"You're dating Zach?"
Ophelia shrunk back.
Should she not have told him? No, it was the right thing to do. He should know. Especially if he's spent all this time thinking they would end up back together. He needs to know she's moved on.
Ophelia didn't answer him. She didn't want to respond to his yelling, but that only infuriated him more.
Montgomery became louder. "What the fuck are you talking about? Zach fucking Dempsey?"
She noticed the eyes his loud voice had drawn. She shrank even more into her seat. His loudness intimidating her.
"Yes," she whispered, simply.
"That fucking faggott!" he screamed. One of his own best friends. How could he do that to him?
Ophelia's eyes widened at his loud and offensive words.
"Calm down," she whispered. More people looked over, offended and angry at his words choice.
"Calm down?" Montgomery scoffed. "You're out here making it seem like we have a chance to be together? All while you're fucking my friend?!"
Had she really led him on so badly? Without even realizing?
"We haven't even done anything," she said quickly. Although, she doubted that small detail even mattered at a time like this.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?!"
Ophelia put her hand back on top of his. "Stop, you're causing a scene," she whispered, scared of the lingering looks.
Montgomery tore his hand away from her. The iced coffee he bought for her sat in front of her. He slapped it, sending it flying. It created a puddle on the floor, as well as the drips reaching another table.
Gasps erupted through the restaurant.
"Fuck you, Ophelia! You're a fucking tease!"
It didn't seem like he had been in anger management for weeks. It felt like he hadn't gone at all.
"Stop it!" she snapped at him. She cowered into her chair as he stared down from above her.
"How fucking long were we together, huh? Two fucking years! All for you to hop in bed weeks after our breakup?"
Ophelia winced at his words. She sounded so terrible when he said it like that. And it was all true.
An employee had walked up to them. "I'm going to have to ask you two to leave," the woman said, extremely nervously.
When Montgomery turned away from Ophelia to look at the woman, she took it as her chance to scramble to her feet. She clutched her purse close to her.
"W-We'll go," Ophelia told her. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry to her?" Montgomery scoffed, "But not fucking sorry to me? Are you fucking kidding me, O?"
He shoved the chair he had previously been sitting on to the floor.
This was his first outburst he had since starting the program, but his anger was too intense to remember anything he had learned.
"Were you just planning on fucking leading me on forever?" Montgomery accused. "You use me when you fucking want to but throw me out when you meet a new boy? Treat me like fucking loose change?"
"Both of you need to go now!" The worker demanded. "And neither of you can come back!"
Montgomery scoffed. "You think I give a fuck?" he shouted in the worker's face.
"Stop it!" Ophelia pleaded. She hated the fact that she was causing so much trouble for so many people. She looked to the worker, "We'll leave."
The worker looked scared. She slowly started inching towards the front counter, and Ophelia knew she was probably going to call the police. Ophelia wanted to get out of there before that happened.
Montgomery spat on the ground just in front of the worker. She stepped back, gasping.
"Monty-"
"You know what, fuck you, Ophelia. And fuck Dempsey. You better hope I'm in a better fucking mood next time I see him," Montgomery threatened.
"That's it, I'm calling the cops!" The worker hurried to their phone on the counter.
"Call the cops!" Montgomery yelled. He picked the chair up off the ground, and suddenly threw it as hard as he could against the wall. People inside the shop screamed.
Montgomery then picked up another one, and threw it also. "Call the fucking cops and see if I give a fuck!"
Ophelia stumbled back so quickly she almost fell. She wasn't going to try to save him from getting in trouble this time. She didn't care if the cops came for him, she was getting out.
Ophelia found the door, and ran out, running all the way to her car. She hit the gas and sped the entire way home, as thought every inch of the way Montgomery was still right behind her.
*****
"Hey, Bryce, come here."
Bryce was confused as Montgomery pulled him to the side in the locker room. He pulled him to a further back, more secluded corner.
Bryce looked around, confused. He wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that Justin Foley showed up at lunch that day. "What's up?"
Montgomery was nervous. He peeked around the corner a few times to make sure everyone was well or of heading range. "Listen, Ophelia told me someone a few hours ago, at lunch."
Bryce chuckled, now assuming Montgomery was just going to gossip. "God, how that girl likes to talk. What, did she say she'll fuck you on the down low or something? Your nagging finally get to her?"
Montgomery didn't laugh, which made Bryce even more worried.
Bryce asked, "What is it, for real?"
Montgomery looked around one more time to make sure no one else was listening. "Ophelia told me that Hannah made these, like, tapes before she died. Tapes where she talked about all the shit that happened to her. Shit that me and you both did too."
Bryce swooped around, making sure for himself no one would hear. The last thing he expected to come out of Montgomery's mouth was new about those fucking cassette tapes. "Fuck. She told you about them?"
Montgomery scoffed, suddenly betrayed that Bryce seemed to already know what he was talking about. "You mean you fucking knew about them?"
Bryce ran a hand through his hair, nervous. "I knew of them. I know who's on them. I haven't listened to them. They've been passed around, and I was supposed to get them after Clay. But of course Clay heard them and went fucking nuts."
"So you didn't hear them yourself?" Montgomery asked. "Because Ophelia told me the shit on them, and it's fucked."
"You don't have to worry about it," Bryce told him. "I know you're worried about me and shit, but you're not on them."
Montgomery wondered how much Bryce really knew about the tapes if he didn't know Montgomery was on them.
"Yes, I am," he said, "I-I don't have a tape, but she talks about me. In Ophelia's."
Bryce wondered what she talked about for Montgomery to get this worried. He asked, "What does she say about you? You didn't do shit to Hannah. Not anything more than every guy at this school did."
Montgomery looked away. Should he tell him now? Or wait and hope it doesn't come out?
Bryce pushed, "Or did you do something?"
Montgomery looked back at him and said, "Look, some shit went down that I didn't tell you about."
Bryce let out a breath. "Jesus fuck, Monty. What did you fucking do?"
"You remember that night, Rep Night? And how Hannah came back and smoked with us and shit afterwards?"
"Yeah, but she was already high off her ass, right?" Bryce vaguely recalled it happening.
Montgomery should've told him sooner. "She wasn't high. I used some of those pills on her. The ones you gave me."
Bryce chocked on his own saliva. His eyes widened, and he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on.
"Are you fucking serious? Monty, what the fuck?"
Montgomery felt stressed. "Look man, Hannah made Ophelia call the cops on me. I was fucking pissed. I gave her some shit to knock her out so that I could take pictures or something to blackmail her into staying away."
Bryce was confused. "What kind of pictures?"
Montgomery hesitated. "Nothing crazy. Just Hannah topless."
That wasn't crazy to him?
Bryce groaned. "Fucking hell! What the fuck? I have to deal with this shit too now? And how the fuck did the cops get involved, Monty? The fuck did you do?"
Montgomery looked away from him. He told him, honestly, "I can't fucking remember. It was after the party at my house. I black out or some shit. I kind of remember her locking herself in the bathroom but that's it."
Bryce scoffed, unconvinced. "That's fucking it? You think I'm fucking stupid?"
Montgomery clenched his fists at his friend's tone. "Well that's all I fucking remember. But Alex texted me the next morning saying Hannah and Ophelia called his dad and told him I fucking attacked her."
"Well, I fucking believe her."
"Fuck you, man," Montgomery told him. "I'm telling you this because Ophelia said it was brought up during her last deposition. They had the call record or some shit."
Bryce wiped his face. He brought Montgomery further into the locker room, and now whispered. "A photo of Hannah topless could fuck things up, Monty."
Montgomery said, "That shit doesn't matter. Thats not why I told you. Listen, Ophelia told me they had a photo of one of our polaroids." Bryce froze. "The one where Hannah was laying on my lap. You can't fucking tell it's me, but-but I don't even know how the fuck they got it."
"A fucking Polaroid?" Bryce hissed, "Why the fuck is this the first you're telling me of this?"
Montgomery was nervous. "I thought I had it handled. I thought the case was fucking over."
Bryce snarled, "How the fuck did they get one?"
"I don't know!"
"Dammit!" Bryce hit the wall next to him. "Listen to me, we have to go to the club house and make sure the other photo of Hannah is gone, okay?"
"We're gonna take the picture out?" Montgomery asked. "That's the the number one rule, no photo leaves the box."
"One already left the fucking box!" Bryce snapped. "We take out the photo of Hannah and then we leave the rest, okay?"
Montgomery agreed. "Alright."
"Fucking dammit, Monty. What else did you do that you didn't want to fucking share with me?"
Montgomery scoffed. "I didn't fucking rape anyone if that's what you're asking."
Bryce glared at him. "The photos you took of Hannah? The fucking child pornography you have of a dead girl? Is that gone?"
"Completely," he told him.
Bryce let out a long breath, and felt himself calming down. He leaned against the wall again.
"Okay," Bryce said, "Shit. I'm sorry for getting so angry. Listen, we're in this together, alright? I have your back, brother."
Montgomery nodded, thankful. "Thanks, brother."
They bumped fists.
Bryce asked him, "Is there fucking anything else you need to tell me? We're on the same team. I gave you my fucking lawyer. If you did anything else, tell me now."
Montgomery thought about what he had done. The threats. The packages he's dropped off. Montgomery chose not to tell he about what he had done, because he didn't want Bryce to keep him from doing what he knew he needed to still do.
"That's it, man."
Bryce sighed. "Okay. Don't fucking talk to anyone else about this, okay?"
Montgomery nodded. "Of course."
"And stop fucking with Ophelia," Bryce told him. Montgomery scoffed. Bryce continued, "Fucking listen to me. Jesus, Monty. She knows shit that could get you fucking arrested. How do you know she won't turn you in?"
"She won't" Montgomery assured him. "She wouldn't do that to me."
Bryce almost chuckled. "She wouldn't do that to a guy that fucking attacked her? Made her have to call the fucking police?"
Montgomery looked to the floor. Then back to him. "No. She wouldn't."
Bryce sighed again. He nodded, happy, like he just came up with a new strategy. "You're right. She probably won't. Because she's a good person. And we can fucking use that to our advantage."
*****
"Estella?"
Ophelia was sitting in the library for her study hall. She expected to endure it alone, but was shocked as her ex-boyfriend's sister came and took a seat next to her.
Estella was a timid girl, who was much like Ophelia. The only difference was Ophelia was timid by nature, and Estella was forced into her quiet persona by years of shouting and emotional abuse at home.
Estella was two years younger than Ophelia, only a freshmen.
Ophelia wondered why shy, timid Estella came up to her in the library. Ophelia liked Estella. They had never done many things together since Montgomery always wanted to stay away from his house, and Estella always stayed home. But the times she went over, or the times they passed each other at school they always held pleasant conversation.
"Hi, Ophelia," Estella greeted. "How have you been?"
Ophelia hesitated. "Um, alright." Except she was anything but alright due to the fact her boyfriend just had to testify about sleeping with her former best friend.
"You're dating Zach now, right?" Estella asked her. She seemed nervous. "I've, um, seen you two around school. And I think I heard Monty say something about it."
Ophelia felt embarrassed. Was Estella angry at her for dating someone new? "Yeah. Me and Zach are together."
Estella smiled warmly. "He seems nice. I mean, I'm glad he seems like he's nice to you."
Ophelia wasn't sure what to say. "Thanks."
This wasn't weird for her to talk about?
Estella cleared her throat. "Hey, I'm sorry about all the shit that's happening right now. How everyone's talking about Zach and Hannah."
Ophelia didn't want to acknowledge it. "Are they?"
Estella quickly told her, "Not really just a few people."
Ophelia appreciated the lie.
"Look, I know I'm just a stupid freshmen, and you probably don't really want to be seen hanging out with me-"
"Hey, that's not true," Ophelia told her quickly. "I know we haven't talked in a while but..." Estella knew why.
"Monty's really scared about court," Estella told her. Ophelia listened carefully. She wondered if Estella knew Montgomery was previously keeping the fact that he was testifying a secret. "He won't admit it, but I can tell. And he should be because court's scary. If you...If you want someone to go with you and sit in, someone on your side, I can go with you."
Ophelia was surprised. "You will?"
Estella just said, "I know you wouldn't do anything wrong, Ophelia. Monty's basically told me what happened. That girl was just upset you wanted to spend more time with my brother than with her."
That's not what happened. But Ophelia let her think it was. For now.
"I really appreciate," she made sure to tell her. "But it's okay. I don't really want a lot of people there. It'd just make me more nervous."
Estella nodded. "I get it. I'm just letting you know."
Ophelia smiled, appreciatively. "Can you tell your mom I said hi?" She wondered if her mother ever thought of her. She found herself thinking of Montgomery's parents every now and then, but would imagine them hating her. After all, she broke their sons heart.
"Of course," Estella laughed, "My mom told me to tell you the same thing."
"You're moms home?" Ophelia asked, glad.
Estella nodded, like she was proud. "She hasn't left at all this month."
"That's amazing."
Estella continued, "She's started a rehab program. I'm the city. The same place Monty goes."
Ophelia asked, surprised, "For his anger management?"
"Yeah."
Again, Ophelia wondered if Estella knew her brother was keeping the fact he went a secret. Maybe Estella just didn't care. But Ophelia was also surprised to find out Montgomery was even still going.
Montgomery was still in anger management?
It wasn't fucking working.
"I'll see you around then, Ophelia," Estella said, standing up.
"Wait," Ophelia told her. "You can sit if you want. Just because...." She hesitated. She chose a new direction. "It doesn't have to be weird with us."
Estella sat down. She smiled. "Yeah, it doesn't."
It was. It always would be. She looked too much like her brother to not be.
Yet, she was so different.
Emotional abuse caused a timid woman, while physical abuse created a violent man.
Ophelia wondered, would therapy help Montgomery? Would anger management help him? Or would the anger caused by his father cause him to do something that would ruin his life forever?
*****
She didn't even see him until after school. Zach arrived after lunch, but she didn't pass him once. It wasn't uncommon to not catch him before sixth or seventh, because her classes were in different buildings. But she thought he would've tried.
She went through hell that day. She practically ran to the bathroom after each class, waiting in there as long as she could so she didn't have to sit in a classroom, listening to people chatter about Zach and Hannah together while they waited for the teacher to begin.
She kept telling herself it didn't matter. It was in the past and it has nothing to do with their relationship.
But if it had nothing to do with their relationship why was it ruining it now? Was it just her? Was this whole thing all in Ophelia's head? Could she actually be so dramatic?
She was used to freaking herself out.
When she was younger, in elementary school, she threw up all the time. She would stress herself to the point of vomiting when mean girls would talk about her. In middle school, when she started developing and apparently became prettier, the bullying stopped, and so did the stress, and so did the nausea.
But it came back that day. She threw up twice.
She would worry she was pregnant, but knew it was impossible. Having sex with Zach was the only time she had sex since Hannah's tapes came out, and Zach didn't even get close to finishing.
She wished she was still living the kind of life where it was possible to have a pregnancy scare.
When she saw his car after school, she felt the nausea again. She swallowed it.
She walked up to his car. He was leaning against it. He was waiting for her.
"Hey," he greeted her.
She gulped. "Hi."
Zach wiped his face. "O, I'm so fucking sorry. I really didn't know all that shit was going to come out today."
Ophelia only shrugged. "But you thought it might."
"I had no idea how much they knew," he told her. "Fucking trust me. They were bringing up stuff I thought only me and Hannah knew."
Ophelia just told him, "Maybe you weren't as careful as you thought."
Zach frowned. "Are you mad?"
Ophelia looked away from him. "No."
"You are."
"I'm not mad, Zach," Ophelia snapped. She paused. "I'm a little mad. But I'm more embarrassed than anything."
Zach quickly said, "There's nothing for you to be embarrassed about."
Ophelia took a deep breath and asked, "Then why has it seemed like people have been laughing at me all day?"
Zach looked down, ashamed. "Come on, let me take you home. We'll talk."
Ophelia said, "No, you can go to your practice first. It's fine."
"Fuck that," he said, "I'm not up to play with those guys today."
Ophelia wondered what happened, but decided to lodge the question in the back of her mind for now and just ask later.
Ophelia was about to walk around Zach car to the passenger seat, when Clay suddenly stalked up on them.
"What the fuck did you do?"
They both jumped, surprised by the loud tone interrupting their somber conversation.
Clay advanced on Zach further. "Why-Why would you say all of that? You just made everything worse for her!"
Zach looked at Ophelia. He felt guilty of speaking of Hannah in front of her now more than ever.
"I didn't mean to," Zach told Clay, honestly. Ophelia watched him carefully. "Clay, I swear to God, it's not a lie. I'm sorry."
"So how come no one knew about it?" Clay demanded. He pointed to Ophelia. "You were one of her best fucking friends did you know about it?"
Ophelia couldn't find her voice. She just shook her head.
"You were out of town last summer," Zach tried to say.
Clay countered with, "It wasn't on your tape."
Zach wished Ophelia would get in the car. She could sit in there and not have to listen to this. Ophelia wished she would just go sit in the car too, and pretend to be oblivious. But her feet wanted her to stay, apparently, because they stayed still, not listening to her.
Zach asked, "She put everything on your tape?"
It was stupid, Ophelia thought. Nothing could have been left out bigger than a whole relationship. Hannah dating Zach after the note incident? How was heartbreak not worse than him stealing fucking notes?
Clay glared at Zach, his anger making his chest rise and fall countless times. Ophelia had never seen him this angry.
"You didn't deserve her!" Clay snapped.
Zach sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Fuck you," Clay snarled. "You just-just got to hell."
Zach hesitated. "Clay, come on, man-"
"Get the fuck out of here!" Clay yelled. He looked at Ophelia. "You too! Fucking both of you! Neither of you gave an actual fuck about her!"
Zach was angry now. Clay has no idea what he was fucking talking about.
Zach turned to Ophelia. "Let's go."
Ophelia stayed still. "You know?"
Zach blinked, confused.
"You know you didn't deserve her? You're sorry about it?"
Zach immediately regretted his words.
"I-"
"Why did things end with you?" Ophelia asked. "Was it because you were embarrassed or her? Or you thought she was too good for you?"
Zach moved around the car and opened the door for her. He didn't want to have this conversation in front of Clay.
Ophelia got the hint. She sat down, and Zach peeled out of the parking lot.
He parked in a Walmart parking lot a few miles away. I guess he thought she wouldn't run off there.
"Ophelia, you were with Montgomery at the time-"
Ophelia said, "That doesn't change the fact that I saw you almost every day that summer and you still didn't say anything-"
"No," he interrupted, "You were literally with Montgomery when me and Hannah ended things. Montgomery, and Bryce, and Scott, and Justin. It was all of us. Back when we went to go see Sudden Descent."
Ophelia thought back to the time. "I remember Montgomery was mean to her. He was mad at her." She looked at Zach. "You didn't say anything to defend her."
"Neither did you."
Ophelia scoffed. "I thought she was done with me. I left a note in her compliments bag asking her to hang out and she never responded. But apparently someone threw out the note before she could ever read it."
Zach felt the blame in her voice.
"You think I don't feel terrible about that?" Zach asked. "You think it doesn't fucking haunt me knowing that I read you fucking admitting your boyfriend was abusive and I didn't even realize it. I just fucking threw it away."
Ophelia thought back to the Sudden Descent movie. And what words were said.
"It haunts me too."
*****
Montgomery was holding Ophelia's hand as the group made their way up to the ticket booth. It was them, Zach, Scott, Justin, and Bryce. They were going to see Sudden Descent. Ophelia had no idea what it was about, either aliens or the desert. Either way, she was happy to spend time with Montgomery and his friends.
As they approached the ticket booth, Ophelia hesitated. Hannah was at the booth. She had no idea. She thought she left for the summer. The boys went so often, and they never mentioned seeing her.
Ophelia pulled Montgomery's hand. He turned to her, "What's up?"
"I don't want to see Hannah," Ophelia explained, gesturing towards the booth.
Montgomery rolled his eyes. "What the fuck is she gonna do?"
"It'll be awkward," Ophelia tried.
Montgomery brushed her off. "You'll be fine. She's fucking working. If she bitches at you or anything we'll just get her fired."
Ophelia sighed, and let Montgomery drag her forward.
When they reached the booth, Hannah had her eyes kept on Zach as Bryce began buying the tickets. But when she saw Ophelia, her gaze turned to her, and then down to the their entangled hands.
Hannah recalled the evil things his hands could do.
Her eyes flashed back towards Ophelia. "Hey."
Ophelia tried to send a smile, forcing it through her nervousness. "Hey-"
Montgomery leaned his free arm against the glass of the ticket booth, leaning in close. "Hey, are you still wearing that lacy, black underwear?" he asked, interrupting Ophelia. In his mind, he was being a good boyfriend by taking the girl's attention off Ophelia, like Ophelia had told him she wanted.
Scott laughed. "Yeah, come on, show us."
Montgomery pulled his hand away from Ophelia to lift his shirt, exposing his chest and bare nipples, as though he was flashing her. "Oh. Miles and miles of skin," he said, dramatically. Scott and Justin laughed as he pressed himself against the glass.
Ophelia saw Hannah's humiliation. She grabbed Montgomery by the back of his shirt. "Cut it out."
"Alright, ladies, enough," Bryce told Montgomery, though he was chuckling.
"What? It makes me feel free," Montgomery laughed, pushing himself off the glass.
Suddenly, Montgomery grabbed Ophelia's ass, in front everyone, and squeezed it. "Why don't you get some of that lacy, black underwear?" Montgomery spoke with a laugh.
Ophelia pushed his hand off of her, but didn't say anything. She didn't look back at Hannah, either.
Ophelia hadn't told Montgomery that Hannah saw him hit her at Winter Ball. He didn't know that she could ruin their lives if she told the secret and anyone believed her.
Ophelia didn't want to yell at her boyfriend for touching her inappropriately, even though she had every right to. First, she didn't want to embarrass him. Second, she didn't want Hannah to see them fight. It would just add on to what she already knew.
Zach was the one who spoke up. "Dude, leave your girlfriend alone. Or she's gonna find someone else to wear that lace for."
Justin let out a loud laugh. "Yeah, maybe me."
Montgomery slapped his friend on the back of the head, playfully. He joked, "If she wants a fucking STD maybe. Who knows where the fuck you've been?"
"Alright, lets get moving," Bryce told them, strictly, but his smile showed he enjoyed them teasing each other. "Or we won't have time to get popcorn like your fatasses wanted." He winked at Hannah as he slid her the money. "Keep the change, sweetheart."
Montgomery slapped her ass one more time as they headed in. "Let's go."
The movie wasn't interesting to Ophelia. It was an alien movie like she suspected. But she was happy to be there, sitting with Montgomery and spending time with him. She liked watching his reactions during movies.
At the funny scenes, he would look over at her and smile, making sure she thought it was funny too. She didn't think it was funny most of the time, but she smiled because he did. Because she loved his smile.
They all sat in one row. It was Bryce, then Justin, then Zach, then Ophelia, then Montgomery, and then Scott. The two of them were in the middle, so Ophelia didn't even imagine the two of them would kiss. But at the end of the movie, when the hero finally got the girl and kissed her passionately as they returned back to Earth, Montgomery reached over and kissed Ophelia just as passionately.
Bryce and Justin whooped, cheering as they kissed. Zach shifted uncomfortably, trying not to be disrespectful by watching.
Scott, who was sitting next to Montgomery, told him, "You better calm down. If I feel any liquids hit me I'm beating everyone's ass."
The two pulled away, laughing. Montgomery's antics from before the movie erased from her mind. As they left the theater, they walked out again hand in hand. Ophelia didn't even see Hannah as they left.
But Zach did.
"Shit. I forgot my wallet guys," Zach told them, "I'll meet you out there.
Bryce just said, "Alright."
If Ophelia hadn't been so focused on walking with Montgomery, who now put his arm over her shoulder, she would've looked back and caught Zach approach Hannah.
Zach greeted her shyly, knowing full well she was angry with him. "Hey."
She looked up, and her face told him she was upset.
He tried to say, "Sorry about earlier. I didn't want them to make fun of you or anything."
Hannah wasn't buying it. "They made fun of me anyway."
What Zach wasn't saying was that they didn't want them making fun of him.
"Right," Zach apologized, "I'm sorry about that."
"It would've been nice for you to at least tell them to stop," Hannah said. "So Bryce Walker didn't have to be the one to come to my defense."
"I'm sorry," he said again. "I got nervous. That was all."
Hannah scoffed. "You weren't too nervous to stick up for Ophelia."
Hannah noticed the way Zach had been looking at her, and the way he was quick to come to her defense. He would never do that for Hannah, she knew that.
Zach cleared his throat, nervous again. "Can I, uh, make it up to you sometime?"
Hannah shook her head. "You were right before. Maybe it's best if we just keep this thing between us. You know if we end it now, then it stays good. Not complicated."
Maybe he would say no, Hannah thought to herself. He would fight to stay with her, and realize what a jerk he had been earlier. Maybe if he just said no, Hannah would find someone that would help her fix herself, and help her get better.
Instead he just said, "Yeah. Um, yeah, no, that sounds good."
Hannah looked down. "Okay. Cool."
Zach didn't know what else to say. So he just left. Without looking back.
*****
Zach explained their relationship to Ophelia the best he could. They spend almost an hour in they parking lot.
"I did really care for her," Zach admitted. "But I didn't love her. I think-I think I could've. But I didn't have the chance to."
Ophelia sat in Zach's car, listening intensely.
"And yes, we mostly just had sex. Because that's what she wanted, someone to have sex with. And honestly, I didn't mind it."
Ophelia looked away, out the window, trying not to picture it happening. She knew she was being dramatic. Montgomery would say shit to Zach all the time about him and Ophelia being together that he must have felt what she felt now almost every day.
"How can you have sex with someone and not fall in love?" she asked him. Maybe it was just her immaturity talking. Montgomery spoke about the girls he had been with before, and he didn't speak kindly of them. She didn't think he cared about them at all. But she thought it would be different for Zach. She thought he was more like her, unable to sleep with someone you didn't have feelings for.
"I liked her," Zach said, "That's why I said yes when she asked to sleep with me. I didn't want to just 'hit it and quit it'. I saw myself having a relationship with her. And I did, for a while."
Ophelia asked, "If you could go back and redo things, would you have stayed with her?"
Zach sighed. "I think I would've changed how things ended. But I don't know. I wouldn't want to be with her if it meant me and you wouldn't have ended up together."
Was that cruel for Zach to say? That he didn't care about Hannah's heartbreak because it led to him and Ophelia's relationship?
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Ophelia processed everything Zach explained to her. From when he met Hannah, when they connected, when they hooked up, and when they broke up.
There was on question she didn't dare ask, but was driving her crazy.
"Was she prettier than me? Is that why it was easier for you to be with her?"
But instead of asking, she just sat there, festering in her own insecurities.
Zach cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to do this, but I have to go meet Alex in about twenty minutes."
Ophelia sat up straighter, composing herself. "Yeah, I understand."
Zach hesitated. "But, can I ask you some questions now?"
She looked over, confused.
"About Montgomery?"
"Oh...yeah, sure."
Zach had a few questions he had wanted to ask for some time, but never felt it was appropriate. This was as appropriate as it was going to get.
"How did you, um, do it your first time? Or where, I guess?" He hoped it wasn't too intrusive, seeing as she asked him the same thing already.
Ophelia bit her lip, thinking back to it.
"It was freshmen year. During winter break. He, um, took me down to the beach. It was pretty empty then, because it was winter. But it was warm that day, and it was really nice." Ophelia was embarrassed. "I don't think either of us planned on it happening there. It just happened."
"Wait," Zach said, "Like, on the beach?"
Ophelia shifted uncomfortably. "At the beach, yeah."
Zach noticed her specific words.
"Wait...."
Ophelia was more than embarrassed now.
"In the water?"
"It wasn't like we were in the middle of the ocean," she said, quickly. "There was this cave, and it filled up when the tide came in. It was cute. It was-It was romantic. To me it was."
"Hey, hey, hey," Zach told her. "I wasn't trying to embarrass you, I just wanted to know."
Ophelia nodded. But she was already embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "It wasn't my business."
"It's fine," Ophelia told him. "I guess I never realized I would have to tell someone else that story. It sounds bad out loud."
Zach realized Ophelia meant she didn't think she would be having another boyfriend.
He asked, "Did you...finish?"
Ophelia was shocked. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," he said, "I don't think Hannah finished our first time. I just-I wanted to know if that was normal." Or if he was just bad at it.
Ophelia reached over and grabbed his hand. "No, I didn't. Not the first time. But, um, we stayed in the cave for a while. And I did before we left."
The first thing Zach thought of, was how horny Montgomery must have been when Ophelia made them wait to have sex. Because after his first time with Hannah, we was completely exhausted, and he didn't think he could've done more that night. Maybe in time that would change.
"One time Monty said..." Zach hesitated, wondering if he wanted to hear the answer to this or not. "He said that after Winter Ball, after he hit you, you let him have his way with you in the back of his Jeep."
Ophelia's face fell. "When did he say that?"
"Right after you broke up. I mean, I had a feeling he was lying, but-"
"He wasn't," Ophelia said, suddenly. "He, um, he wasn't lying. We slept together that night."
Zach was taken aback. More than that, he was disgusted. "Why-Why the fuck would you do that? Did he force you?"
"No," she told him. She was rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "I just wanted to calm him down."
"By fucking him? After he fucking broke your nose?"
"I didn't fucking plan on it!" she told him. "It just led to that. I didn't mean for it to."
Zach scoffed, disgusted. Ophelia saw the judgement in his eyes.
"So, what, would you just sleep with him whenever he yelled at you?"
Ophelia thought back to that night. Him taking her to his Jeep quickly, before anyone else saw them. Him pulling off the to the side of the road when he said he was going to take her home. Montgomery apologizing to her, and saying he had been angry and stressed all day....
Her being there to relieve the stress despite the throbbing pain of her face. She never thought back to that night before the tapes. She did everything she could to forget it, and to forget what happened after.
The blurred lines of whether she felt pleasured by his touch, or pressured by it. But she knew she never said no.
"Just drop me off," she told Zach.
He turned on the car, surprisingly angry. "Fine."
He drove her home.
*****
"Yo, where the fuck is it?" Bryce searched through the box of polaroids. They stood in the clubhouse. It was hot, no air conditioning. No breeze came through to cool them after their two hour practice in the sun. The practice Zach skipped.
"The picture of Hannah and me?" Montgomery asked.
"Yeah, you were right, it's fucking gone."
"Fuck!" Montgomery shouted. He peered into the box of photos. "You think someone took one out?"
"Well, if it's not fucking here that means someone fucking took one out, dumbass," Bryce snapped at him.
Montgomery grabbed the box from him. "God damn there are so many fucking pictures in here."
"Exactly," Bryce snapped, "So just fine the one with Hannah with my fucking face in it, and lets get the fuck out of here."
Montgomery ruffled through. He paused. He took one out, and shoved it in his pocket.
"Was that it?" Bryce asked.
Montgomery shook his head.
Bryce scoffed. "Then fucking put it back. You know how this works, Monty. If people start taking their pictures out then 'whatever happens in the clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse' fucking falls apart."
"There's plenty of fucking photos of me in there," Montgomery snapped at him.
Bryce was angry. He shouted, "The reason we have to dig through this shit in the first place is because you don't know how to keep your fucking hands off your girlfriend!"
Montgomery stopped, and stared at him coldly. "You're not going to fucking yell at about me about the things I've done to my girlfriend."
Bryce knew he what he was referencing. The violent ends to Bryce's relationships. The sexual violence versus Montgomery's physical violence.
"I found it," Montgomery told him, pulling a polaroid from the box.
Hannah laying down, now on Bryce's lap. Bryce's face completely shown.
"That's it, right? We only took two?"
Montgomery nodded. "Yeah. Just these."
Bryce looked at Montgomery. "Put the other one back."
"The fuck does it matter?" Montgomery asked. "You have plenty of stuff on me."
"Let me see it," Bryce said. "At least let me fucking see it."
Montgomery sighed, angrily. He pulled the Polaroid out of his pocket and showed it to Bryce. He watched Bryce looked at it, him feeling slightly upset Bryce looked for so long.
Bryce studied it, and then chuckled. "Fine. Keep it. We got plenty of Ophelia anyway."
"What the fuck are we going to do if someone is taking shit out of here?" Montgomery asked him.
Bryce just shrugged. "We find out who it is. And we fuck them up."
He patted Montgomery on the shoulder. "Look, that's the only thing we have that relates to Hannah. We're good, okay? Now as long as you keep yourself from becoming fucking Ray Rice again, we're clean. Got it?"
Montgomery nodded. "Yeah."
Bryce opened the door to the clubhouse and let him out.
"These fucking women are out to fucking ruin us."
*****
Zach had gotten home and showered. His phone died while he was at the pool with Alex, so he plugged it in while he took his long, hot shower.
He wanted to cleanse himself of everything that happened. Every word said that day. When he got out of the shower, the first thing he wanted to do was apologize to Ophelia.
The cruel things Montgomery did were not his fault.
He grabbed his phone, and opened it. He saw he had some messages from her already. As well as a few missed calls.
They had come in an hour ago.
His breath hitched.
'I'm sorry.
I'm sorry that I slept with Monty after the dance.
Zach, can you call me?
I would undo it if I could.
Maybe we got together too soon after my breakup.
I think maybe I need some more time to get over everything.
Maybe after the trial things will be easier.
I want to take a break.'
A/N: Things heating you more in the next few chapters. Clay's testimony is next, and we all know what happens at the end of that episode 🤭