Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

78. Samantha

"Prom!" Uncle Brendon said as I made my way downstairs on the morning of Prom. I wasn't even awake yet, really. Definitely severely under caffeinated.

"Huh?" I looked at him through sleepy eyes.

"It's Prom! Your Prom is today! Aren't you excited?" He was grinning like a fool. You'd think he was the one going to Prom.

"What I am is severely lacking the elixir of the gods. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a coffee. And then maybe I'll have the capacity to function in a more human manner," I mumbled.

"Come on!" Uncle Brendon said, grabbing my hands and pulling me towards the kitchen.

"Good thing I have my leg on!" I said as I stumbled, very ungracefully, into him. He helped me right myself and regain my balance.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"Please, let me have coffee. I'm not a functioning human being without it," I pleaded with him.

"Brendon!" Aunt Sarah said, coming in from the back with the dogs. "Sam just woke up. Give the poor girl a minute to acclimatize!"

She smiled and winked at me. I smiled back, gratefully, at her.

"I gotcha," she said, coming up to me and giving me a hug. She handed me a coffee mug and I went over to the coffee machine to make myself a coffee.

Once that was done, and I'd pulled some cereal out of the cupboard to eat, I sat at the breakfast bar and started eating. Uncle Brendon leaned on the island across from me and stared.

"Can I help you?" I asked through a mouthful of Corn Pops.

"It's Prom. I don't get why you're not more excited," he said.

I didn't answer him. I looked down at my cereal and concentrated on that. How do I explain why my excitement isn't the main feeling I'm having right now? The last dance I went to like a prom didn't end well for me. And as much as I love and trust Dylan, I can't get what Tristan did out of my head. And even though Mom, Dad, everyone says whatever happens is in my control, what if Dylan does all the same things? I barely remember the feeling of being roofied, because that's one of the effects of the drug. But I do remember a lot from... before. I remember feeling light headed and, I guess kind of drunk? Maybe? I guess it felt a little like when I did get drunk. Sort of euphoric and like I was floating.

It was after that I don't want to remember. But I remember some of it. I remember him pushing up my dress. His hands on me even though I kept saying no. Or did I? Did I actually say no? I don't remember feeling like I had control over my body. And when I woke up after, and he was tucking his shirt back into his pants...

"Sam?" Aunt Sarah's voice penetrated my thoughts. "Sweetheart? Are you okay? You're pale as a ghost."

I blinked and looked around. Uncle Brendon was leaning back against the sink watching me with his arms crossed. Aunt Sarah was sitting beside me, her hand on my shoulder.

"I-I'm okay," I stuttered.

"Are you sure? Where'd you go just then?" She asked me.

"Nowhere," I said, quietly. She looked at me with a look that said she didn't believe me.

"Sam, it's not going to be like... that," she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around me. Uncle Brendon looked on with a slight frown.

He came back over to the island, leaned forward on it and took my hands in his.

"Listen to me, Sam," he said, making sure I was paying close attention. "If anything happens that you're uncomfortable with, you call us right away and we will come get you. Any time. Nine o'clock, two in the morning. Five in the morning. Any time and one or both of us will be there. Got it?"