Page 32 of The Enemy

Even when we were two strangers in our high school hallway, the tension never felt this high.

“Are you okay?”

I cringed as soon as I asked that. Of course she wasn’t okay. “Fuck, that sounded stupid.” I ran a hand through my hair. “You shouldn’t have come today.”

My voice came out harsh, and I shut up before I fucked it up even more.

“I’m okay,” she said in a soft-spoken voice she had never used with me before.

When I craned my neck to look at her, I noticed her standing right next to me instead of going to the other side of the elevator.

“Um…” She licked her lips. “Is… Are…”

“He’s going to pay,” I blurted.

Her eyes widen in surprise.

“You believe me?”

Fuck, did she think I wouldn’t?

I turned to face her.

“Fuck, Lou, of course I believe you.”

“Tatum is…”

“He’s going to be ruined,” I vowed. “Are you going to press charges?”

She let out a bitter laugh.

“No one saw anything, and it will just be he said, she said, and I’m the one who will look bad. As a woman, I don’t have the luxury to have a sexual scandal follow me around if I want people to take me seriously.”

All I could do was bite my tongue because she was right, and the system was so fucked up that she would just be another casualty in the patriarchy.

“Lou, leave it to me. I’ll make him pay.”

Her breath hitched, and I took a step closer to her, and she took one back.

“He’s your friend.”

Another step forward and another one back.

“He hurt you.”

“You hate me.”

My jaw clenched at her words thrown so callously. Just as I took another step, the elevator came to a halt. Lou screeched as the lights turned on and off, before ultimately turning off.

“The emergency light should go on any minute now,” I told her, as we were wrapped in a mantle of darkness.

A few seconds ticked by, and no light came on. It was just the two of us trapped inside in the dark, which was dangerous.

In the dark, I could admit to things I would never say in the light.

Trapped in here with her, with all our sins hidden, I could finally say that I wanted Lourdes. I’d wanted her for a long fucking time, but I could never do anything about it.

First, she was too young.

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