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"ryan is starting his shit again"
Kenzie woke up the next morning with Luis' arm wrapped tightly around her and her phone buzzing obnoxiously. She groaned as she reached for her phone. Once she grabbed it, she saw that she had at least thirty missed calls from Nadia, Mikey, and Brooklyn.
She unwrapped Luis' arms from around her and stood up from the couch, trying to step over all of the sleeping bodies that were scattered on the floor. Her phone started buzzing again, she looked down to see it was Mikey.
"Hello?" She asked into the phone as she took a seat at the kitchen table. Her eyes were burning from her sleep being disturbed and her head was pounding.
"Kenz!" She heard Mikey's loud voice boom through her phone. "Thank god! We have to talk, we're here right now."
"What?" She asked confused as she stood up to make her way toward her front door. She opened the door revealing her three friends, who looked like they had been to hell in back.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" She asked as she hung up her phone and put it in her pocket. Brooklyn groaned in response as Nadia rubbed her eyes as she leaned up against the house.
"We just got back from a party," Mikey said with an innocent smile.
"Jesus!" Kenzie said with wide eyes. "What time is it?"
"Almost six!" Nadia said sarcastically as she gave her a thumbs up.
"This is really important though," Mikey said as Kenzie stepped out onto her front porch. "Ryan is starting his shit again."
Her heart dropped when she heard what he said. He told her last night that he was going to tell Luis about the secret she had been keeping from almost everyone she knew.
"What did he do now?" Kenzie asked as she rolled her eyes. She watched as Mikey grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and handed it to her. She looked at him confused but took the phone anyway.
She looked at the screen to see it was a video, which looked like it was taken at the party her friends had just come from. She took a deep breath before pressing play.
There was music playing loudly in the background, people were screaming and people were dancing. The camera slowly moved over, revealing Ryan and one of his friends, Matt. The two of them were laughing as they both drank out of cans.
Kenzie could see how drunk Ryan was, he looked awful. He turned toward the camera, his eyes lighting up as he stumbled over to be closer to the phone. He was laughing and drinking out of the can like he had no care in the world.
"Matt thinks his love life is shit!" Ryan yelled into the camera as he laughed loudly over the music. "At least he didn't have a girlfriend who tried to kill herself!"
She was so taken back from the video that she could barely breath, let alone speak. She felt awful and so embarrassed that he had exposed her of a secret that was so big. Kenzie made it clear that she wanted no one to know what happened over her winter break freshman year but Ryan clearly didn't care about what she wanted. She felt betrayed and so violated of her right to keep quiet about something so major like that.
And to think this all happened because she broke up with him.
"Madi Martin was the one recording," Mikey explained as he took his phone out of Kenzie's hand. "She said she wasn't expecting him to say something like that and said you should know about what he did."
Madi and Kenzie were definitely not friends. The two of them were never close during their first two years of high school but she was a friend of Ryan's and Kenzie was basically forced to hang out with his friends all the time. Madi dated Ryan's best friend Matt so the two of them were seen together often, they just never spoke to each other. She never expected Madi Martin to look out for her, ever.
"Madi also wants to speak with you," Nadia spoke up. "In person."
Kenzie gulped as she nodded her head. It was a lot for her to take in suddenly. She couldn't stop thinking about what Ryan had said. She wondered how many people he told.
"You guys can come in," Kenzie said as she opened the door. "I can get you painkillers and clothes before I have to go talk to Madi."
The three of them nodded as they rushed into the house. She followed behind them and instantly stopped in her tracks when she saw a very tired Luis standing in the entry way to her kitchen.
Her friends just said hi as they rushed past him to raid her kitchen of food and painkillers. Luis laughed at the three of them before turning to Kenzie.
"Rough night?" He asked as he glanced over at the teenagers in the kitchen. Kenzie faked a smile and let out a little laugh.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Brooklyn called out from the kitchen as she popped a few pills into her mouth.
"What are you doing up so early?" She asked Luis as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She just wanted to be close to him, scared that maybe he will leave her when he eventually finds out her secret.
"I didn't feel you next to me," He said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Wanted to come find you."
She laughed a little as she pulled away from him. She stood on her tip toes and placed a kiss on his lips. He smiled at her before she laid her head on his chest.
She really hoped he wouldn't leave her.
***
Kenzie sat in front of Madi Martin at a small café that afternoon in complete silence. Neither of them knew how to start the conversation of what happened yet both of them had a lot to say.
"Thank you for telling me," Kenzie spoke up, breaking their silence. "I appreciate it."
"Of course," Madi said with a small nod. "That's something he shouldn't be saying, it's none of his business."
Kenzie nodded in agreement, "So why did you want to talk to me?"
"Because I need your help," She spoke in a quiet voice. Kenzie looked at her confused but she nodded at her, waiting for her to continue speaking.
"Something really bad happened to me," She said as her eyes filled with tears. "Something awful, something I can't even tell my parents about."
Kenzie watched as she pulled up the sleeves of her hoodie. There were bruises scattered all over her arms. Madi then pulled up the bottom, revealing her stomach that had even more bruises that were way worse.
Kenzie's eyes went wide and she didn't know what to say. Her heart was beating fast and she was scared for Madi. Even if they weren't close, she was clearly going through something awful.
"He raped me," She said as she let out a sob, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Kenzie's heart dropped as she processed her words. She played the names of everyone the two of them knew and she feared that it was her own boyfriend. She grabbed Madi's hand as she tried to comfort her.
"Who?" Kenzie asked with a soft voice. She watched as tears fell down her face and she took a deep breath before looking her in the eyes and speaking.
