I rub my sweaty palms against my jeans, trying to find the courage to start. It’s better to tell her now. If something happens to me, she deserves to know why.
“Okay.” I take a breath. “So, it started when I went to this party…”
“A party?” Nonie’s face immediately lights up.
I blink. Of all the reactions I expected, that wasn’t one of them.
“Yes. A party.”
“A party with a boy?”
I close my eyes. “Nonie…”
“What? I’m just asking.”
I can’t stop the laugh that escapes me. “Can I please finish?”
She grins. “Okay, okay. Continue.”
I shake my head, smiling despite myself.
“I met him before the party, but that night was the first time we actually hung out. We were upstairs in his friends room talking and?—”
“A boys room? Madelyn!”
I stare at her. She looks completely serious.
“We weren’t doing anything!”
“If this story ends with you sleeping with him, I don’t want to hear it.”
“Oh my God, Nonie! Stop!”
“I’m just saying, your mother had you young, and I would prefer you not repeat history.”
I cover my ears, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Nope. Nope. Not listening.”
I can hear her laughing.
“Are you done so we can be serious for a minute?”
“Yes, I’ll stop interrupting now.”
“Good.” I drop my hands and continue. “Okay, so we were talking, and he was about to kiss me when suddenly someone threw a brick through the window.”
Her smile disappears.
“When he went to check it out, I got a text message.”
“What did it say?”
I stare down at my hands. “It said the next time he touches me, it would go through his head.” The silence that follows is immediate, but I continue before I lose my nerve. “And it hasn’t stopped since.”
I don’t realize I’ve closed my eyes until I open them and see Nonie’s expression. She’s terrified.
“One of the text messages called me a whore,” I whisper. “Like my mother.”
