Chapter 4:
My dad stood before me, holding the apple he snatched from me in his hand. He was frowning down at me as I looked at him through my eyelashes. "Honey, why are you out here? I thought you would be okay if you came back to school but you're apparently not. Which brings me to the reason I'm here; I'm taking you to see a therapist. You barely eat or sleep anymore and the amount of weight you've lost in the past week is unhealthy. Just because you're best friend commited sucide doesn't mean you have to stop living your life".
I clenched my fists at my sides. "She didn't commit suicide" I said through gritted teeth. My dad shook his head sadly and looked at me with sympathy in his eyes, "Honey, we've been over this. You saw the police report, she was suffering from depression and was taking pills for it which showed up in the tox screen. She commited suicide, end of conversation" he said slowly. "Now come on, you're going to miss the assembly" he said in a rush and began pulling my down the bleachers. "No! Let go of me!" I shouted at him.
Shocked at my outburst, he looked over at me and raised his eyebrows, "Do not talk to me that like young lady". He tried dragging me down the bleachers again but I refused to move, "I told you to let go of me!". The look on his face told me he was getting angry, "Kylan, if you don't move I will ground you for a month and take away your car keys and phone". His grip on my wrist tightened and started to hurt. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" I yelled at him but only felt his grip harden even more.
"Hey! She said to let go of her and I suggest you do it before I make you" Reece's voice startled me and caused my dad to release his grip on me. My wrist was throbbing painfully and I held it to chest as I watched the two men have a stare down. My dad turned to me before he spoke, "We'll talk about this tonight at home" and then he stormed off towards the school. I felt myself let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding.
Reece looked over at me with concern etched all over his face, "Are you okay?". "I think so" I said while gingerly rubbing my wrist. "Can I?" He asked motioning towards my wrist. I held it out wordlessly to him and watched him frown as he examined it. "He did this?" Reece questioned with a slight hint of disbelief in his voice. "Yea" I said quietly.
Worry lines appeared on his forehead, "Has he ever left bruises on you like this before?". "Bruises? What are you talking about? I-" my breath hitched as I looked down at my wrist and saw the angry purple bruise forming in the shape of a hand around it. I touched it gently in total disbelief and grimaced in pain as my fingers connected with the sore skin. "N-no, he's never done anything like that before" I said still in shock that my dad had left a bruise on me like that. Noticing my state of mind, Reece gently placed a hand on my lower back and led me down the bleachers and into the parking lot.
"Do you have your keys on you?". I nodded and dug my keys out of my sweatshirt pocket and tossed them to him. He opened the passenger door for me and I slipped in without saying a word. I heard him open the driver's side door and sit down before starting the car. I could see him glance at me worriedly from the corner of my eye but just kept staring out the window in silence. He sighed and put the car into drive before pulling out of the school parking lot.
I felt myself being shaken lightly and I groaned in protest at whoever was trying to wake me up."Stop it, go away" I whined as I tried slapping the person's hands away. I heard a deep chuckle and my body tensed. I pried my eyes open and saw Reece grinning at me widely, "Come on sleeping beauty, we're here". I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and took a brief look trying to recognize where "here" was.
I quickly noticed the Sand Dunes and Sable Lake. "Why are we here?" I questioned caustiously with one eyebrow raised. He shrugged, "I figured you needed a break". I turned to look at him and gave him a grateful smile, "Thanks". His jaw dropped slightly and I had to snap my fingers in his face to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. He swallowed, "Sorry, uh let me grab the food real quick and we'll go". I nodded at him and got out of my car.
The sun beat down on me warming me up quickly. I lifted my arms up to stretch and felt my shirt rise slightly showing off some skin. I could feel someone's gaze on me and looked back to see Reece checking me out. "Ahem" I said trying to get his attention. His head snapped up and a small blush appeared on his cheeks. I quirked an eyebrow at him and he scratched his neck nervously before going back to grabbing the things he bought from my back seat. I turned my head back towards the lake and stared at it's beauty.
The sun glistened on the surface of the water and made the water look a vibrant blue. I was brought of my revere when I heard the car door slam. Reece walked towards me carrying two plastic bags from the grocery store. I looked at my incredously. "What? I was hungry" he said defensively. I rolled my eyes at him and began walking towards the lake.
We stopped when we got to the water's edge. I plopped down on my butt and waited for Reece to do the same. I gazed up at him and my breath caught in my throat. The way the sun was reflecting off him made his sandy blonde hair look like honey and his blue eyes look a mesmerizing blue that I could and was easily getting lost in. He must have noticed my eyes on him because he looked down at me and shot me a breath taking smile that sent my heart into over drive. He gave me a curious look as he sat down only mere inches from me. "You okay?" he asked while placing a hand on my shoulder. Oh god, if he kept touching me like that my heart was going to leap out of my chest. "Yea, I'm fine" I squeaked out.I don't understand why I'm having these types of feelings towards him right now when up until last week he was nothing but a jerk to me.
I watched him reach into one of the plastic and grab out two Monsters. "Here" he said while holding one out to me. I wrinkled my nose at it "I'm not allowed to have those". His jaw dropped out, "What! Says who?". I gave him an "are you stupid" look before saying "My dad". "Ah, right. I forgot you were a goody two shoes" Reece said knowingly. I gawked at him, "I am not!". "If you're not then drink it" he challenged me. "Fine" I said before grabbing the tab on the can and popping it open. I tipped the can and let the cool liquid run into my throat. "Told you I wasn't a goody two shoes" I told him defiantly. He laughed at me before shaking his head, "You're too cute". I could feel my face heat up and it wasn't from the sun. "Aww, is someone blushing?" he cooed at my and tried to pinch my cheek. I slapped his hand away before he could and glared at him. "Ooo someone's feisty" he said and winked at me. I rolled my eyes at him and stood up. I brushed the sand off my butt and looked back down at Reece, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back". He nodded at me while going to take a drink of his own Monster.
I started walking down the beach while looking for a private area to go to the bathroom. While I was looking around I got distracted and didn't pay attention to where I was walking. My foot caught on something and sent me falling to the ground. I landed with an loud oomph. I muttered a few colorful words before pushing myself up onto my feet. I brushed whatever sand was on me off and looked down to see what I tripped over.
A loud scream escaped my lips as I saw an arm strewn across the small shore of the beach. A body laid in the water face down and was gently rocking back in forth as small waves crashed onto the shore. I closed my eyes and took breaths trying to keep calm down but a small yelp left my mouth as a hand landed on my shoulder.
I looked up to see Reece and instantly hugged him. I could feel his body tense and knew he saw the body. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and pulled me to his rock hard chest. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and soon enough I was sobbing hard causing my body to shake violently. Reece began pulling away and I reluctantly let go off him. He gripped my shoulders and examined my tear streaked face. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked me gently. I sniffed loudly, "I think so". He nodded at me before crouching down to examine the body. I could see him hesitate before flipping the body over. We were now looking down into the face of Hannah Anes.
