Tristan props her head up as she watches Clay make dinner that night. She is tired but when offered her favorite sandwich, she couldn't refuse. The two don't say a lot as Clay swipes the toasted bread with mayo, and Tristan smiles at the boy when he finally hands her the finished meal. She takes a bite and sighs, "Thanks Clay."
He smiles at her as he begins to make his own, glancing back down at her for a second, "So how did your therapy go?"
Tristan shrugs, "Fine, I guess. We just talked about everything that's going on."
"Everything?" He eyes her.
The girl scoffs, "I'm not dumb, Clay. No, we just talked about how I'm feeling and shit."
He nods his head in silence, "How are you feeling?"
She can tell that he is being careful with his words, how everyone in her family treats her when she comes home from therapy. Tristan shrugs again, "Confused... scared..."
"Well," Clay sighs, sitting his sandwich on the table as he sits next to her, "That makes two of us."
Tristan forces a laugh as she looks back down at her plate. This is their life right now.
The back door opens and the two turn to see Justin walk in, "Where are the folks?"
"Mom's at work," Clay answers, wiping his mouth with his hand, "and Dad's at the Crestmont, pretending that life isn't happening."
"Cool." Justin's eyes wonder around the room before he sits down in front of the two, "So, Jess... Jess told me you spoke to her."
Tristan's eyes flick to Clay. What would he want to talk to Jess for? Clay looks like he is on edge, "Shit... I'm sorry. I was just trying to help. I thought that maybe if she knew what was going on with you, maybe she'd understand-"
"You're right," Justin bites the inside of his cheek, "I couldn't tell her, so I'm glad you did."
"Okay."
Justin tries to ignore the stiffness in the air and grabs half of Tristan's sandwich and takes a bite. The girl gives him a dirty look as he glances back to Clay, "So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know." Clay starts, interrupted by the pounding on their front door. Tristan's body fills with anxiety as the three of them look back at another. The pounding continues. Clay gets up from his seat and starts for the door. Justin gets up shortly after and motions for his sister to follow alongside him.
"Step aside or you're gonna be charged with obstruction." A booming voice makes Tristan freeze as her and Justin reach the front door. The sheriff and officers move into their house and the girl watches as they all start digging through their stuff.
"Fuck," Justin grabs ahold of his sister as he shouts at Clay, "Don't say anything."
A firm hand grabs ahold of Tristan and pulls her and Justin apart. Tristan's eyes meet an officer's as the woman turns her around, "Feet apart and lock your fingers behind your back."
Tristan's heart beats against her chest as she feels the officer's hand patting down her body. Her eyes go to Justin as another cop does the same to him, the alarm on his face not leaving as he watches the sheriff pull Clay's phone from his pocket. Tristan squirms as the officer slides her hand down her legs.
"Relax," The woman says, causing more fear to pierce through Tristan's body. The girl squeezes her eyes shut as the officer continues to search her body, not breathing until the woman backs away from her, "She's clean."
The few cops surrounding them nod and disperse around the house. Justin grabs the girl towards him and wraps an arm around her shoulder, "Are you okay?"
Tristan nods slowly as her eyes watch a pair of cops going up the stairs. She gulps, "What are they looking for?"
He shakes his head as the two overlook the sheriff and Clay, "They took his phone."
Tristan gasps and quickly grabs her phone and dials in Lainie Jensen's number, her breath shortening every ring. The woman picks up and the girl releases a breath, "The cops are here. They have a warrant."
"What?" The terror in her voice sends a chill down Tristan's spine. "I'm on my way right now. Do not let Clay say anything to them, you understand?"
"Yeah, we won't." The line goes dead and Tristan glances back to Clay again.
"Tristan Foley," A deep voice barks, making the girl jump. Sheriff Diaz strides towards her and holds up a laptop, "Is this yours?"
Tristan nervously nods her head. The man quickly hands it over to an officer and the police continue their search.
By the time Lainie Jensen arrives home, the police have started to leave and she quickly enters her house in search for her kids. "Clay!"
"Mom," The boy looks over and relief fills his face. She grabs ahold of him tightly and releases a breath. There are only a few cops still in their house and Lainie looks back to her son, "Are you okay? Where are the other two?"
"In the kitchen." The boy says and the woman quickly leaves him to make sure the other teenagers are okay. Clay stands in the middle of his house as the last of the cops begin to leave. Sheriff Diaz stops in front of him before exiting, "We'll be talking real soon, Clay Jensen."
Once Matt Jensen returns home, the five sit at the kitchen table. Lainie is the first to speak, "What did they want? What did they take?"
"They took all three of our laptops. Clay's backpack-"
"And my phone." Clay cuts in.
Lainie looks towards her son, "And what, if anything, will they find on your phone?"
Clay doesn't respond for a moment. He sighs, "A text... to Bryce."
"Saying?"
"Saying... I want to kill him." Clay squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to look at the horror on his family's faces. "It was after Homecoming and everything, and I came home and I was sitting here and I was mad, that's all. It was just words. I deleted them, but..."
Lainie stutters as she tries to get her thoughts into order, "I will talk to Dennis in the morning, and we will all sit down with him after school. And you talk to no one about those texts. Or anything to do with the case. None of you."
"Clay," Matt speaks up. "Did Bryce do something to you? Did he threaten you? Did he say something to you on the field that night?"
"No."
"Then why the text?"
Tristan walks to her locker in the morning, seeing both Caroline and Charlie standing next to it. Caroline shuts her locker and she meets Tristan's eyes. She frowns, "Tris, are you okay? You don't look good."
"Thanks." Tristan says flatly, putting her combination in and swinging the metal door open.
"You know I didn't mean it like that."
"I know," Tristan sighs, turning to look at her two friends, "I had a family thing last night."
"Is everything okay?" Charlie pipes up, pulling his backpack straps tighter.
The girl's gaze falls onto the floor and she shrugs, "I don't know."
"Tris, if there's anything we can do to help-"
"No, it's fine." Tristan looks back up and smiles at her best friend. She doesn't like keeping things from her, "I can't really talk about it... legally."
"Hey!" A voice interrupts them and when the three look over, they see Jessica Davis stopping in front of them. She looks at Tristan, "Have you seen Justin?"
"It's not my job to keep up with him." Tristan sneers, slamming her locker closed and looking the girl in the eye.
Jessica rolls her eyes and scoffs, grabbing the girl's wrist and looking towards her friends, "Will you excuse us?"
Jessica pulls Tristan into an empty class room and folds her arms, "What the hell is your problem?"
"My problem?" Tristan laughs.
"Tristan, I've been trying to apologize to you for a week now. Why are you avoiding me?"
Tristan scoffs, "Maybe I don't want your apology."
"Great job, ladies!" Coach Loftin claps as the cheerleaders come down from their pyramid. "The halftime show is going to be the best one yet if you all have that kind of energy out there!"
The girls all look at each other proudly, all clad in their uniforms.
"Now you girls take it easy today, I don't want anyone hurt before the game. See you at six sharp tonight!"
Tristan grabs her water bottle from the bleachers and takes a seat on the floor as she begins to untie her cheer shoes. She is nervous about tonight, to say the least, and seeing her other teammates excited makes her even more anxious to letting them down.
"Tris?"
The girl looks up and sees Jessica Davis walking her way. Tristan tries to hide her distain and forces a smile towards the oncoming girl, "Hey."
"I need to tell you about something."
Tristan's stomach churns, "Okay?"
Jessica sits on the bleacher behind her and she glances around the gymnasium, "So HO is going to protest the Homecoming game tonight."
Tristan shrugs expectantly. Jessica continues, "We want to show everyone that we are done being silent victims. Jock culture needs to end at our school and that they know they cannot mess with us. I want you to join us. We're going to paint ourselves with their handprints and take off our-"
"No." Tristan's breath gets lost in her throat as she looks back to the girl.
"What?"
"No," Tristan shakes her head, "Why the hell would I do that?"
"It's showing empowerment."
"It sounds like a fucking mess."
Jessica scoff as she glares at Tristan, "Why are you so against speaking out against rapists?"
"Because I don't want people knowing my business." She says back.
Jessica tilts her head, "Your business was posted online last year by the same guy that you're living with now."
Tristan stands up quickly and looks down at the girl, "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about."
Jessica looks at the girl cockily and stands up as well, "You're scared."
"Yeah, I am." Tristan deadpans, "I had to live with the guy who raped me for two years. I had to look my brother in the eye everyday and pretend that nothing was happening. I am terrified of Bryce Walker... and going out there and making a scene isn't going to change that."
"Did you know that they're considering letting Bryce come back to Liberty next semester?" Jessica asks.
Tristan's face falls, "What?"
"Join me and Hands-Off and we can stand up to Bryce and all the jocks that support him. People like him need to be stopped, Tris. We can be the change."
Tristan's brows furrow together and her eyes harden, "No, and you'd be a real fucking prick if you actually do this tonight. It's not going to do what you think it is."
Without another look, Tristan leaves Jessica in the gymnasium and heads to class.