chapter sixteen

8K 178 48
                                    

CHAPTER SIXTEEN fuck it, i love you

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
fuck it, i love you

Clay wanted to help Jessica. Clay wanted to help Hannah. Clay wanted to help The Baker's. Clay wanted Bryce to go to jail. And all of it lead back to Natalie Walker. There was no way Bryce was going anywhere if Natalie didn't testify. But she was MIA.

Clay walked into the boys bathroom after returning from Jessica's day in court. He noticed Zach checking himself out in the mirror. "Oh, hey Clay."

"Hey Zach. I was actually hoping to run into you." Zach turns around at the statement and raised his eyebrows. "I know everyone said Natalie went to a boarding school but she hasn't been on social media or anything. I wanted to check up on her, do you know the name of it?"

"Uh, The Walker's are pretty discreet about it. Bryce said it's in Connecticut. I don't know, man. I wish I did. I miss her." Zach shrugged as he turned back around to the mirror.

Clay nodded. When he went home, he called every single boarding school in Connecticut and there was no record of anybody named Natalie Walker. He knew something was up.

-

"But if you go to the police, we'll back you up." Clay pleaded with Jessica to give Bryce's name. But it wasn't his choice to make.

"You can't. You weren't there. Hannah's gone, and she was sweet and sensitive and white. Look at what they are doing to her, don't you get it? I'm not the right kind of victim to go against Bryce Walker. Not when it's his word against mine" Jessica shook her head, looking down at the desk.

"What if Natalie was here? Or Justin?" Clay asked, fidgeting with his hands, nervous for her response.

"What if Hannah we're here? She's dead and they both might as well be." Jessica took a deep breath.

"Have you heard from them?" Jessica glances at the postcard from Natalie on her mirror but looks back down.

"I'm done talking about this, Clay. I'm tired of thinking about it every second of everyday." Jessica stood up.

"I know." Clay mumbled, also standing up.

"No you don't. You have no idea." Jessica turned around to face her closet. "I'm tired of staring at my closet, wondering what people are gonna think. Wondering what I can wear that will cover the most skin. What I can hide in."

As Jessica talks, Clay takes the postcard off the desk and looks at the back. He automatically recognized the reference as Jessica and Natalie would constantly talk about Gossip Girl together and he reluctantly watched it with his mom a few times. He knew it was Natalie - he knew she had to be in Oakland.

Justin Foley | Love It If We Made It Where stories live. Discover now