got slut shamed for something I didn't even do."

"It got to the point where my parents would get phone calls from random kids at school, telling them that their daughter was a whore. My locker got trashed seven times within the first two weeks of the rumor, and paint was dumped into my backpack when I wasn't looking. And Jackson led it all."

"The last straw was when he and the football team caught me after school in the gym, working on edits for the essay I had wrote for English."

She didn't finish, her breaths growing rigid and heavier. A sob left her lips before she finally continues.

"They beat me until I couldn't breathe. I physically couldn't move because of the damage they had done. All because Jackson spouted a lie to them."

"So that's why you moved here?" Corbyn asks.

"Yeah, mom and dad finally caught on after a while. I couldn't hide the bruises forever."

"And what about your dad?" Daniel asks hesitantly, taking her hand in his as he watches her fall apart again.

"He died in a car crash during the move to LA. One that still gives me nightmares. I can't even look at myself in the mirror without being disgusted. I killed him. If we didn't have to come here, he would be fine!"

"Carmen, don't blame yourself," Zach cradles her in his chest as she begins to cry again. "Don't-"

"The phone call today- that was Jackson, wasn't it?" Aurora asks, her eyes growing wide with horror as realization strikes her.

"What does that mean?" Jonah joins in.

"He's coming to LA," Aurora mutters, Zach's body going stiff as the words leave her lips. "And he wants to take our Caramel away."

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