Stolen Innocence

1- The call that started it all...

"Okay." We both sat silently listening to the phone ring. I became nervous with each ring.

"Hello" I heard his voice, and my heart sank. His voice always made me nervous; it wasn't Ruben; it was his long-time friend, Jesse. The bad boy of the popular crowd. "Hello, is anyone there?" he asked.

I clear my throat as I struggle to gain the courage to speak to him. "Uh, hi. Is Ruben home?" I did not like this guy at all, in fact, he scared me. He likes torturing girls like me. He is the bad boy of our school, always behind some prank going on. It was unclear to me what Ruben or anyone else in their group saw in him.

"Well, I guess he's here. Who is this?" He hissed, not sounding pleased at all.

"Oh, um... It's Makena." I tell him softly.

"Well, hi there, Makena! It's Makena Kindell, right?" I heard the small chuckle he made. "And why in the world would a girl like you call my good friend today?" he asks me sweetly.

"Well, I guess I was just calling him to ask him a question." I had to remind myself that Trinity was listening to everything he said. So if he got out of control, she would find out about it.

"Oh, well, too bad. You'll just have to talk to me L-O-V-E! I can answer whatever question you want to ask." He said sweetly.

"Oh my God, do not ever call me that!" I scoffed.

"Oh, and why the hell not? It's just a nickname! Plus I'm only teasing you anyways!" He cooed at me, I could hear a smile in his tone.

"Okay, whatever, but I need to talk to him. It's for our biology class." I lied through my teeth hoping he would give up his fun and put Ruben on the phone.

"Okay fine... If you want to be that way, here he is" I hear him reluctantly call out Ruben's name, then some rustling noises, and then his grumbled tone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ruben! It's Makena Kindell. We have biology together! Do you know who I am?" I asked him, I knew I sounded hopeful, but so what.

"Yes, of course, I know who you are." He says.

"Okay okay, Here is the deal. I am only calling you because my best friend begged me to." I say softly, aware that he probably could care less about why I was calling. I then decided to get to the point, of why I wanted to speak with him.

"Okay," he says, encouraging me as well.

"You know my friend Trinity West, right?" I inquire.

"Yes, I know who she is." I definitely heard a slight bit of disgust in his voice as he spoke.

"Okay, good. Anyway, she asked me to call you and find out if you like her. She told me she overheard you and Jesse talking about this girl you both like. She said that she went to your church a few times..."

"What?" He cut me off, I shrug my shoulders and continue.

"Yeah, I just need to know if you like her at all." I finish, my heart beating so hard in my chest.

"Wow, who does she think she is? She shouldn't be listening in on other people's conversations." He growls, his words making me flinch feeling glad he couldn't see my reaction.

"I agree!" I silently hope she won't be mad at me for agreeing with him.

"I don't really like the bitch, tell her to stop stalking me, I am so tired of it!" I was about to tell him that I would, but then I heard some more rustling noises and Jesse's voice came out in a low growl.

"Did she happen to hear the girl's name?" he demanded.

"Well... No. I don't believe she did, otherwise, I wouldn't have been put up to this, would I?" I spoke slowly in response to his growl, it intimidating me, I won't lie.

"Well, that's good then. Do not ever call here again Makena! You are not to talk to him anymore, and I mean that! Do as I tell you, or I will hunt you down and strangle you!" After he had finished talking, I hear the sound of the phone being slammed down as he hung up on me.

I stared silently at the phone in my hand, my body trembling. He just threatened to kill me, will he do it? I wondered silently. "Oh, God Mak, I'm so sorry!" she replied, her voice cutting in through the silence.

"Trin, why did you make me do that? That was so scary and so embarrassing." I screamed into the phone, tears running from my eyes. I sat on the edge of the couch and put my head in my hands. She should have known that something like that could happen, Jesse is so cruel. She made me do that, she shouldn't have done that.

"Oh, come on Mak... I didn't know he was going to be over there! He's such a jerk! I'm so very very sorry, I will never ask you to do something like that again!" She sounded serious. I knew she was telling me the truth, after all, how could she have known if he was there or not? I decided I would forgive her... eventually.

"It's fine, I hope he doesn't mean what he said," I sniffled at her, shaking so badly. But the quicker I forgot about the incident, the better. "So Trin, what are you doing this weekend?"

"Oh, well, I'm going to be with my brother on Saturday since it's his birthday! What about you, what are your plans?" She seemed genuinely curious about my plans.

"Well, to be honest, I think I'll hang out with Suri this weekend, she wants to do a sleepover and stalk her guy crush!" I chuckled as I thought about the plan for Saturday, I was really looking forward to hanging out with my other best friend. She's a year younger than us and Trinity didn't like her, but whenever I could I hung out with her. Trinity often told me that we were too good to hang out with her.

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Yeah right, I knew better than to believe that one.

"Yep!"

"Well, I think you should do something about Jesse's threats to you." She says seriously, but I know she's only trying to protect me.

"Oh, I probably will. Better to be safe than sorry." I say I hear a tap on my door. "Oh hang on Trin, someone is knocking at my door!" Because of what had just happened, I do something I normally don't do... I look out the peephole before opening the door.

Gasping, at the sight I saw, I quickly bolt my door and duck whispering to Trin. "Oh my God Trin, Jesse is here!"