Kent shoved a heavy, dark brown Carhartt jacket into my arms before grabbing another jacket for himself. I didn't have time for an adventure tonight, I needed to study.
"Where are we going again?" I quickly slipped into Kent's jacket, secretly loving the way it smelled, and slipped on my boots. Kent had gotten home from practice and announced that we had to get ready right away, for what though he failed to mention.
"The bonfire," Kent responded, like I would automatically know what that meant.
"The bonfire? What bonfire?" I asked while Kent sighed and glanced over at me, searching for a pair of socks.
"You're going to want an extra pair of socks," Kent tossed a pair of wool socks my way and I failed to catch them, "The bonfire is hosted every year by the senior football players before the end of the season. No one knows when the bonfire is going to be exactly until the night of, and it's tonight so we gotta go,"
I was still processing the information Kent had just shared as he nudged me towards the window and turned off our dorm room light. Kent propped open our window with our alarm clock again and started to go down the ladder first but then stopped.
"Are you coming?" He asked, the upper half of his body still visible from our small fire escape landing.
"Yeah? Once you're down, I'll follow you, like last time,"
"It's pretty slippery this time, you should come down with me," Kent extended his arms out and made a motion for me to slide between him and the metal ladder, a playful smirk on his face.
"Are you crazy? That thing barely holds you, let alone both of us!" Kent opened his mouth to argue with me but someone down below whistled up at us. Looking down made my head spin, I wasn't a huge fan of heights, not while I was standing on some janky, slippery metal at least.
"Hurry up you guys!" It was Charlie yelling up at us. Jayden, Jace, Squid and Dylan were sprinting towards the parking lot, having just climbed down the ladder as well. I don't know how they've never been caught doing this sort of thing.
"Come on, sweetheart, we don't have all night," Kent's tone was sarcastic and I wanted to be a brat but instead I squeezed between him and the ladder, making our way down together one step at a time.
Kent stepped down first and helped me down, making sure I was stable before letting go of me but quickly grabbing my hand to sprint towards the parking lot as well. We jumped in his car, the boys had already taken off, and Kent whipped out of the parking lot as fast as possible.
"I think it's only like fifteen minutes away from here," Kent mumbled mostly to himself while I tried to figure out how to turn on his heat. "Oh, here,"
Kent reached in the back seat and handed me a thick blanket that was also cold but would help tremendously.
"Are you excited?" Kent asked, reaching over and squeezing my thigh, grinning towards me but keeping his eyes on the road. He looked cute when he was excited about something.
"I mean, I think so,"
"You think so?"
"The last bonfire I went to, didn't end the best I guess you could say," I trailed off, remembering that I promised myself I wouldn't talk about my old school or my past at all. Kent would probably be bored hearing about it anyway.
Unfortunately, he didn't seem bored at all.
"What do you mean by that?" Kent glanced over at me with a mischievous smirk, "You didn't get into a fight or something did you?"
I continued to stare out the window and not at Kent. I wouldn't really call it a fight. More like humiliation.
"I was dumped," I bluntly stated and I felt the air between us thicken. Kent sighed and continued to focus on the road.
"So you have dated before," He finally mumbled.
"I never said I hadn't,"
"Yeah I know but with you being a virgin and all," Kent snickered and I slapped his arm lightly. For some reason I didn't feel weird telling Kent that, he didn't seem upset either, just curious.
"I never said that either," I whispered but I think Kent heard me because his eyes shot towards mine and then back at the road quickly before opening his mouth and shutting it again.
"Well this bonfire will be one hundred times better than that one, I can promise you that," Kent reached over and lightly grabbed my hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing it gently, "I'm sorry that happened to you though,"
A catchy song started playing on the radio and Kent turned it up, humming along and focusing on driving instead of talking. I was thankful for that at least. I'm sure tonight would be fun, if the boys were going to be there I know it would be.
===
Kent opened the passenger side door for me and we made our way through the entanglement of poorly parked cars in some random field towards a massive fire. It seemed like more than half the school was here already.
"You guys finally made it!" Squid called out to us, hurrying over with two unopened beer cans and tossing them into our hands. Jackie rushed up and hugged me tightly, I couldn't tell if her cheeks were red from alcohol or the cold air. I didn't think she drank.
Holly, Josie and Kailey were suddenly rushing up to us and hugging me, chatting about drama that had already started with some girls on the other side of the fire. I didn't really care, I was too busy staring at Kent who looked great with the fire's warm glow on his skin. His smile was so white and bright right now too.
Kent glanced my way, catching me staring at him, and smirked into his can before finishing the rest of his beer and making his way towards me. His arm slung around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. I didn't try to move away or feel embarrassed, I liked this, it felt good at the moment.
"I was hoping you two would be here," Just the sound of Missy's voice sent chills down my spine, not in a good way. The whole group turned around to see Missy and two of her friends standing next to her. Oh great.
"Why wouldn't we be here?" Kent asked, keeping his arm around my shoulder and smirking over at Missy, who didn't seem bothered by our PDA one bit.
"I knew you would be, that's the whole point," Missy stared at me now with a devilish grin. Whatever she had planned wasn't going to be good.
"Hey guys, I finally found you all!" Charlie joined the group just at the right time, shoving Kent playfully enough that he lost his balance and had to let go of me so he didn't fall down. Kent sent Charlie a menacing glare before straightening back up and standing next to me again, he didn't put his arm around me though.
"What's been going on? Hey Miss," Charlie asked the quiet group, obviously not picking up on the social cues around him. Missy greeted him with a big, white smile and I saw Squid lean over to whisper something to Jackie.
"You're just in time, I wanted to show you guys something," Missy reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, "I think you all would love to see this, it's about your precious roommate, Kent,"
Immediately I felt the familiar lump in my throat and knots tying a thousand times in my stomach. If Missy had found something to hold against me, I knew exactly what it was already. I couldn't go through losing friends and being hated over a stupid mistake I had made last year. My hands started to sweat, the shaking slowly starting in my legs and fingers. Kent must have realized and pulled me into his side once again, but that was the last place I wanted to be right now.
"Missy, stop," I suddenly blurted out, taking a step forward to shove her phone down. Missy's eyes flashed up to mine and I knew she knew. She knew about my past, she knew about the mistake. The picture.
"What's the problem, Sadie? Are you scared you won't have any friends if they find out what a slut you actually are?" Missy laughed now, her other two friends snickering behind her as well.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Holly yelled, taking two steps to stand by my side, "What is your problem, Missy? Can't you ever accept defeat and move the hell on?"
Missy laughed again, not even bothering to look at Holly at this point, only keeping her eyes on me.
"All it would take is for me to press this button and the whole school will know about you," Missy threatened, her phone still in the hand that I was gripping onto. If Missy sent that picture out, I'd be done for. I'd have to leave . . . again. And not to even mention what Kent would think. Kent probably wouldn't even talk to me again. Let alone look at me.
"Please, Missy. Don't," Was all I managed to say before Kent was pulling me away from Missy and standing between the two of us.
"Look, I don't know what's going on or what you have planned but I suggest you get the fuck away from my friends before things get ugly," Kent glared down at Missy and I saw her whole expression change. She didn't look like she was having fun teasing me anymore, instead she looked like she was ready to kill someone. Especially me.
"I don't think you'd be so quick to protect your sweetheart there if you knew what she's really like," Missy unlocked her phone and held it up to Kent as I stepped forward to swat her phone away but it was too late.
Kent was staring at the picture that had ruined my life. The topless, naked picture, that had been sent around my entire school just last year, was back yet again. The tears immediately started to pour out of my eyes, staining my cheeks. I didn't know what to do, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Kent turned his head to stare down at me in disbelief, it broke my heart. He probably thought so little of me now, there was no way we'd be together after this.
Simultaneously, Squid, Josie, Holly and Chunk rushed Missy, grabbing her phone out of her hand and shoving her away while I turned on my heels and sprinted as fast as I could away from the commotion. I heard Squid say something about beating the shit out of Missy even if she was a girl before I was out of earshot.
"Sadie, wait!" Kent was yelling from behind me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. The tears burned my eyes, making it hard to see where I was going. I felt like the whole world was caving in on me at this moment, everyone would know by Monday about the picture. Everyone would think differently of me and hate me for it. Just like they did back home. I wouldn't have any friends.
Just like they did back home.
My foot caught in a rut and I was suddenly falling face first into the hard dirt, my hands barely catching me in time so that I didn't face plant the ground. I laid there for a moment, trying to catch my breath, trying to piece together what had just happened. Had that really happened? After trying so hard to start over and not be that person anymore, to have it taken away from me just like that.
"Sadie, oh fuck, are you okay?" Kent was by my side, kneeling down in the dirt to make sure I was okay. I kept my face down, not able to look up at him, and as much as I tried to stop the tears they just kept coming, "Sadie, talk to me! Are you okay?"
"I'm . . . fine," I whispered, clenching my fists into the dirt, watching the tears puddle around them and not caring how much dirt I just scraped under my fingernails. Kent had seen me naked. Kent saw the picture.
Kent reached out to help me up but I swatted his hand away.
"Just leave me alone please!" I yelled at him. I still couldn't look at him. Why was he here right now? Didn't he want to be with his friends, talking about the picture and sending it back and forth? Wasn't that what all guys did when they saw a girls nude in high school? Send it to every possible person they know.
"I'm not going anywhere okay, so I can either help you up or sit here until you're ready to get up," Kent said, promptly sitting down next to me. I was thankful yet annoyed at the fact that he wouldn't leave. I wanted to be alone right now, I needed to be alone. All I wanted was to climb into a dark shower and sit there for hours. Alone.
I could still hear commotion and chatting from the group by the bonfire, luckily no one had followed us. I had no idea if Missy had been able to send the picture out or not, all I knew was that I needed to leave. I needed to pack up my things and go back home for now, finish up the school year online again and maybe try a different school for Senior year.
"Sadie, I'm really sorry that happened, I'm really really sorry," Kent reached out and gently touched my back since I was still leaning on my hands and knees, "You didn't deserve that, not now and definitely not then,"
I bit down hard on my lip, I tried everything I could to stop the ugly tears from flowing but there was nothing that was going to stop them at this point. Kent grabbed my arm and pulled me into him, I didn't fight it this time. Instead I allowed Kent to hold onto me tightly as I sobbed into his shoulder. When did I become so weak? When did I allow other people to have so much control over me?
Oh yeah, when the person you trusted the most sent your picture around the entire school and then some. When the people you thought were your 'best friends' and who would be there for you 'through thick or thin' turned out to be your worst enemies. Over a picture. One fucking picture.
"Are you guys okay over here?" It was Charlie, I heard his footsteps getting closer to us but I didn't move an inch. I didn't want to look at anyone right now, just pretend all of this didn't exist.
"We're fine, go away," Kent immediately said, his arms tightening around me as if to tell me that he was going to take care of me.
"Woah, I'm just trying to help out here man, you don't have to act like that okay? Missy was-"
Kent's whole body jerked forward and I felt his jaw clench from where it was resting against my head.
"I'm trying to help Sadie right now, that's all I'm worried about. Not you, and definitely not that sadistic bitch who you still call a friend," Kent shouted, holding my head against his shoulders till and not caring who heard, "You're not helping, not one fucking bit, so go away!"
"Loud and clear Kent, loud and clear," Charlie's voice was surprisingly calm but thankfully that's all he said before walking away, back to the party. Kent was breathing hard now, obviously riled up and all I could do was feel guilty. None of this would've happened if I wasn't here. I was starting to come between Charlie and Kent's friendship and I never wanted to do that.
"Come on, I'm taking you back home," Kent stood up, cradling me in his arms and walked us towards his car, not waiting for me to say anything because he knew I wasn't going to. We made it to his car and he opened the passenger door, setting me inside and kissing my cheek. Tears were still streaming down my face as I kept my eyes locked on the glove box.
Kent started to shut the door but instead ripped it open again, squatted down beside the car and took both of my hands in his. For a moment he held my hands against his head, just breathing and trying to calm down.
"Sadie," Kent looked up at me but I refused to look at him, "Look at me, Sadie,"
I still didn't move, how was I supposed to look him in the face after all of this? After he found out everything?
"Sadie!" Kent reached out and grabbed my chin, forcing me to stare at him. He almost looked like he was near tears too and pure fear was etched all over his expression. "I don't care what happened. I don't care about the picture or your past, it doesn't change how I feel about you one bit. Do you understand that?"
I stared at him in shock and disbelief. How could he, someone who I had met three months ago, be able to treat me better than people I had known for years?
"You're extremely special to me," Kent let go of my chin but kept his grip on my hand, holding it and taking a deep breath, "Nothing else matters except what we do from here on, your past doesn't make you who you are,"
Even if I wanted to say something, there's no way I could. The lump in my throat felt like it was the size of a baseball and my stomach was still tight with knots. My whole body felt hollow.
"We, you and me, we are going to get through this, okay? You're going to have to try a lot harder to get me to leave you alone," Kent hugged me and kissed me on my wet cheek again before standing up and stretching, "One second, I'll be right back,"
Kent closed my door and locked the car before sprinting off towards the bonfire and crowd of students again. I grabbed the blanket he had given me on the way here and wrapped up in it, feeling exhausted and defeated. What a night this had turned out to be.
Within a few moments I spotted Kent sprinting back to the car with Jackie right on his heels. My heart swelled and tears threatened to start pouring again. Right on their heels were Missy and her two minions. What had they done?
Kent ripped open the back door for Jackie to jump in and then hopped in the drivers seat, locking the door quickly before Missy and her friends were banging on the window and trying to open the door.
"Give it back!" Missy screamed from outside while Kent and Jackie continued to laugh, leaving me sitting in the passenger seat totally confused. Kent whipped the car into reverse and sped away from the crazy girls and the party.
"What did you guys do?" I whispered, glancing back at Jackie who quickly threw her arms around my neck ang hugged me tightly from behind. It was the most sincere hug I think I had ever gotten from a girl friend. I was convinced Jackie was an angel at this point.
"We stole her phone, no one's getting that picture now," Jackie replied, smiling excitedly at both Kent and I. Kent kept his eyes on the road but held up the thin phone that belonged to Missy.
"I'm not going to break it or anything, just wipe the memory and steal the sim card," Kent explained, tossing the phone into his center console and lacing his fingers through mine.
"I'm so sorry Sadie, you don't deserve that," Jackie hugged me again but this time didn't let go, resting her head on my shoulder. I rested my head against hers and didn't say anything. Even after all that happened, I oddly felt at peace. My roommate and my best friend were with me right now and that's all I needed.