Paper Flowers (Pretty Plastic People) ★

035. Past vs. Present

035. Past vs. Present

At Aquino High, I'm trained to never rely on anybody.

I'm in pure shock.

My eyes blur as I stare at the screen, at the frozen video.  Liam's intense eyes stare back at me, challenging me.  Taunting me.  All along he's been playing me.  Why?

Finally I'm able to move, and I lower my head so that it's resting in my arms.  Absorbed completely in darkness, I will my thoughts to slow down but find the attempt useless.  I've trusted Liam above all else over the past few weeks—so much that I came dangerously close to confessing everything.  Now more than ever, I realize there's nobody I can turn to.

As if I want to torture myself further, I lift my head to glance again at Liam's face.  Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, and I realize I haven't cried in a long time.  Once I accept that I need to cry, the tears don't stop, and my shoulders shake as I let myself sob silently.

After a while, after endless minutes of a blank mind and thoughtless tears, I straighten and wipe my eyes.  My makeup is likely ruined, but I know I won't run into anyone in the hallways on my way to my car.  I can't wait to go home and sit on my bed and rationally think everything through.

Despite everything, I have the common sense to email the folder of videos to myself before exiting the window.  The bright home screen with the Aquino High logo startles me, and it takes a few seconds to adjust to the light.

Someone rattles the door handle to the computer lab and I straighten suddenly, my eyes wide.  It occurs to me how suspicious I probably look sitting in a dark lab after school hours.  Powering down the laptop as quickly as I can, I stand and hurry towards the door.  The person on the other ends tugs it open at the same time as I do, and I find myself face to face with Taylor.

I forget about my tear-stained face until he takes both of my arms and pushes me back into the computer lab, asking quietly, "What happened?"

I'm relieved that he shuts the door behind him so we don't have to risk eavesdroppers.  "My blackmailer," I say, my voice shaking.  I hate that I can't compose myself in front of him, but at the same time it's reassuring to at least have one person who can listen.  "There were some videos filmed.  Of our friends.  Of us."

"Of us?" he asks, his dark eyes narrowing.

Nodding vehemently, I wrap my hand around his much larger one and guide him towards the chair I just vacated.  I'm still shaky, and know I'll need to sit down and eat something before I feel normal again.

Taylor doesn't say a word as I pull up the file as best as I can, even though my hands are still trembling.  Then I start at the first video and progress through, all the way to Liam's death threat at the end.  It's another stab in my heart to watch, but I force myself to not tear my eyes away.  When the video ends and we're left with Liam's agonizing, still gaze on us once more, Taylor just lets out a small sigh.

It's uncharacteristic of him.  I almost want him to stand and start cursing and maybe punch something, at least so I know this didn't affect him so much that he's shocked into silence.  But there he sits, breathing perfectly evenly, the only sign of his anger the dark fury deep within his eyes.  After a long, tense silence, he says, so quietly I almost can't hear him, "Liam's going to regret this."

"Don't do anything awful," I say, standing.

"You don't want me to do anything 'awful' after he's giving you death threats?" he demands.  He stands too; he's standing close enough to me to make me uncomfortable.  I know we've been this close before—even closer—but I can feel the fury radiating off of him in waves of heat and it makes me even more afraid.