Reign of the Rejected Rosary (Ryden/Peterick)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Tw: mention of rape (wasn't actually committed, but still implied)

My friends Jason and Britton told me that we were going to laser tag. They even led me down the street that the arena's building was on. It was dark enough out that the alley corners of the streets were secret.

And then they stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked.

"Shush," Jason whispered, peering around the corner and into the alley. "Is that Kayla?"

"It definitely is," Britton whispered.

(Kayla was the girl who had later talked to Patrick and I in jail.)

I knew that something was wrong immediately. Jason and Britton weren't good actors. They couldn't feign surprise.

"Why's Kayla just standing in the alley?" I asked, not even bothering to keep my voice down.

She looked over. I was so busy holding eye contact with her that I barley noticed the evil smirk on Jason's face.

"Why don't we go find out?" Jason said.

They each grabbed one of my wrists and dragged me into the alley.

Jason was definitely the stronger of the two. He was the one who was recruited to our private high school to play football. He was an absolute monster on the field. He was benched for two games last season after he broke a guy's arm just from tackling him to the ground.

Britton happened to be Kayla's boyfriend. That was how I met him and Jason. Kayla was my best friend, so when she started dating Britton, I ended up with the three of them. It kept Jason from feeling like the third wheel.

But when I first met Jason, our hang-outs with the couple were more like a double date. Jason and I started dating when Britton and Kayla did. But our breakup was the cause of all the drama.

I never realized how bitter Jason was about our split. We were only together for a couple months, and we didn't get along at all. There was no cheating or abuse or anything like that. We just couldn't figure out how to like each other enough.

Maybe he liked me more than I thought.

So Jason, Britton and I walked into the alley to talk to Kayla. Britton let me go and went over to his girlfriend. Jason sat with me against a building and held me down. He didn't do anything. Just held me as we sat on the dirty ground. I thought the whole ordeal was his ploy to get us back together.

Maybe at first it was.

But I wasn't taking the chance. I explained to him how I was really happy that we were still friends despite our breakup, hoping that he would get the hint to not try anything on me. It wouldn't work.

Britton and Kayla were making out not that far from us. We were used to it, though. They were always in each other's space in public, regardless of whether it was an appropriate time/place or not. In this case it wasn't. They were taking things too far as always. Too far as in clothes were coming off.

"Do you just want to head down to the arena and wait for them?" I asked Jason.

I was already starting to get up, but he pulled me back down. I thought he would want to leave just as much as I did.

"I have a better idea," Jason muttered.

He leaned in so fast that I couldn't process what was happening until our lips were together. I forgot what a good kisser he was, and how fantastic it felt to have his soft lips against mine that I didn't push him away.

I let him do everything.

I didn't even suspect that they were framing me for such a horrendous crime. Something that makes me sick to think about, even though I never touched her. I felt disgusting every day I woke up.

When I told the story to Patrick, he just knew what I meant. I didn't have to go any further. But Patrick was also the smartest man I had ever met.

Ryan took a little more explanation.

I told him how all of a sudden Kayla let out a scream, and Britton pulled out his phone to call the police and tell them what he caught me doing to his girlfriend. I wanted to run, but Jason held me back.

And of course, who were the police supposed to believe? The half dressed crying girl who confirmed what two witnesses said, or the teenage boy caught without jeans and scratches on his back?

They took statements from Jason and Britton while I sat in the back of the police car shaking. Kayla caught my eye often, and I couldn't place the look on her face. Maybe she was already regretting the flood of lies pouring out.

I wanted to scream out my innocence, but that's all the accused ever do. Whether they're innocent or not. I had watched enough Law & Order to know that.

I didn't think that my three friends were that evil. They made up a story so violating and awful. I thought about what it would be like to actually have it happen to me, and I just wanted to cry.

I didn't want to be associated with such disgusting people. I didn't want to be associated with a crime, regardless of how severe.

For the first time in my life, I was honestly horrified.

I stopped my story there, and Ryan understood completely.

I didn't tell him about my time in prison with Patrick. I didn't know that they were related at that point, and I didn't want to give Patrick and his "crime" away. I didn't think he would want anyone else to know about it. Patrick was extremely ashamed about it, even though I believed him when he said he didn't do it.

I wished at that point that I had told Ryan about Patrick. Maybe then someone wouldn't have died. Maybe then everyone would've been able to be happy.

I started blaming myself all over again.

So I told Ryan about my plan to run away.

"Can I come with you?" he asked.

"No," I whispered. "You have school here and a friend you wouldn't want to leave behind. I can't take you from that."

"I'll finish school wherever we end up. Spencer can come visit us. And then my family can get on with their lives."

I settled for telling him that we would talk about it later. I wasn't ready to admit that I was probably just going to leave in the middle of the night after I found Patrick.

I didn't want to watch him get hurt.

I didn't want Pete and Patrick to basically be my parents.

I just wanted to give up.