The Hardest Fall

“Keith, stop,” I croaked out, my throat still aching, burning.

“Let her go,” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“I can’t do that. You’re scaring her. You need to leave.”

Then Kayla broke my heart by repeating those unacceptable words. “Keith…you raped me. You raped me.”

“Shut up!” Keith hissed right next to her. “Shut up so I can think! Look what you made do. I came here to apologize and look what you made me do!”

Keith shoved Kayla and she broke her fall by crashing into a chair and grabbing the desk. He started pacing the length of the wall, blocking our exit. I hugged Kayla and held on to her as she shook in my arms. She wasn’t the only one crying anymore.

“I’m sorry, Zoe. I’m so sorry,” she kept whispering. My ears were ringing with the ugly truth, and I could barely hear what she was saying, could barely comprehend what had happened.

“Shhh, it’s fine. It’ll be fine. It’s okay. We just need to get away. He won’t do anything.”

But wouldn’t he? He looked fried, high off his ass. I didn’t have any experience with drugs, and I didn’t like being around people who were out of their minds, but even I could spot that he was way off. Was this his first time taking drugs? What the hell was he even on that had turned him into a complete stranger and a raging lunatic, a psychopath? If he didn’t calm down soon, I was afraid he was gonna do something worse to hurt Kayla and me.

Suddenly, he stopped pacing. There was complete silence, and we didn’t have time to get away.

“You, get out,” he ordered me. “I need to talk to Kayla alone. She is not going to leave me over a misunderstanding.”

I stared into his eyes and couldn’t see anyone in there, certainly not someone my friend was—had been—in love with. When had things had gone so wrong with them? How could Kayla not tell us?

I tried my best to swallow down my fear, but even that hurt, and my voice was still shaky. “I can’t leave her here, Keith,” I said, panic swelling in my chest. “She is so scared. You’re scaring both of us. Can’t you see? You need to calm down and let us leave.”

In a quick movement, Keith was on Kayla, pulling her away from me, cupping her cheeks to get her to look at him. He was only inches away from her face. Kayla’s right hand held on to my arm and she whimpered when Keith’s fingers yanked at her chin. Helpless to do anything, I flinched, feeling my heartbeat in my throat.

“Tell her she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. You would never be scared of me.”

I wasn’t sure if I was shaking because Kayla’s was trembling or if it was just my body, but it only intensified when Keith shot me a look filled with pure hatred.

“That’s why I don’t like you and that other one talking to her. You fuck with her head too much.”

Pulling at Kayla, he broke the hold my friend had on me and started crowding me, pushing at my shoulders until I was once again backed up against the wall.

He kept cursing at me, spit flying out of his mouth, his voice ugly and wrong and hurtful. “You did this. You’re taking her away from me. Get the hell out before I hurt you, Zoe.”

On the verge of having a panic attack, I lost my breath when he pinned me against the wall with his palm on my chest.

Kayla tried to come to my aid, but he held her back.

“Don’t try me, Zoe. I’m not going to tell you again. Get out.”

When he dropped his hand and moved to Kayla’s side, I stayed plastered to the wall. I couldn’t move. I was stuck. Even if I had the ability to move my limbs, how was I supposed to leave my friend alone with this monster? Would I be able to live with myself if he did something to her?

He already did do something to her, you idiot, I thought. He already did something to her and you weren’t there.

“I can’t move,” I admitted honestly, quietly.

He took a step forward, but before he could start in on me, Kayla stepped in front of him, blocking him from advancing farther. She was still trembling, but her tears had dried up.

“Keith—Keith, look at me. You were right, I was wrong. You would never hurt me. You didn’t mean to hurt me in front of your friends. I understand that now. I’m sorry. Please, you need to get out of here. You hurt her. You’ll get in trouble. Please. Please leave.”

In the blink of an eye, he was on her, hugging her, kissing her lips fervently. “There you are. There’s my baby. You freaked out because you liked it, didn’t you? I would never hurt you, baby. I just wanted us to have fun with my friends. I’m your boyfriend, and you love me—that’s not rape.”

Feeling sick to my stomach, I covered my mouth with my hand to keep everything in.

“We need to get out of here together,” he rushed out. “I’m feeling so good right now. You have no idea babe—if you had listened to me and taken the drugs, you wouldn’t be shaking like a leaf right now. I feel on top of the world, baby! Next time it’ll be just the two of us, don’t worry.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he pushed Kayla away and crouched down to pick up her bag from the floor.

She looked my way and shook her head.

I couldn’t—wouldn’t let him leave with Kayla. I wouldn’t let him touch her again. Before they could walk past me, I blocked them.

“You’re not leaving with him, Kayla. Have you lost your mind?”

Just like that, Keith’s hands were on me again, and this time he wasn’t going easy. My back hit the wall yet again, and this time I saw stars when the back of my head thudded against the wall, the sound echoing in the room.

I tried to breathe, but I couldn’t. I clawed at his arms, but it was no use. I couldn’t do anything to stop him from choking me.

Chapter Twenty

Dylan

Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I headed toward the library so I could see Zoe before Chris and I began our daily workout. I should’ve given her space. It wasn’t like she was running away from me, but I still wanted to see her, still wanted to make sure everything was okay after the night before, make sure there was no chance of her pulling back from me again.

I was too far in my head, trying to come up with a solution for Zoe and me. For no reason at all, I quickened my steps, and soon I was full-out running. There was just something nagging at me, and I felt the need to see her.

Feeling strange, I ignored the rain and pulled out my phone, trying Zoe again.

Her phone went straight to voicemail.

Was she still at the library? Was she really meeting a friend, or had she lied to me?

The need to find her squeezed something in my chest and I took off toward the library like a bat out of hell.

When I finally made it there, I slowed down to a walk. I walked straight in only to find that there were hardly any students around.

I could hear people murmuring in the main room so I followed the voices. There were only two students, and both of them were wearing headphones, lost in their work. The voices stopped. Walking in farther, I checked the room on the right then headed for the opposite side. When I pushed in some chairs to pass by, I spotted Zoe’s friend through the doorway in the east wing. Then my mind registered Zoe being held against the wall by some guy. Her face was flushed, eyes big, and she was silently gasping for air, her hands unsuccessfully trying to push the guy away.

I ran to them, not giving a damn that I was bulldozing through the desks and chairs in my way.