Michael was sitting in his classroom, staring mindlessly at his desk as his students filed out the class toward lunch. He deeply sighed and buried his face into his hands before eventually grabbing his phone from inside the top drawer.
It didn't take long for him to find himself in the messages between him and Riley, staring at the threatening message that was sent. When he first received it, it left him beyond baffled and slightly hurt. He didn't understand why she sent it, then again he wasn't even sure if it was her at all.
He even asked her why she sent it, but never received a text back. He tiredly exhaled as he heard her sweet voice caress his ears from being sent to voicemail five times in a row. His eyes stung a little as he could picture her radiant smile and embraced her soft, contagious giggle that echoed in his mind.
"I just don't understand..." He mumbled after putting his phone down. He then jumped slightly in his seat when he heard a soft knock on the door frame of his classroom. He glanced up to see Jay standing at the doorway, hesitating to step inside until he gestured for her to walk in.
"Are you busy? I can come back at another time." Jay said, though she really didn't want to leave as she slowly approached his desk.
"No, it's alright. I'm not doing anything." He replied, locking his phone and placing it aside. "What brings you here? Are you doing okay?"
"No." She shook her head, now standing in front of his desk. "It's Riley."
His heart nervously throbbed in his chest as he slowly stood and walked around the desk to face her. "What's wrong?"
"I haven't spoken to her in over two weeks. She won't answer my calls unless I call from an unknown number, or reply to my texts. She's been distancing herself and she won't even talk to me at school." Jay couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Speaking of which, she's been skipping school, too. That's so unlike her, Michael. I don't know who else to go to."
"Calm down." He spoke softly, grabbing some tissue from his desk and handing it to her, but she shook her head vigorously as she accepted the tissue.
"I can't calm down, I don't know what's going on with her. She's always avoiding me and when I do confront her, she always gives me these abrupt, short answers like she's afraid to be around me." Jay hastily pulled out her phone and found her way into the messages. "And then she sent this little warning message. Why would she send that?"
Michael furrowed his eyebrows in slight shock as he cautiously took the phone and took one look at it. "She sent you that, too?"
Jay was taken back and stared at him. "What do you mean? You got the same thing?"
He nodded, walking back behind his desk to grab his phone and he showed her the exact text he was sent.
"What the hell?" She muttered, shaking her head in disbelief and tucking her phone away. "This isn't like her, Michael."
"Yeah, I know." He sighed, running his hand through his curls. "But honestly, nothing has been making sense for a while now. It seems like everyday is getting stranger by the minute."
Jay deeply inhaled, then looked at Michael. "I have one person in mind. I told my boyfriend it might be this guy she used to talk to, but he said it wasn't him because they always hang out."
"You think someone else sent this through her phone?" He asked and Jay nodded.
"It has to be Javen. It's the only thing that makes sense."
"Who is Javen? Does he go here?" He asked as anger simmered in the pit of his stomach, and Jay shook her head.
"No, he's a college student at UCLA. We met him at a party a few months back and they started talking." She explained and Michael immediately thought back to that day in the gymnasium when Riley told him about the awful dinner date.
"Was he controlling? Riley gave me that vibe that he was."
"Honestly, I don't know. This was around the time I was always with Craig." Jay tried to push away the guilt, but it continued to linger. "I do know for a fact, though, he would constantly text her and ask what she was doing and where she was at. Michelle told me the same thing, too."
Michael deeply knotted his eyebrows, then said, "Yeah, he seems like the controlling type. But I don't understand how all of this led up to everything that's been happening. What's really going on?"
Jay wrung her hands before saying, "Michelle and I think that Javen may have forced Riley into a relationship with him or something. And I personally believe that he may be assaulting her, too."
"That's a serious accusation, Jay. Are you sure?" Michael asked, though he didn't believe she was the type of person to tell such a lie.
"I went to his apartment alone to confront him." She admitted to him and Michael stared at her astonished. "It was on the whim and I felt it in my gut that Javen had something to do with how Riley was acting."
"That's extremely dangerous-" Michael started to say, but Jay interrupted him.
"I know, I know. Here, I found this at his apartment." She reached into the pocket of her jeans and placed the small charm in Michael's palm. He squinted his eyes as he brought it closer to his face and studied it. "Tristan brought Riley some charms for her bracelet a few years ago, and that is one of them."
He was silent as he kept staring at it in disbelief before slowly enclosing his fingers over the charm. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Jay happened to find a Navy-related charm and Riley's brother had happened to be a part of the Navy before his death.
"Just hear me out on this. When Tristan died, Riley was upset and heartbroken as she should be. But she never pushed me away like she has now and she's never gotten as angry as she did until after Javen took her on that horrible date. Ever since that piece of shit came into our lives, Riley has changed for the worse. She's been acting really out of character, and you've witnessed it, right?" She asked, her glossy eyes staring into his face for confirmation. "Tell me I'm not being dramatic about any of this."
"You're not..." He paused for a moment as everything Jay just said played on a loop in his mind, some words sticking out more than others. After a tense few seconds, he shook his head and she sighed in relief. "I agree. She's not herself. She barely answers my texts, sometimes she will call me but not say anything on her end, and she avoids my questions." He frowned as he reminisced on some of the fond memories they shared before she started acting strange. "If this assumption is true, why would he come back for her if she rejected him?"
Jay threw her arms up in exasperation. "I don't know, that's the problem. Riley is very sweet and shy, but she can hold her own. Maybe he likes that about her. I know for some sick reason he was fascinated about being her first."
As soon as those words left her lips, Michael's skin became flushed as if he was engulfed in fiery flames. Rage swept through his body faster than the speed of light and his vision was borderline red. The mere possibility of someone hurting the girl he cared tremendously about had him on the verge of tearing this whole classroom apart.
"Son of a bitch." His eyes widened and his jaw clenched when the realization of Riley's past outbursts dawned on him.
He briefly turned his back to Jay, pinching the bridge of his nose as he slowly exhaled with his eyes tightly shut. It all began to click in his mind like scattered puzzle pieces reconnecting again. He vividly remembered the day she came into his office crying and refused to tell him what happened, and the sudden, odd questions she asked him before running out of his office in tears.
The sudden loud thuds of a pile of books and paperwork slamming against the wall made Jay jump a little, but she perfectly understood his sudden rage. His shaky hand gripped the edge of the desk and he inhaled deeper than he ever had as he tried to fight away the red in his vision.
"God, she must've been so terrified." Michael suddenly spoke as he eventually turned around, his eyes watering. Her fractured wrist, the unexplained bruises, and the lies that didn't line up. It all finally started to make sense. "I tried to ask her one night if he was the reason she was acting like this and she almost hung up on me. I knew I was right..."
"You already knew about Javen?" Jay asked, a little perplexed.
"Only a little. I didn't know his name or how she even met him; I only knew he was bothering her at one point and then all of sudden, she stopped mentioning him. I had no idea it was because of this." He grew sick and infuriated at the thought of everything she was enduring as of this moment. "He's probably beating her as well; Riley doesn't deserve any of this."
"I know." Jay meekly replied as she wrung her hands again. "I shouldn't have taken her to that party. I shouldn't have ever left them alone. I should've been paying more attention to the warning signs, but I was too busy with my own love life."
Michael opened his mouth to speak, but Jay cut him short. Her voice slightly shook. "It's all my fault, Michael. The night he attacked her, I was on the phone with her and I didn't think to call the cops or anything to check up on her. I assumed she was fine and that Javen was just an idiot who couldn't take no for an answer." She sniffled as he moved closer to her with a concerned look. "I didn't know he was going to break in and hurt her-"
"C'mere." Michael brought her into his arms without giving her a chance to reply, and hugged her tightly. "None of this was your fault. We're going to get this straightened out."
Jay rested her head against his shoulder and sniffled again. "If I wasn't so distraught, I'll be hyperventilating that you're actually hugging me right now."
His soft laugh broke the tense air as he slowly let her go. He was thankful for her small humor in this dark situation, and he definitely needed it to lift his dampened mood.
"Still," she sighed as she looked into his kind face, "I should've told you from the jump. Maybe all of this could've been prevented. We were trying to handle this ourselves, but obviously nothing is working and-"
"Jay, don't put this all on yourself. The only person to blame is Javen; he's a grown man that knows right from wrong, yet he thinks it's okay to attack women. Nobody is at fault except him." He softly assured as he rubbed her arms. "And your heart is in the right place, even though it might've put you in dangerous situations. You're fighting for your best friend, and that says a lot to me."
"Thanks, Michael." She softly said after receiving another hug.
"Is there anything else going on with Riley?" He asked, now sitting down on the edge of his desk.
Jay sadly nodded and met his worried eyes. "Her grades are slipping. I saw her quiz in Biology on Mr. Fisher's desk and it was an F."
"That's very unlike her." He mumbled, then bit the corner of his lip.
'Something is definitely not right if a student goes from making straight A's and B's to F's.' He thought.
"She's not here today, is she?" He softly asked.
"No."
He dropped his gaze to the floor and deeply sighed before asking another question, "Have you called her parents?"
Jay rolled her eyes, then shook her head. "Riley's parents are hardly ever home. They're so caught up in work, they won't realize something is wrong with her."
He clenched his teeth at the reminder of their negligence. "If their daughter is suddenly acting out of character and cutting people off, then they should be aware of that."
"She's barely ever home anymore either, Michael. Her parents just assume she's with me or Michelle. I've tried going by several times, but either she wasn't there or she was hiding from me." She said, "We have to help her somehow."
"And we will. But we can't really do much until Riley wants to be helped. She has to meet us halfway." He said. "I have an older sister that went through the same thing and we couldn't help her until she let us. There's only so much we can do."
"Riley's probably scared out of her mind. She most likely won't admit to Javen hurting her." Jay scowled at the thought of him. "I wish her brother was here to fuck him up."
"Don't worry, I got that part covered." He said rather quickly and confidently. "Right now, we just have to get Riley to confess and give her all of our support."
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Just let me handle that. Next time Riley comes to school-most likely tomorrow-come to my office after Mr. Fisher's class."
She nodded with a sad sigh. "Okay."
The bell suddenly rang to end second lunch and Jay grimaced at the thought of having to attend classes for the remainder of her day. Education was the last thing on her mind; all she wanted to do was brainstorm with Michael on how to save her best friend.
A weak, sad smile flashed across her face before she started making her way to the classroom door.
"Hey Jay," Michael called and she turned, her eyes slightly watery. "Keep your head up, okay? Riley's going to be fine."
She nodded and gave another faint smile. "I'll try." She left the classroom with doubt gnawing in her heart. She was angry at herself for getting blinded by Javen's fake persona in the first place and being too wrapped up in her own world.
She now knew he was a sadistic asshole, but if Riley was afraid to come in contact with anyone because of his potential reaction, then he must be a lot more dangerous than he lets on. Jay was more than scared for Riley, and was left fearing that they wouldn't rescue her in time.
"Jay, what's the matter?" She suddenly heard Craig ask in the most genuine tone she ever heard. She looked up a little startled before shaking her head.
"Nothing. I just got a lot on my plate."
He crossed the small distance between them and took her hand to lead her to a more secluded area in the school. "Let's talk."
"I don't really want to talk about anything" She mumbled while following him into an empty classroom that was now being used as a storage space.
"But I do." He crossed his arms as she sat on a box. "Michelle told me you went to Javen's apartment a while back to confront him. The hell were you thinking?"
Jay couldn't be angry at Michelle. Eventually, it was going to come out, especially since the situation was getting worse and worse each day. "Riley's my best friend, okay? We had a bad fight and fell out for a minute, but that's my girl. Javen's changed her, Craig."
"How do we know it's him?"
"I told you! He came over when I was on the phone with her and she's been acting strange ever since. When I confronted him, he practically boasted that he stole her v-card." She became teary-eyed again as Craig slowly sat next to her, a little taken back. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that she hasn't changed."
He looked away, then back at her. "She has. Distancing herself, blowing up on you, et cetera. Michelle told me she saw bruises on her."
Jay sniffled. "Listen, Javen may be your friend that you've known for a while, but he has a dark side you haven't seen. He pushed me against the wall and forced his hand into my pants."
Immense anger covered every inch of Craig's face. He abruptly stood and kicked another box, sending it flying across the room. "Babe, why didn't you come to me? Why did you hide this from me?"
She lowered her eyes and shrugged. "You had made up your mind and I didn't want you to think I was lying. Bros before hoes, right?"
He shook his head. "Jay," he said as he knelt down in front of her and took her hands, "You're not that type of girl to lie about something like that. I believe you, and always will. What you did was fucking dangerous, but what that motherfucker did was wrong. He had no right to touch you!"
A tear trickled down her cheek. "I was scared but I didn't want him to see that. God, I can only imagine how Riley felt."
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this, okay? If he's doing stuff to her, I'm going to put a stop to it." He lovingly caressed the side of her face. "I'll visit him today after school. In fact, I'll text one of the guys and see if he's seen Riley with him."
She leaned forward and kissed his lips. "I love you."
"And I love you." He pulled her into a much-needed hug. "We're going to get to the bottom of this for once and for all."
🥀
| Next Day. . .
An anchor of failure dropped on Riley after she turned over the biology test she was given back and saw her grade: D. It was better than an F-especially on the pop quiz from three days ago-but it still didn't improve her overall grade that was rapidly slipping. She took deep, silent breaths and exhaled slowly to maintain her poker face. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of her classmates.
"Riley," Mr. Fisher whispered to her and she looked up with a forced small smile, "is everything going okay?"
She nodded, then looked down. "Everything's fine..."
He was hesitant to believe her. He's known Riley since her junior year since he teaches only upperclassmen and she never made below a B on any of his assignments. The sudden C's, D's, and occasional F's baffled him greatly.
"Are you sure? I have some extra credit I'm offering to the class later if you would like to do that." He suggested and she weakly smiled.
"I'll appreciate that, Mr. Fisher." She told him softly and he lightly patted her shoulder before walking off.
Looking beside her, she noticed Jay watching her through her peripheral vision. Riley softly scoffed and shook her head, quickly flipping her test back over.
"You ain't that slick." She muttered. "So, what now? You're going to go on a tirade about my grades?"
Jay shifted in her seat and sighed, staring down at her desk. "It's just not like you..."
"I'm just having a bad week." Riley lied and crossed her arms. She refused to look over at her.
Jay just kept quiet. She was annoyed with the excuses, but she had plans to unleash everything off her chest once she was alone with both Riley and Michael. She impatiently bounced her knee.
Riley could barely concentrate as she listened to Mr. Fisher's lecture throughout the class after he handed out the tests and some extra credit. It was no secret that her grades were getting worse with no signs of improvement and she worried for her future. How was she supposed to get into college with horrifying grades and kept isolated from extracurricular activities? Would Javen even allow her to attend?
She was scared to even think that she would possibly be underneath him for the rest of her life.
Then add that to the list that she knew others were getting suspicious. Ever since this morning when she arrived, she was approached by several teachers about their concerns of her sudden absences and dropping grades. Even the Principal confronted her and she had to play it off with several lies while also avoiding the stares of nosy classmates and their whispering.
It was becoming too much to handle at this point. Only one month in and her life truly felt like it was going to shit.
As Mr. Fisher talked, her eyes stared at the tiny white spaces between the words in the book over a chapter he was starting to teach. Jay glanced over at her absentminded best friend and sighed. Despite what Michael told her yesterday about not blaming herself, she did anyway. She regretted ever dragging Riley to that house party and leaving her alone with Javen. That regret grew every time she saw the pain on Riley's face and her eyes caught a glimpse of the cast on her wrist.
Riley was now resting the palm of her good hand against her cheek, unaware that her sleeve had drooped down some and revealed a small bruise from where Javen had roughly grabbed her previously. Jay's eyes widened at the sight and unintentionally gasped, catching the attention of some nearby classmates. They briefly stared at her bruised wrist before Riley quickly covered it up and avoided any eye contact.
Not long after, the bell rang and Riley bolted out the room without meeting anyone's eyes. Just two more periods, then she could finally leave. But her brief relief of escaping the classroom came to a halt when her eyes met Michael's worried gaze. She inwardly rolled her eyes and forced a smile as she dropped her stuff by the couch. She walked over to the file cabinet by the window and began working on arranging packets for his class while he sat in his chair watching her.
She hadn't said not one word since she arrived and he was way past concerned at this point. Isolation, fractured wrist, the video, dropping grades, unnecessary amount of makeup? He knew something was going on and it had to be dealt with.
Several light knocks on the door interrupted his thinking and he got up to answer it. Riley glanced over her shoulder in curiosity and her heart dropped.
"What's going on?" She asked when she saw that Jay had entered the office and closed the door behind her.
Michael exchanged looks with Jay and slowly approached her. "Riley, we're worried about you."
"Why? I'm fine." She nonchalantly said, turning away from them. She prayed silently they would stop prying and just leave her alone in peace.
"No, you're not fine." Jay suddenly spoke up, her tone a bit hostile. "You're skipping school and making terrible grades." She looked over at Michael. "She made a D on her test today."
Riley's head snapped up and she glared at her. "How is that any of your business!? So what if I did? It's still passing!"
"You've never made a D in that class!" Jay argued back before Michael stepped forward and held out a hand at both of them.
"Calm down. Jay, you can't just out her like that, okay? Her grades are supposed to be confidential." He said and she rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh. He then turned to Riley. "Just tell us what's going on, Ry. Making terrible grades isn't anything like you. You were making straight A's in my class with no hesitation, and now... this, on top of everything else that's happening." He added, walking closer to her.
"I've just been stressed out a little." Riley sighed, fidgeting with the papers.
"It's Javen, isn't it?" Jay angrily asked and Riley slightly stiffened; her insides twisted at the mention of his name. "Is he the cause for all this?"
Riley quickly shook her head. "No."
"Don't lie to us." Jay's tone was nothing short of abhorrence. "Remember that night on the phone? You told me Javen was outside. You said you'll call me back, but you never did. You ignored me the next day at school. You still won't return my calls or texts."
"It's nothing personal." Riley meekly responded, feeling hurt that she had to dog her best friend like that. "Just dealing with some stuff."
"Obviously." She crossed her arms and stepped closer. She couldn't hide the scowl on her face. "Where did that bruise come from, Riley?"
Michael's eyebrows raised at the question.
"Why are you so concerned about my life? Do you ever see me trying to pry into yours?" Riley angrily deflected, but Jay wasn't fazed.
"Where did it come from?" She slowly asked, irritation hanging onto every word.
Riley averted her eyes and looked at the floor. She was silent at first. "I fell."
"You fell?" She scoffed, and Michael gently grabbed Jay's shoulder while shaking his head. She was becoming hotheaded and that wasn't needed.
She ignored him. "Where did you fall? How'd you fall?" She continued to question Riley. "Or did that piece of shit put his hands on you? What's next? He's gonna bash your head in and you claim you ran into a wall?"
"Janelle, enough," Michael warned through clenched teeth, using her name rather than her nickname to show how serious he was. "Cut it out."
She refused to stop until she got answers.
"If you come to school covered in bruises from head to toe and on crutches with a gash across your forehead, are you gonna tell people that you tripped over the rug in the bathroom?"
Riley's eyes were watering as she stared out the blinds of the window. She wanted to tell them but she couldn't. If she did, none of them in this room would be safe from Javen's wrath. She was too ashamed anyhow. How someone who was once so strong-willed and a bit confident could become so amenable, weak, and insecure in a matter of weeks. When she told herself that she would never end up being controlled by someone else, she never thought she would find herself in that very situation. She closed her eyes and felt tears stream slowly down her cheeks.
Jay kept going off at the mouth until Michael physically shushed her by covering her mouth with his hand and giving her a stern, disapproving look. "Stop it."
Riley deeply inhaled, then released a shaky breath; her chest tightened as she tried so hard to hold back the massive sobs. She felt as if she couldn't breathe and became slightly lightheaded before she felt Michael's hand comfortingly rest on her lower back and he gently wiped away a tear.
"Is it true, Riley?" He gently asked. "Is this person hurting you?"
She exhaled another shaky breath. "No."
"You don't have to be scared. He isn't going to come after you, not while I'm here." He continued to softly speak to her to make her feel at ease while slowly rubbing her back.
She shook her head, knowing the full consequences if word got out about Javen. He would go to the ends of the earth to seek his vengeance and it didn't matter who he hurt in the process. "I-I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."
He cupped her chin with his fingers and turned her head for her to meet his kind gaze. "I won't let anything happen to you, Ry. I promise. Just tell me."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She said and that rendered him almost speechless from being taken back. Her eyes slightly glossed over again as she kept his stare. He could almost see the pleading look in her eyes until she finally looked away. On the inside, she was practically screaming for help, but she held back more tears as she shook her head once more.
"He's not hurting me. I haven't even seen him since our last date." She finally answered with a full-blown lie. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to anyone she loved and cared about.
Michael looked skeptical and deeply disappointed as he frowned. He knew she needed their help, but he needed her confession for it. He needed her to want their help and support. But if she continued to deny, there was little he could do.
Jay tightly clenched her fist and dug her nails into her palms, feeling utterly infuriated. "How could you say such a boldfaced lie to us, Riley!? He is hurting you; it's obvious he has some type of control over you! The signs are there!"
Cringing from the reminder that Javen was technically controlling her with an iron fist, Riley abruptly pulled away from Michael's comforting touch and went to walk past Jay who attempted to stop her.
"Don't walk away from us-"
Riley whirled around and raised her voice. "Leave me alone! Whatever is going on with me is none of your business, and never was! Just stay out of it! You weren't on my ass when you were too busy eating Craig's face." She pushed by a speechless Jay, snatching up her bag.
"Riley, please don't go." Michael pleaded, quickly going after her. He grabbed her by the bend of her arm and pulled her back. She struggled, desperately wanting to leave the tension-filled room. It was so thick a knife could slice through. On top of that, she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. When his hands gripped her tender waist and immense pain surged through her feeble body, she snapped. "Ri-"
"GET OFF ME!" She exploded, shoving him into the nearby bookshelf with surprising strength, shocking all three of them.
He groaned from the sudden pain that radiated through his back as books fell around him. He looked at her with sad eyes and she immediately became apologetic. She began to walk toward him but stopped herself as a tear fell from each eye.
"I-I'm... I'm so sorry." Her throat tightened from the building emotions. "But please... just leave me alone."
She quickly left the room without another word. She hurried through the empty hallways and through the foyer. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't dare stop until she found herself on the bottom level of the school in front of the band room door.
She could hear some girls laughing and talking, and every now and then a flick of a fabric would show from around the corner. They were getting a head start on practice with the flags and dance routine.
She backed away and sniffled, missing the freedom she felt on the field and during competitions, as she transformed her emotions into the energy she put forth into her dancing. This and the dance studio was once her happy place before Michael added to it and now... she wasn't so sure what her happy place was anymore.
"What are you doing out here?" She heard Trent's voice ask from behind and she quickly wiped her tears before turning around. His usual stern face softened. "You okay?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
He took a look at her cast and frowned. "What happened?"
She forced a small laugh and a smile. "You know how clumsy I can be."
Trent looked skeptical. "Not that clumsy. You want to come in and see what the girls are up to? They all miss the best dancer on the team."
"I doubt it." She humorlessly giggled.
Trent didn't take no for an answer and gently grabbed her arm. "Come on, I promise you won't regret it." With that, he led her inside the room.
🥀
Michael sighed after Riley had left and reached behind him to rub the aching spot in the middle of his back. He peered up as Jay looked very remorseful.
"I'm so, so sorry, it's my fault she snapped like that." Jay profusely apologized, picking up the scattered books.
"It's fine, Jay. But you can't interrogate her like that and make her feel uncomfortable. She probably got scared." He took the books from her hands and set them at the end of his desk.
She loudly exhaled and shook her head, fighting back tears and more anger. "She never lied to me before like this. Ever. And to be lying about something so serious to cover Javen's ass pisses me off." She fumed. "Look at what he's doing to her, Michael!"
"I know, I know." He tried to calm her. "She was probably lying because she's embarrassed about the situation. We will try again real soon. But don't come at her so hard like that."
She nodded glumly. "I won't."
He gave her a much-needed hug and patted her back. "You can go back to class." He said after writing her a pass and she obliged.
He sat in his chair and stared out the window as he bounced his leg as he tried to pinpoint where to go from here. After a moment, he grabbed his phone. He dialed the one person he needed to talk to right now. After three rings, a soft, high-pitched voice picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Toya." Michael greeted with as much forced enthusiasm he could muster, but La Toya could tell he was bothered.
"Everything okay?" She asked and he sighed while scratching his head.
"Actually, no." He bit nervously on his lip as he quickly pondered how to word his question. "Um, I actually have to ask you something personal... I know this girl, right?"
She hummed her acknowledgement. "Mhm."
"And I suspect she's being abused by a guy she's with. I tried getting her to open up and-"
"What? Mike, don't do that." She quickly chastised him. "You can't force a victim to talk when they aren't ready."
He heavily sighed and leaned back in his chair. "What am I supposed to do? Let him beat her to death?" Just the possibility of that happening almost had him in tears, but he had to keep his composure.
"When she feels comfortable with telling you that type of information, she will. But don't make empty promises, don't try to force her to leave, and don't be so critical of her. There could be a lot of reasons why she won't get out of the situation. Just stay supportive of her, alright?" She told him, thinking about her own personal experience. Having people try to pry information out of her and judging her affected her from getting help earlier on in her own malicious relationship.
Michael dropped his head and wiped his eyes. "I'm so worried about her, Toya. She's the sweetest girl you could ever meet and just to end up in that situation..."
"I know, Mike." She sighed on the other end, wanting to do more to comfort him. "But take my advice, okay? I promise she will come to you when she's ready." He couldn't hold back the frustrated sigh he let out into the phone. She spoke again before he could, "I understand you want to help her, but there's a reason they say that leaving is the most dangerous time for a domestic violence victim. She's not pushing you away out of spite, she's obviously trying to protect the people she cares about."
"So what do I do until then?" He asked, hopelessness heard in his voice.
"What I told you earlier. Then when she finally decides to get away from him, be there for her because it's more than likely gonna be one of the scariest times for her." She told him.
"Alright." He frowned with a nod as he remembered how protective he and his siblings were over La Toya when her ex kept coming around. "Thanks for the advice, I love you."
"I'm here anytime you need me, and I love you, too." They exchanged goodbyes and Michael sat in his swivel chair, feeling ultimately defeated.