"Are you okay?"
Ophelia turned to see Hannah had started walking next to her as she headed towards her first period.
She rehearsed greeting people again.
"Hey Hannah!" Ophelia greeted, excited to see her friend. "Yeah, I am. I'm sorry I lost you at the dance. How was your dance with Clay?"
Hannah held an arm out, stopping her walk. She looked directly at her bruised face. "Are you okay?" She repeated.
Ophelia cringed. She rehearsed her lie too.
"Oh, I'm fine" Ophelia told her, casually. "I got in a little car accident after the dance."
Hannah continued staring at her. "Ophelia..."
She waited. Nervously.
Hannah then said, "I saw Montgomery hit you."
*****
That small confession is what drove everything on Ophelia's tape to occur. She wished she hadn't told Ophelia what she saw.
She wished Hannah never saw it.
"Hey, do you mind talking for a second?" Clay asked, approaching Ophelia while she was alone in the hallway. She just got out of first period with Montgomery, and she was waiting for him at the door. The teacher made him stay late.
"I actually have to get to class," she insisted.
Clay was wearing a gray jacket, his hands were shoved in his pocket, and his headphones were around his neck. Her eyes followed the cord to his pocket. Her tape was in his pocket right now.
"Please," Clay said, "Just for a few minutes. I really think you'll want to hear this."
"Cory, what's up, man?" Montgomery asked, coming out of the classroom. His arm snaked around Ophelia's waist.
"Montgomery" he greeted.
Ophelia said, "His name is Clay, Monty."
Montgomery laughed. "Oh, fuck, my bad. I've been calling you that for hella long."
"I know" Clay said, simply. He cleared his throat. "I thought that you two, um, broke up?"
He laughed again. "Nah, we're all good now. Why, were you interested or some shit like that?"
Ophelia rolled her eyes.
"No," Clay told him, "I just....never mind."
She watched as he walked off.
"What the fuck is that dude on?" Montgomery said, "He's always spacing the fuck out."
Ophelia ignored the question and instead asked, "What did Mrs. Jangle want?"
Montgomery scoffed. "That bitch gave me lunch detention."
"What? Why?"
"I was supposed to have a stack of assignments to turn in today but I forgot about them."
Ophelia asked. "You forgot to bring them?"
"No, I forgot to do them. Actually-I just didn't want to."
"Are you serious?" Ophelia demanded, now mad at him. "What did you even do during your suspension? You promised I would have you for lunch today."
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" he said. He looked guilty. She knew that he felt bad.
But Ophelia had already burned her bridge of hanging out with Tony at lunch. The day before she had told him that when Montgomery came back from his suspension, she would continue dating him.
This upset Tony a lot. In fact, more than a lot. He was furious. The days that they spent lunch together, she assured him that in time her and Montgomery would break up. For good. She never meant to lie to him, but he just kept insisting on it. Tony was angry at her. She doubted he would want her to sit with him again.
"That freaking idiot!" Ophelia said to herself as she sat down in her fourth period class. It turned out that Montgomery had not just skipped the homework from his first class, but from every class. She knew that meant she would have to help him go over it that night.
Jessica was in Ophelia's fourth period. She hoped she wouldn't try to talk her, but that wasn't the case.
Jessica clearly sensed no bad blood between the two of them. She sat next to her. Her hair was in a ponytail, instead of styled and curled. She had no makeup on. She looked like Ophelia the day before.
"Hey," she greeted. "Are you free at lunch?"
Ophelia said. "Um, actually Monty's back."
"Yeah, but he has lunch detention."
Ophelia was surprised. "How do you know that?"
Jessica just said, "Marcus told me."
Ophelia sat up straighter in her desk. "Well, how did Marcus know?"
"Montgomery texted their group chat about it."
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. I am free. Why?"
Jessica leaned in a bit closer. "We're meeting in the gym at lunch."
"We?"
"Me, you, Marcus, Courtney, Zach, Alex, Ryan, maybe Sheri too."
Ophelia stiffened a bit when she heard Zach's name. She would feel bad sneaking off with him while Montgomery was in detention.
"I don't think I should," Ophelia told Jessica.
Jessica reached her hand over and grabbed Ophelia's looking deep in her eyes she said. "Please, Ophelia. Look, Clay's freaking everyone out. Justin isn't answering any of my texts, and he hasn't been at school in a few days. Just come so we can work out a plan."
Ophelia hesitated. Jessica squeezed her hand. "I know that Clay is on your tape. Come meet with us so you won't have to worry."
Ophelia sighed. "Okay, I will. But just because Justin isn't here, and...I don't want you to have to feel alone during lunch either."
Jessica smiled, gratefully. Ophelia noticed she still hadn't let go of her hand.
She whispered now, "How has Montgomery been? Has-Has he been good to you?"
Jessica was speaking a lot more timidly than she had the days prior. It must have been due to her worry over Justin.
"Of course," Ophelia breathed.
Jessica bit her lip. She finally pulled her hand away. Ophelia watched as she got out her textbook, opened it, just to slam it closed a second later to look at her again.
"Tony told me he made you listen to yours again" she whispered, as the teacher in front of the room began talking. "That's fucking harsh."
Ophelia agreed. "It was."
"And...you and Monty? You're still..."
"Yes."
Ophelia left it at that.
At lunch, Jessica and Ophelia walked into the gym together. Ryan was there already, as were Courtney and Marcus. They were sitting on the bleachers in the empty gym.
Marcus stood up when he saw the girls walk in. "Finally, someone got you," he said to Ophelia.
"Yeah, she got me," Ophelia repeated, lamely.
Courtney was holding a notebook clutched in her hands. She was sitting facing away from Ryan, and sitting as far as she could without being in a completely different area.
"She only came because Clay's on her tape," Courtney said, "I doubt she'll ever come again."
Ophelia frowned at her, now self conscious and guilty. "I-"
Ryan spoke up, "Lay off Courtney. You've only begun gracing us with your presence when Sheri got the tapes because you were afraid she would out you."
Courtney ground her teeth. She looked like she wanted to say something nasty back to him, but instead she turned her head away and stayed silent.
"Still no word from Justin?" Jessica asked Marcus.
He shook his head. "Not a peep."
She looked desperate. "And you promise to tell me if there is?"
"I gain nothing from keeping him hidden," Marcus assured her, "He's more dangerous to all of us when he's MIA."
Ophelia sat next to Jessica on the bleachers. She saw Alex walk in next. When he saw Ophelia, his pace slowed.
"Hey," he greeted her.
"Hey, Alex."
He sat next to her. "How'd they manage to finally drag you into this?"
Jessica spoke up, "She wasn't dragged into anything. She volunteered. We all should want to be here. All of our futures are on the line."
Alex scoffed and chuckled. "Our futures..."
"Is there something funny about that, Standall?" Marcus asked him.
"Yeah" Alex said, not getting up from his seat. "Maybe being so self obsessed with our future and our wants are what got us into this in the first place."
Courtney frowned her nose at him. "Give me a break. This isn't some lesson, Alex. We're basically being blackmailed."
Ryan agreed. "Blackmailed and blacklisted. For mistakes."
Alex did stand this time. "Yeah, stealing a poem from someone's diary is a mistake. What, were you holding onto a page and tripped? You accidentally ripped it out?"
Ryan smiled, amused. "That's funny. What about you? Were you holding a pen and tripped? Accidentally jotting down Hannah's name on some weird heterosexual body parts ranking?"
Alex looked angry, but he just scoffed again. He sat himself down next to Ophelia.
"Hey," he asked her. "Are we good?"
She was surprised. "Why wouldn't we be good?"
"Well, I kind of got into it with your jackass boyfriend. I got him suspended."
Ophelia realized she never blamed Alex for any of that. She never thought she should be mad at him for the fight, even though it was his fault. He forced her boyfriend out of the car, begging to be challenged. Yet, her boyfriend was the one who got in bigger trouble for it.
Ophelia decided she wouldn't be mad at Alex, because Montgomery's bad temper and strong fists probably made him regret it enough.
"It's fine," Ophelia said. She admitted, "Honestly, I think the suspension was deserved."
Alex mumbled, "But he wasn't...super angry or anything? Like later? With you?"
Ophelia pretended to not hear the questions, offended by it.
The gym doors opened and Zach walked in. He caught her eye, mouth slightly falling open. He closed it quickly, looking at Marcus instead.
"Sheri's a no go," he said. His voice was deep and authoritative. It sounded different than when he spoke to her. She wondered if he purposefully spoke to her in a softer tone.
Zach continued, "I was just talking to her. She refuses to come. She says she needs her space. At least until Bryce gets involved."
Ophelia felt a pang of jealous. Did Zach talk to Sheri often? Did he talk to her alone? Just the two of them? Did he talk to Sheri the same way he talked to her? Was he just trying to comfort all the girls on the tapes?
Zach wanted to take a seat next to Ophelia, but decided to stay standing. He would be less nervous that way. He stood up tall, crossing his arms.
"Where the fuck is Justin?" Zach asked Jessica, upset.
Ophelia frowned at his rude tone.
"I don't know," she complained, "I fucking told you people Clay spooked him. He's fucking gone."
Marcus stepped forward. "We need to do something about that kid."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Kid? He's our age."
Zach snapped at him, "However the fuck old he is, he's harder to get to than we thought. Clearly, threatening him isn't going to work."
Ophelia almost gasped. "You guys threatened him?"
"We've had to do a lot to keep him quiet," Courtney said, "Not that you would understand."
Ophelia, upset at her words, looked at Zach. She wanted him to be upset that Courtney was being so rude to her, but he wasn't. He looked like he agreed.
"He won't be going to the police," Ophelia said, defending her reaction. "Not until he gets to the end, at least. He's not even dangerous yet."
Courtney laughed at her. "You really have no idea. Do you know what he did, O-phel-I-a?" Ophelia hated the way she stretched out her name. It was demeaning. "He took me to her fucking grave. Did he take you to her fucking grave?" Ophelia stayed silent. "No, he didn't. So until some shit happens to you, we'll do whatever we deem fucking necessary."
Jessica grabbed Ophelia's hand again, quickly, as she saw Ophelia's face growing red with shame and humiliation. "Lay off" Jessica told her.
Alex threw in, "Stop being such a bitch, Courtney."
Courtney scoffed, "I'm being a bitch?"
"Yes" Ryan said, joining in.
She glared at him. "You know what? The whole winter ball situation never would have happened if Ophelia's manwhore boyfriend hadn't tried grinding on me until a gave him someone else to throw himself at. He was bothering everyone."
Ophelia flinched back, as though she had been hit. She could almost feel a hit, in fact, just thinking about Winter Ball.
"Jesus Christ, Courtney!" Alex complained.
Ophelia didn't know Montgomery was dancing with other girls at all. She was just told about Courtney.
"He was dancing with a lot of girls?" she asked, innocent to all the accusations just thrown at her.
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Of course. He was dancing with everyone. What? Didn't know he was the one from my tape who called Hannah and slut and accused her of getting fingered? Surprised that son of a bitch doesn't have his own tape."
Ophelia felt so upset by learning Montgomery was on other woman during the dance, it took her a moment to catch back up with the conversation.
Ryan raised his hand. "I second that. I feel as though my tape should have been erased after all that De La Cruz shit went down I mean how does me publishing a poem even compare to that-"
"Enough!" Zach shouted. It scared them. It was out of nowhere. After they had all quieted down, Zach looked to Ophelia. He looked guilty for letting things go on for so long.
"He-He didn't do what she accused him of," Ophelia spoke up, timidly. She avoided eye contact with Zach, who she had admitted the truth to only days ago.
Jessica broke it before anyone could rebuttal. "Whatever she lied about does not matter right now. Because Clay will believe everything Hannah says anyway."
"That's right," Zach agreed.
He spoke so powerfully. Ophelia wondered if he was the leader right now.
"Jensen will fuck us all over," Zach said, "He'll do whatever the fuck he thinks Hannah would want. Clearly, Hannah's not above manipulation."
Courtney rose her hand, didn't wait to be acknowledged and said, "I think we should let him go through the tapes, and convince him to go after Bryce. Leave the rest of us out of it. If he really did what she said wouldn't it be a good thing?"
"If?" Alex asked. "Are you fucking serious Courtney?"
She frowned at him. "She's a fucking liar, okay? That's what she fucking does. Lies and pins the blame of her mistakes on other people. How do we know she didn't just regret sleeping with him and call it rape?"
Ophelia hated the way Courtney spoke about Hannah. But she was too scared to say anything to defend her. Just like when she was alive...
"I don't think she was lying" Alex snapped at her. "I think she told the truth."
"Oh, she told the truth?"
"Yeah and you're just fucking scared to admit that you really are a fucking lesbian" he told her, voice calm but cold.
Courtney sounded not so calm. "So you think she was telling the truth? Hm? Let's see. Ophelia, did your boyfriend slap the shit out of you after the dance or not?"
Ophelia felt all the blood in her body running to her face, while the rest of her was left empty and cold.
"Courtney, shut the fuck up!" Zach yelled at her.
"Woah!" Marcus said, "We need to calm down!"
Ophelia pulled away from Jessica, swinging her back back pack over her shoulder and standing up. She wiped her eyes, sniffing. She was embarrassed. So, so embarrassed that she became so emotional whenever that night was mentioned.
"I have to go..." she mumbled.
"Wait," Zach stood in front of her, "Look, just sit down. We need to talk about this."
"About what?" she demanded. "I came to your guy's fucking meeting. And you're all fucking assholes. Nice way to learn."
"Don't be dramatic," Marcus said, walking over to her as well. He tried to take her arm to lead her back to the bleachers but she snatched it back.
She felt stupid, suddenly.
"Take a seat," Marcus told her. "Just for a few more minutes."
She didn't want to.
"Please," Zach asked. He used his softer voice. The one only for her.
Ophelia didn't respond to him, but she did sit.
Country started, "Are we really just-"
"Courtney!" Zach yelled, "You can either shut the fuck up or get the fuck out of here!"
Courtney scoffed, upset and offended. But she didn't speak any longer.
"Me and Marcus are going to the pool house tonight" he said. "We'll be with Bryce. We'll try to stay with him just in case Clay makes it to his tape."
Zach turned to Ophelia. He said, "Ophelia, you watch baseball practices anyway, right? Can you make sure Clay doesn't confront Bryce while he's there? There's not a lot I can do on the field."
Ophelia was confused. "Why are we protecting Bryce?"
Marcus told her, "We're not protecting him. We're protecting Clay. He'll do or say something stupid and Bryce will beat the shit out of him. And then he'll get in trouble and-"
"-and we're worried he'll tell the principal about the tapes" Alex interjected. "So it's just to protect ourselves. Again."
"Thanks, Standall," Marcus said, sarcastically.
Zach looked at Ophelia. "Can you do that?"
"I can."
"Great teamwork guys" Ryan cheered, sarcastically. "But when Clay does lash out?"
Zach folded his hand over his chest, making himself appear bigger. And stronger. "We'll shut him down. Whatever means necessary."
Ophelia scoffed. She was no longer sad, now angry.
She stood up again and said, "You guys are crazy."
She marched out of the gym, ignoring Jessica calling her back.
Alex stood after her. "And that's coming from the girl who's dating Montgomery."
Alex left too.
When Ophelia pushed the door open, she was surprised to be met face to face with Tyler. She moved away from him, quickly moving down the hall. Tyler followed her.
"Hey, do you guys really think you'll get to Clay with threats and violence?"
Ophelia frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"I was listening to you guys" he told her.
She tried walking quicker to lose him.
"Ew, Tyler. Can you ever be normal?" She was disgusted at the thought of him spying of them, knowing exactly what kind of things he does with the photos he takes.
"Look, me and you should be the ones to talk to him," Tyler suggested. "Clay will listen to us. He actually likes us."
Ophelia admitted, "I don't think he likes you. I got sent that picture of you too."
She cringed thinking of the photo of Tyler's naked butt.
"Come on" Tyler moved in front of her, stopping her walk. "Clay isn't mad at you. Why would he be? You're just another victim."
Victim?
"Tyler, get out of my way." She tried to move, but he went in front of her again.
"You like Clay, right?"
Ophelia said, "Yeah, I guess. He was Hannah's friend so of course I do."
Tyler nodded. "I like him too. He was always nice to me before."
She sighed. "Is there something you want, Tyler?"
"We should work together," he told her, "Forget about the others. They just want to bring him down, okay? We can help him."
"Tyler, I-" Ophelia cut herself off with a gasp. Tyler moved from in front of her, to the lockers next to them in an instant.
Her boyfriend stood where he had been. "Is this freak bothering you again, O?"
Tyler looked scared. Ophelia spoke quickly. "N-No. he's fine. We were just talking."
Montgomery stepped closer to Tyler. "Talking, huh? What the fuck were you two talking about?" He pushed him into the locker again.
Tyler stuttered. "W-W-We were just-"
"W-W-W-We" Montgomery laughed, mocking. "How about you learn to leave her alone, freak?" Another push. "Fucking. Leave. Her. Alone."
"Monty-" Ophelia tried.
"Look, these are thousand dollar cameras-" Tyler tried.
Montgomery cut him off by saying, "Oh yeah? And I'll break them on your face."
"Jesus, Montgomery, leave him alone."
They all turned to see Alex walking down the hallway towards them.
Montgomery laughed, looking between Tyler and Alex. He stepped away from Tyler and asked Alex, "What you want to go again?"
Montgomery was facing away from Ophelia. Ophelia caught Alex's eye and mouthed 'no', shaking her head frantically.
Alex shrugged at Montgomery, surprised by his lack of care. "What, do you? Didn't you just get back from your suspension? You want to leave Ophelia alone for another week?"
Montgomery chuckled, shaking his head. "Fuck you."
"What are you even doing here?" Alex asked. "Don't you have detention or some other shit teachers give to students they don't like?"
Montgomery chuckled, amused by Alex's attempts at getting under his skin. Ophelia could tell that he already had.
He bragged. "Got let off early. Good behavior and all."
"Yeah? We'll have fun with your..." Alex checked his watch. "...thirteen minutes of lunch left."
"Took less time than that to beat your ass last time" he threatened.
Ophelia stepped in. "Okay, let's go, Monty. You should eat something."
Montgomery sent one more look at Alex before leaving with her.
"I was looking for you," he told her, "Where'd you go?"
She lied, "I was just walking around."
Ophelia and Montgomery had a good rest of lunch. It was pleasant. They ate outside by themselves. Ophelia enjoyed spending time with Montgomery, especially when his friends weren't around. He was more rude to people when people were watching, like he had something to prove.
She sat on the outside bleachers watching baseball practice after school. She spent the most of the time watching Montgomery, or reading a book she brought with her.
Her gaze fell at Zachary. He had acted different today. She didn't know how to explain it. He was stricter. She wondered if it was because of Marcus. She hadn't spoken to him in a few days, maybe something happened. Or maybe Clay was just getting to him.
She thought back to when he said he spoke with Sheri. Maybe he was more interested in her story now.
Ophelia jumped, surprised when Clay Jensen sat down next to her.
Fuck, she forgot she had to watch out for him.
"Hey, Ophelia."
"Hey, Clay." She was uncomfortable.
"I'm not here to start a fight." He told her.
"That's good?" She didn't think he was.
He hesitated. "Look, I think I should tell you that...I knew about Montgomery. Like, what he did."
She glanced at him. "What?" There were so many things he could be talking about.
"Hannah, um, she told me."
Ophelia spoke louder than she meant to when she said, "She told you?!"
He sunk back a bit. Quickly he said, "No, not everything. Not about Rep Night. But, she...she told me that she saw Montgomery hit you."
Ophelia knew this would happen. As soon as she walked back into Liberty High School after weeks away she knew that the worst moments of her life would be dragged up again and again. By everybody.
"When?" she demanded. Hannah has swore she didn't.
"The night you called her? When Montgomery was attacking you or something-"
"He wasn't attacking me."
Clay nodded. "Right. Well, I was with her. We had stayed late at the Cresmont to screen a movie for ourselves."
"Oh god..." she mumbled, running her hand over her face.
"She told me she needed to go because she knew what he was capable of. Because of Winter Ball..." He drifted off.
Ophelia just felt embarrassed. And defensive. Again.
"What do you want from me Clay?"
"I want you to break up with Montgomery" he said, simply, "And then report him. If you really called Alex's dad then he'll remember. I mean, Jesus Christ, you're being abused."
"I'm not!" she told him. "Montgomery isn't some wife beater! He's made mistakes and it's my job to help him move past it. To become a better man. He-He doesn't hurt me, Clay. Not-" she stopped herself.
"Not anymore?" he guessed.
She nodded. "Not anymore."
Clay took a deep breath. He said, "Fine, Montgomery's a good guy." She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "But Jessica was raped. I mean, how is everyone just ignoring this? Why isn't anyone trying to do something?"
Ophelia told him, "It's not that simple. The only person that can actually testify against Bryce is Justin, and he would never."
Clay was confused. "What? Why? He raped his girlfriend."
Ophelia said softly, "Yeah, and Justin let him. Testifying about that wouldn't just mean he's betraying Bryce, Justin would get in trouble too."
Clay looked away from her to the baseball players below. To Bryce. "This whole thing is so fucked up."
Ophelia let out a laugh. "And you're only on my tape."
"Can it get much worse?" he asked her.
She looked down at her hands, not answering. Instead she said, "We don't even have evidence this stuff happened. I mean, even if Hannah didn't lie, she still didn't tell the whole truth. Only what she thought was the truth."
Clay watched her, waiting.
She sighed, finally telling him what he wanted to know. "Yes, Montgomery did what she said. But I didn't, okay? I didn't set her up. She said I didn't but I didn't, I was just as scared and clueless as her."
"So tell people!"
They both heard yelling on the field. Inspiringly, Montgomery and Bryce were both yelling at another player. Poor guy.
"We should work together," Clay told her. "You should help me convince the others to come forward. For Hannah."
"There's no way Monty wouldn't get dragged into that."
Clay looked at her as though she didn't understand what she was saying. Like she was stupid. "Why the fuck are you protecting him?"
Ophelia opened her mouth, but closed it again. She didn't have a good answer.
She could say she loved him, but hasn't she already said that a million times? She loved Montgomery so much she would lie to keep him safe? She would protect a rapist to keep him safe? Did she really love him that much?
Did he deserve her loving him that much?
He did. Because she knew he loved her probably twice as much.
Right?
She used to not even question him. They would be together forever. It was fate.
But after Winter Ball happened, it felt like something snapped inside her, and she started believing in their future less and less.
She wondered, would there come a day she stopped loving him completely? Would he do something that pushed her all the way away from him?
She felt sad all of a sudden, wondering if Montgomery could feel her pull away from him. Her heart ached over it.
She knew she had to come to terms with what happened. Everyone else already had. Montgomery had hit her, and then he hurt Hannah. Would she be able to defend him every time someone brought it up?
Could she ever really get past it? Would it always be in the back of her mind, unable to be hidden now that everyone knew?
"Just forget it," Ophelia told Clay. "Count me out."
She stood up, and started to leave.
"Hey," he called after her. She turned back. "She told you she forgave you. At the end of your tape, that is, she forgave you...Do I get that kind of closure on mine?"
Ophelia bit her lip. "Yours is different, Clay."
"Is that a good thing?" he asked.
She smiled at him. Wordlessly, she turned and left. He was next. He would figure it out soon enough.
*****
Justin was at the pool house. Ophelia was shocked. She watched as Marcus greeted him, happily,
Montgomery had taken Ophelia with him to the pool house with him after baseball practice. Zach was there too, as was Bryce, Marcus, and Justin.
"Justin? Where have you been?" she asked him. "Jessica's been worried sick."
Justin brushed it off. He grabbed his bottle of beer and took a swing of it. "She fucking worries about everything. Don't let her get to you."
She shook her head in disapproval. Marcus told Jessica to her face that he had no clue where Justin was. What a liar.
Ophelia was sitting next to Montgomery on the couch, who was currently playing video games with Bryce. Was that all he ever wanted to do? Must be why he didn't do any of his homework.
She took a deep breath, and decided to sent a text to Jessica that simply said 'Justin is at the pool house'. She set her phone down after that, calming herself. She felt like a snitch.
She turned to look over where Zach was sitting. They made eye contact and she quickly turned away.
Zach was drinking also, regretting what happened at school.
Zach would admit he was angry at Ophelia. She bore her soul to him, and he gave her all the care he could.
They had slept together.
Just in the same bed, but it felt like a big deal to him. It felt like a bigger deal than if they had actually had sex. He recalled hiding in her room when she left quickly to go to Montgomery. He admired her room before leaving.
He took a hair tie with him. A scrunchie. It smelt like her and he couldn't resist, he didn't care if it was creepy.
He was excited to go to school. He didn't even change his clothes he just threw on a varsity jacket and went. He wanted to see her again, hug her again, touch her again. In all honesty he wanted her to fall asleep in his arms again.
But none of that happened. As soon as she saw him she told him that she wouldn't be speaking to him because Montgomery didn't want her to.
She chose Montgomery over him. Again. She chose the boy who hit her over him. Again. Zach had spent the next few days wondering what was wrong with him that Ophelia would rather stay that asshole than be with him.
He felt angry, insecure, and betrayed. So he tried not to speak to her at the meeting they all had. It caught Zach off guard that she was even there, so he didn't have something good to say to express how he felt. He wondered if the silent treatment would work on her.
But Zach let Courtney go too far, and Ophelia had noticed.
Fuck.
Fucking Courtney.
He realized that was his chance to step up and be a hero. But he didn't. Montgomery definitely wouldn't have let Courtney snap at Ophelia like that. But Zach did. He felt so ashamed.
Suddenly, someone came busting through the pool house door. Jessica. She looked tired, and furious.
She looked right at Justin. "You fucking asshole!"
Justin hung his head back. "Ah, what the fuck?"
Bryce quickly paused the video game.
She marched right up to him. "You've been avoiding me for days! Fucking days, Justin! Have you been here the whole time? You fucking have, haven't you? You just didn't want me to know."
"Jess, wait, it's not like that-"
"Then what the fuck is it like?"
Marcus stood up. "Hey, Jessica, come on. Settle down."
She pointed at him, and poked his chest, hard. "You fucking liar! You said you didn't know where he was!"
"Don't be fucking rude," Justin told her, "I told everyone not to say anything?"
She scoffed, still furious. "Of course not. Why the fuck should I know that my boyfriend in safe and not dead on the side of the road?"
Bryce stood up from the couch, watching thing unfold. Montgomery just ran a hand over his face, annoyed.
Jessica looked around the room. "You're all lying assholes! Fuck, even you Zach? You didn't even tell me?"
"You didn't ask me," Zach played off.
Ophelia stared at him and muttered, "Unbelievable."
Zach himself accused Jessica of not telling him where Justin was. Was that just an act? To make her believe he didn't know where he was?
He noticed Ophelia's upset gaze, and felt himself shrink down a bit.
"Exactly," Jessica agreed, "Ophelia's the only fucking honest one here. The rest of you would have let me think he was dead!"
Ophelia stilled, not expecting herself to be outed. Everyone looked at her. Upset and annoyed.
Montgomery looked at Ophelia. He cracked a smile. "O, you fucked up the whole day. This bitch never calms down."
Jessica heard. "Fuck you, Montgomery!"
Montgomery stood up, fast. "What the fuck did you say?"
Jessica didn't back down. "Fuck. You."
He tried to move, quickly. Ophelia didn't know what he planned on doing. Bryce caught him, pushing him back to where he was.
"Woah, there. Calm down, Chris Brown. You're not fighting a lady in my house. Here, we are gentlemen."
Ophelia almost scoffed at his words. But technically, everything he had done was outside his house. Maybe that was some weird rule he had.
Montgomery raised his hands in fake surrender. He looked to Jessica. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"My problem?" She asked, in disbelief. "What the fuck is your problem?" She turned to Justin and grabbed the beer bottle he was trying to drink. "And what the fuck is your problem?"
Zach stood up. "Come on, Jessica. This isn't the time."
Jessica turned to him and snapped, "Oh, go steal another letter, asshole!"
Ophelia's mouth dropped open at her so blatantly stating what he had done. Now, it was Marcus who was on her. "Jessica, get the fuck out of here."
"Not without Justin."
Justin stared at her for a full moment. "Fine." He got off his seat and grabbed her beer back from her. "You're fucking driving."
"Obviously."
As they left, everyone in the room watched them. Montgomery plopped back down next to Ophelia.
"Jesus fucking Christ" Bryce said, starting to laugh. "What the actual fuck was that all about?"
No one was willing to answer. Montgomery then said, "She's a crazy bitch man, what do you expect."
Ophelia decided she wanted to stand up for Jessica, the way she was never brave enough to stand up for Hannah.
"Hey," Ophelia said, standing up for her. "That's mean don't say that."
Montgomery chuckled. "It's fucking true."
Ophelia turned and again made eye contact with Zach, this time, she was clearly asking for help.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, come on man, she was just worried."
Montgomery stilled. He was facing away from Zach, but Zach knew he had made him angry.
"Ophelia, why don't you grab me another beer from the icebox?" Montgomery suddenly asked her.
Ophelia was confused, because he hadn't fully finished the one he had. But she got up anyway. When she turned away from Montgomery, she felt him slap her ass.
She turned around quickly.
Montgomery was laughing, as was Bryce. They unpaused their video game and continued playing. Marcus was just watching, carefully.
Zach became noticeably upset. Ophelia glanced at him and saw the anger in his eyes. He did that just so Zach would see.
She grabbed a beer and handed it to her boyfriend. He grabbed it, and then grabbed her whole arm, pulling her down to sit in his lap. She was surprised. As was Zach.
Bryce seemed amused by it. "What, are we playing teams now?"
Ophelia tried to move, but Montgomery held her there. "Monty..." she said, embarrassed.
She knew what he was doing. He was jealous Zach backed her up, and he wanted to prove she was his. But they all knew she was. Why was he doing this?
"Monty..." she said again. He didn't move.
"Montgomery, fucking let her go!" Zach said, loudly and all of a sudden.
They were all taken aback by it. Especially Ophelia. Ophelia was annoyed by Montgomery's actions but not angry. Definitely not angry enough to be shouting so furiously. Montgomery did let her go. He pushed her beside him on the couch. He stood up again, now facing Zach.
"Fucking excuse me?"
"Oh, jeez," Bryce said, upset he had to pause his game again.
"She doesn't want to sit in your lap" Zach told him. He was mumbling quietly. Ophelia could tell by his voice he was clenching his jaw.
"Hey..." she said calmly. She tried to grab Montgomery's hand but he loved it away.
Montgomery snapped at him, "What the fuck did you say?"
He yelled, loudly this time, "She doesn't want to sit in your lap you fucking pervert!"
"Dempsey!" Marcus yelled, upset at his attitude.
Montgomery went silent for a moment. Ophelia was looking between him and Zach, carefully. She felt guilting for stirring the pot between them. Upset at her boyfriend for grabbing her. Upset, yet relieved at Zach for calling him out on it.
Ophelia bit her lip. "Monty, lets just go-"
Montgomery suddenly jumped over the couch. He reached Zach, and punched him right in the jaw.
"God damnit, Monty!" Bryce yelled at him. He was on them in a second. He grabbed Montgomery by the back of his shirt and yanked him away.
Zach hadn't fallen, just stumbled. He grabbed her jaw where he was hit, massaging it.
"Montgomery De La Cruz!" Ophelia shouted. She stayed behind the couch, protecting herself from whatever was about to go down between the two boys.
Marcus grabbed Zach, forcing him away before he could retaliate.
"I'm fucking out of here!" Montgomery announced.
Bryce stopped him. "Woah, woah, woah. Come on, we're all brothers here. We can work this out."
"I'm not his fucking brother!" Zach shouted.
Montgomery tried to run to him again, but Bryce held him back.
"Ophelia, let's fucking go," Montgomery demanded.
Ophelia grabbed her stuff as quickly as she could.
"Stay," Zach told her. The room stood silent.
Montgomery laughed at him. "You fucking serious, dude? You think she'll stay here? For you? She doesn't even fucking like you, you're parents just happen to be friends."
Zach didn't listen to him, instead staring straight Ophelia. Montgomery was upset. He was violent. Zach didn't want to let her leave with him in that state.
"Stay," he told her. But it was more of a question. A proposal, a beg.
Chose me, Ophelia.
Stay here.
Choose me.
But Ophelia left with Montgomery.
Bryce whistled once they were gone, patting Zach on the shoulder.
"That was very embarrassing," he admitted.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Marcus asked him.
Zach squinted at him, angry. "You know, Marcus. You fucking know."
Zach grabbed his stuff too, tired of being in their presence.
Bryce watched him leave calling after to him, "Are you guys going to make up soon?"
The question was left unanswered as Zach left, and Bryce heard the door slam shut.
He turned to Marcus, awkwardly and asked, "You don't think they'll bring that shit to my party tomorrow night, right?"
*****
Zach was in Opehlia's room before she even got back.
"What the hell?" She asked, startled as she saw him sitting on her bed. "Are you trying give me a heart attack? What are you even doing here?"
"What took you so long to get here?" he asked, brushing off her question.
She looked guilty. "Zach, you need to get out of my house."
He stood from the bed, asking again, "What took you so long to get here? Was he yelling at you?"
"What?" she asked, "He wasn't yelling at me! I was calming him down."
"By fucking him?" Zach asked. He was as surprised as Ophelia when those words came from his mouth.
But it's what he had been thinking about. He got to her house, and was surprised she wasn't there. He was worried Montgomery was taking his anger out on her. He knew Ophelia would try to diffuse the situation as best as she could, and he painfully imagined her giving herself to him. That seemed to be all Montgomery wanted. It was all he talked about sometimes. Fucking her. He figured it hadn't happened since they got back together, but it was all he could think about while he sat on her bed.
All because he had spoken out.
He didn't mean to actually ask the question, but he prayed Ophelia wouldn't say yes.
She didn't. Instead, she slapped him.
"How fucking dare you!" She snapped at him. "Get the fuck out of my house!"
"No!" he told her, "I'm not fucking leaving. I'm not letting you leave either. How the fuck are you not terrified every time you're alone with him?"
"I know him-"
"I know him!" he told her, "I fucking know him! I know how he talks about you! He describes how you two fuck, Ophelia! All the time in the fucking locker room!"
She flinched back. He did? She knew he admitted it one time before, but how often?
"It hurts me to listen to that, Ophelia! I always knew he was a shitty guy and I always knew you could do better but after hearing the tape...how the fuck can you even bare to look at him? I can barely fucking look at him!"
"Zach, get out!" she screamed. She thanked god her parents were not home yet, but she knew Ophelia was in her room, probably hearing everything. She cringed at the thought of her having to hear this.
"He hit you!-"
Ophelia pushed him closer to the window. "Shut up! Honor is home!"
Zach paused. Lowly he said, "Fuck, I didn't know-"
"Do you know why he's so angry?" she asked him. "Why he's so violent? His dad beats him, Zach. His own father hits him, hurts him."
Zach had heard the rumors of his father, but hearing the confirmation was difficult to process.
"His mom barely talks to him. She cheats on his father all the time, leaving Montgomery alone with him so that she can go live with different men weeks at a time. Zach, I am all Montgomery has. I am the only one that loves him."
"That's sad, Ophelia, thats really fucking sad. But just because he has a fucked up life doesn't mean you have to stay with him. It doesn't mean he has to fuck up your life too."
"Leave."
Zach hung his head, defeated. He was angry with himself for making her so upset. He was about to leave, hop out the window the same way he had climbed in. But he stopped.
"No, Ophelia. Fuck that. You forgave him, I didn't."
"I don't care if you forgave him," Ophelia said, "Just leave us alone."
Zachary thought back to the pool house just an hour ago. She left with Montgomery. She wanted Montgomery. She chose Montgomery.
Zachary suddenly said, "You chose the wrong fucking guy."
She was confused by his statement, but did not have any time to react before he rushed towards her, grabbed her by the head, and kissed her.