This Is Why I Hate You Too

18. Patterns, Patterns, Patterns

Ivy and Andrew looked at each other, shock coloring their faces. Ashley and Rachel held each other, cringing at what they'd heard. Corey covered her ears. "Don't remind me. . ." she muttered.

"He—he would?" Matt asked, trying to verify what he'd heard.

"Yeah, he was. . . he was weird," Freddie replied. "I saw him fuck a pocket pussy once. He didn't even care that someone was watching him; he was just thrusting in that thing." Freddie burst into laughter. "He was moaning some girl's name while doing it, too."

Ashley retched. She covered her mouth, trying not to vomit.

"I heard the whole thing. I saw half of it, too. He didn't even clean it up when he was done. He just. . . left his cum in there for the rest of the night."

"Oh, God. . ." Ivy muttered, facepalming.

"And the worst thing is, he did that more than once," Freddie said, topping it off. "And. . ." he looked at Ashley and Corey before he said, "he was saying your names the whole time."

"Oh my God." Andrew rose from his seat, walking off with his hands around his head.

"Oh, Lord. . ." Ivy exclaimed.

"No! No! Just. . . no!"

Ashley clutched her fist. She rushed to Corey and embraced her. "I'm so sorry."

Corey's brows furrowed. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm sorry I didn't do anything about him."

"You did what you could. It's fine."

Ashley sighed. It wasn't fine, actually. She didn't do shit. She just let her parents handle it since they were wiser and smarter than she was. She's said it before and she'll say it again. She should've killed him. She never told Corey that, though, as she let go of her and listened to the rest of Freddie's testimony.

"There were also times where he'd go off base and not tell anyone," Freddie continued. "I—I remember, there was this one time he went completely AWOL. He didn't even pack anything. He just. . . left out of nowhere. I saw him leave that night. I tried to reason with him so he could stay, but. . he just. . . his eyes turned black in the thick of it and. . . it shook me, so I just let him be."

Ashley's eyes widened. Her heart spiked. "His—his eyes turned black?"

"Yeah, his pupils dilated."

Ashley froze. She knew what that look meant. She remembered those nights where she would be arguing with Arthur, and out of nowhere, his eyes would go dark. His pupils would almost completely cover his irises. It all came back to her. That stare. The chills it sent down her spine.

"He thinks he's so scary," Corey chuckled. "I do that shit too."

"You're a narcissist?" Ashley asked, remembering the day she and Winnie spoke with her.

"Yeah, I've been diagnosed since I was fifteen. I'm not as bad as he is, though, I've discovered."

"Mr. Taylor, do you remember the date of that night?" Matt inquired.

"Uhhh. . I don't know," Freddie replied.

"December 29th, 2012," Ashley blurted out. "That's the day he came to Orange."

"How do you remember that?" Matt asked.

"My brother took a picture of me at the hospital the day after what happened to me." Ashley walked up to Matt, taking out that photo of her smiling in her hospital bed. She turned it around, showing the date written behind it in Tommy's handwriting. "See? 12/29/12. December 29th, 2012! I saw him outside my house at exactly 3:30 AM. I got admitted to the hospital less than fifteen minutes later."