Page 22 of Look What You Made Me Do

Later that night,I’m sitting in a hotel room with Alexis, my hair still dripping wet from the shower I just took. I’ve been at the police station all night, giving my statement, then at the hospital getting swabs and tests done.

Alexis is sitting on the bed opposite mine, staring at me like I’m going to shatter into a million pieces at any moment. “Any updates on Kai?”

I shrug one shoulder. “He’s okay. He has a pretty gnarly head injury, but he keeps saying he just passed out. He doesn’t remember anything about an intruder being at my place.”

Alexis purses her lips, nodding. “And the police? Do they believe you?”

I swallow. “I don’t know. They kept asking me questions like, ‘How much have you had to drink tonight?’ and ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ or ‘If you saw the flower on your bed, why didn’t you leave immediately?’”

“What the fuck? So they’re blamingyou?”

I push out a breath, wrapping my arms around my body. “I’m not sure they even believed it happened.”

“Well, the tests they did at the hospital will prove what you’re saying is true.”

I shrug again. “Yeah, I don’t know. This isn’t really being treated like a top priority.”

God, this is so fucked up.

“So did you…uh, recognize his voice or anything?” Alexis asks delicately. I know she doesn’t want to ask me to go back to that moment, but it’s a legit question.

I cast my mind back to the moment the stranger spoke in my ear. “I don’t know. His voice was muffled by the mask, plus, I was panicked, so…”

She nods slowly like she’s taking it in. Thank God for her, honestly. She dropped everything and rushed to my side the second I called her.

“There’s something I didn’t tell the police,” I say, looking at her. It’s been eating away at me since it happened, and Ihaveto tell someone, even as shame settles like silt in my stomach.

She pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her head on her knees, turned toward me. “Yeah, what?”

“I—” I swallow down the bile that rises in the back of my throat. My heart is hammering against my chest. “I…liked it.”

Alexis lifts her head but doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t need to. Her eyes are wide like she can’t believe I said what I just said. This is exactly the reaction I was afraid of.

“Does that make me crazy?” I ask, terrified of her answer. But I need to ask, otherwise, the question is going to eat me alive.

Alexis’s expression softens and she clears her throat. “No, I mean…” She shakes her head, thinking. “You thought it was Kai, so…”

It’s true. I did think it was Kai…at first. But when the stranger’s voice rasped in my ear, I knew, with cold certainty, itwasn’tKai, and excitement rushed through me. The panic and everything else came later.

Maybe my body hadn’t caught up with my brain yet, or something? That seems plausible. A delayed reaction. Maybe that’s all it was…

I nod, comforted by that thought.

Alexis yawns. “So how long will you be staying at the hotel?”

It’s a good question. I have some money saved up. I can’t ask my parents for hotel money, because then they’ll want to know what happened. And if they know I’d brought a guy home, they’ll blame me for everything that happened. Then they’ll completely shut me out because that’s how they punish me.

This town is small, though, so they might find out anyway.

“A couple of days,” I say. “I’ll ask my building manager if they can have cameras installed, and new locks. Plus, the police said they’d do extra patrols in the area, though they might have been lying about that just to placate me.”

Alexis gets under her covers and lays down facing me, scrunching the hotel pillow under her head. “Well, I’m happy to stay while you’re here if you want. It’ll give me a break from the chaos at the sorority house.”

I lay down, too, pulling the covers over me. “Thanks,” I say, turning the light off. “G’night.”

“Night,” she mumbles, already half-asleep.

It’s been a long night. We were out clubbing for hours before all this happened. I glance at the clock. It’s nearly four in the morning.

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