Page 36 of Wild Hearts

“I... well, don’t you two need to–”

“Lachy’s coming over too.” Ivy sniffs and wipes away a tear. “Mum’s going to be crushed when she finds out. She was so embarrassed when – well, you know. I don’t know how she’s going to take the news of another child. I figured if we all get together, I don’t know... maybe between us we can figure out a way to lessen the blow somehow.”

I bite my lip. Ivy and Lachy, me and Brady. All in the same room together – in Brady’s bedroom. I haven’t been in there since the night of Ivy’s eighteenth birthday. The night where my heart shattered into a thousand tiny shards. That night was what led me to agree to a date with Drew, in an attempt to try and mend my broken heart.Look where that got me.

“Please? I need you.”

I force a smile. “Of course. Go have a shower. You can borrow some of my clothes.”

“Thanks.” Ivy squeezes my hand as she walks past.

As soon as she’s out of sight, I drop onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. I rest my elbows on the counter, my head falling into my hands. Maybe if I can face my past, it won’t have such a strong hold on me. I can do this. Ihaveto do this. I can’t keep living in fear anymore. I can’t let him win. I have to keep fighting to feel safe.

Figuring I have at least ten minutes or so, I pull out my phone and dial Airlie. She answers on the third ring.

“Hey,” I say, trying to keep my voice from wobbling as I keep an ear out for Ivy. “I remembered something from that night.”

There’s a small gasp from the other end of the phone. “Are you okay? What happened? What do you remember?”

“Someone saw,” I whisper. “The door to the room. I remember it opening and closing again. Someone saw what happened to me.”

“Oh, Wren,” she chokes out. “Do you know who it was?”

Even though she can’t see me, I shake my head. “I had another nightmare last night, but this one was clearer than the others. There were more details, more memories. I remember the door opening, hearing the music and the noise from downstairs, but no one said anything. Then it closed again. He wasn’t even worried. The bastard didn’t even give a shit.”

Airlie lets out a frustrated noise. “This isn’t fair, Wren. He can’t get away with it.”

“There wasn’t enough evidence.”

“It’s not right. He’s a predator.”

I swallow the lump lodged in my throat, remembering the sad eyes of the female detective as she explained how after waiting a week to file the report – with no physical evidence of the assault, no traces of drugs in my system, and no witnesses in the bedroom – the defence lawyer would claim that I had followed him upstairs willingly. By the time I reported him, he’d had time to spin a story to his mates who backed him up. The defence lawyer would try to paint me as someone with “loose morals”.

The fact that he was my boyfriend at the time also worked against me. It would become my word against his, and the judge was unlikely to convict based on my word alone. Unless a witness came forward, the chances of him paying for what he did to me were slim. It had taken me a week. A week of feigning illness so that I didn’t have to go to school, so I didn’t have to face him before I had gathered enough courage to listen to Airlie’s advice and tell my mum.

“Wren?”

“Huh?” I start at the sound of Airlie’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“I asked if you’re going to tell anyone about what you remembered?”

I hesitate. “Um, I don’t know. What good is it going to do? I don’t know who it was that opened the door. It could have been anyone. It could have been one of his friends, and you saw what they were like at school afterwards. They’re not going to come forward and speak up against him.”

Nausea churns my stomach as I recall the smirks on their faces, the catcalls, lewd gestures and hoots of laughter. The way my cheeks reddened as I ducked my head and raced up the school steps with Airlie right by my side.

“I wish I could be there with you,” Airlie says, again breaking through the fog of memories.

Her words bring a sad smile to my face. “I wish you could, too, but Blue Haven doesn’t offer archaeology and anthropology courses.”

Airlie grumbles. “I get why you had to leave Newcastle, but I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” Leaving my best friend and biggest support system sucked. “Maybe you can come up for the midterm break?”

“Sounds good. And you know I’m only a phone call away if you need me, especially if you remember anything else. But Wren, I honestly think you should think about telling Ivy what happened. It would make me feel better knowing you had someone there to talk to.”

“I’ll think about it.” The shower shuts off. “I’ve got to go. Thank you for always being there for me.”

“Always.”

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