Creep

Figured out (ch. 10)

When I reach the gas station, I swing the door open and run inside. "Cassandra? What are you doing here?" Jonah asks. I cover my face and he takes me to the back. I pull out my phone and see tons text messages about the stupid picture. I open up the Instagram page and show him the picture. "Shit" He mutters. "Who took that?" "I don't know." I cry.

He puts his arms around me. "We were drunk and I fucked him and then.. I don't even know why he would do something like that." He hugs me tighter and pats my back. "Did you have breakfast?" He asks. "No..." I sniffle. He gets me a pop tart and some orange juice. "I need to get back to the register but you can sit here 'till you feel better." He kisses me on the lips and walks out.

Less than an hour later, I walk out with my uniform on. "You look cute in that." He jokes. "Sure I do." I laugh. "Can you restock some of the shelves? The boxes just arrived." He asks. "Sure thing." I begin working and as I do, I just get angrier.

A few hours later, Jonah and I stay at the register and talk about high school. "You see, thats why I dropped out. Everyone's fucking scum." He laughs and I join in.

I hear a few people walking in and look. "Shit!" I whisper and hide under the counter as I recognize them from school. "Hey did you see that?" I hear. A guy looks under and spots me. "Dude it's that girl from the picture!" He says to his friend. "Come on Andrew leave her alone." The friend says. "Hey it's not my fault the sluts sexy as hell. No wonder that guy tried to rape her." Andrew snickers.

I slowly stand up. "The hell did you just say." Jonah steps away from the register and grunts. "Aww what are you gonna do about it? What are you her dad?" Andrew asks. Jonah runs up and punches him in the stomach. Andrew falls down and Jonah kicks him hard, making him bleed. "I'm sorry." Andrews friend starts to drag him away. "Never fucking come back!" Jonah yells.

I try to look Jonah in the eyes but he turns away. "Screw them." He mutters, walking to the back.

I tend the register for a while, but then I go back to see him. He is seated in the corner, covering his face. "They're going to find me." He talks so fast I can barely understand him. "No they aren't I promise." I frown. I sit beside him and it takes him five minutes to say "They're going to find me." Again. "They are not going to find you." I say. "Who isn't going to find me?" He asks looking up. I have never seen him so worried.

"Jonah? Whats going on." I ask. "I don't know." He speaks slowly now. "Do you want me to take you home? Or back to the hotel? I ask. He doesn't respond. I help him up and call a taxi.

When we are finally back at the hotel, I turn on the lights, let him sit on the bed and cover him up with a blanket. I hear a knock on our door. I open it up and see Harlee. "Hey. Imogen told me the stuff about your sister and that you'd be here. Can we talk?" She asks. "I guess..." I shrug and walk into the hallway.

"I... I'm so sorry..." Her voice cracks. "Do you know who took the picture?" I ask. "I did. But please, hear me out... So, Imogen's boy friend Ben, well he's my brother. And when I got home I saw you like that and you looked so beautiful.." I can see the guilt in her eyes. "So you posted it on the internet?!" I snap.

"No no well, I was a little drunk too. I just grabbed a random phone that was on the table and picked it up when no one was looking. And then I took the photo. After that I went to bed. I swear that's all I know. I'm so sorry it's all my fault." She cries.

"It's alright but... do you have any idea what the phone looked like?" I ask hopeful. "No. But it definitely wasn't Theo. Did you hear what he did at lunch today?" She asks. "No.." "He heard like everyone talking about it so he screamed at everyone to stop talking about it or he'll fuck them up." She smiles.

"Did they listen?" I question. "Well... some of them. But he's not very scary." She smiles again. I giggle. "Thanks for telling me but I gotta get to bed. I probably wont be at school but I'll see you around."

I walk back into our room. Jonah is watching TV. "Who was it?" He smiles. "Whats going on with you?" I ask, laying next to him. "I dunno what you're talking about." A few seconds later he adds "Hey we should try the pancakes here I heard they are great."