Page 91 of Teacher's Pet

"As I was leaving, Cole found me."

I fucking knew it.

"He begged me to talk. He looked so sincere, so genuine, and I was stupid enough to believe him."

I want to break something.

"I needed a ride home anyway. The least I could do was let my dad see his car dropping me off. I should have known better than to trust that he was sober. Let alone had good intentions."

Her jaw locks, and I see it then.

The moment she leaves this room.

She’s back in that car.

She’s stuck in that memory, suffocating in it.

"He took a back road to my house," she murmurs. "And he warned me, if I spoke up about what really happened, he’d make me regret it. Then he… then he grabbed my head, laughing. Told me I should ‘give him head for old times' sake.’"

The air drains from my lungs.

Something in me breaks open, something visceral.

I see red.

Fucking red.

"There was no way to stop it," she sobs suddenly, the words ripping out of her. "There’s no way to get the sound of the impact out of my head."

Impact.

I dial back in, heart pounding.

Tears fall freely from her eyes now, shaking her frame.

"Cole wasn’t paying attention." Her breath is shallow. "He was too focused on forcing my head down to see the road."

She pushes her hair back, revealing a small scar along her hairline, barely visible.

"I hit my head on the dash. The car spun out. And the-"

Her voice breaks.

"I heard a scream."

I stop breathing.

Her body shakes, her fingers curling into the water.

"And then a thud."

The kid.

The fucking kid in the paper.

The one who was hit while riding his bike.

"Cole did it," she sobs.

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