I can hear the sirens coming from everywhere. A second later, I can see from the corner of my eyes blue and red lights. Lots of them. But I don't break away from Archer's eyes. I know that he didn't do this. This isn't him. He would never do this. I just want him to tell me I'm right.
I went home with Heidi that night and since then, I haven't seen or hear from Archer. Jace and Carter has been avoiding me. Jace is not talking to his dad or my mom. No one knows what happened that friday-
"Move it!" Someone bump into me from behind, breaking my train of thoughts. I look behind to see a bunch of girls walking the other way. I turn back to face the exit doors in the cafeteria just in time to see Mrs. Miller, our principal, appearing from behind the closed door.
She looks furious. Her stare is cold, glaring at every student in her way. I watch as she make her way towards the crowd of students to the middle of the cafeteria.
"Attention everyone!" She raise her voice, getting everyone's attention. The whole cafeteria is silent as can be with the whole student body in here this early in the day.
I couldn't even put my books in my locker. The first thing we all had to do when we first arrived at school was to go straight to the cafeteria with the supervision of a police officer.
Speaking of, there's a group of police officers in here. One in each corner of the cafeteria and two guarding the exit doors. Plus one standing a few feet away from Mrs. Miller.
"As you all must have known by now, something happened last Friday night in this very school. Something unspeakable of. One of our own, Kenny Lee, a fellow classmate, friend, son, has been stabbed and seriously injured. As of now, he is being treated in the hospital and is being closely monitor. What we know at the moment is that three students were involved in this incident and they're being thoroughly questioned at this moment. What we can do now is pray that Kenny Lee will survive." My eyes open wide at the mention of three students. I know she's talking about Archer, Jace, and Carter. My eyes wander around the crowd of students to look for them but they're nowhere in sight.
"Officer Joe," Mrs. Miller look to the officer standing a few feet from her then back at us, "and his fellow officers will be questioning everyone all week, taking you out of class. If you know or saw anything that night, please let us know. That is all. Go to class. Thank you." She walks away from the center and out the exit doors.
-
Friday and there's still no update on what happened that night. I haven't seen Archer at all this week. I've seen Jace and Carter trying to avoid me in the hallways and in classrooms but no Archer. I went to his condo on Wednesday but no one answered the door. It's either he's not home or he's avoiding me. I really hope he's not. I believe in him and he needs to know that.
"You know, you've been looking like your puppy got murdered all week and it's making me really sad for you. Anything I can do to cheer you up?" Heidi approach me in the parking lot after school while I wait for mom to pick me up.
I fake a smile, "I'm fine."
She scoff knowing that I'm lying, "Girl, you're a terrible liar."
"Oh! There's a party tonight that's supposed to be crazy fun. You wanna go?" She asks, getting excited.
I shake my head to refuse. "No thanks. I'm fine with being at home." I don't feel like partying at all with everything that's happened.
She frown, "Come on! It'll be fun!" She bump her shoulder into mine, trying her hardest to convince me. I don't think she's ever wanted me to do anything this bad. I guess I have been pretty sad this whole week. But I seriously don't feel like doing anything at all this weekend.
"I'm sorry. I just don't feel like partying." I tell her, earning a boo from her.
"Kay, fine. But I heard Archer and his friends go to this party every year. Who knows, you might see him there. After being interrogated all week, I bet they want to get drunk and have fun." oooh, she's good. I narrow my eyes at her to which she respond with a grin.
"Fine." Heidi cheer at my response. I want to see Archer this bad.
-
"I'm going to look for Archer!" I yell over the loud blasting music to Heidi. She nods her head and I separate from her.
If I'm Archer, where would I be? The kitchen? The bathroom? I shrug it off and walk around the house. I have no idea where what is so, I just look everywhere for him. After walking in on other people in the middle of something I do not want to see again and turning the house upside down for Archer, I give up. I don't see him anywhere. I don't think he's even here.
I head to the kitchen for a drink, preferably water. Once I got there, I see a girl in the corner, taking a sip from her cup. She looks familiar. I head to the fridge and open it, searching for water.
The girl must have noticed me searching frantically so she speak up, "Looking for something?" I turn to face her with a sheepish smile.
"Water."
She set her cup down on the counter and holds up a water bottle she's been holding. "Think fast." She throws it to me and I quickly catch it.
I sigh a breath of relief, "Thank you." I open the bottle and take a waterfall. Wiping my mouth after gulping down the water.
"No problem." She smiles, taking me back to that night with Carter. That's why she looks familiar!
"Hey, aren't you Sandy?" I ask her, happy that I remember her.
She looks at me with suspicion, "Yeah. Who are you?"
"Uh- I was at the diner the night you were working there. I was with my friend-"
"The guy who punched that douche-bag's face. I remember," she grin, thinking back at the memory.
The douche-bag! Oh my god! That was the guy I saw at the school dance last Friday. The one who smirked at me right before I heard the girl screaming. He and his friends must have something to do with that. That means, Archer didn't stab Kenny. The douche-bag must have done that.
I exhale a breath of relief.
"What?" Sandy ask, confused at my sudden behavior.
"Do you know who that douche-bag is?"
"Unfortunately, yes. He's Toby. He's known for his reputation as a gang member. That's why I was surprised when he didn't do anything to Carter after Carter punched him." Sandy explained.
It's finally starting to make sense. I think Toby was there that night looking for Carter for payback. Carter must've realized and ask Archer and Jace for help. That's why they left the gym. But what I don't understand is why Kenny was there.
This is making me even more confuse.
"Thank you so much Sandy! I owe you one." I quickly thank her and give her back the water bottle then I speed-walk my way out of the kitchen and about to walk out the front door to go outside so I can call Archer when Heidi stop me.
She grabs my arm, "Where are you going? I got you a drink. Come drink with me." She holds up a red cup.
"I'm gonna call Archer outside." I tell her. She decided to accompany me. I didn't mind so we head out of the house, away from the loud music.
"Here," she hand me the cup. I take a sip because I'm still thirsty, then I take out my phone from my back-pocket and call Archer. The first ring, no answer. My head starts to hurt. The second ring, no answer. I feel dizzy all of a sudden. My vision is starting to blur. Third ring-
"Chloe-" Archer's voice enters my ear and suddenly my whole body feels weak and numb. My hand slip down, dropping my phone on the ground.
I stumble forward, trying to balance myself, but lost my footing and fall down. Thankfully, Heidi is there to catch me.
"Heidi-" my voice comes out as a soft whisper. I can't feel anything. My head is spinning. I can't lift up my hand or myself up. What's happening to me?
"What are you waiting for? Come and take her," Heidi says. Who is she talking to?
Next thing I know, someone is lifting me up into their arms. I want to say something. I want to run away but I can't. It's like I don't even have control of my own body anymore.
"Take her to the room upstairs." I hear Heidi telling someone. Probably whoever is carrying me.
They take me inside the house and upstairs to a dark room. I try to scream for anyone to help me but I can't. My mind is screaming but nothing comes out of my mouth. All they probably see is a drunk girl being helped.
Whoever is carrying me set me down on the bed. I try to run away, move my body, anything, but nothing happens. What's going on?
"You think you're all that but without Archer by your side, you're nothing but a helpless, afraid, little bitch." Heidi spit out. I lower my eye to see her at the foot of the bed with a smirk on her face. Her eyes glitter with joy.
The drink. Did she drug me? But why? What did I ever do to her?
"Everything was going great, Chloe. Before you showed up. Before that cheating whore became Archer's girlfriend. Everything was going great! We were in an arrangement marriage. I was going to be engaged to Archer, the love of my life. But Archer met Vanessa and he fell for her. He broke off the engagement and made her his girlfriend. But it didn't take long before she became a cheating slut and slept with Tyson. I made sure Archer found out." Heidi rant in an angry tone.
What the hell is she talking about? I can't believe what I'm hearing. Heidi and Archer were engaged? Why did Archer never tell me this?
"And boy, when he did find out, he broke up with her and I thought that was finally my chance. I thought our engagement was finally going to be on again. But a year pass and you showed up." She look at me with hatred in her eyes.
"I thought you and I were going to be such great friends. Best friends even. But you just couldn't stay away from Archer. When you guys started going out, I wanted to make sure it didn't last long so I called Archer to meet me if he didn't want you to find out about the engagement. He came right away." Heidi laugh at the thought.
"He'll rather meet me than have you find out about the engagement. I made him drink and drink until he couldn't stand on his own. Then I paid a girl to take him back to his condo and called you on his phone. I told her to make it look like Archer was about to sleep with her." Heidi explained.
No. No way! I still remember the sight of Archer all over her. I walked in on them. I know what I saw!
"You saw what you wanted to see," Carter's voice echoes in my head.
"And poor, sad little Chloe. You walked in on them at just the right moment. Weeks later, you guys broke up and it was finally my chance. Until you guys got back together." Heidi walks around the bed and closer to me. She's standing right next to me. I try to move my body away but can't. I'm just stuck there.
"But it's all going to end tonight. I wonder, what would Archer think if he saw you sleeping with another boy while he's coping with the fact that a guy almost died in his arms." She holds up her phone. The look on her face scares me. She has this satisfying and overjoyed expression which scares the crap out of me. I've never seem this side of Heidi before. She was always so nice and good to me. I can't believe it was all just a facade.
She lift up her hand and move it towards my face. "Take care of her real nice." She drag her finger against my cheek. I flinch. That's the first time since she drugged me that I could feel my face. I think the drug is wearing off.
**WARNING: the following involves rape and may be triggering**
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a dark shadow coming into view. It's a guy I've never seen before with black hair. He looks built and tall.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He ask Heidi with a worried face.
Heidi glare at him, "Don't get soft on me now, Tony!"
Heidi holds up her phone horizontally like she's recording. "Well, get on with it!" She yell at Tony over the loud music playing downstairs. God, someone help me!
Tony turns his focus on me and walk towards me. I try to move away from him, but I'm stuck there - lying on the bed, helpless. I try to move my hand and could feel my fingers moving. I just hope the drug wears off quick before Tony's going to do whatever he's gonna do to me.
He gets on the bed and get on top of me. His leg on either side of my waist. My breathing starts to quicken because I'm scared of what he's about to do. He lowers his head next to mine.
"I'm sorry," he whispers to my ears, sending shivers down my spine. My eyes widen. My mouth slightly opens. I look to Heidi hoping she'll help me but she only smiled and record us. I try to move my head and it slightly move to the right. I look at the door to see it close. That moment, I can feel Tony's body on top of mine and it disgusted me. I can feel him leaving trails of wet kisses on my neck and down my chest.
I continue to stare at the door, hoping - praying - for anyone to come and save me. My vision starts to get blurry and tears spill down my cheek and into the pillow.
Someone help me, my mind scream.
"Make it look like she's actually enjoying it." Heidi order. She's sick. Tony's hands roam under my shirt. I can feel his cold touch on my stomach. It makes me want to throw up. I try moving my body, my legs, my hands, anything, but nothing works. I try to concentrate on moving my hands as Tony's hands move up to my bra, then my breast. I close my eyes shut, silently crying.
That moment, I can hear a knock on the door. I open my eyes, my hopes of getting the hell out of here is higher now. Heidi and Tony freeze in their spot, making eye contact with each other.
The person on the other side of the door knocks a second time. Help me, my mind scream. I try to open my mouth and yell for help.
"Help..." my voice comes out as a whisper. Heidi and Tony's eyes snap at me. Tony quickly cover my mouth. I try to move and could feel my hands. I lift it up and spin it around, knocking down the vase on the drawer beside the bed with a loud thud.
Heidi's face is fill with anger. She walks to me and sudden, her hands flew across my cheek. I can feel a sting on the left side of my cheek where she slapped me.
"Finish it!" She whisper-yell at Tony. He turns to me and lower his body to mine.
I give up. No one's coming. No one's saving me. I can't save myself. I shut my eyes tight and prepare for what's to come, tears rolling down my cheeks nonstop.
~
A/N
Pray for Chloe!
Thank you so much for reading! TBBKHTL reached 8k reads! Thank you!
:)