“Come on, Jessa. It’ll be fun.”
“What’ll be fun?” Kat throws her arm around my neck, her almost white blond hair in a delicate updo and her blue eyes bright. I really want to tell her what a bitch she is for guilting me into coming, but she’s my best friend, and I know she only has good intentions.
“The party at the Riverfront,” Derek chimes in.
“Yes! Come on, Jessa, everyone’s going. You have to come!” She gives me a puppy dog face, and I shake my head.
“Fine, but only for a little while.”
“Sweet.” Derek wraps an arm around my waist and steers me out to the limo he rented. A few more couples pile in, and someone takes a bottle of booze out of a bag and begins passing it around. I shake my head when he offers me a drink, and Derek shrugs then takes another swig before he passes it on.
On a quiet road out of the way, the motel’s location is known for its shady activity. My irritation turns to fear, and I hesitate to get out of the limo. Our whole group walks to the back of the building and then enters a pitch-black room. The light comes on, and I’m shocked to see a keg sitting in the middle of two queen beds.
“Woo-hoo! Party!” someone yells as they pass me.
Derek ditches me and goes straight for a red plastic cup to fill with beer. I sit on a chair and slowly slide back as more and more people enter the room. When Kat enters the room, she spots me right away.
“What are you doing by yourself in a corner?” she yells over the music.
“I don’t want to be here,” I tell her flatly, biting back tears. The bodies in the room are beginning to make me feel claustrophobic, and I just want to go home. “I hate this shit.”
She scrunches her brows at me, now fully understanding just how uncomfortable I am. “Then let’s get you home.”
“No, you stay. I’ll see if Derek’s limo driver can take me home.”
“Vaughn’s just a few rooms down; he’d be happy to take you.”
“I don’t want to bother him, but if the limo can’t, I’ll ask him.” I trust Vaughn but don’t want to ruin his night by making him take the big baby home.
Kat’s date comes up to her and kisses her neck then pulls her away. “Come find me if you have trouble,” she yells as she’s swallowed into the packed room. Seriously, it’s like a can of sardines in here. How is this fun to anyone?
I spot Derek talking to Ashley and make my way over to him, saying excuse me to everyone in my way. What a jerk; he’s supposed to be here with me, and he ditches me to hang around the school slut. I have to inch my way between everyone since nobody hears me when I ask them to move.
“Hey, I’m gonna go. Do you think your limo driver could drop me off at home?” I ask Derek when I finally make my way to him.
“Don’t go,” he pleads.
I don’t get it. Why the hell does he want me to stay? “I’m tired.”
He looks at Ashley then stands from the window ledge he’s leaning against. “I’ll walk you to the limo.”
“Thanks.”
When he sees me struggling to get through all the people, he pushes me aside and grabs my hand then pulls me through everyone, making me feel like a damn ping pong ball. Once we get to the hall, my feet take me left, but he tugs me to the right.
“I thought we came in that way.”
“We did, but he parked around back.”
“Oh.”
The cool air slaps my heated face, and I sigh, finally feeling like I can breathe now that I’m outside. My eyes scan around the dimly lit space, but I don’t see a limo. “He must not have come back here.”
“No, he’s around the corner,” Derek says. He turns my body and takes a step forward, forcing me to take a step back. My sequin dress scrapes against the brick. “Get me off, Jessa.”
“What?” I gasp.
“Come on, I bought you a ticket, bought your dinner, and danced with you all night. Least you could do is give me a bj as a thank you.” He brings my hand to his crotch and presses my palm against the hardness there.
“No.” I try to rip my hand away, but his grip gets tighter.
“Come on, Jessa. Don’t be so frigid.” He leans closer and pins me to the wall, his hips against mine. “I’ll settle for a hand job.”
He licks my lips, and I turn my head to the side. “Stop, Derek.”
“Jessa, please. Jack me off.”
“No! God, what is wrong with you?” I try to push him off, but apparently my actions anger him, because he puts a hand around my throat.
“Nothing is wrong with me, Jessa. You’re the stuck-up one who thinks she’s better than everyone else. Now, fucking jack me off.”
What the fuck is wrong with him? He was kind to me but treated other people as if they were beneath him. Even still, I never thought he’d do something like this. “No.”
“Fine.” He squeezes my throat, and when my air supply begins to diminish, I gasp, trying to scream. He squeezes harder, and I thrash around.
“You gonna do it?” he asks.
I nod my head, and he lets go. “Get on your knees. I want a blowjob since you’ve made me work so hard to get it.”
My head shakes. “Please don’t make me, Derek. Please,” I beg. Tears roll down my cheeks, and my breath shudders from fear.
“I’ll be fast.”
I sob as I drop to my knees but take the opportunity to punch him in the balls. When he reaches for his sore extremity, I run. He curses behind me, and just as I’m about to round the corner, I’m yanked back by my hair. My expensive updo was a complete waste.
I scream as I fly to the ground. Derek’s large, muscular linebacker body lands on top of mine, knocking the air from my lungs as his hand wraps around my throat again.
“Bitch,” he spits.
Attempting to gasp for oxygen proves futile as he pushes my dress up to my stomach. While he undoes the button of his suit pants, I realize the black pupils of his eyes are larger than normal. I’m finally able to speak, and I sob and plead for him to stop, but every time I do, his hand tightens, telling me how easy it would be for him to strangle me.
His zipper slides down, and I turn my head to the side so I can’t see when it happens. A scream of terror leaves me when he rips my underwear off.
“Shut up, Jessa. Fuck.”
A grunt sounds from above me, and since I’m not looking, I don’t see why Derek’s not on top of me anymore. All I know is he’s not and I can finally take a full breath, so I push myself up and scramble away. What I see both scares and comforts me.
It’s
him
. His black t-shirt is the first thing I see, and then it’s his fist flying into Derek’s face. His knee comes up, and when it connects with Derek’s crotch, Derek screams. I wonder if being hard made it worse.
He doesn’t say anything but continues to hit Derek with a fury I’ve only seen in an action movie… something I thought was fake, but this guy is proving me wrong.
Derek’s face is split open in several places, and he has blood running down to his crisp white shirt. After one final punch to the gut, he falls to the ground.
My savior stands over Derek’s still body, watching, waiting for him to flinch. After a minute with no movement from Derek, the guy turns around and looks at me. His eyes rake from my head down to my sparkly silver toenails and then back up again. “You good?” he asks.
I nod.
Now that you’re here.
“Yes. Thank you.”
He grabs my tattered panties and hands them to me. “I’ll walk you home.”
He begins to take off, and I scurry to catch up to him. We’re not far from my home, but it’s not that close either. I could easily call my parents to come and get me, but I don’t want to stick around here and wait for them. I feel safer with him, as if nothing could touch me because he won’t let it.
I have to work double time to keep up with his strides, and after a few blocks, my feet begin to burn. I am wearing heels, after all.
“I need to slow down,” I tell him.
He turns to me, looks at my shoes, and then slows his pace.
“So, uh. Thank you. Again.”
All I receive is a nod in acknowledgment. No “you’re welcome” or anything.
“Why were you there? I didn’t see you at the dance.”
He doesn’t answer, so I try again. “What’s your name?”
“Ty.”
I take his short or non-answers as my cue to be quiet and just follow him. I don’t know how he knows where I live, but I’m too overwhelmed to think much about it right now.
We’re only two blocks from my house now, but my feet are killing me. I stop by a tree and slide my heels off, then walk on my bare feet. Ty waits for me to catch up with him then turns and scoops me up in his arms.
I gasp and grab his shirt. He looks ahead, not at me, but I stare at him. His thick eyebrows, the three freckles on the right side of his nose, and his black eyelashes. How his eyes constantly scan his surroundings.
Beneath the shirt, his heart beats against my fist. Strong and steady. Just like him.
He sets me on the bottom step of my porch, turns, and starts to walk away. He gets to the sidewalk before I shout, “Wait!”
I run down the walkway, ignoring the pain in my feet. “You can’t just leave.”
“Go inside.” He turns me by my shoulders and gives me a slight shove. “Now.”
I turn around. “No.”
He sighs and crosses his arms. “What, Jessa?”
“You know my name?”
“Yeah.”
“What were you doing there?”
“Meeting friends.”
“Why haven’t you been in school?”
“Listen,”—he widens his stance as he glances around—“I was in the right place at the right time. That’s all, okay? Hopefully, that prick won’t mess with you again.”
“I don’t know—”
“I’ve gotta go.” He turns and jogs away before I even have the chance to reply.
I have so many questions, and so much more to say to him. His presence helps to take away from what just happened with Derek, and I’m afraid that when Ty’s out of sight, the terror of what happened and what could have happened tonight will hit me. I’d rather just sit with Ty all night, but since I don’t have the chance, I hang my head and go back to the porch. When I turn around, he’s disappeared.
Chapter 2
Jessa
eighteen years old
“You ready for tomorrow?” my mom asks, joining me on the front porch.
“Yes, I’m so glad high school is done.”
“What’s on your mind?”
Leave it to her to know something’s up. Motherly instinct, I suppose. “He was there that night, Mom.”
“I know, honey. I believe you.”
“I think about him all the time. I just don’t understand how I can barely know him, but he’s already such a big part of me.” Ty’s constantly on my mind. It’s more than a teenage crush. He’s more than that … He’s everything.
She pats my knee and gives it a squeeze. “Sometimes, there isn’t a rhyme or reason for things, Jessa. But I hate to see you so hungup on someone who has appeared to vanish.”
“I know.” I sigh and rest my head on her shoulder. “I just can’t get him off my mind. He’s always there. He left my life, but he never leaves my heart, and it hurts.”
“Oh, honey.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “I wish I could say something to make you feel better, but the truth is mending a broken heart is easier said than done. One day soon, you’ll move on, but until then, try to remember him for what he was, okay?”
“And what do you think that was?”
“He was your savior, honey. He saved you from a horrendous situation. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be more than that.”
She kisses the top of my head and heads back inside, leaving me reeling. No, she’s wrong. He was meant to be so much more. I just fear I’ll never have the opportunity to know for sure.
* * *
Our entire graduating class tosses their caps in the air, and I smile when I catch mine. Finally. Done. I’m done with this hellhole. I’m done with these judgmental people. Done with the stupid politics of this community. I’m fucking done.
Kat, my only true friend, winds her arm through mine, and I hug her with my other arm. “Yay!”
“I know, right. Yay!”
We head over to where our parents and family sat excitedly through the two-hour ceremony. Everyone heads to a local restaurant downtown, and we park in succession in a parking garage. Our early dinner is happy and cheerful and celebratory. Kat’s leaving to go to New York to college, but I’m going to California. I need to get out of town for a while and see what else is out there. I’m sure I’ll come back eventually.
Kat’s grandparents leave the restaurant the same time mine do, and her parents are quickly behind them. Mom and Dad stay a little while longer, but when Dad yawns, we all walk out together.
“Oh, let’s go to that new yogurt bar! Ice cream sounds great!” Kat says excitedly. Vaughn just shakes his head at his little sister’s sweet tooth.
“You three go on ahead. We’re tired, and he needs his blood pressure medication,” Mom says, tilting her head at my dad.
“I actually have a date tonight, so I’ve gotta take off,” Vaughn says.
“Of course, you do,” Kat teases. “My brother the player.”
“Hey, I can’t help it; the ladies can’t resist me.” He hugs all the girls then shakes hands with my dad and heads to the parking garage.
“Guess it’s just us.” I wink at Kat, and she smiles big; her beautiful white teeth are front and center, thanks to having an orthodontist for a dad. She could seriously be in a toothpaste commercial they’re so pretty.
We walk to the little shop on the corner and indulge in a delicious treat. Kat gets chocolate on top of chocolate, and I get vanilla ice cream with Oreo.
My mouth hurts from smiling so hard because I can’t believe we’re finally graduates. The past couple of years have been tough for me ever since that night with Derek. I told my parents as soon as I got home, but since it was his word against mine, and because his father was a judge, he didn’t get in trouble.
He claimed that while we went outside to get some fresh air, we were mugged, and he fought off the attacker so I could run home. Ashley said I left willingly with him, and since she was the one who found him in the alley, the police believed their story.
It didn’t make sense, though. Wouldn’t I have called the police? Wouldn’t I have been worried for Derek’s safety? They tried to tell me I was in shock.