He shakes his head. “Not overnight they don’t.”
“You did,” I retort, and he sighs deeply before stalking ahead of me. I follow along behind him, relieved he’s dropped the subject. But I know Gio, he’s like a dog with a bone. He may have dropped it for now, but he will come back to it eventually. I just need to think of what to say to him when he does. Maybe I will have spoken to Stacey by then, but I have a feeling she’s ignoring me.
We only have a week until school starts, and I don’t want to go back with all this hanging over our heads. Gio is moving into the dorms tomorrow, and I promised him I’d help him move his stuff. Then, it will just be me until Dad and Penelope return.
I need to confront Stacey. If she doesn’t call me back, I’ll have to go to her house and bang on her door until she fucking answers.
We finish our shopping and return home. Gio is still giving me the silent treatment, and he disappears the moment we get back. I trudge upstairs and place the few things I bought into my school bag, ready for the following Monday. The stress of everything is getting to me, so I pull out the bottle of vodka Stacey left behind and pour myself a big shot. It’s all running through my mind over and over again, from the start of the night to when it goes blank, and I remember nothing. Ineedto talk to her. Ineedto know what she did and to hear the truth come out ofhermouth.
I grab another joint out of the bowl, but the little bag of powder catches my eye. I wonder if coke will stop everything that’s running through my mind. I just want to stop thinking about it. My stomach aches from worry, and I’ve bitten my nails so low they hurt. Shaking my head, I turn my back on the little bag of white powder. I’m stronger than that. I don’t need drugs to numb myself to get through this. Gritting my teeth, I look at my cell screen again. Still no response from Stacey. That’s it. I can feel my anger flowing through my veins as I clench my fist, trying to control the urge to launch my phone across the room. My head pounds and my body aches from worry and because I’ve been so tense since I woke up. If she’s going to avoid me, then I’m going over to her place. Shoving the phone into the back pocket of my shorts, I hurry downstairs.
“Hey, where are you going?” Gio calls from his room as I go past.
Sighing, I turn around and go back to his open doorway. I had been hoping he wouldn’t see me run by. I really don’t want to keep lying to him. He’s got some boxes on his bed, and I can see he’s trying to decide what to take with him and what to leave behind. A pang of sadness whips through me. Fuck, this is it. He is really moving out. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him. He must see the sadness in my eyes, because he smiles gently.
“Don’t worry, T, it’s only for a year. Then you will join me at Suncity College, and we will be together again. If you don’t want to live in the dorms, we can get an apartment together.”
Gio is going to the college in the next city over, Suncity. It’s only a twenty-minute drive from our hometown, but that’s twenty minutes more than I would like, especially since I’m used to him being two seconds down the hall.
“I know. I’m just running out for a moment. I need to see Stacey, and she’s dodging my calls.”
His eyebrows jump in surprise. “Seriously? That’s not like her, she’s usually hanging around like a bad smell.”
“Hey, I know you don’t like her, but she’s my best friend, or she used to be anyway,” I defend automatically.
He seems to latch onto those last muttered words. “Has she done something?” His tone is harsh, and I flinch back.
I think carefully about my answer. I don’t want to say anything that will send him off in a Hulk rage. “I’m not sure, to be honest. I want to talk to her before I accuse her of anything.”
He turns away and starts muttering. I catch the words “betraying bitch,”but I don’t question him. He’s never liked her, and I don’t want his attitude affecting mine.
“I’ll be back later,” I tell him, but he doesn’t respond, so I leave him to finish packing and run downstairs.
Grabbing my keys from the bowl near the door, I head out to the garage. It has space for three cars, and usually, mine has to be parked outside, but with Dad and Penelope away, I can park in his spot. My car beeps as I unlock it and climb in. I’ve been driving around in Penelope’s old car. She had gotten a brand-new one when I turned sixteen and convinced Dad that I should have her old one. She insisted that if he gave me a new car, I wouldn’t appreciate it. She smirked at me the entire time when he agreed. I swear I couldn’t have hated her more at the time, especially because she insisted that Gio needed a brand-new one when he turned sixteen and had gotten his driver’s license. Penelope’s opinion of women is similar to Stacey’s parents’ outlook. In their eyes, we are only second-class citizens to men, and we should be seen but not heard. Most of the time, Dad ignores her, but occasionally when he’s distracted by work, he caves to her whims. I want to shake him and tell him to wake up, but Gio says one day Dad will come out of his fog and realize Penelope is a poor substitute for our mom, and then she will be out on her ass.
I wrinkle my nose at the smell inside the car. I have no clue what it is, but from the first moment I got it, it smelled like something died. I’ve had it detailed three or four times, but still, the smell remains. When I complain, Penelope just points out to Dad how I’m whining over a perfectly good car that drives just fine. I try to cover the stench with as many smelly air freshener trees as I can, but it still lingers.
Backing out of the driveway, I head in the direction of Stacey’s house. The town we live in is big enough to have two high schools, but we don’t have a college, which is why Gio is going to the one in the closest city. The suburb our house is in is fairly well off, but I have to drive through the upper-class suburb to get to Stacey’s place. On the way there, I pass a place everyone around town calls the fortress. It’s a huge, dark, ominous mansion surrounded by a wall that has razor wire along the top. Big wooden gates block the entrance, preventing anyone from casually driving in, and there’s a manned guard box at the front.
Rumors abound regarding who owns it. Sometimes it’s a Hollywood producer who uses it to escape the paparazzi, while others say it’s a weird older couple who kidnaps children and then eats them. There’s another one that says it’s owned by the Mafia. I’ve never seen the gates open, but as I drive past, they slowly start to move. I don’t stop because I don’t want to draw attention to myself, but just before I turn the corner, a car pulls out of the gates. Black and nondescript, it has tinted windows very much like my dad’s car, but I have to turn the corner before I can see what kind of car it is or who’s in it. It would have been fun to tell Gio or Stacey that I saw someone coming from the fortress.
Ten minutes later, I make it to Stacey’s house, park in her driveway, and get out. Stacey’s family is well off too, but her house is ostentatious and gaudy. There is a lot of Italian marble and gold decor, and it has this air of coldness to it. I try not to come here because I’m fairly certain neither of Stacey’s parents like me. Her dad was downright aggressive when I visited in the past, so it’s just better if she comes to my place.
When I ring the doorbell, their housekeeper answers. She’s a thin woman with a nose like a hooked beak, and her lips are pursed with disapproval. “Hi, Mrs. Smith. Is Stacey here?” The snooty bitch looks down her nose at me over a pair of glasses.Bitch, please, you’re just the help,I think, but I keep a pleasant smile on my face.
“No, she was invited to go somewhere with a group of friends, and she will be away until the day before school starts.” A sly smile crosses her face. “I’m surprised you didn’t get invited, Tori.” I feel the smile slip from my face. Who the fuck could she have gone somewhere with? She doesn’t really have any other friends but me.
“Ah, do you know who the friends were?” I probe, and she grins.
“I believe she said it was Nikki Steel, the mayor’s daughter, and a few of her friends.” My stomach lurches, and I stumble backward. Without saying goodbye, I hurry to my car. I hear the door close behind me, a faint evil cackle echoing after me.
Getting in my car, I head back home in a daze. What the fuck is Stacey doing with them? I know she had plans to go after Nikki’s boyfriend, but I thought she’d wait until school starts. Why would Nikki even invite her? Unless maybe she’s trying to get back at me for the way Gio treated her at the party the other night. She knows Stacey’s my only friend, and it would certainly be revenge if she managed to put a wedge between the two of us.
My breathing starts to get a little panicky. I need to know what happened last night. I need to know what Stacey did. What if she’s there right now telling them everything? My eyes start to sting as tears form.
I have to face the reality of my situation, even if it destroys me. I slowly take a deep breath then let it out as the tears roll down my face.
“My best friend drugged and raped me.” The words sound like a shotgun in the silence of my car. My stomach threatens to revolt as I finally admit what happened out loud. There’s no going back now that they have been said aloud.
