Death of the Perfect Girl

30- The New Friend

"Oh my goodness," Charlotte covered her mouth.

Poppy wiped her cheeks. "I don't know what came over him. I was so scared... Maybe I'm overreacting-"

"No," Charlotte hugged her," you're not. I probably would've been scared too. You never know what you would do until you're in that moment. Thank God you pushed him off."

Poppy nodded. "I don't think I want him around me anymore. I was so scared-"

"We should tell Sadie-"

"We're not telling anyone. Not Sadie or Liam and definitely not Fisher."

"Why not?"

"Because nothing happened and I'm pretty sure Mason didn't hear me."

"He didn't hear you say stop multiple times? I think he did. We need to tell the police."

"He didn't rape me-"

"He assaulted you."

"He...He was confused."

"Oh my God. Poppy," Charlotte held her hands," listen to me. Mason was going to hurt you. You need to tell someone who can do something about him. He didn't care about your feelings. He only cared about his. That's why he ignored you when you told him to stop. Where's your gun?"

"On the floor," Poppy frowned.

Charlotte quickly got up and walked over to it, picking it up. "We need to hide this."

"Why?"

"Because you bought it illegally. We're going to the police-"

"No!"

Charlotte froze.

Poppy took a deep breath then she looked at Charlotte with a stern look. "I'm fine. They won't do a thing and this will only cause more drama. I don't want attention from his fan or Sadie's, or the media. Let's just pretend what happened never did."

Charlotte stared at her. "I'm sorry Poppy. I can't-"

"Charlotte-"

"I won't tell the police...but we can't act like nothing happened. We need to do something. He needs to be punished for what he did."

Poppy sighed and layed on her pillow. "Can we worry tomorrow? I just want to sleep."

"Okay. I'll call my dad and let him know that I'm staying over at your house."

"You don't have to."

"I want to. I'm not leaving you here like this." Charlotte walked out of the room with her phone.

*  *  *

She returned to find Poppy staring at the door with her head on her pillow.

"My dad said it's fine. He says he's praying for you."

"You told him?"

"Not everything...not who it was. But I tell him everything. He's good counsel. Adults are walking guides to life because most of them have experienced more crap than we have. Trust me. They know alot."

Poppy giggled then she frowned.

Her phone started ringing. She looked at it then sat up. It's Fisher.

"Answer it," Charlotte sat on the bed.

"Hello," Poppy answered the phone.

"Poppy?" He said frantically. "Are you okay? Why is Charlotte at your house? Did something happen?"

"How do you know Charlotte's at my house?"

Charlotte looked at Poppy with wide eyes. "Little Stalker."

"Sadie tracked her on Snapchat. Did something happen?"

"No," Poppy looked down with a frown. "I just wanted some company."

"Are you sure everything's fine? Your voice sounds odd...like you've been crying. How did your ride with Mason go?"

"We listened to music."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. Fisher, I'm tired. I'm gonna go to bed now, okay?"

"Sure. Just...tell me things."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tell me when things happen to you. Like...call me when you get home. I was worried."

Poppy smiled. "Well, there's nothing to worry about. Thank you for calling me."

"No problem."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Poppy hung up and giggled. "I hung up before him."

Charlotte furrowed her brows and smiled. "And that's funny because..."

"Because he used to hang up immediately after we spoke on the phone. Now he stayed on the line until I hung up."

"Because he's worried."

Poppy's smile dropped.

"How did he know that I was here?"

"Sadie's Snapchat map thing tracked you."

"Darn it. I really hate her sometimes."

"Why didn't you turn it off?"

"Because she we decided to leave it on so we could know where the other person is at all times. Stupid. I know."

"Very," Poppy giggled. "What size do you wear?"

"Size pajamas?"

"Yeah."

"Any size, honestly. I mean, I'm tall. A dress would do."

Poppy stood and walked over to her drawer.

Charlotte stared at her and frowned. The poor girl was forcing herself to forget what had happened just an hour before. She was pretending to be fine.