I rinse off and head to my bed, tucking myself underneath the covers, my eyes unable to close, my ears listening for anything I can hear.
But it’s silent. Not even the sound of the wind outside permeates this cold house.
A graveyard of hidden secrets and broken lives.
I turn onto my side and fall into a fitful sleep.
A beep from my phone wakes me, and I sit upright in my bed, my skin sweaty, my breath coming out in frantic puffs. I throw the sheets off me, and my bare feet hit the floor.
I grab my phone off the nightstand and see a text from Maya.
Maya:
Colton’s in trouble. Get him out of there!
I dash to the door, throw it open, and skid across the hallway to Colton’s room. When I push his door open, I hear the shuffling of footsteps and freeze when I see his stepfather standing in the shadows, still wearing his clothes from earlier, his hair slightly awry, his shoes off.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask, my voice low and angry.
He hesitates a moment, looking almost frantic, but in the blink of an eye, he composes himself.
His shoulders straighten, and he reaches up to adjust a tie that isn’t there. “His mother and I worry about him when he comes home. A lot of memories, you see. Wanted to check on him. That’s all this is.”
“I’m here. You don’t need to check on him.”
I turn to look at Colton, expecting him to sit up, to make his way to me, but he’s silent, his chest rising and falling rapidly,his head sitting at an awkward angle, almost as if he were tossed there.
“What did you do?” I hiss, moving toward him, righting his neck and letting my fingers press against his pulse point. It’s thrumming quickly, almost erratically.
“Nothing. But I assumehedid. He has a stash of drugs he takes when he comes home. To cope, you see. He’s never gotten over the death of his father.”
“I don’t believe that. We get drug tested at college. He wouldn’t risk it.”
As I say this, I touch Colton’s face so affectionately that I know it gives us away, but I don’t care. His family can think what they like. I don’t want to hide anymore. It’s too painful, too awful. I want them to know he has someone on his side.
“I knew it,” Erick murmurs, sounding pleased with this development.
But I don’t care what he says, anger pulsing through me at how Colton has been treated. How it’s so evident, and yet no one believes him.
How I may be the only one.
“Fuck off,” I murmur. “Leave us alone.”
He doesn’t do as I ask. “So, he got to you, hm? Gaslit you into believing his lies. Is that why you’re here?”
I meet his stare, my eyes narrowing. “I believe him.”
“You shouldn’t. He’s a liar, through and through.”
“He’s not. He’s not lying. You are. What did you give him?”
“I told you. I didn’t touch him, just came up here to check on him and found him like this.”
I move from the bed, feeling my hands clench by my sides. I’m bigger than him, but inexperienced in fist fighting. I’ll give it a go, though. I move into his space, making him take a few steps back.
“You don’t have it in you,” Erick taunts. “You have too much on the line. You have a family you love.”
That makes me hesitate, but my mom would be pissed if she knew I didn’t stand up for Colton, for a victim, someone who needed me.
