“Y-yeah?” My voice is rough, panic-stricken, and I have no doubt that if she could hear me clearly she would instantly know that something was wrong.
“Could you go and get me that red dress in a bigger size. I think they made this with a nine-year-old in mind or something.”
“Y-yeah sure. H-hang on.”
My eyes remain locked on his as I wait to see what he’s going to do.
“This isn’t over,” he warns, causing a shiver to run through me knowing that this is going to happen again, only worse next time.
I got lucky that he cornered me somewhere where really, he couldn’t do much to me. But next time, he could plan something a little more private where no one would find us, or interrupt.
My stomach turns, bile burning my throat as he steps away from me and removes his touch.
He opens the door for me and without so much as a look back, I bolt from the small room. It’s not until I’m in the main part of the store that I actually breathe again.
After what feels like a long time, I locate the red dress in question and grab what she needs before hesitantly heading back for the dressing rooms.
“Rubes,” I call while wiping at my eyes. I didn’t cry but I have no doubt my fear is written all over my face.
I glance to the dressing room, the door is still open and I have no idea if he’s still inside, waiting for me to come back.
My entire body shakes violently as I think about him pulling me back in to finish what he started.
“Thank you,” she says, poking her head and an arm out to take the hanger from me. “What’s wrong?”
She doesn’t even have to look at me and she knows something is up.
“I… uh… don’t feel well. I think I’m going to need to go home.”
“Oh shit, okay. Let me get dressed and we’ll go.”
“It’s okay, I can call an Uber or something,” I argue, not wanting to ruin her day.
“Don’t be stupid. I’ll just get this and try it on at home. Let me get dressed and we’ll go.”
“Okay,” I whisper, not really having the energy to fight with her. Plus, if I’m honest, I don’t really want to go anywhere alone right now, even getting in an Uber seems like a risk I don’t need to take.
The moment she shuts the door, I step forward and poke my head into the dressing room he dragged me into, needing to know if he’s still there.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I find it empty. There’s no evidence that anything happened and it’s so unbelievable that I almost start to wonder if I imagined it. Although I know it’s only wishful thinking because the fear, the disgust I felt as he touched me still feels very, very real.
Faster than I thought possible, Ruby is dressed and ready to go. She quickly buys what she wants and we head out to the parking lot.
“How are you feeling?” she asks once we’re on the road and heading back toward my house.
“Sick.”
“Do you think it was something you ate?”
“I don’t know. I just… I just want to curl up in bed.” Where I’m safe.
8
Zayn
“Oh God, is she okay?”
The rest of my sister’s conversation has mostly passed me by, it’s been full of cheer bullshit and high school gossip but that one question piques my interest and I lower my own cell so I can attempt to eavesdrop.
“Why would she lie?”
Sadly, no matter how hard I try, I can’t hear who’s on the other end. From the cheer chatter, I assume it’s Ruby.
I shift on our dad’s rock-hard couch, the one I actually used to think was comfortable as a kid and try to get closer.
“Shit, yeah. I’ll call her in a bit and check in on her.”
The subject changes and I’m forced to wait until she finally hangs up to find out what I want to know.
“You should have just asked me to put it on speakerphone if you wanted to listen so bad,” she sasses the second she lowers the phone from her ear.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why do you care?”
“You sounded worried.”
Her eyes narrow at me but she must decide to put me out of my misery.
“You’re a pain in the ass. Something happened with Ruby and Poppy when they were at the mall.”
Dread fills my stomach but I fight to keep the reaction off my face.
“What happened?” My voice is hard and clipped, and Harley doesn’t miss it.
“Poppy got sick at the mall. Ruby had to take her home.” She shrugs like it’s not a big deal but that’s not how it sounded on the phone.
“But you said she was lying.”
“Ruby doesn’t know that. She just felt like something was off. Poppy was fine one minute then not the next. She just said it was weird.”
“And you’re not worried?”
“Of course I am, and I’ll call her when you stop with the twenty questions. Jeez.” She rolls her eyes at me before lifting her cell and tapping at the screen.
Not wanting to look more interested than I should be, I push from the couch and go and check on the dinner that Dad’s left cooking while he’s disappeared off somewhere.
I wanted to go home from the second we got here Friday night, but now I have even more reason to leave.
Poppy being ill, or whatever, shouldn’t be my issue but for some reason, I can’t help thinking that it is.
Preston’s smug as fuck face appears in my mind. I’m probably jumping to conclusions but after what happened the other day, I can’t help but think that he’s involved in this somehow.
I don’t trust him at all and he’s clearly after her for some reason. It makes me wonder if this has always been as bad as it seems to be and that she’s somehow managed to keep it quiet all this time.
I stir the bolognese Dad’s made. It’s Harley’s favorite and he makes it every single time we’ve come as if it makes up for the shithole we have to stay in with him. It does very little to mask that this place is crumbling around us, but I guess it does make it smell better.
By the time I get back, Harley has ended her short call.
“So?”
“Are you going to really pretend that you weren’t listening?”
“Hearing your side isn’t all that helpful.” I don’t even bother trying to deny it, we both know that I’m guilty.
“She’s got the stomach flu. Hit her all of a sudden in the store. She’s fine. Just sleeping it off.”
Harley believes every word she just said, I can see it in her eyes. Unfortunately, Poppy’s excuse for her weird behavior isn’t sitting right with me.
The rest of our time with Dad drags, all I want to do is pack our stuff into my truck and drive us both back to Rosewood. Once we’re finally able to leave, I gun the engine out of the trailer park, kicking up the gravel behind us and head for home.
“What the hell is up with you?” Harley mutters next to me. “Got a cheer slut on a promise or something?”
“Shut the fuck up, Har.” I don’t need to look at her to know that she’s rolling her eyes at me. “Would you even want to know if I did?”