Breaking Free

Chapter 22: Present

Figuring out how to tell my parents was a lot harder than I thought. I wasn't sure how I could tell them and see their faces after. They let me go to a public school because I begged them, and if I know my mom, she will blame herself.

A week later, the Tuesday before homecoming, I told Seth and Anna my plan.

Seth and Anna exchange a look on the bench they were sitting on as they took a break from fighting each other in the ring. "You are?" Anna asks.

"Yes... I'm just not sure how to."

"How do you think they will react?" Seth asks, eyeing me.

"Honestly... I'm not sure I want to know."

Since Anna found out, she has been inviting herself along when Seth and I go to the gym. If Seth had an objection to her coming, he didn't show it.

Having them both there with me helped me more than either of them realized. I not only felt like I was becoming stronger with each day, but I felt like I was becoming emotionally stronger with them next to me.

"If you need me to be there when you tell them... I can be," Anna tells me.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. More than you will ever know."

Seth gets up from the bench and stretches. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm thirsty. I'm going to go get something from the convenience store next door. You want anything?"

Asking for water, Seth leaves us, and Anna turns to me. "Can you tell me more about Beth?"

I know she wanted to know more about what happened but didn't want to ask and upset me. "We became friends on my first day of school."

"So like us?"

I nod my head at her. "Yeah, that was also the first day I met Joshua. I knew from the beginning something wasn't right, but to be friends with Beth, I had to be okay with Joshua hanging out us."

"Wait. Joshua and Beth? Does she know?"

"She's the one that set me up to go to him that night."

Anna's mouth drops open in shock. "Are you kidding me? She's the reason? Are you sure?"

"I can only guess. There was another girl who became friends with Beth and disappeared after something happened between her and Joshua. I asked Beth about it once, but she blew it off like it didn't matter."

Anna sighs in astonishment. "Wow. Just wow. I feel like I'm on some mystery show. I mean... There are just so many puzzles with missing pieces."

"A mystery show I wish I wasn't a part of. I have so many unanswered questions. Like, why did she do that? What did I do to deserve it?"

"Why not ask her?"

"I can't. I haven't talked to her since. And who's to say she'll answer my questions truthfully? She might lie. Who knows what else she lied about during our friendship? I think I'm afraid of her answers too."

"I get it."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Beth. Everything is still painful to talk about."

"Don't be. I understand. She happened before I met you. The only thing that matters now is what happens after we met. Is she the reason you don't have any other friends?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." I try to think back to when I became friends with Beth and her friends. "When we met, she introduced me to them. They're known as the genius group, but I didn't know that yet."