Fatal Attraction

Chapter 29

"He just.. Lost it, right there and then," Lauren continued, trying to maintain her breathing. "I don't know what caused him to act like this. One moment, he was my best friend, laughing at my awkwardness, braiding my hair when I couldn't reach it, helping me when I was going through a breakup.. But this idea of being wealthy just overtook his entire life."

Camila sat in complete silence, unable to take in all of this new information. Her body was filled with rage as her girlfriend continued her story.

"The fact that we still weren't able to fit in.. Killed something inside of him. All of the comments from people we barely knew slowly started getting to him. Austin went from being this kid who didn't give a fuck about the world, to being this power hungry asshole. He just wanted more and more, regardless of what he had. And that kid had a lot. He worked hard to get it. Believe me, I did, too, but never to the point where I wanted to purchase a gun illegally and potentially injure someone. I didn't want that kind of power. I could never take on that responsibility. Taking someone's life? Never. I could never. But Austin, growing up in the home that he did, almost felt like he was.. Entitled to it. He believed in his heart that he should have everything he had ever wanted, regardless of the consequences. It was absolutely terrifying. He was no longer the best friend that I had known. So that night, when I told him that I wouldn't help him, he.. Hit me."

"Lauren, you don't have to tell-"

"Camila, I do. I want us to enjoy our life together, without secrets. I'm opening up to you about this no matter how hard it is for me because it's important that you understand my background."

Camila nodded. "I agree with you. No more secrets."

Lauren sighed. "He slapped me across the face with all of the strength that he had. Just as I tried to push him off, he grabbed my wrists, and.." She continued to cry softly, wrapping her arms around her knees, and began to rock back and forth.

"When it was over, I got up as quickly as I could, throwing on random pieces of clothing, and raced out of there, without turning back. I still had to see him every single day at school, and it was.. Impossible to look at him the same way. I felt so empty. There was no recovering from the way that I had felt. He started to distance himself from me over time, then started rumors saying that I was the crazy one."

Camila balled her fists, continuously getting more uncomfortable by the second.

"He would make up rumors saying that I wanted to rob people that I knew, saying how desperate I was for money. One time, this random boy approached me in the hallway as I was walking to the bathroom, asking if I provided.. Services."

Camila's jaw dropped. "You mean-"

"Yes, Mila. Austin told the guys in the locker room how I charged people to fuck me.. Not completely sure how they believed it, considering that I obviously wasn't attracted to anyone.. But they did. And he wasn't the last boy to approach me. It happened more and more regularly, when I went to the mall, if I was walking my dog.. All the time."

"What a fucking scumbag."

"Sometimes they would get violent. It would be 3, 4 o'clock in the morning and there would be boys knocking at my door, yelling things, threatening me if I didn't do whatever they wanted me to do. They would come straight from whatever party was happening that night.. Camila, I can't even explain to you how scary it was. To be honest, sometimes I still have nightmares about it."

Lauren took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions.

"Well, I guess over time I started to believe it.. That I was worthless. That's how he made me feel that day.. Worthless. Like the scum on the street. From that point on, I distanced myself from almost everyone in my life. I couldn't wait to go to college, to get out of that shitty fucking place. Since I wasn't going out or anything, I stayed home and studied, hard. I ended up getting a 3.9 in school, hence why I got the scholarship in the first place."