Page 34 of Byte

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this is the first time I’ve ever been in Byte’s bed,” Harper said.

“He’s referring to Keegan. Shaker found her in here a few times. His freak-outs were so epic she did it a couple of times just to piss him off,” I laughed. “It would’ve been nice if she’d let me know that’s what she was doing.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Carbon chuckled.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Harper asked.

“I thought I’d go get Harlow and pick up pizza on the way back,” Carbon said. “Do you want to stay here?”

“No, I’ll go with you,” she said and turned her attention to Gabby. “We’ll be back soon, sweet girl.”

Once they were gone, I took Harper’s spot on the bed beside Gabby. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “I know you’ve been through a lot over the last two weeks, but we’re going to get you through this.”

Unfortunately, movie night wasn’t the magic cure I hoped it would be. Gabby barely ate and never uttered a word. She sat between me and Harlow and fell asleep before the movie was over. I carried her to my room and tucked her into bed, hoping things would be better in the morning.

11

GABBY

Ihugged my knees to my chest and cried as the little boy destroyed my room. He pushed over my dollhouse, knocked over the cart with my LEGOs, and threw everything in my toy box onto the floor.

“Stop!” I cried.

“I hate you!” he screamed and threw my favorite doll against the wall.

“What is going on in here?” my father demanded.

“He’s breaking my toys,” I whimpered.

“Come with me,” my father said and grabbed the little boy’s hand. “Gabriella, get this mess cleaned up. Now.”

I woke with a start.

“What’s wrong?” Byte asked and was immediately at my side.

“I don’t know,” I said and rubbed my hands over my face, feeling confused. “I had a dream, but I don’t think it was a dream.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think it was a memory.”

“Tell me about it,” he encouraged.

“I was little, maybe three or four, and I was in my bedroom at my father’s house. A little boy was there, and he was destroying my room. My father came in and took him away, but he made me clean up the mess.”

“Do you know who he was?”

“No,” I said and shook my head. “I’d completely forgotten about him, but now I can remember him coming over to our house a few times. He was always so mean to me.”

“Well, I think the events of yesterday are responsible for triggering the memory.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “And I think the events from my childhood are responsible for my reaction to the events of yesterday. I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what happened. I just couldn’t make myself respond to anything.”

“You don’t need to apologize. Like I said, you’ve been through a lot in a short amount of time. I’m just glad you’re talking to me now,” he said, sounding relieved.

“It was weird. I felt like I was going to get in trouble, which is ridiculous because I’m an adult. But that’s how it was when I was a child. If my father was upset, it was best to be quiet and, if possible, unseen. I guess the similarity between what happened yesterday and what happened when I was little triggered some childhood trauma response I was unaware of,” I said and covered my face with my hands.

Byte gently tugged my hands away from my face. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Almost everyone in this club has something from their past that haunts them.”

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