Another hour passed before I felt ready to get out of bed. The first thing I did was head back into the shower. I’d taken one last night before falling asleep, but I felt the need for another.
It felt cliché, but it was so true. The need to cleanse myself was instinctive, almost hardwired into my brain. I needed every trace of that guy off me.
Feeling better, cleaner, I made my way downstairs to face people. But it was much quieter than expected; Macie was the only one sitting in the living room. I pivoted toward the coffeepot, happy to see it wasn’t empty.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“Oh my god, Ava, you snuck up on me.” Within seconds, she was next to me as she pulled me into an embrace. As she held me, she spoke into the top of my head. “How are ya, girlfriend?”
I let her hold me, unsure who it was for at the moment. Her light eyes were so pretty as they looked back at me, inquisitive and full of questions.
“Logan took off,” she said as she held my hands between us. “He was really upset. Becca tried talking to him, but he stormed away from her.”
I stripped my hands from hers, not wanting to hear any more. As I poured the steaming coffee into my mug, I turned from Macie to prepare it. My decision to come downstairs was now thwarted by her words concerning Logan. My brain was muddled enough, I didn’t want anything else to worry about.
Mainly because I was the cause of his stress and pain.
“How areyoudoing, sweetie?”
I held the cup, using its heat to warm my frigid hands, watching the swirls of steam billow above. As I brought it to my lips and gave it the obligatory blow, my eyes connected with Macie’s over the top of the mug. Desperate for that first sip, I delayed answering her as I took a big gulp, knowing the warm caffeine would do nothing but help me.
“I still don’t know where he went!” Becca was frantic as she came flying through the front door. She rounded the corner and stopped, seeing both Macie and me looking at her.
“Ava, I didn’t know you came down, sweetie.” Her tone did a one-eighty.
The unspoken conversation taking place between my two friends was unnerving. Their raised eyebrows and lifted shoulders didn’t go unnoticed.
“Why did he leave?” I asked.
Becca answered quickly. “You don’t need to worry about anything, we’ll take care of it.” She joined us at the table.
The three of us sat in an awkward silence.
Last night, they were wonderful. Theirs were the first faces I saw once I got down the stairs in that godforsaken house. They grabbed a hold of me as a group of guys ran past me to join Logan.
I don’t remember much of the drive home. The three of us huddled together in the back seat as Logan raced through empty streets. Macie and Becca held me tight, the three of us holding back tears. Once the truck pulled into its usual spot, I felt Logan’s strong arms lift me and pull me against his body. The girls followed closely behind until we were inside. I heard their hushed whispers as they instructed him to bring me up to my bed.
They forced Logan to leave once I was sitting on my bed, which he did reluctantly. I remember him kissing me on the forehead and hugging me before he left.
“He’s like your knight in shining armor,” Macie said.
She had no idea how true her words were.
They showered me, dressed me, laid with me, talked with me. At some point during the night, I woke to Macie’s arm wrapped around my middle.
She was spooning me.
She didn’t leave my side.
But once the light of the morning came, all I wanted to do was forget last night ever happened.
I didn’t want to talk anymore.
I didn’t want to remember it.
I wanted it to just fade away.
Because it shouldn’t have happened to begin with. If I hadn’t felt the need to “punish” Logan — to force him to see me with another guy — I wouldn’t have been in the position of almost being raped.
