Burning Fury

XXXIII

My nightmares were back in full force. It was a mix of the sexual assault and Alice's reign of terror. Ryder stayed with me nearly every night and was there every time I woke up, gently rubbing my back and soothing me back to sleep. None of us spoke of what happened for many days, but when we finally did, we all sat together in my room and told our stories.

Emily and Griffin had went on a few dates. They didn't tell anyone because they weren't sure if anything would come of it. Nothing did, and they remained friends. Callum had already explained to me what happened between him and Houston, but I listened all the same when he told everyone else. We knew what had happened between Niko and Alice already, but my face grew red and I couldn't meet anyone's eye as Ryder explained why him and Niko talked about me so often.

He'd liked me since the first day he met me. He always talked to everyone about me and he said he was very surprised I hadn't found out earlier. We hypothesized that Alice was hoping the texts between Ryder and Niko would prove that Niko was jealous of the way Ryder liked me and that's why they broke up or something. Gavin also had talked with Emily about having a crush on me, but she assured me the texts were taken out of context. All they had been talking about was how Gavin had thought I was beautiful when he first met me. He explained later that it never went beyond that.

I didn't want to explain my story, but I gave Gem the okay to do it for me. Ryder held my hand, squeezing it harder and harder the longer Gem talked.

"It was during a frat party. Clover didn't want to go, but I'd been invited by some girls I'd met in one of my classes and I really didn't want to go alone. So, Clover tagged along. Her drink was drugged at some point in the night, and the kicker was, it wasn't even alcoholic. I thought she'd went back to our dorm, but I didn't see her until the next day. She was different, but I couldn't be sure because I hadn't known her that long. She told me a few days later, over text because she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

"I took her to the clinic on campus where they tested her, gave her antibiotics and everything, but she didn't want to press charges. It was two guys that lived in the house. They were watching her all night, waiting for the drugs to take over, and then swooped in to take her upstairs. I found out who they were and I was going to confront them, but when I knocked on the door, one of the Bigs answered the door and said that the two boys had just been expelled for unknown reasons. I think they did the same thing to another girl but she pressed charges."

"Clover, I'm so sorry that happened to you," Emily said.

Her and Gem stood from the floor and Ryder moved away so they could hug me. I took a deep breath and the tears started falling.

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July quickly approached and with it came the fair. Gem was very excited, as were we, to show her our favorite thing of the year. We went on the rides like we were a bunch of children again, running from line to line and forgetting all of our troubles. My voice was starting to come back, but it was very weak and it hurt too much to talk; I only did when necessary. The last night of the fair, I felt a little anxious, remembering how the last night a year before went south very quickly. We all crushed together in one cart on the Ferris Wheel even though the worker tried to stop us. The fireworks began and we settled into silence to watch.

"God, this is too romantic," Callum said, pretending to gag.

I smiled and rested my head on Ryder's shoulder. He kissed my forehead. We stopped, nearly at the top, and I saw the fireworks reflected in Ryder's eyes. I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. He pulled back and looked at me.

"I love you too, Clover Bree."