I Know What You Did That Night

t w o

I am in a glass box and I am trapped. The walls are closing into me as I try to knock them down but they keep on enclosing into me even more. I scream but nothing comes out of my mouth and then I realize I’m alone and as the walls trap me inside the box, I realize that there’s light that is shining and suddenly…

“Thorne!” Gabrielle shakes me. “Wake up!”

My eyes flutter open and I realize I am in my room. Gabrielle, my parents, and Sera are standing over me, dressed in their party clothes. I cough and my mum hugs me tight- so tight that I let out a choking sound.

“Bess,” Dad warns. She then releases me and sighs. “Honey, are you okay?” she asks me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “You fainted before you could reach the ballroom. Did you have dinner? Did you drink water? Are you alright? Do you need anything?” she asks me, rapidly firing questions.

“Bess,” Dad warns again, putting a hand on my mother’s shoulder. “I think that’s enough questions.” He looks at me concerned. “How are you feeling, Thorne?”

I cough some more and Sera hands me a glass of water. “I’m okay,” I say after I drink. “What happened? All I remember was that we were about to go to the ballroom.”

My mind is fuzzy. I remember I’m not in the glass box anymore.

“You fainted before you could enter the ballroom,” Mummy explains. She sighs in relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She bites her lip. “You haven’t fainted since… the… service.”

Rubbing my eyes, I lean next to my dad. “I was just tired, Mummy,” I tell her. The image of Brooke Creswell is still in my head. Why was she wearing my sister’s necklace?

She makes a sound. Mummy is full of doubt. She looks at me concernedly. “The dinner hasn’t started yet. It’s still seven o’clock. The program says seven thirty. Do you still want to go downstairs?”

“No way is she▬” Dad starts to protest in a loud, booming voice but I shush him. “It’s okay. I can go down. Let me just freshen up,” I say, standing up. I am shaky on my feet but Gabrielle holds my hand and leads me to the bathroom.

“Are you sure, honey?” Mummy asks. “We’re not forcing you to go.” Sera nods in agreement. “Bess is right, sweetheart. If you don’t want maybe Gabrielle could stay with you?”

I shake my head. I know if I don’t show up, people will wonder. And Brooke Creswell and the rest of the others will think they’ve won because I have buckled under the pressure of their wrath that I haven’t felt since last year.

I tell them that I want to go, that everything’s fine, and we enter my bathroom, and my cousin closes the door behind her. She watches as I retouch my lipstick and try to pin back the lose hair that has fallen out of the intricate hairstyle.

“I ruined your creation, Gab,” I tell her. She shrugs. “At least you’re okay,” she leans back against the cool tiled wall. “Did you faint because you saw Brooke?” she asks me quietly.

I look at her. “I haven’t had a panic attack since the memorial service.” I do not tell her that instead of panic attacks, I have been having nightmares and I wake up in the middle of the night with chills.

She purses her lips. “What a bitch,” she grumbles. “And she has the nerve to show up here.” Gabrielle holds up a fist. “It makes me want to slap her and all of her scumbag friends.”

Even though I want to slap all of them till they bleed and lie on the ground, I know violence does not solve anything so I tell my cousin, “Don’t. It won’t solve anything.”