Chapter Twenty-Three: Truth Hurts

2.1K 47 3
                                    

August had begun, and even though Camilla and Montgomery had been doing good, they ended up in an explosive argument, that had gotten physical. They had gone to a party Bryce was throwing, and both had gotten really drunk. Camilla had been getting closer to newest addition Scott Reed, and Montgomery didn't like it since he barely knew Scott himself and if he would be dumb enough to get with his girl.

Montgomery had almost started a fight with him, but Camilla made them leave, arguing in the car on the way back to her house.

As they continued to argue inside, Montgomery's drunken rage caused him to throw insults, and went too far, calling her a whore which made her slap him. A decision she instantly regretted as soon as he grabbed her by her neck and slammed her back into the wall.

The rest was a blur for them but the physical encounter had turned into rough, angry sex. Camilla had woken up with finger marks on her neck and bruises on her thighs and arms.


Since the summer was coming to an end, the guys wanted to hang out and enjoy it for as long as they could. The friend group decided to go the movies, but Camilla stayed home, too embarrassed by the bruises on her and not wanting to hang out with both Montgomery and Zach, knowing the awkward tension would be unbearable.

The guys walked up the ticket booth, that Hannah just so happened to be working. She let out a deep sigh, knowing that they weren't going to let her off easy.

"Five tickets for Sudden Descent, please." Bryce says, taking the money out his wallet to hand to her as Montgomery comes close to the glass, laying his face on it as staring directly at Hannah.

"Hey, are you still wearing that lacy, black underwear?" He asks, one of the guys including "Yeah, come on. Show us."

Montgomery lifts his shirt up, placing his bare chest against the glass as he recites the poem Hannah wrote, and was made fun of for. "Ohhhh. Miles and miles of skinnn." He teases her, making her feel uncomfortable.

"All right, ladies. Enough. Cam will kill you." He points at Montgomery, reminding him she's not playing games anymore with him when it came to him and other girls.

"What? It makes me feel free." Montgomery jokes, being pulled inside by his friends as they laughed along.

Hannah waits for them all to go inside, before pulling her phone out. The phone rings, before a tired and hoarse voice answers. "Hello?"

"Hey, um you alright? Did you just wake up or something?"

"Oh uh, yeah." Camilla clears her throat, in hopes it would sound better but it sounded pretty bad still from the yelling and screaming from the night before. "What's up, Han?"

"Do you want to, I don't know, hang out tonight?"

Camilla looks in the mirror at her neck and down at her body, figuring she could probably cover it with either clothes or makeup. "Yeah, tonight sounds great Han."


"Wow so this is your house." Hannah sits the on the couch, looking around the big house in amazement. "Yup." Camilla replies, sitting next to her, placing the popcorn and drinks in front of them as they start The Notebook.

"And where are your parents?" She asks, taking a popcorn and putting it in her mouth.

"Sometimes here, sometimes somewhere else. I never really know anymore. If Monty isn't here, it's usually just me."

"Where is Monty?" "At Bryce's I think." Camilla shrugs, reaching over and grabbing her drink. Hannah notices the slight bruises Camilla didn't cover up that well on the side of her neck, and some on her arms as she lifts her arms up to drink and her large sweatshirt falls down.

"Can I ask you something?" Hannah asks, making Camilla chuckle. "You've already been asking me stuff." Hannah laughs, realizing she's right. "It's about, your relationship."

Camilla's full attention is now on Hannah, her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what she was going to say.

"Does he.. abuse you?"

Camilla snorts, finding it humorous at that point that people still thought that. "Really, Hannah? He doesn't abuse me, he loves me." She waves it off, grabbing a handful of popcorn and looking towards the TV screen.

"So what are those bruises on you?" Camilla sighs, eating some of the popcorn.

"Rough sex. Maybe if you'd had a boyfriend, you'd understand."

Hannah tries to ignore the semi insult, and continues. "I see the bruises on you all the time, Cam. Not just today. I know you always say it was an accident.. but you're really going to tell me he never hurt you before intentionally?"

"He doesn't hurt me on purpose, Hannah. He's rough. That's all. Don't worry about it." Camilla rolls her eyes. Hannah was the only person she knew that was more concerned about her relationship more than she was. All her friends knew to mind their business when it came to their relationship, yet Hannah would never give up.

"What about the way he controls you? Does he do that by accident too?" Hannah says sarcastically causing Camilla to narrow her eyes at her. "He doesn't fucking control me. I do what I want." "Cam, he doesn't even like you talking to guys other than the people he allows. Don't you think it's odd how possessive he is?"

"I think you should mind your business, Hannah."

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry, I just want you to know there is a way out, you don't have to put up with the abuse, Cam. I want you to know I am here to help."

Camilla laughs, an unhumorous laugh, as she shakes her head. "Help? You haven't even had a real relationship yourself, so you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. Hell, you probably won't ever have one since all you're known for is being the school slut."

Hannah tries to hold back the tears coming to her eyes, biting her lip as hurt courses through her. She thought Camilla was her friend, yet she was saying all these hurtful things towards her. 

"Oh you're no different than me." Hannah says back, just wanting to hurt Camilla as much as she was hurting now.

"Excuse me?" Camilla stands up.

"Does Montgomery know?" Hannah asks.

"Know about what, Hannah?"

"You and Zach."

Camilla turns her back to her and freezes, gulping as she begins to turn red. "There is no me and Zach."

Hannah scoffs as she stares at Camilla, noticing her nervous expression. "Don't lie to me, Cam. I know about what happened this summer."

Zach and Hannah had had a summer fling of their own, starting only days after Camilla and Jeff had seen them together at the movie theater. It had ended quickly, thanks to Zach being too scared to let the guys know about their relationship, but not before Zach had let Hannah know about his feelings for Camilla and their constant hookups for a majority of the summer.

 Camilla turns to Hannah, crossing her arms as she starts to get angry that Hannah knew and was confronting her about it. "And how do you know, Hannah?" Now it was Hannah's turn to get nervous, stuttering a little as she replies "I, I can't tell you." Camilla chuckles, shaking her head and pointing to the door. "Get out my fucking house."

"Wait, Cam. I'm sorry." Hannah quickly stands up, putting a hand on Camilla's shoulder, but it getting pushed off just as fast.

"Don't fucking touch me, Hannah Baker. You know what, maybe all the rumors about you are true. That you did shit with Justin, that you're obsessed with and in love with Courtney, and that you're the reason Jessica and Alex broke up because you hooked up with him too. Maybe you are a fucking slut."

"You.. you don't mean that." Hannah says in small voice, tears starting to come down her face.

"Stay away from my friends. And stay away from my boyfriend. Lord knows you'll try and fuck him too. Now get out. Or I'll make you get out."

Hannah was speechless. As she stared at Camilla, waiting for her to tell her she was joking, but she noticed the serious expression on her face. She didn't seem like she was going to budge. So Hannah did as she said, grabbing her things, and leaving her house in tears and hurt.

Before  (Tape 9 Prequel)Where stories live. Discover now