Page 63 of Girl Violence

Josette takes this as her chance and pushes him back, relieved when she manages to break free of the pair. She dives straight into the crowd, tugging up her underwear as she makes her way through the mass of bodies. Tears tumble down her face, and music crashes into her as she fights to get to the front door.

People knock into her as she hears her name being yelled behind her. When she looks over her shoulder, Ian’s shoving his way through the crowd coming after her. Panicked, Josette quickens her pace until she’s finally in the crowded hallway. She’s nearly at the door when she sees him.

Vince.

He’s just walked through the door with Lewis and Carson. But that’s not only who he’s with. Rosie is behind him, her arm linked with Sophie’s, a beaming smile on her face.

Josette quickly turns around and hides behind a couple making out by the stairs. They all pass her and head into the kitchen. As he looks around, Josette stares at Vince’s back, hearing a few guys calling out his name. Her heart pains as she swallows thickly, wanting to run into his arms right now and beg him to take her home.

But he came with Rosie.

Josette staggers toward the door as another tear slips out of her eye. She just wants to go home. She can’t stop thinking about what Ian did and the cold, bitter reality of tonight’s events. That Jenna used her to have somebody with her while she made Austin jealous, and Vince hanging around with Carson and Lewis after they got them both caught.

Two people she trusts the most don’t really give a shit about her. Because if they did, she wouldn’t be the one crying right now.

As she pushes herself past the crowd gathered by the door, she suddenly smacks into someone. Hands reach out and grab her before she topples to the ground. Looking up, Jason stands there.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, noticing her tears immediately.

“N—Nothing.” She steps back, wrapping her arms around herself. He’s out here alone, smoking something that looks suspiciously like a joint.

“Want some?” He offers the joint, and Josette shakes her head, wrinkling her nose from the strong smell. “I just saw Vince head in there. Did he make you cry?”

“No,” she says uncomfortably, knowing standing out here is a bad idea when Ian could come out any minute. “Jason. Can you walk me home?”

“Fuck no.” He laughs. “I’m not your boyfriend, love.” She nods, eyes welling with more tears. He pulls a face. “Shit, okay. Don’t cry. Come on.”

“Thanks,” Josette mumbles, relieved when they start walking. The silence between them is tense, but it beats walking home alone in the dark where Ian or Tyler could sneak up on her. Tyler still has her phone, and she’d rather not go back inside where Ian is to get it so she can’t phone a cab or her dad to get her.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re crying?” Jason eventually asks.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re hanging outside Ian’s house?”

“Alyssa’s here,” he says. “I was keeping an eye on her. Your turn.”

“I needed to get out of there.”

He suddenly stops, and she looks back, confused by his serious expression. “Okay, listen. This might make me sound like the biggest shithead on the planet, but I don’t hang around with girls I don’t get anything from. I was amused by you at first, but clearly you’re not going to wrap your lips around my cock any time soon, so do enlighten me as to why pretty boy isn’t the one asking you what’s wrong. Otherwise, you’re walking home alone.”

“Vince doesn’t know—he didn’t even see me like this,” she mumbles, throat closing over, knowing Jason is right. Knowing she can’t keep doing this—using him—as if he owes her something when he doesn’t. “I was crying because I was scared.” Her chest tightens. “Ian... he... him and Tyler—”

Shit, she can’t catch her breath. Her body starts shaking, and Jason notices, his eyes narrowing. “What did they do?”

Her bottom lip trembles and she breaks down, blurting out the truth. She tells him everything. It comes out like word vomit, and after she finishes, dread seeps through her. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“What? You’ve just told me—”

“I know what I’ve just told you, but I don’t care. You wanted to know, and I told you. Promise me you won’t tell anyone?”

“Fuck’s sake.” He rubs a hand over his face. “I’m too high for this shit right now. You were just assaulted, Josette. Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Yes, I am. Promise me, Jason.”

“Fuck.” He turns his back to her, rubbing his hand over his face.

“Please. You don’t understand. Vince can’t know. He won’t hold back—”

“No, he won’t, and for a good reason. You’re his girl, whether you two believe it or not. He has to know what that fucker did to you. Keeping that from him is stupid. I’d strangle you if you were mine and didn’t tell me.”

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