“He was so cute!”
Rex grinned at me, looking over my shoulder and down at the yearbook that I held in my lap. He had brought his eighth grade yearbook and let me look through it as I continued to sit in my hospital bed. He had flipped to the eighth grade section and I had found River’s picture. He looked so cute with his brown hair and his half smile.
“You could actually see his eyes,” Rex commented, chuckling slightly as he looked down at the picture. I smiled at the piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare up at me from the picture. River’s hair was light brown, and not in his face at all. It wasn’t exactly short, but it wasn’t as long as it was now.
“He was just so cute,” I gushed, almost clasping my hands together. “I can’t believe girls weren’t all over him!”
Rex looked at me in amusement, one eyebrow raised. “He did have girls all over him,” he informed me, now smirking at my shocked face. “He just wasn’t interested in any of them, besides Bekka, of course. All the girls kind of scattered away one he turned emo, though.”
The smile on my face immediately deteriorated into a frown. Why did people have to be scared of River just because of the way he looked? They just had to get to know him. He was the sweetest person on the whole planet. It didn’t matter if he was emo or not.
“Now that I think about it, he always kind of liked Bekka. I can’t believe I never even noticed it before. I might be an idiot, but now that much of an idiot…” Rex started, shaking his head. “That explains why he suddenly changed, though. He wanted to be like Bekka.”
I stayed quiet, still looking down at the old picture of my boyfriend. It barely even looked like the same person. The facial structures were the same, but other than that, nothing really was. The eighth grade River didn’t have a speck of black on him, but the current River would never be seen without the color somewhere on his body.
“I wonder why he stayed that way, though,” Rex continued, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked down at the picture once again. “I guess he just likes the style more. I could always tell he hated the clothes his parents always made him wear.”
I was about to turn the page to look for Rex’s or Seth’s picture, but was stopped when things fell out from the back. Confused, I picked the items that had fallen out of the book from my lap and into my hands. I was almost surprised to see that they were photos.
“Oh, I forgot those were in there,” Rex shrugged, sitting and leaning back into one of the chairs by my bed. He grinned goofily as he stared down at the photo that was at the top of the pile. I turned my attention to it, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it was of Rex, River, and Seth, all sitting in a line next to each other with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Rex was in the middle, River was to the left, and Seth was to the right. They were all actually smiling. Like I hadn’t ever seen before.
The background seemed like they were in some underground or something, which confused me a little. I looked over at Rex, who must have sensed my confusion. “That was taken by a parent on a field trip,” he explained, still smiling down at the photograph. “It was some old gold mine that they changed to a tourist attraction or something. I can’t really remember now. But that was sometime in the beginning of the year, before everything happened with Seth and Marnie and before River started changing. I wonder if they can even remember that… Seth hasn’t even smiled like that in forever.”
I continued to stare down at the picture, examining how happy they all looked. Best friends, all of them together. I then flipped to the next photo, and it caused me to frown. It was almost the exact same as the first, except someone else was in it as well.
Avery.
“Oops,” Rex said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “I forgot to get rid of that one.”
“I almost forgot that you were all best friends,” I muttered, moving the picture to the side after a few moments. I didn’t really feel like looking at pictures of Avery right then. I knew that it wasn’t going to make me feel any better at all.
“Yeah, we were, but he was mostly Seth’s best friend,” Rex sighed, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head. “It was really sad, actually. They were such great friends, we all were, but he had to betray him. I never saw Seth so upset, except for the time after he killed those three guys.”
“You say that so calmly,” I chuckled quietly, going through more of the photos.
Rex chuckled himself, shifting in the chair a little. “Yeah, well, I’m used to saying and hearing it, I guess. It’s been almost four years since that happened. And Seth got in trouble for protecting his girlfriend and his sister…”
“Does he ever talk to Jenny anymore?” I asked, moving a photo of Bekka and River off far to the side. Rex’s hair was both brown and black in the photo, but Bekka looked almost exactly the same, except you could tell that she was younger. I really didn’t want to see them together, even if it was almost four years before.
“She’s kind of afraid of him,” Rex told me in a low voice. “She believes that he just killed those men for no reason. She chose to believe that.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” I pointed out, shaking my head. “Why wouldn’t she want to help her own brother?”
Rex shrugged, heaving a large sigh. “I have no idea. She always looked up to him when they were younger. She practically adored him.”
“But Seth wasn’t always like how he is now, right?” I now asked, reaching for the photo that had the three boys smiling. “He wasn’t always… mean, right?”
Even though Seth was nice to me now, he was a jerk when I had first met him. He couldn’t have always been like that, right? Like River only acted the way he did with me because he thought that girls only cared about themselves, and that was Bekka’s fault for making him think that way. Rex had always been Rex, loud and funny all the time.
“Nope,” Rex answered simply, shaking his head. “But after the whole thing with Marnie and Avery, and especially after he got convicted with murder without getting to say anything about saving Jenny and Marnie, he just didn’t trust anyone anymore. Especially girls. He just that that they didn’t care about anyone but themselves, kind of like River did. But you changed them. I can tell.”
It was a little weird, hearing this all from Rex. Loud, funny, obnoxious Rex who could be serious if he wanted to be. He always acted so happy, so uncaring, but I knew that he could be serious. He had been before.
But had I changed Seth and River? Was that really possible for one person to do, especially if that one person was me? I wasn’t exactly the sharpest crayon in the box, if you get what I’m saying.
Maybe I had changed River, in a way. He used to think that all girls only cared about themselves, which was unfortunately true with some girls, like Arianna and Bekka. But I knew that River knew that I wasn’t like that. Maybe I really did change River…
Suddenly, my hospital door opened to reveal that aforementioned boy. I slammed the book shut, hiding it behind my back and smiling nervously as my boyfriend gave me a curious look. He turned to Rex, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing.
In five, four, three, two…
Rex almost fell to the floor, laughing his ass off. I gave him and flat look and whacked him as hard as I could with the yearbook I had in my hands. That didn’t stop him, though. He only continued to laugh and laugh until I thought he was going to die of lack of oxygen.
“It’s not even that funny,” I hissed once Rex finally shut up.
He wiped at his eyes, shaking his head as his laughing continued to die down. “Yeah, it kind of is.”
I would never get Rex’s sense of humor. One little thing could keep him laughing for hours. How is hiding my boyfriend’s eighth grade picture from him hilarious? I didn’t think I’d ever know.
River’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but I only smiled at him. I didn’t know if he was going to be upset that I was looking at his old pictures. It wasn’t anything bad; it wasn’t like he told me not to and I was doing it anyway. He never told me that I couldn’t look at his old pictures.
“… What are you hiding?” he asked me skeptically, an eyebrow rising on his forehead.
“Nothing!” I shouted, clamping my mouth shut afterwards.
I said that too quickly, like an idiot. River looked even more suspicious now. But the suspicious look quickly faded as he smirked, cocking his head to the side a little.
“Really, now…?” he started, walking closer to me a little, his hands behind his back. “I guess I’ll just bring this chocolate cake back to the cafeteria, then…”
“Chocolate cake?” I blinked, my mouth watering at just the thought of it. I hadn’t had sweets in what felt like forever, and I wanted cake right then.
River smirked. “Only if you show me what’s behind your back.”
I glanced at Rex, who looked like he was going to start laughing again. I let out a sigh, bringing the book back from behind my back and into my lap. River’s eyes widened when he saw what it was, and his hands fell limp at his sides, nothing in them.
“Hey, you liar!” I cried out. “You don’t have cake!”
“I’ll go get you some later,” he told me, his eyes not leaving the book. “Did you see my picture?”
I glanced at Rex again, but I knew that he was going to look the exact same way he had the last time I had looked at him. I sighed, looking back toward River again. “Yes. And you looked adorable.”
River’s eyebrows furrowed. “I told you not to call me that.”
“No, you told me not to call you cute,” I teased, smiling brightly as my boyfriend’s eyebrows furrowed even more. “You said nothing about calling you adorable.”
“Delilah--”
“It’s a compliment, dude,” Rex laughed, clapping his hands together. “You should be flattered. Alice never calls me cute. She calls me an idiot. But I’m fine with that, because I always act like an idiot around her because of how nervous I am.”
“That’s so cute!” I gushed, now clasping my hands together under my chin.
Rex rolled his eyes, but chuckled. “See?” he asked River, waving a hand in my direction. “I think she calls everything cute. Just be happy she’s not calling you ugly or anything.”
River didn’t say anything.
“Well…” Rex started, looking between River and me for a moment. “Seeing as I’m probably not welcome here anymore, I guess I’ll get going. See you at school tomorrow, you two. Don’t get her pregnant or anything while I’m gone, River. She doesn’t need any more problems right now.”
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand right after as my cheeks turned bright red. I should have expected that Rex would leave with an inappropriate comment.
Rex turned back toward me, grinning like an idiot. “See tomorrow.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to get rid of the embarrassment I had as I waved at him lightly, and River only made a sound in response. I was glad that I was actually going to be able to go back to school the next day. It had started to get really boring sitting in my hospital room all alone. River had to go to school because of how much he had missed when I was unconscious, and Seth and Rex would only skip once in a while to spend the day with me. I was glad that I was finally going to be able to go back.
“I really didn’t want you seeing those pictures,” River sighed, almost in defeat, as he made his way over toward my bed, plopping down in the chair Rex that had been occupying only moments before. “I didn’t want you to see what I used to look like.”
“Why not?” I questioned, my eyebrow rising. “What’s wrong with me seeing how you used to look?”
“Because what if you decide that you like the old me better than the me I am now? I don’t want to change back into the prep that I used to be, but I wouldn’t want to lose you,” River explained, staring down at one of the cracks that were on the floor.
I shook my head, reaching out and cupping his cheek. He still had a few faded bruises on his face, but the cuts and scratches had almost gone away. We always seemed to touch each other’s faces, no matter where we were. I didn’t really get why.
“I don’t want you to change,” I told him, shaking my head once again. “I never want you to change. Ever. I love you just the way you are.”
“You sound like some cheesy romance song,” River mocked me from when I had woken up, sticking his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes, leaning forward and planting a light peck on his cheek.
His eyebrows furrowed. “I want a kiss. Not a peck.”
I stuck my tongue out at him this time. “Sorry, I’m still recovering.”
River smirked, but leaned forward and planted his lips on mine. I didn’t protest, I only pulled him closer to me. I hadn’t really been able to kiss him in what felt like forever, and that was all that I wanted to do right then.
“I love you,” he told me between kisses.
I then remembered the one thing that I really, really wanted right then.
“I love you, too. Now go get my damn cake.”
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~*
I was really looking forward to finally getting back to school. I really wondered how many things I had missed since I had been gone. I knew that I had been excused for it, but I couldn’t help but wonder. I knew that all of the school knew what had happened, and I hoped that I wasn’t going to be harassed about it. But who was going to harass me when I had been in the hospital for weeks after getting hit in the back of the head? Not to mention all the physiological damage I had received.
Walking into the school never felt better. It was so great being back at my home. This was my home, no matter what Mr. Higginson or anyone said. And it would always be my home, no matter what.
As I passed by Headmaster Russo’s office, I was shocked to hear that he was actually yelling at someone. I stopped dead in my tracks, and I found myself getting closer and closer to the door so I could hear more clearly.
“Are you an idiot?” I heard Headmaster Russo yell. “What were you thinking?”
I could only hear a low rumble for the person’s reply, and I still couldn’t tell who it was. Headmaster Russo continued, sounding even angrier now, “Do you know how irresponsible that was? Do you know how stupid that was?”
Another low rumble was the only kind of response I could hear from the other person. Who was he yelling at?
“I would expel you if you weren’t my son!” Headmaster Russo shouted, causing my eyes to widen and my body to freeze. “I would expel you if this wasn’t the place you would be sent if I did!”
I could only hear the low rumble of Gabe’s voice as his response, and I still couldn’t make out what he was saying. Why was he in so much trouble?
“Gabriel Connor Russo! I don’t care if you did it for money!” Headmaster Russo continued. “What you did to Delilah is unacceptable, Gabe! Even if it was only a prank, she took it seriously! She’s had to deal with this kind of thing before, so of course she was going to freak out! I thought I raised you better than this, Gabe. I thought you knew how to be polite and a gentlemen!”
I felt my body tense even more when I heard that he was yelling at Gabe because what he had done to me. I expected to only hear the low rumbling that was Gabe’s voice, but instead I heard his voice rise as he said, “Well, sorry, alright? I already got my ass kicked by her boyfriend, so I don’t need it from you.”
Before I could hear Headmaster Russo’s response, a hand on my shoulder from behind almost caused me to jump out of my skin. I wondered how long it would take me to stop being so jumpy when someone snuck up on me. I had gotten so used to being afraid of who it could be, that I didn’t think that I would ever stop being scared, always thinking that it could be Mr. Higginson that was behind me.
It was so weird that I was still calling him Mr. Higginson. But it would be even weirder to actually call him by his first name, John, and I had been calling him Mr. Higginson ever since I entered high school.
I turned around quickly, realized when I saw that it was only Seth. He looked amused at my scared expression, but it quickly went away when I practically lunged onto him, hugging him tightly.
“I missed you so much,” I said into his chest, feeling better when I felt his arms wrap around my waist. “It’s so great to be here again.”
Seth chuckled, and I could feel the vibration against the side of my head. “Well, I missed you, too, even though it’s only been three days…”
“Still,” I insisted, sounding like a little kid. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here.”
Seth chuckled, and we stood there like that for a while. I could still faintly hear Headmaster Russo yelling at Gabe, but I wasn’t listening to them anymore. I was back, at my home.
And that’s all the mattered.
“Let’s go to homeroom,” Seth told me after a few minutes of just standing there and hugging each other. “Mr. Ridgeway’s been back for the past week, since he was innocent and all…”
“I can’t believe Mr. Higginson actually framed Mr. Ridgeway. I can't believe I actually thought it could have been Mr. Ridgeway…” I sighed, following him toward Mr. Higginson’s room.Seth shrugged, sighing as well. “We all thought he was guilty when we saw that letter in his drawer. It was some compelling evidence. And that’s why Higginson planted it there.”
I stayed silent as we continued our way to our homeroom. I really wanted to see Mr. Ridgeway again, but how would he act when he saw me? The last time I had saw him, he was handcuffed to a table. And he had been in jail because of me. What if he hated me now? I really hoped he didn’t.
When we entered the room, it immediately grew silent. I bit the inside of my cheek, stopping myself from snapping at the boys for staring at me. I knew that that wasn’t the best thing to do right then. I ignored their stares and started toward River, but something caught my eyes before I could.
It was Mr. Ridgeway. I expected him to be frowning, or seething, or something that showed that he hated me now. What I was expecting, however, was what stood before me right then. There was Mr. Ridgeway, smiling at me, like it was any other day. Like he hadn’t be framed and arrested, and I hadn’t been kidnapped and almost murdered. Like it was any other day.
“Welcome back,” Mr. Ridgeway greeted, cocking his head to the side. “I heard the hospital food sucked.”
I found myself smiling. I had told Rex that the hospital food sucked the last time he had come to visit me. He must have told Mr. Ridgeway.
“It’s good to be back,” I replied, nodding my head a little. “And it’s great to see you again. I’m glad you’re finally back.”
Mr. Ridgeway shrugged, striding over to his desk lazily. “Prison wasn’t that bad,” he told me with a wave of his hand. “The food sucked, though. So we had something in common.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him, shaking my head like I used to always do. Because everything felt so normal, like it hadn’t changed, not one bit. Everything was still the same. Mr. Ridgeway was still Mr. Ridgeway, and I was still me. Nothing had changed at all.
And I couldn’t have been more thankful for that.
When homeroom was over, I was actually a little upset. But I knew that I would be able to see Mr. Ridgeway again during fourth period. But that also meant that I would have to see Gabe. If his father didn’t expel him or anything. I didn’t think Headmaster Russo would do something like that to his own son.
When I entered first period with Rex, River, and Seth, all of us laughing at something stupid Rex had said, I knew something was wrong when I saw Mrs. Dents face. She looked confused, bewildered, like she didn’t even know who I was or why there was a girl in the class.
“Delilah,” she said, her eyebrows furrowing. “What are you doing here?”
“I got released from the hospital yesterday,” I informed her, in case she somehow didn’t know. All my teachers were supposed to be informed that I was coming back…
Mrs. Dents shook her head, still looking confused. “Can I speak to you out in the hall for a moment?” she asked me, cocking her head toward the door. I only nodded, confused myself. Why would Mrs. Dents want to talk to me? What had I done now?
When we were outside and the door was shut, Mrs. Dents said to me, “Why are you still here? Did you go up to the office yet?”
I then remembered that I was supposed to go to the office, but I didn’t when I heard Headmaster Russo yelling at Gabe. Why did I need to go to the office? To inform them that I was here? Couldn’t the teachers just do that for me? It was easier that way, wasn’t it?
Obviously sensing my confusion, Mrs. Dents continued, “Delilah… Headmaster Russo really needs to speak to you right away. I suggest you go see him now.”
I blinked, surprised by the seriousness in her tone. I nodded, quickly turning on my heel and making my way down the hall and toward Headmaster Russo’s office as quickly as I possibly could. I wanted to find out why Mrs. Dents was acting that way before I got too confused myself. I had just recovered from a head injury, I didn’t need to hurt my head anymore by thinking too much.
When I finally got to the office, the secretary that had stopped the fight between Rex and Paul, whose name I had learned to be Kimberly, smiled at me. “You’re a little late, now aren’t you?” she chuckled slightly, flipping her dark hair behind her shoulder. “You can go right in.”
I nodded, mumbling a thank you and giving her a small smile before quickly walking passed her and into Headmaster Russo’s office. He was sitting at his desk, as if he was waiting for me.
“Um…” was all I could say as I saw down across the desk from him. Headmaster Russo was frowning. He was actually frowning. I never thought I would see that sight. And I never thought I would hear him actually yelling at someone before, but that had happened as well.
“Delilah,” Headmaster Russo sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I was going to inform you about this earlier this morning before you went to class, but I had to deal with Gabe then, so I couldn’t speak with you…”
“Inform me on what?” I asked, blinking in confusion.
Headmaster Russo now had a sorrowful look on his face, one that scared me.
“Inform you that… you don’t attend Bentwood anymore.”
I blinked, not really knowing what else I was supposed to do. Did he really just say what I thought he had just said? Did he really just say that I no longer attended Bentwood anymore?”
“Wh--what?” I whimpered, feeling wetness in my eyes only a few seconds after. “What are you talking about?”
Headmaster Russo was still frowning, and he looked sorry for me. “After the events of the night of the fair, the parents of the boys at this school found out about you…” Headmaster Russo started, shaking his head. “And they called the school board, and then the people above me found out about you. And that isn’t a good thing. They don’t want you attending school here anymore. They assume that now that John Higginson has been caught, you can return to your old school and live with your family once again. And I have to agree with him. This really isn’t any place for you. A girl, at an all-boys school… I’m sorry that I have to tell you this… I know your relationships with the people here and that you’ve been here for many months, but… it’s time for you to go.”
By now, tears were streaking down my face. I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. I had to go back to Washington, away from River, Rex, and Seth? There was no way!
“Today will be your last day at Bentwood,” Headmaster Russo told me now. “Your things have been packed for you while you were in the hospital. You have a plane to catch tomorrow morning.”
So it was all going to happen, just that fast? I was going to have to go all the way back to Washington, away from the people I never wanted to leave? This wasn’t fair!
I didn’t say anything more to Headmaster Russo, and he didn’t say anything more to me. I only stood up from my chair in complete silence, as if I was under a trance, and I made my way back to Mrs. Dents’s room.
I stood outside the door for a few moments, not knowing what I was supposed to do. This was my last day at Bentwood? All I wanted to do was cry. But I knew that I couldn’t, not on my last day. I quickly wiped at my eyes before pushing the door opened, gaining the attention of almost everyone in the room.
I always hated when that happened. Just because you entered a room didn’t mean that everyone had to stare at you like you were some type of alien or something.
“Is everything alright, Delilah?” Mrs. Dents asked me as I passed her desk to get to my own. She had no idea how many tears I was holding back right then. All I wanted to do was cry and cry and cry. I wanted to collapse onto the floor or into River’s arms and just cry my eyes out.
But I smiled forcefully at Mrs. Dents instead. “I’m fine,” I lied through my teeth before making the rest of my way toward my desk and taking a seat.
“What’s wrong?” River whispered once I had sat down. I didn’t look at him; I couldn’t look at him. I knew I would burst into tears if I did.
“I’ll tell you later,” I muttered, and I only stared at a crack in the ground for the rest of the period, hoping that somehow, somehow, it would make me feel better.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~*
Telling them what was wrong wasn’t easy.
But acting like I was okay was even worse than that.
When I told the three boys that had become my best friends at the sixth months I was in New York, they all looked genuinely heart broken by what was happening. Especially River. I couldn’t even face River. I knew I would start crying and screaming if I looked at him.
“I love you, Deli Sandwich,” Rex said to me as I waited for my plane, hugging me so tightly that normally I would hit him for it. But right then, I wished he would have hugged me a lot tighter. And never let go. Ever.
“You’re such a troublesome girl,” Seth mumbled into my ear as he hugged me just as tight. “Invading my life, demanding to know my secrets, finally being accepted into my heart, and then you leave.”
“You know I wouldn’t if it was up to me,” I whispered, hugging him tighter as the tears leaked from my eyes. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with them forever.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” River muttered into my ear after practically kissing me all over my face. “So much.”
“I love you, too,” I whimpered, nuzzling my face into his neck as I hugged him tightly.
“Promise me you’ll wait for me,” River whispered into my hair, so quietly I was barely able to hear it. I broke apart from him a little so I could look at him, but I was still in his arms. “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” I sniffed, a small amused smile emerging on my face.
“I’m more concerned about you,” River muttered at the floor. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
I knew my cheeks turned pink, but I didn’t even mind then. “I’m not going to a new school or anything. These are going to be the same boys I went to school with since I was a kid. And they never gave me a second glance before. So why would they now?”
River didn’t answer me, because he instead captured my lips with his in tender kiss that seemed so fragile that I thought it could break.
“Your plane’s here,” he whispered to me when we finally pulled away from each other. “I love you so much.”
He wiped a tear that had fallen down my face with his thumb as I whispered back, “I love you, too.”
All four of us hugged then, a giant group hug, and I let myself cry. I didn’t want to be separated from them, my best friends. I just wanted to be with them.
As I sat on the plane and waited for it to take off, tears threatened to fall down my face at any moment. The flight attendant was telling everyone to make sure their cell phones were off, but I didn’t even have to worry about that because I didn’t even have a phone anymore. My mother said she would get me a new phone, but she never told me exactly when. It was probably going to be soon, though, since I was going to see her in a few hours.
When the plane finally took off, I let a few of my tears slip down my face. I felt like jumping out of the window, wishing that I didn’t have to go back to Washington. I was all alone on a plane, because I didn’t have Gabe and Headmaster Russo with me this time. Even though Gabe had pranked me, I still would have liked his company with me on the plane.
But, no. I was all alone. On a plane. Back to my real home, with my mother and my brother.
Off to my real home.
But all I wanted was Bentwood.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~*
Being in front of my house was weird.
I hadn’t been there since December.
I could barely remember what it actually looked like, or how it smelled. It had been so long since I had stepped inside and saw the place I had left behind. But now I was back, and I was back for good.
Even though I didn’t want to be.
But before I could step onto the porch, a voice that I really didn’t want to hear shouted from behind me, “Delilah!”
Time for Miss Bitch to get an earful.
I turned on my heel, glaring at the redhead that stood on the sidewalk before me.
“I heard that you were coming back,” she told me with a smirk. “I couldn’t believe that Mr. Higginson was actually your secret admirer.”
I should have known. She always called my stalker my secret admirer. And that was what S.A. meant. I was just too stupid to see it then.
“Go away, Arianna,” I spat at her, glaring even more. “And don’t come back. Ever.”
Arianna’s eyebrows rose, obviously not expecting my response. “Excuse me?” she demanded. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Yes, I do,” I replied, stepping down from the porch so I could be closer to her. “I do know who I’m talking to. I’m talking to the bitch who paid some stranger to send creepy stalker notes to her friend to scare her!”
Arianna looked surprised for a moment, but that look quickly faded away and was replaced with a smirk. “So, Gabe told you, huh?” she asked, sounding amused. “Whatever, I guess. It was just a harmless prank, nothing wrong with it. It was just a little fun.”
“Little fun?” I demanded, my eyebrows furrowing in anger. “You think terrifying your friend is fun? Do you know how horrified I was every time I got a note? You didn’t see what you were doing to me, Arianna! You don’t even care! I’m your friend!”
Arianna still had the smug look on her face. “You were never my friend,” she told me bluntly, shaking her head. “It was either you or being alone. And you were so easy to walk all over. Maybe even easier than Julie, Violet, and Ericka… You’re just a doormat.”
The next thing that I did shocked even me. I didn’t even know what I was doing until it was already done. I had reached up, smacking Arianna Devon across the face. And hard. I, Delilah Shafer, actually slapped Arianna Devon! Across the face!
“And you’re a bitch,” I responded.
“You little bitch!” Arianna cried, raising her hand up to hit me as well. I closed my eyes, getting ready for impact, but I felt nothing at all. I opened my eyes to see that Arianna wasn’t even looking at me anymore, but she was now turned sideways to glare at the person that had caught her wrist before she could hit me.
“It would be the smart thing to leave right now,” Lieutenant Shrew told Arianna. “Before you get in trouble with the law. That little ‘prank’ that you did could get your into a lot of trouble.”
Arianna huffed, yanking her arm away from Lieutenant Shrew’s grasp. She turned to glare at me. “I guess I’ll see you later, bitch,” she said to me before turning around and stalking away.
I stared at Lieutenant Shrew incredulously, not knowing what to say. It wasn’t like he saved my life or anything, but he did save me from getting bitch slapped.
“Thanks,” I said simply, still kind of confused.
Lieutenant Shrew shook his head. “It’s no problem. It’s about time I finally protect you.”
Obviously noticing my confusion, he explained, “I’ve had your case with your stalker since almost three years ago, correct? And I haven’t done anything to catch Higginson before. All I did was send you across the country, and now you’re back and I can tell that you don’t want to be. So I hurt you even more that way. You’re going to be my step-daughter, Delilah. I don’t want to be your enemy.”
“But…” I started, but I trailed off and didn’t say anything more.
Lieutenant Shrew patted me on the back. “It’s alright,” he said with a shrug. “You don’t have to forgive me.”
He started back into the house again, until I called out, “Lieutenant Shrew!”
He turned around, smiling at me. “Call me Nick,” he told me before turning back around and walking into the house, shutting the door behind him. I stood there for a few minutes, still not really knowing what to do, and I only stared at the ground until I finally whispered something.
“I forgive you, Nick.”
Even though saying that didn’t get rid of all my problems, it did get rid of some of them. But I still had to deal with the fact that my best friends and my boyfriend were all the way across the country, way too far away from me. I still just wanted to be with them.
This place didn’t feel like home anymore. But Bentwood did. I was so used to my dorm room being my actually room, that I probably didn’t even recognize my old room anymore. I was so used to my dorm pretty much being my house, so living in such a big place was probably going to be weird as well.
I didn’t know how long I would have to get used to it, but I knew that I had to. I had to get used to living this way again, with my family instead of my friends.
I just had to suck it up and get used to it.
No matter how hard that would be.
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