I flipped my phone face flat on the counter, holding my breath to prevent further heat from eating my face raw. I shifted again, and a twinge of pain from in between my legs raced through my being, but it felt so good I wanted to moan.What is wrong with me?
The three of them exchanged looks. Understanding looks. And I wanted to flush myself.
I cleared my throat. “You were saying something, Katy?”
Katy jumped and faced me. “Oh! Yeah. Totally. I mean, yeah. He didn’t die. Theon did a number on him though. He would have died if those guys didn’t think to go after him because they had a feeling he might beat Blake to death. He was unrecognisable after his head was smashed many times.”
That asshole.I refrained from looking at the clock. “What about the police? Why wasn’t he arrested for violence?”
Jade shrugged. “I don’t know. They probably couldn’t find him.”
Laura wouldn’t say anything. Her eyes were hard on me.
“Yeah. I think if they had investigated further, they would have located and asked you. But that thing happened and his father had to close the investigation.”
“What thing?” I asked. “And please tell Laura to stop looking at me like that.”
We all turned to her, and she cut her scrutiny to roll her eyes. “Don’t mind me. Keep talking. Plus, you don’t know what happened to Blake’s dad? The news?”
I shook my head. “I don’t read the news.”
“And he didn’t tell you what he did to that video?”
Jade hit Laura. “Stop spreading rumours. We’re not sure he did it.”
“Then who posted the video of Blake having sex with his stepmother hours after the party?”
“What?” I exclaimed.
“Anybody,” Jade responded. “If he was the one like you’ve been screaming, how did he get the video?”
“We don’t know. The same way we don’t know anything about him. He’s practically a ghost.”
Ouch.That must have hurt his feelings. If he had one. He must know now that he’d made fans out of my friends.
“Okay. Calm down, y’all. You just said Blake had sex with his stepmother, and it was posted online?” I asked slowly, trying to digest what I was hearing for the first time. Blake was an asshole through and through.
“Yes, and Laura thinks Theon did it.” Katy side-eyed Laura.
“Hey! More than half of the guys in the group agreed,” she screamed defensively, then flashed me a knowing look. “You know he did it, don’t you?”
I shrugged, my thundering heart making my stomach turn. He was very good with computers. If Blake had the video on his phone, then Theon must have hacked it and gotten the video. They had no idea he was a hacker, and I wasn’t about to confirm their suspicions. Although, Laura didn’t need convincing.
We moved onto something else, and Theon would be happy to know he was on my mind as my friends talked, thanks to the soreness ricocheting through me.
Jade, Katy, Laura and I filled the room with our chatter. It felt nice, as if time had rewound and we were huddled in my father’s living room, screaming and laughing about things that seemed like the end of the world back then.
Katy’s eyes sparkled as she gushed about her boyfriend. “I think he’s going to propose soon,” she said, her voice laced with excitement, her cheeks flushed. “I found a ring in his drawer the other day—a huge diamond. I swear I almost died.” We burst into laughter, Katy’s wide grin contagious.
Jade said, “Well, my mum’s got a gig next weekend, performing on some stage at that new jazz bar downtown. She’s still got it, you know? After all these years.” Jade’s pride was palpable, and I couldn’t help but smile, imagining Jade’s mum, forever the young, glamorous singer, commanding the stage like she always had with her unique voice.
Laura, as always, couldn’t resist stirring things up, her voice above everyone else’s as she lectured us on the male body since she’d explored enough men to know what turned them on.
“We should do karaoke someday. Specifically after we get drunk,” Jade suggested, tapping everyone.
It was these moments, the effortless way we slipped back into our roles, that made me feel like I was home again. I hadn’t realised how much I missed this—being with them, carefree, like the two years apart hadn’t even happened. It was as if time hadfolded in on itself, and the world was just the four of us, laughing at the top of our lungs like we used to.
Between the giggles and talking, I reached out my hand to pick out the small leaf that must have fallen on Katy’s hair on her way here.
