𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄| 𝐉.𝐅.

6: You

"Mom and dad left early for work. I'm driving you to school today." Hunter says, jogging down the stairs.

"Okay, thanks." I say and he nods as he slips his hoodie over his shirt.

"Are you alright? Did you sleep okay?" He asks, fixing his hood.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I actually slept. I feel less shitty than yesterday. That's progress, I guess." I say, swirling my spoon in my cereal.

"Good, that's good." He nods. "Have you spoken to Jessica?" He asks me.

"Not really. We've just been distance lately. After my first day back, she just kinda kept herself away from me. She's probably still going through her parents' divorce." I say, now putting my bowl and spoon in the sink.

"That sucks. Don't worry, she'll come around. Besides, you have Alex and that Clay, kid. I like him. He's nice." Hunter says.

"Yeah, he is. And Tony." I say as he opens the door, letting me go out first.

"He has a sick car." He comments as I chuckle as he shuts the door behind us.

  ||

"How was class?" Nina asks as I take a seat next to her.

"It was alright. English never lets me down, though." I say, taking a bite of my sandwich and she chuckles.

"Justin." I hear Clay whisper and I freeze up.

Am I hearing things? I then look up from my food and I see Justin walking toward my direction. My jaw clenches as my eyes water. I slowly get up from my seat and everyone watches the scene.

"Hey, Steph." Justin croaks out, holding the side strap of his duffel bag. "I missed you. Can we go somewhere else to talk, alone?" He asks.

"No." I say, my eyes watering again.

"I came back for you. It's the only reason why I'm here. If you want me to stay, I promise you I'm here for good. Look, if you want me to go, I'll go. Forever, this time." He says.

"You said that before." I whisper.

"I...I tried to go away. I tried to forget about. I...I tried so fucking hard. But I can't stop thinking about you." Justin says.

"Yeah, I think about you, too. And I wish you were dead. You're dead to me." I say, tears rolling down my face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you more." He says and he turns on his heels. "You." I hear him say and I look up to see Bryce glaring at him.

He then collapses on the floor and my face drops.

"Justin!" I exclaim, stepping a little closer to him as Clay and Tony run over to him.

They pick up and they start walking off. My lips tremble as my eyes get glossy once again. I grab my bag and run toward the door, angrily slamming it on my way out.

||

"I couldn't move. He got on top of me, and I couldn't move my arms. Or if I did, he'd push just them back down. He just kept pushing everywhere. He wouldn't listen. I can still feel his hands taking off my underwear. I just feel him all the time. If I kiss someone, I can feel his breath. If I touch someone, I just remember trying to get him not to touch me." I sniffle.

Even when I kissed Alex, I had the memories. It was just like a trigger went off.

"God. So it's really fucking stupid that I'm worried about Justin when he's one of the goddamn reasons why I'm dealing with all of this shit." I say, wiping my nose.

I then look over at Nina and she squeezes my hand, sending me a tiny grin. I don't know if I can do this anymore. Maybe I didn't mean what I said to Justin, and maybe I did. I'm just really confused and overwhelmed at the moment.

  ||

"No, I mean, I think...I think you're really brave to talk about Justin." Nina tells me. "Is there anyone else you wanna talk about?" She asks me and I turn to her. "Bryce maybe?" She suggests.

"Bryce?" I scoff. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"Look...I've been the girl who's avoided her rapist in the halls. Mine was a senior named Mark Perry. And it's a story for another time, but...I'm choosing to say his name to you even though I didn't turn him in. You wanna know why?" She asks.

"Yeah." I nod at her.

"Because it's my fucking story to tell. No one else's. And you should be so proud that you told yours tonight." She says.

"I am." I say as we keep walking.

"Good. You know, just know that you can always, always talk about it with me. I get it." She says to me. "Hugs." Nina grins and I chuckle as I hug her and she hugs me back.

I can't believe it. I finally have someone who understands. Who gets it.