whirlwind (an Eddie Munson x OC love story)

6. secret's out

I got home and ran to my room. I changed into a new pair of jeans and grabbed a sweater. I was not dressing up for Mitchell. I was going because I had to and that was it. My mother arrived home at 6:30 and I ran downstairs. I told her I was going on a date but needed her to tell the boy I needed to be home by nine so I could get enough sleep for school in the morning. She raised her eyebrow at me and asked a couple of questions about what we were doing and who he was, but she agreed. It made me feel a bit better. I called Chrissy and told her about the date. She said Jason had told her already. I asked her to come too but sit a bit away, I said I was nervous. She agreed and hung up to call Jason.

Mitchell arrived at 7 and knocked on the door. My mom answered and told him to have me home by nine, he looked disappointed but agreed. I was silent the entire drive to the movies. I didn't pay attention to the movie at all and stared at my feet the whole time. Chrissy had shown up with Jason and sat nearby but not next to us. They looked happy. Mitchell kept trying to touch my thigh and I kept moving away. We walked out and Mitchell looked annoyed. I said goodbye to Chrissy and Mitchell drove me home. As I went to get out of the car, he grabbed my arm and hissed in my ear.

"You're lucky this was a first date. Next time, you're coming over after the date and we are going to finish what we started." I shook his hand off and glared at him.

"You said one date. I'm never going near you ever again." I slammed the door and didn't look back. I knew I had made him mad, but I couldn't be near him ever again. I called out to mom to tell her I was home and went to bed. One day of school left before the weekend. I fell asleep and woke up to a nightmare around three in the morning. I had a quick shower and went back to bed. I got dressed and waited for Amanda outside. She picked me up and apologized for upsetting me yesterday, I said it was okay and I understood why but I also had my reasons, and I would tell them when I was ready. She nodded as we drove to pick up Sarah. I told her the same thing as we drove to school and when we parked, we all hugged. We stepped out of the car and immediately all eyes were on me. People were whispering and giggling. We walked inside and plastered all over the walls were the pictures that Mitchell had taken. Luckily most were taken down and they didn't show much. It was taken from the side and my arm was covering my breasts. I started to cry. Right there in the hallway. The pictures all had the words 'Elizabeth the slut' written over them. You could see the cuts on my thighs in the picture and I couldn't hide that anymore. I ran out of the school to the picnic table. Eddie was already there, waiting for me. He held his arms out and I ran into them sobbing. He patted my hair.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" he whispered. I nodded, there was no point in lying anymore. I stepped back and sat down. Eddie sat beside me and waited for me to start. I told him about the nightmares and the cutting and then I told him about the photos and the threats and the date. He nodded as I spoke. I was crying again, and I felt so ridiculous. Why was this happening to me? Did I do something wrong? Did I lead him on? I stared at my hands in my lap and Eddie put an arm around my shoulders. I leant into him.

"Hey Roberts." He said softly. "Wanna get out of here?" I nodded and he took my hand, leading me to his van. I hopped in and we drove to the trailer park. I knew Eddie lived here because I'd heard a few 'trailer trash' jokes from Jason. He opened the trailer door and stepped aside to let me in. I walked in and it was small but comfortable enough. We sat on his couch, and he put on a movie. Star Wars. I'd seen it so I didn't need to pay attention and could sit there and think. Eddie stood up and grabbed a blanket. He threw it over me.

"You can hide out here as long as you want." He told me. I smiled at him. He was such a good friend. I leant into his shoulder as he sat back down and found myself falling asleep. I could feel Mitchell's hands on me again. We were in his car this time and the doors were locked, I was yelling, and no one came. I realized I had no clothes on and when I looked up, Mitchell had his camera. I tried to cover myself and move but I couldn't. He put the camera down and was touching me again. I screamed and woke up. I sat up breathing heavily and overed in sweat. I started to panic. I could still feel his hands all over me. I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands. Then I felt an arm around my shoulder, hugging me. I looked up and saw Eddie.

"Hey, it's okay, it was a nightmare." He whispered. I hugged him and he hugged me back. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"He was touching me, and I couldn't get away." Was all I managed to get out before completely breaking down and sobbing into Eddie's chest. After sitting for a while hugging him, I sat up and wiped my eyes. I looked over at the clock. School would be over soon. Eddie noticed too.

"Want me to drive you home?" I nodded. We hopped in his van, and he dropped me home. I went inside to see my mom. She looked very worried.

"Honey, where were you? The school called; I was so worried. Please tell me everything." She pulled me onto the couch, and I told her how Mitchell had taken a photo of me in the shower to blackmail me into going on a date with him. I didn't tell her the rest. I also didn't tell her about the cuts because I knew she would never see the pictures. She hugged me and promised she would deal with it. I nodded into her shoulder, and she let me go off to bed.

She let me take off the week before camp. Amanda and Sarah came over after school to help me pack and check on me. They understood why I'd gone on the date now. They told me Mitchell had been suspended for a week. It was the best news I'd heard in a while. They also told me that after school someone had completely destroyed his car. I had an inkling that maybe Eddie Munson was behind that one and I smiled to myself.