PROJECT ANDERSON

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: ANDIE

"Are you ready to tell me what really happened to you the night your parents died?" Jesse asked as I laid against the passenger door.

"What kind of question is that?" I asked with a small uncomfortable laugh.

"You know as well as I do that the story that you tell everyone isn't the truth Andie...it doesn't explain the scars or the fact that you need special treatment during intercourse." 

"I can't tell you about what happened without telling you about what happened without telling you about what he did to me...I can't talk about what happened that night." I said as I brought my knees up to my chest.

"You need to get it off your chest babe, that's the only you're going to be able to heal from it." He said as he grabbed my hand. "I'm not going to see you any differently, I just want to understand what happened."

I took a deep breath...my heart was pounding and I could hear the blood rushing to my head...I couldn't do it.

I couldn't let him in...because I didn't want to talk about that night, but I knew that I had to tell him something or else he wouldn't drop it.

"He was my dad's best friend since they were kids...he was his best man when my parents got married...he was even there when I was born...in the room while my mother gave birth to me and he even held me before my dad got the chance." I spoke through my conflicting emotions. "We were close...too close...at the time my parents didn't see anything wrong with it, because they always knew where we were and what we would be doing...at least they thought they did...I even stayed the night at his house on more then one occasion when my parents wanted time 'alone'."

"Where was your brother when that happened?" He asked softly.

"Sometimes he would stay with us, but most of the time he had a girlfriend or friend he could stay with." I answered weakly. "He treated me like his own daughter...until I turned eleven and then everything changed."

"What do you mean?"

Another uncomfortable laugh. "He started making comments about my body and how I was starting to 'sprout'...I didn't know what he meant at the time, so it didn't really bother me at first." I shrugged. "It wasn't until he tried to take a shower with me that I decided to tell my parents about and they distanced me from him...which he didn't take too kindly too...that's what triggered the stalking and eventual event that happened the following year."

"Why would your parents allow you to stay with him instead of a family member or babysitter?"

"Because I didn't like any of my other family members...he was the only person I trusted." I explained wiping a tear from my face. "I was a child and I trusted him...much like my parents did...my dad grew up with him...he knew Lavender better than anyone and even he didn't know what he was truly capable of."

"I know I'm just trying to make sure that I have all the facts."

"That night I was sleeping in my parents room on the floor...James had snuck out after we all went to bed to stay with his latest 'girlfriend' and left the door unlocked...well at least that's what the police told my Aunt." I let out a small sigh. "I don't know when Lavender got into the house or how long he was there before he came upstairs and into the bedroom." My body was shaking as I tried to collect my thoughts...just talking about that night brought all those feelings back and I didn't much care for it.

"You don't have to tell me all at once Andie...I know how it's hard for you and I don't want to make you feel forced into talking about something that you aren't ready to." Jesse said before pulling my legs down, so he could talk to me instead of my knees.