Page 36 of Yours

Thirteen

Brian

Alarmed, I look into her eyes. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” I scan her body for signs of some kind of injury, but she’s as perfect as ever.

She shakes her head and buries her face in my chest.

“Then tell me what’s wrong,” I say.

“I shouldn’t be like this,” she says, then erupts in sobs, her body bucking in my embrace.

“What isthisnonsense,” I scold, lifting her chin. Her eyes are wide and scared. I swallow hard. Something serious is going on here.

She bites her lip and clenches her eyes shut.

“Darce,” I say, my voice firm. “Talk to me.”

Another sob shudders through her.

“I didn’t mean to sleep with him,” she says.

An angry surge races through me, but I try to stay calm.You let her go, remember?a voice inside my head reminds me.You were too chickenshit to tell her how you feel.“Sleep with who?”

“It was at a party. Tiffany and Willow didn’t want to leave, but I did, and he took me home.”

I tell my brain to slow down, but my heart is hammering too hard. “Did he hurt you?” I ask, feeling my fists clench.

Darcy shakes her head. “I drank too much. And Willow had these pills. It was my fault.”

I wince. Why would Darcy take pills and drink? This is not good. She should know better than that. But I have to correct her garbage thinking first. “No,” I say, my voice getting louder. “Stop thinking like that right now. This is not your fault.”

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“Sorry for what?” I say sternly. “I’m going to ask you again, and I want a straight answer,” I say, looking into her eyes again. “Did he hurt you?”

Darcy sobs into my chest. “No. He took me home and walked me in, and then, I don’t know. We ended up in my bedroom. I just wanted to go to sleep. My head hurt, and it was hot.”

I cringe, imagining Darcy trying to stand up for herself in a situation like this. No chance.

“And then, I don’t know, we were kissing and then…” She can’t finish. I hear a silent wail as she tries to breathe through whatever pain she’s reliving. “I thought, I don’t know, that he’d stop. That we’d talk, that he’d…be more like you.”

This crushes my heart into tiny, little pieces. I pull her to me and stroke her back. “I’m so sorry,” I say.

“And then he gave my number to his friend,” she continues, sucking in another sob. “I didn’t understand. He seemed nice. But when I wouldn’t sleep with him, he called me…he called me…a tease.” She gasps. “I’m going to lose my scholarship,” she adds before another fit of tears shakes her frame. “That’s why I failed my biology final.” She closes her eyes. “Hespiton me,” she manages.

“Whoa,” I say, take her face in my hands. “What the fuck kind of school is this?” I say, unable to hold back my anger now. “Did you tell someone about this?”

“No,” she says. “Why would I? Nothing actually happened.”

I shake my head in disgust.

“And it wouldn’t matter if I did. He won’t stop,” she says. “He’s the captain of the chess club, and his dad works at the Pentagon.”

“I don’t care if his dad is the president,” I say. “Darcy, you can’t let this guy treat you like that. You did nothing wrong.”

“But I must have!” she cries. “Ever since I came back to school, all of a sudden, guys are looking at me.” She looks at me. “That’s never happened at school. The week after I got back, Ellis and his friends acted different. Ellis even said Ilookeddifferent. It was like they could see through me,” she says. “Like they could see the kind of things…we did,” she adds. “It made me feel so embarrassed!” she sobs. “Like I’m dirty, and just like Cory said…a tease.”

I shift so I can watch her face. “First of all, you’re gorgeous, so why wouldn’t they notice you? Maybe you put off a little more confidence, maybe these guys noticed it.” I raise an eyebrow. “Second of all, what we did together is our business, and there’s nothing wrong with two people making each other feel good.”

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