Westfall Creek

Chapter 2

After Jenessa finished talking, I looked around the room. I was trying to gauge my family's reaction. And it was pretty close to what I had anticipated. Brett and Scott who were my oldest brothers at 18, looked like they wanted to beat someone to a pulp. I had never seen the twins that angry. The only time that they were close to the way the were at that exact minute was when they were 17, and they found out that their best friend was dating my oldest sister Meghan. Next, I looked at Ray, who was one year younger than the twins. Ray's expression was identical to the thiers. Meghan, who was my oldest sister at 19, had tears in her eyes. And Gracie, who is only 4, was latched onto Jenessa's leg. My parents looked like they were about ready to march up to the school. Meghan was the first one of us to break the silence.

"Nessa, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't know how. I was scared. I thought if I ignored it, it would stop. But it didn't. It got worse."

The twins looked at Jenessa. "Who is it?"

Jenessa shook her head. "I'm not telling you that."

Scott slammed his fist into the table, making the plates rattle.

"Jenessa who is it?"

Jenessa looked scared. "I can't say. If I do, it will get worse."

Brett looked astounded. "How can it get any worse than this? You don't even want to go to school Jenessa. Now can you please just tell us?"

Jenessa took a shaky breath. "Fine. Shane started it."

The boys' electric blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"Shane Richards?" Brett asked, pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

"Yes, that's the one." she answered.

Meghan and I looked at each other, confused. "Who's Shane Richards?"

Brett looked at Ray. "Ray, you wanna answer that one?"

Ray looked up. "Shane Richards is the one who threatened me and told me that if I didn't help him break into the school...."

"He would make sure everyone knew your secret and you would have no friends. I finished. Now I remembered. Ray liked to cheer. And he kept it a secret because he didn't want to get made fun of. And when Shane found out..... it was awful. We had to pull Ray out of school just so it would stop.

"But what does that have to do with Janessa?" I asked.

"Nothing." Jenessa answered.

"Then why is he targeting you?" Meghan asked.

"Because I told him off for picking on Ryanna."

Ray shook his head. "Ryanna Taylor?"

Jenessa smiled. "Yeah. Why you would pick on Ryanna of all people.... it makes me sick. So I told him off."

Ryanna Taylor is one of the sweetest girls I know. But people picked on her because she was in a car accident when she was younger, and it affected her brain. She has trouble remembering things sometimes, and she also has a slight stutter.

Brett stood up. "I'll be right back. Ray, Scott? You guys coming with me?"

The boys nodded. "Yup let's go."

Jenessa paled. "Where are they going?"

Meghan shook her head, and ran her hands through her long black hair. "I don't know. But they know they can't get into trouble. Not with the state championship coming up this week."

Ray, Brett, and Scott all played football. They were going up against their toughest competitor this week. And if they got in trouble, they would get benched. And the college recruiters were coming down this week. Brett was the star quarterback. He was 6'4 and weighed 220 pounds. Ray was a running back. Ray was 6'0 and 210 pounds. Scott was a wide receiver. He was 6'2 and 190 pounds. And every single recruiter wanted them to come play for their school. This game would be the deciding factor.

Our mom looked at us and sighed. "They know that, but I don't think anything will stop them this time. Not where their sister is concerned. They're older brothers first, and football players second."

I looked at Jenessa and Meghan. "Mom's right. Remember that time Tracy Smith was picking on me?"

Meghan and Janessa nodded. "The boys punched him in the face and told him that he better not do it again, because if he did, it would be the last thing he would ever do." Jenessa responded.

"And then the boys got benched for the entire game." Meghan finished.

Our dad walked in the kitchen and looked at our mom. "Hailee, where did the boys go?"

"They just got up and left Trent. Right after Jenessa finished her story. I don't know where they went."

We all watched my dad's face pale. "You don't think....." he trailed off.

"I don't know." my mom answered. "But I hope not."

All of a sudden, Jenessa's phone beeped.

One new text message. ID: Unknown

Jenessa opened the message and gasped. She held out her phone so we could see it.

From: Unknown

To: Janessa Grey

Message: you thought they could stop me? nice try. this is far from over.

Jenessa hit reply.

From: Jenessa Grey

To: Unknown

Message: Who are you?

Not even a second later her phone beeped again.

Jenessa opened the message with shaking hands.

From: Unknown

To: Janessa Grey

Message: you know who I am.

Jenessa dropped her phone. Our parents looked at her.

"What is it sweetie? What happened?"

"They went to Shane's." She whispered.