“How’d you get here so fast?” he asks, opening the door.
“I ran,” I say, still catching my breath. “I don’t have much time. I got Trystan to cover for me, but he’ll only do it for an hour and I’ve already used up ten minutes.”
“What’s going on?” he asks as I come inside.
“I have something to tell you, but first I need some water.”
“Let’s go to the kitchen.”
I follow him there, and he gives me a bottle of water from the fridge. He pulls out a chair at the table. “Here. Sit down.”
I gulp down the water. “I can’t sit. I’m too worked up.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I had to stay after school today.” I take a breath. “For counseling.”
“Yeah? How was it?”
“This isn’t about the counseling. It’s about what happened after it was over. Ms. Adams left and I was alone in the school, or I thought I was. But as I was leaving, I heard a noise. It was coming from one of the classrooms.”
“What was it?”
I set my water down and look him in the eye. “People were in there having sex.”
“Let me guess.” He folds his arms over his chest. “Braden and one of the cheerleaders?”
“No. It was Principal Edwards and . . .” I pause, afraid he won’t believe me. Kristen has fooled him to the point that I’m afraid he’ll believe her over me.
“Andwho?” he asks.
I take a breath. “Kristen.”
Jackson’s face explodes with anger. “That fucker raped her? At school?” He takes off for the front door like he’s on his way to kill Principal Edwards.
“Jackson, wait!” I run after him. “He didn’t rape her! She wanted it!”
He whips around. “She wanted it? Are you fucking serious right now? You’re saying she wanted to be raped?”
“No! Of course not! I’m saying shewantedto have sex with him. She was moaning and telling him how good it felt and to keep going.” I shudder. “It was disgusting. I couldn’t even believe it was happening.”
He stares at me, his eyes bouncing around my face. “You’re lying.”
“I’mnotlying! Why would I make this up?”
He storms back to the kitchen, and I hurry to catch up to him.
“I know you hate Kristen but making up some story to get me to stop seeing her is just—” He shakes his head. “Something I never thought you’d do. You’re not the girl I thought you were.”
“Me?Kristenis the one who’s been lying to you! All that stuff she told you about her stepdad is a lie. If you saw her today, you’d know it was all made up. He wasn’t doing anything to her she didn’t want.”
“Stop it!” Jackson yells. “Just stop talking about it! There’s no way Kristen would make this up. If you saw how she looked when she told me. If you saw how upset she was and watched her cry, you’d know it wasn’t just some story she told.”
“It was all an act. Jackson, you more than anyone know people can put on a sad face and cry to make their story seem real. You used to get paid to do it!”
“I was trained. She’s not. Kristen has been scared and suffering for months living with that monster. It isn’t an act. She wouldn’t have asked for my help if she didn’t need it.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course she would! She wants you, Jackson! And she’ll do anything to get you back.”
