Page 86 of Corrupt Obsession

He spun on his heel and disappeared into the bathroom. She hummed as she stared at her array of underwear. What color did she want to wear? She was still trying to decide when Jesse reappeared, clean and fully dressed. She frowned.

“It’s been fifteen minutes,” he said.

“Oh.”

He swallowed. “I think you should stay here.”

“No.” She had to go to school where her friends were. Where she felt safe, even if it was just for a little while. She couldn’t stay at home, in her bedroom. She would lose it.

Jesse didn’t argue. He selected white underwear and held it out for her to step into. He pulled them up without copping a feel or doing anything else lecherous and dressed her in jeans and a gray hoodie.

She led the way back to the garage and climbed into the truck. Jesse stared at her through the windshield for what seemed to be forever before he got in. The garage door opened, flooding the space with light.

She had no idea what time it was, but traffic hour had passed. Even though there was a clock on the dashboard, she couldn’t bring herself to look at it. Her surroundings seemed sharper, brighter, more vibrant.

“I’m sorry.”

Jesse’s croak made no impact on her.

“I swear, I?—”

“Shut up.”

Her voice sounded as empty and hollow as she felt.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me. Something in my head just snapped.”

“You should seek help,” she advised coolly.

Jesse turned into the school parking lot. There was no one around since everyone was in class. She reached for her backpack and ignored her filthy clothes on the floorboard.

“Violet.”

She glanced at him. The monster was gone. In his place was a tormented teenager. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was the one who’d been attacked. He was pale, sweating, and looked devastated. He’d aged five years in a matter of hours.

“Report me,” he ordered.

His words sliced through the blessed numbness and zapped some of her dead emotions back to life.

Jesse blinked rapidly as his eyes filled with tears. “You should get help. I’ve gone too far. I’ll accept the consequences, whatever they are.”

He leaned over, gripped her face between both hands, and kissed her. It was an apology, a goodbye.

He pulled back, whispered, “I love you,” and gave her one last, hungry kiss before he hopped out of the truck and slammed the door behind him.

He stalked toward school without a backpack, hands in his pockets. She sat there for several seconds before she slipped out, shouldered her backpack, and headed in the opposite direction.

As she opened the door of a building, the bell rang. Students flooded the hallways. Everyone walked around her like she wasn’t even there. No one called out her name or tried to stop her from reaching her destination. Her feet felt like they were in blocks of cement. The closer she got to the office, the more she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“Honey, can I help you?”

Violet stared at the smiling office clerk behind the desk. The woman had short, curly hair, and pink hibiscus earrings. The woman looked so cheerful and warm, like nothing bad had ever happened to her, while Violet felt like she had been hacked to pieces with a machete and was about to fall apart.

The woman’s smile faded. “Honey, are you okay?”

Violet nodded, even as tears began to slip down her face. The woman rushed around the counter and rubbed her hands up and down Violet’s arms.

“What’s going on, dear? What’s happened?”

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