Chapter TWELVE

School the next day was harder than I even imagined. I couldn't concentrate. I didn't feel safe. I didn't see Kyler until lunch, and that was from way across the field, in the back. He didn't even look my way. I stayed away from my locker, hid in the bathroom and in my classes. I kept checking behind me when I walked in the halls.

   I didn't actually think he was dumb enough to approach me at school, but I was scared that he had told someone, anyone, and maybe the story was different. Somehow he must have been banking on me not telling a soul.

   At the end of the day, I followed Kaylee to her car. I was not going to risk walking home alone. And right there, in the parking lot, was Kyler. He was leaning onto Kane's car, like they were best buds again. My heart started pounding.

   "What an asshole, pretending nothing happened," Kaylee said, under her breath. "He would be telling everyone what happened if you'd had sex with him. Well, maybe not Kane..."

   I couldn't look away, and suddenly Kane glanced over and saw me getting into Kaylee's car. I looked away quickly. What was happening? Why was I so scared of everything? What had Kyler told people about the carnival?  I felt like I just wanted to run away and never go back to school again.

   But - thankfully - at the end of the week, things were actually back to normal. Kaylee and Georgia made sure they were with me at all times, and I was somehow able to feel okay again. I just wanted to forget it had happened at all.

   Mandee and Mel waved at me in the hallway when they saw me, but I wasn't invited to sit with them at lunch anymore, thankfully. Mandee and Gibson were very obviously a couple now, basically making out whenever they were together. Mel actually seemed a bit lost, as a third wheel.  But I had my own issues to worry about.

   Kane had pretty much ignored me all week, which I was glad about as well. I couldn't even stand the thought of talking to him.  Somehow I knew he would figure out something was wrong, just by looking in my eyes.

   After final bell on Friday, while I was grabbing my bag from my locker, Kyler appeared out of nowhere. Georgia, I knew, was just around the corner at her locker. Kaylee should have been there by now. She always met up with me as soon as she could.

   He forced a smile, and I could not believe he was standing a foot away from me.

   "Hey," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

   I blinked hard, praying for someone to pull me away. "Go," I managed to say.

   "I'm just saying hi," he went on, flashing me another smile.

   I felt frozen, like I couldn't move even if I hadn't been terrified to do so.

   "Leave me alone," I said, trying to sound stern.

   "So, you're just a tease?" he asked me.

   "Excuse me?"

   "Hey," Kaylee was there, finally. "Get the fuck out of here."

   Kyler looked surprised for a second, and then angry, figuring out that Kaylee knew what he had done. He looked at her, then back to me, and then walked away without another word.

   "I'm so sorry," she said to me, grabbing my hand.

   I was in shock. "Let's just go."

~~~

   "I guess I thought I was okay," I said to her, as we sat in my driveway twenty minutes later. "I thought I could just move on."

   "This is fucked up. You have to tell someone," she told me, serious.

   I nodded. I knew I had to. I couldn't live like this. I had to suck it up and deal with it, rather than try to force it out of my head. It would never be something I would forget. Part of me thought maybe it wasn't a big deal. Maybe I had acted like I'd wanted him to do that. But deep down I knew I'd told him no, and he didn't stop.

    "I'll text you later," I told Kaylee, not looking back after getting out of her car.

   Inside the house, my mind was racing. I still had to act like I was fine, but I knew I had to tell my secret. Watching TV with Andy before dinner, I finally decided what I had to do.

   What did you mean when you said that I don't know the whole story, about Kyler? I texted Kane.

   He was pretty quick to reply. What? Why?

   Me: What did you mean? You said you know what he's done.

   Kane: Marley, what the hell?

   Me: Call me in five minutes.

   In my bedroom with the door closed, I waited. He called right when I told him to.

   "What the fuck is going on?" he asked, without saying hello.

   "Can you just tell me what you meant?" I asked him.

   "Marley."

   "Please, tell me."

   "He was dating this girl, Marisa, for awhile, like six months, maybe. She ended up breaking up with him, and he went kind of crazy. She went on a date with some guy like a month later... Kyler showed up and beat the shit out of him. Marisa did not cheat on him, as far as I know. That's just what Kyler and his sister told everyone."

   I was speechless.

   "I wanted to tell you. You weren't exactly interested in what I had to say," Kane went on.

   "So, he got kicked off the football team?" I asked, still trying to process this. 

   "For the second half of the season, last year. He started playing again in September and he loves it, so I knew he wouldn't start shit with me, even after I punched him-"

   "Kane..."

   "Wait, what? Why are you asking about this?" Now he seemed concerned, as well.

   I swallowed hard. I waited. I took a deep breath. "I was so stupid. I'm so sorry."

   "Marley, what?"

   "He tried to... he touched me, when I told him not to," I spat out.

   Kane was silent, besides his heavy breathing. I knew he was trying to decide the fastest way to get to Kyler's house, to hurt him.  I knew Kane - it was just the way he was. He acted on emotion and did what his instincts told him to do.

   "He... what?" he finally asked.

   "Last weekend. I ended up at the carnival, with Mandee, Gibson, Mel... and him. We were all together at first, it was fun..."

   "I didn't fucking go. I was going to go, but I thought I'd give you space. And I didn't know -"

   "He was... we were..." I did not know how to say this to Kane.

   "But did he do it? Marley, did he -"

   "I kicked him. I got away from him," I told him. I wasn't crying this time. Maybe I'd already cried enough about this.

   Kane was quiet again, gathering his thoughts. He was often irrational, so this was strange. The fact that he was still on the phone with me was surprising.

   "I gotta go," he finally said.

   "Kane."

   "Don't worry," he finished, and hung up.