Chapter 14

I blamed Gray.

The nightmares.

How fucked up my life was.

My grades were slipping. Because of the drama Gray caused in my life recently, I was in the library, catching up on the homework I missed when he was raping me.

Was it even considered rape if I allowed him to touch me? Every inch of my body wanted to yell at him to stop, but I laid still. I accepted what was happening. That thought was just one of many that kept me distracted from my schoolwork. That and the flashbacks.

But then I remembered Olive's smile. Her laugh. The sparkle shining in her eyes. Her happiness and safety made it worth it. She spoke with the rest of the cheerleaders and agreed to continue being on the team. As long as she was back to being her happy, usual self, I was okay.

Speaking of, there she was. Olive sat next to me, but her eyes were glued to something behind me. I didn’t care what caught her attention. Without much thought, I threw my arms around her and maintained a vice grip.

She didn’t seem bothered by the sudden display of affection, but she was taken by surprise. She was safely in my arms, giggling that same giggle that would escape her lips every time we would watch a rom-com.

It was all behind her and she promised me that she would never look back. Olive took a second before reciprocating the hug with as tight of a grip as mine. “Not that I don’t appreciate random hugs, but is something wrong?”

I forced myself to pull away and was faced with a half-smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It finally registered in me that she asked a question. “No. I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

Her smile grew bigger–until it was wide enough to reach her eyes. It was like she was saying the same thing. That she was glad everything was back to normal and that we were both okay. She shook her head and redirected her attention back to whatever it was behind me. 

"Don't look now, but Kayden and Angela are sucking each other's faces off on the couch. "

"Ugh, believe you me, I don't want to look. I've thrown up enough times this week."

"You only threw up once."

"And that's one too many times than I'm comfortable with. Because of the demon that made a sudden reappearance in my life, my grades had been slipping. If I want to get into a college with a good nurse program, I have to maintain a 4.0 GPA. Maybe even higher if I do enough extra credit assignments."

Olive's eyes burned at the side of my head and when I looked up from my textbook, concern was written across her facial features. "What is it?"

"You look like shit."

A fake smile tugged at my lips and placed my hands over my heart. "Awwww. My best friend thinks I look like shit. After our beautiful heart to heart yesterday, you just keep getting better at treating me like the bestest friend in the whole entire world."

"You know what I mean. Have you even eaten anything today?"

Flashbacks of the newest nightmare suddenly hit me.

"You belong to me, my cupcake. I own you." Gray's eyes were centimeters away from mine and his hand was wrapped around my waist. I was one breath away from developing lung cancer with how close he was to me. My stomach twisted at the mention of him owning me. No one owned me. I was no one's property. I kept my mouth shut to avoid another beating.

He intentionally blew a puff of smoke in my face and kissed me with his smokey breath. I winced at the taste of his cigarette-flavored kiss and puke climbed up my throat. I used every ounce of strength I had to push him away, but he wouldn't budge. He held me tighter in his arms, tight enough that I could barely breathe.

Finally, his lips pulled away from mine. "I'm the only man that's allowed to touch you like this." His hand slid under my top and his other hand toward my crotch. "You spend way too much time with those boys. You need to stop seeing them."

Hell no. There wasn't anything he could say to forbid me from seeing my best friends. Putting my face at risk of getting a fresh bruise, I swallowed the lump that was sitting in my throat. "They're my best friends."

"Not anymore, cupcake. I don't want you talking, thinking about or even looking at another man. You're mine."

"Bella?"

"No, I haven't. Had another nightmare." The textbook and notes had my attention now. I pretended to read the first line even though my brain couldn't comprehend what the contents of this chapter were. What year did the Civil War start? Don’t ask me.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely not, but thank you very much for asking. But do you, by any chance, know… anything about the Civil War?”

Olive waved me off and scooted her chair back. “Wars were had, people died and we all lived happily ever after… except for the people who died, the end. Yada, yada, yada.” She gestured toward the library doors where there was a throng of other students leaving for the first class. “Get your ass up.”

-

The weight on my eyelids was hard to fight, the exhaustion that came with only two hours of sleep was finally kicking in. Between the teacher droning on and on and the comfortable position of my head atop my crossed arms, it became more challenging to stay awake.

I jolted awake when the lunch bell resounded throughout the classrooms. When I approached my locker, Olive was there with her arms crossed, leaning against the locker next to mine. The mischievous glint of her eyes was what caused me to stop abruptly. “Are you up to something?”

She didn’t say anything. She just shrugged.

“You know what? I’m too tired to even care.”

"I’m sure that’s about to change. Did you get Zach's text?"

My face scrunched up in confusion. The teacher called out one of the other students for using her phone during her lesson. Because of her threats to send her to the principal's office if she caught her with it one more time, everyone else — including me — was scared into tucking it away. What could he have texted me about that made Olive as excited as she was? I pulled my phone out from my back pocket and found the text he sent me.

Zach:

Bella, we've got good news for ya!

Don't go to the cafeteria yet.

Instead of being curious, I was more disappointed that I couldn't go to the cafeteria yet. Perhaps if I bought an energy drink from the vending machine, I’d be bouncing off the walls. That would be better than fainting right here in front of half the school. "Whatever it is, can't it wait until I've got caffeine in my system? Or sugar? Or anything to wake my brain the hell up?"

Olive swore under her breath as she rummaged her backpack and pulled out a bag of Skittles. My fingers ferociously ripped open the bag and I stuffed my face with candy, satisfying my requirement for an energy booster. Skittles spilled out of my mouth at the sight of Garrett Barns approaching me. The Garrett Barns I hadn't seen since we danced together at the party. 

Even though he was only in a hoodie, a leather jacket and jeans with holes in the knees, he looked smoking hot. It was like one of those movies where the hot guy walks in slow motion in the halls. Time stopped while his chocolate brown eyes stared into mine and a dimple accentuated his cheeks when he smiled at me.

Yeah.

I'm sure stuffing your face with food like a slob looks real sexy.

Olive backed away with her hands behind her back and curved lips pressed together. I furrowed my brows together at her reaction and Zach leaning against the set of lockers across the hall. He sent a wink in my direction and gestured his head toward Garrett. I scanned the hallway for Kayden to see if he knew about any of this, but he was nowhere in sight. 

Garrett looked nervous with his hands rubbing together and then scratching the back of his neck. "Bella Price, I know we haven't spoken much, but I had a crush on you since the first grade."

His hands were rubbing tobether and he was stammering as he struggled to get the next words out. "Are you free to go to Sally's Sweets and then to the Santa Monica Pier tonight? With me?"

His confession caught me off guard. He'd never been more than an occasional friend I'd talk to during class in the fifth grade. What would be the harm in giving him a chance? Perhaps, this was the step I had to take to forget about Kayden. The corners of my lips curled upward before I answered with a nod.

-

"Garrett was so cute! And the fact that he asked Zach for his blessing was the cutest thing! I wish I had a guy best friend for someone who likes me to ask for permission to date me." Olive was going through her closet for something for me to wear to this date. 

I was growing more and more excited about it. This would be my first one ever. There may be a part of me that was nervous, but the part that was excited overpowered the nerves. Garrett seemed like the sweetest guy with the biggest heart. I was looking forward to what he had planned. 

"Just out of curiosity, how did Kayden react when he received Zach's text about Garrett wanting to ask me out?" I stole Olive's phone to go through recent text messages sent in a group chat I wasn't involved in, easily being able to unlock her phone as we shared each other's passcodes.

Zach:

OMG Guess what?

Kayden:

Whatever it is, for you to say OMG, it must be pretty damn big xD

Olive:

What is it? 

Zach: 

Garrett Barns asked me for my blessing to ask Bella out. 

Olive:

That sexy nerd from the party?

Zach:

Yeah. Apparently he had a crush on her since the first grade and is just now getting the courage to ask her out.

Olive:

Since first grade?

Awwwww! Isn't that the cutest origin story to tell the kids?

I ship.

What should their ship name be?

Gella?

Barrett?

Kayden sent no more texts after the one making fun of Zach for using text language. Maybe he talked with Olive privately. Or with Zach and Zach told Olive what he felt about it.

"He didn't say a word about it."

A pang of disappointment hit me in the chest knowing that Kayden didn't care. 

Figures.

This could be the push I needed to go on this date and who knows? Maybe I'd feel chemistry between the both of us.

Olive picked out my outfit; a beautiful sundress paired with a jean jacket. Olive curled my hair and tied it in a half-up ponytail and she finished the look with her favorite white Nikes with monarch butterflies printed on the sides.

Olive turned me around to face her full-length mirror and take a look at the final product. I actually felt confident in the outfit, and pretty. I had to say, Olive had a good taste in first-date outfits. 

"You look so beautiful." Olive's hands remained on my shoulders and her head was perched right next to mine as she looked my reflection up and down. "Damn. I am good!"

My phone pinged.

Garrett:

I'm here. 

I shook my hands out and bounced up and down on my heels. Every ounce of nerves that were leftover in my body were replaced with confidence that tonight was going to end well. Olive wrapped her arms around me from behind and wished me good luck.

Here we go.