Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest Series) (22 page)

He flashed his dimples. “Logan would be proud. I’m doing that workout he was telling me about last weekend …” He trailed off. “He didn’t tell you about that?”

“You saw Logan last weekend?”

“I always see Logan. Same parties, you know? But we haven’t been getting invites to the public parties like we used to. A lot of people think it’s your fault, like you don’t want your old classmates there.”

I was public enemy number one at Fallen Crest Academy. Not much had changed. Fond memories. “What’d you talk about?”

“What?”

“You and Logan. What’d you two talk about?” That wasn’t what I wanted to ask him, though.

He shrugged. “What we always talk about. Girls and lifting weights. What do you talk about with him?”

My eyelid was beginning to twitch. Screw it. “Is your mom still dating David?”

“Your dad, David?”

I nodded. My heart began pounding.

“Yeah. Why?”

“You told me a couple months ago that you thought they were going to get married.”

“I know.” He gave me a sheepish look. “I’m sorry. I overreacted. My mom told me that your mom and dad hadn’t been divorced at the time, but they are now. Aren’t they?”

“Are they here?”

“Your mom and dad?”

“
Your
mom and
my
dad,” I shouted in his ear. The crowd had doubled, and we were pressed even closer together. I couldn’t see Adam anymore.

“Oh.” He laughed at himself. “Yeah, they’re here. They’re with the adults. Why?”

I shook my head. “No reason.”

“Oh.” His frown came back. “Was I not supposed to say that? Is that a secret or something? I never know what’s going on.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re fine.” I patted his arm for extra reassurance while a storm had started inside of me. “I’m going to go and find a seat.”

“Wait.” He tapped my shoulder again. “We heard there’s a party at Fischer’s tonight and Academites are invited. Is that true? Are you going to be there?”

“Probably.” I waved at him again before moving away. “See you later.”

“Oh. Okay.” His hand jerked up, and he waved it back and forth. “Yeah. See you.”

Before going into the packed gymnasium, I needed to go to the bathroom. The lines hadn’t lessened and then I heard a buzz inside of the gym, followed by another deafening roar from the crowd. I’d been to enough basketball games to know the teams just left their locker rooms, which meant I needed to hurry. I didn’t want to wait in line so I turned a corner and went down one of the darkened hallways. Slipping past one of the gates, I jogged all the way to the bathrooms at the opposite end of the school. No one should be in them and I wouldn’t have to wait in line. I would get back by the time they finished their warm-ups.

Everything was going according to plan.

Pushing through the door, the bathroom was empty. It didn’t take me long. I finished and washed my hands. When I turned from the hand dryer, I stopped. Everything stopped. In hindsight, I would realize that the dryer drowned out the sounds of their entrance, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t have stopped it from happening.

Kate had come inside the tiny bathroom. Parker stepped around her, Jasmine and Natalie following behind. When the door closed behind them, Natalie reached up and locked the door.

All four of them were dressed in black clothing with hooded sweatshirts. The four reached up and pushed back their hoods as one. Each had their hair tied back in a low ponytail.

My stomach dropped.

This wasn’t going to end well, but I couldn’t get past them. I couldn’t call for help. I tried to grin, failing miserably. “Payback?”

Kate’s eyes turned feral. She lifted her top lip in a snarl. “This isn’t payback. This is your punishment.”

Parker sneered at me, her hands hung loose beside her. They were ready to harm someone.

I gulped.

They were ready to harm me.

Then she added, “This is the first wave.”

Kate grunted, taking a step closer. “You should’ve quit school today. I gave you one last out.”

Natalie spoke from the back, “Time’s up.”

The room plunged into darkness, and I had one second. The sounds dimmed like earlier that afternoon. My breathing was now deafening in my ears. My heart started to race, but the fear threatened to paralyze me.

I pushed from the sink and darted into a stall. Someone reached for me. They grabbed my shirt, but I didn’t stop. My sleeve ripped off, and I used that to my advantage. As they fell back with my sleeve, I punched at them. Someone cried out, I assumed it was Kate. The other three were behind her, but I got into the middle stall and locked the door. Before I had time to think, I dropped to the ground and flew underneath to the next stall.

A foot stepped on me. I heard, “She’s in this one.”

Fuck.

The foot lifted in the air. It was going to kick me, but I thrust a hand out blindly. I caught it, but there was too much force behind it. It crushed two of my fingers, and I clamped my mouth shut. A scream wanted to burst out of me, but I swallowed it. Good god, I swallowed it. No sound. No tears. No cries. They couldn’t hear anything from me. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Pushing past that blinding pain, I threw my shoulder up and into the person. It was enough. She fell back, and I heard more cries.

“Get off me, Parker.”

“It was that bitch.”

“Let’s turn the lights on. This is stupid.”

“No, someone might see. If the door’s locked, they won’t come in here.”

“Shut up and get her,” Kate barked at them.

I heard the pain in her voice. I must’ve hit her harder than I thought, but then I heard someone fall to the ground. They were trying to crawl in like I had. Flipping around, I kicked at them instead.

“Ouch! Bitch!”

I kicked them again, and again, and again. I kept kicking them. It was working, but suddenly two hands grabbed my arm, and I was yanked from underneath the last stall. The exit door was right there. I pushed to my feet and reached for it. My fingers hit it, but then I was pulled back again. I made for one last reach. I grunted from the effort, but I got to it. The lock moved down.

I was thrown back to the floor after that. I couldn’t even turn over before fists were coming down on me.

They hit my jaw.

They hit my eyes.

They pulled my hair out.

They ripped my shirt.

They punched my stomach.

And then the kicks started.

To my side. Down on my ribs. On my head. To the side of my head. Then to my hips. They wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t keep going. My eyes were swollen shut by now. I lifted my hands, but only to ward off their attacks. I couldn’t fight anymore. The pain was too much and I couldn’t get through them. The door was less than five feet away, but it could’ve been five miles now.

“HEY!”

Oh, thank god,
I thought for a brief second. There was a pause, and they stopped.

The door burst open and someone braked. Their sneakers screeched against the floor from their sudden stop. She choked out, “Oh my god.”

“You—” Kate started, her tone menacing.

They took off.

No one moved. The door shut behind whoever it had been. Then Kate screamed, “Stop her!”

Natalie was panting. “She’s gone. We should get gone, too.”

“We’re not done.”

“She can’t move. Let’s go.”

“NO.”

“Kate, you can’t kill her, and that freak saw us. We need to get to her before she tells anyone it was us.”

Jasmine spoke up, a tremor in her voice, “You think she’s going to tell?”

“Yes,” Natalie snapped at her. “Idiot. She’s going to get help for this cunt. Let’s go.”

She stepped over me, but kicked me one last time before shoving through the door. The rest lingered, and she roared from the hallway, “LET’S FUCKING GO!”

Each of them kicked me one last time on their way out. I couldn’t fight them. I knew it was coming, but the pain had paralyzed me. This wasn’t a pain that I could shut off. It didn’t take me away from my reality. I was here the whole time. I could hear, and I could think, but I couldn’t do a thing to stop them. When the door shut behind them, and I lay there alone, I finally gasped for breath. Even my mouth hurt. I could taste blood, and I felt its wetness all over me.

Please don’t let them get Mason. Or Logan.
That was my one prayer. Whoever they were getting, whoever would come through those doors again, I didn’t want it to be either of them. They couldn’t see me like this. They’d lose control. They’d do something horrific, and I couldn’t lose them because of this.

“In there,” I heard someone yell from farther down the hallway. Their sneakers were pounding on the floor. I could feel their approach, and then their shapes blocked the light from under the door. They were right there, on the other side.

Please not them,
I prayed again to myself.

When they started to open the door, I closed my eye … and then I waited.

A woman choked out, “Oh my god.”

That wasn’t Mason or Logan. It wasn’t someone I knew. My eyelid opened, but I could only see through a small slit. They were too swollen for much more.

Gentle hands touched me as she knelt beside me. “Oh, dear. Samantha?”

The girl remained in the back, but she spoke up, “They were beating her. All four of them.”

“Who, sweetheart?” The warmth in that voice washed over me in waves. She touched the side of my face and turned it to the side. More light shined on me, and she sucked in her breath again. “Oh, dear.” She glanced up again. “Who did this to her?”

“Some other girls.”

Wait—I knew that voice. Images of Heather’s friend flooded me. It was Cory.

Then the lady asked, “Can you and your friend go find someone for me?”

“The principal?”

“Yes, dear, but I’d also like you to find someone else.”

“Okay.”

Gone was the goth girl from earlier, with her constant glares and venom-laced words. Cory reminded me of a little girl in that moment.

“Do you remember the gentleman that was standing next to me?”

“Yes.” Her voice dipped again with emotion.

“Go get him.”

“Who is he?”

The hand rested on her arm this time. It was strong and healing. I felt this woman’s courage through that touch, and I drew in a shuddering breath. I needed it. I needed every bit of strength this woman was giving to me.

“Try to be quiet about this. We don’t want to draw a lot of attention.”

“Who’s that guy?” Cory questioned again.

I drew in another breath. I didn’t know why she was insisting, but it felt good. Like she was looking out for me.

Then I heard the answer, “That man is Samantha’s father.”

The door closed again. I felt the small draft. It was soothing against the burns from everything else. Then the woman moved so I could see her. Dark eyes and brown curls framed her face. Malinda Decraw smiled at me, though I could see the hesitation in her. She nodded, but it was as if she were reassuring herself. She murmured, “We’re going to get you some help, Samantha. I promise, honey.” Her last word stumbled out and hitched on a sob. “Everything will be fine.”

Her hand brushed my hair back. Her fingers trailed through it, and I wondered if it was the only place she could touch me. She repeated again, speaking to herself now, “Everything will be fine …”

My dad was there.

That thought was on repeat in my mind. For some reason it helped block the pain. He came with Principal Green and both of them had been quiet since they came in. I couldn’t see them. Malinda kept patting my hand. I wasn’t even sure if Cory had returned with them.

When they began discussing plans, and I heard the word ambulance, I tried to tell them not to call for one. My lips cracked open and blood rushed inside my mouth, but I swallowed enough so I could talk. “No.” It came out as a whisper.

“David.” Malinda stopped their quiet conversation. Her hand patted mine. It was so gentle. “She’s trying to say something.”

“Hi, honey.” He stepped so he was in my line of sight and plastered a fake smile on his face. It was one of the worst I’d seen.

I tried again, “Don’t call them.”

“What, honey? Sammy, sweetheart.” He knelt down and bent closer to my lips.

I repeated, “Don’t call them. I can walk.”

“Samantha,” he stopped and moved out of eyesight. There was a sniffle, followed by a cough before he came back. The light from above reflected off a trail of moisture on his face, but there were no tears. He said again, “You can’t move. We have to get an ambulance. There could be internal damages.”

I tried to shake my head. Mason and Logan couldn’t know. They’d react without thinking or worse. I felt a different pang go through me. They might assume it had been the Roussou people. That would be worse. I whispered out again, “No, please no.”

“I’m sorry, honey.” He lifted a hand to pat my hand, but held it in the air. There was nowhere to touch.

Malinda moved her hand. “I don’t think she’s hurt here.”

He closed his eyes and took a couple breaths. They came out sounding jerky, but then he reached over and touched my hand in the same spot. He patted it, but it was so light it was more of a gentle graze. “Honey, Samantha, your principal’s already gone to call them.”