Flame

Chapter Seven

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For not answering your texts."

A weak smile stretched across Reese's lips, shaking her head gently. "You don't need to be sorry. I was just really worried about you, you know? The cops came to camp and took Finn that night, you were gone, the camp was shut down until further notice, and Miss Falls wasn't telling me anything so I couldn't really focus on anything but you." Hanging her head low, she took a loud and shaky breath. "Davina, I'm so, so sorry."

Comforting someone in a vulnerable moment was not something Davina aced at. The only other time Reese had shown any type of emotion that wasn't happy was when talking about her family and all Davina did was ask to smoke a blunt for the first time which immediately gave Reese something else to focus on. But this wasn't something that could be avoided.

She knew her rape didn't only affect her. Her parents expressed guilt of letting her go to Camp Roslyn so willingly but Davina had to constantly remind them that it had nothing to do with what happened to her. Then there were the times when she'd hear her mother cry behind closed doors; that's what stung her chest the most. Just knowing her mother went through the same thing that was only spoken of once was utterly heartbreaking.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"If I didn't leave you, he wouldn't have-"

"He would've just done it another time."

Reese rubbed her face with both hands. "Fuck, I'm sorry."

"Stop being sorry. You didn't do anything," Davina snapped, shocking herself by her tone of voice. She wasn't angry with Reese, she was just angry in general. "You and my parents keep saying, 'if I did this' or 'if I did that'. Yeah, if my parents didn't let me go to Camp Roslyn, Finn wouldn't have raped me. If you stayed with me that night, Finn wouldn't have raped me then but you know what? He was just going to do it another time. It's not your fault. It's mine."

"Wait what? You think it's your fault?"

"Of course it's my fault!" Davina exclaimed, slamming her drink on the counter, causing pieces of glass and juice to sprawl across the surface. The sudden rush of adrenaline steamed out of her body when she felt pieces of glass pinched her hand. With a gasp, she jumped but immediately winced when the quick movement provoked the glass to shift in her hand.

Reese rushed to Davina's side before leading her to the dining room, cursing under her breath at the change of events. Sitting the tan girl in one of the chairs at the dinner table, she asked where a pair of tweezers and medical supplies were. Embarrassed, Davina quietly gave directions to the materials and sunk into the chair once Reese left the room.

Why the hell did I say that out loud? God, I'm such an idiot. Maybe she forgot I said it and won't ask about it. Yeah, right, it's Reese. Of course she's going to want to talk about it.

"I need you to stay still when I pull the glass out, okay?" the tall girl instructed when coming back with a pair of tweezers, a paper towel, disinfectant cream, and a box of bandaids. She sat down in the chair beside Davina, gently taking the girl's hand before plucking out the pieces of glass with the tweezers.

Tension filled the air again but this time, it was less sufferable. Instead of staring each other down, both girls were focused on Davina's hand. Reese carefully patted away the remaining blood with the paper towel while Davina watched like it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

She's almost done. She's going to start talking about it again any minute.

"Stop spiraling."