I stole some of Austin's beers from the fridge and headed into the back yard. No one else in the house was up and my best friends' betrayals were still fresh in my mind. I popped the beer can open and pressed the rim to my lips. I just wanted to know how powerful of a thing alcohol was if it drove my best friends to do the evil they did. Yet, despite myself, I turned the can over and watched its contents dump out into the dirt next to me. I did the same with the other four I brought out there. I intended on drinking every last one at first, but shaming the very thing that almost killed me was more healing than anything else.
Pretty soon, it really started to smell. Alcohol had such a foul smell. I wondered why so many people drank it to excess, why so many blew it out of proportion. In fact, I decided I was going to clear the fridge of those freaking things as soon as I got the chance. I needed to rid myself of the constant reminder. It would be too noisy now and if either my mom or Austin caught me in the act, they would assume I was getting drunk and I wouldn't be able to convince them otherwise because the evidence would contradict everything. It never really mattered to me that Austin drank before because I hadn't known I was the victim of its consequences, but now I was.Friday in the daycare wasn't very busy because many parents don't drop their kids off on Fridays. Still, I made the most of the time I had with the kids that did show up. I had to admit that I was growing quite fond of working at the daycare, even given the circumstances. I was reading a book to a little boy named Jimmy when Kane entered the play room. I was almost excited to see him and to tell him the news. I jumped up and told him he was right all along and that Anthony AND Jen had been involved in my attack.
"You know! Finally you know! I told you. I told you I was always right. Is he in prison? Is she?"
"No, he isn't neither is she. I haven't pressed charges yet." I calmly explained to him. I was very surprised by his reaction, though. For a small minute, it sounded like he cared. It sounded like he was doing all of these things for the right reasons. It sounded like he wasn't as delusional and creepy as I had been making him out to be.He looked thoroughly appalled by my answer. "Well, I'm sure your family isn't content with that so-" He said, scoffing. I cut him off.
"They don't know yet and you won't be the one to tell them."
"You can't stop me," Kane smirked. "If I want Anthony in prison now, he will be in prison." He asserted darkly.Kane slid out of the room like a snake. I was curious about where he was going, but I had prior commitments to my job to uphold. So, I tried to eliminate the threat from my mind, but to my dismay, I kept failing. Horrible thoughts filled my mind. I couldn't help but feel bad about what I had to do, even after Anthony and Jen had done to me and how well they both had been about concealing it from me.
I pictured Kane breaking into the Jacobs' household and snatching Anthony out of nowhere. I imagined him being thrown into a tiny jail cell feeling lost and alone. I envisioned Kane ensuring Anthony's stay was as brutal as possible because for some reason, his intense reaction made me believe that he would go to any length to make Anthony pay. Then, Jen would be next. I shuddered to think about how she would hold up in a prison cell. Yes, she was tough, but I didn't know if she had enough strength to surmount a cold, dull cell for the rest of her life.
I wasn't sure what prompted Kane to treat Anthony so badly, but something told me that it wasn't his first run in with him. They must have had some former beef. He was just so intent of painting him in a bad light. I don't know what it could be, but it had to be something. It sounded crazy as I was thinking it, but at the same time, nothing else made much sense.
Julia called me into the kitchen and told me someone was on the phone for me. I answered it cautiously.
"Natalie speaking, who is this?" I said, carefully following daycare protocol.
There was some shuffling on the other line. I was almost about to hang up when JJ's voice came through.
"Oh, good. I called the right place this time." He chuckled, "you have no idea how many daycares I've called. There are a bunch, did you know that?"
"How did you- what?" I stammered. His ability to throw me off guard was getting impressive.
"Check your purse." He said.
I pulled my purse open, the black fringe one that Jen dropped by and saw that everything looked normal. My lip gloss, car keys, wallet, and everything else were in place.
"Okay, I did. Why did you make me do that? I've got a job to attend to so if you could stop playing games..." I teased with him.
"You forgot your phone, genius." He informed me, teasing me back. "I called it to remind you about our NOT date tonight and your mom answered. She seems very nice and by the way, I'm very hurt that you haven't told her about me. We had a pretty decent sized conversation about how absentminded you can be sometimes. Anyways, she told me that you worked at some daycare now so here I am."
Oh right the movies! I totally forgot about it. I played it off really well telling him I was super excited but that I seriously needed to get back to work. When I hung up, all of the girls in the kitchen were huddled around me prying for details. They were disappointed when I told them JJ and I were just friends and that we weren't even seeing a romantic movie. I lost half of the girls' attention after that. I was relieved however, because I've never liked to be the center of the action.
Julia and Kathy stuck around to give me pointers from an older and a younger perspective that I didn't ask for. I politely listened anyways. Julia reminded me to keep reapplying my lipstick because she said, "you never know when he'll kiss you," and Kathy gave me money just in case, as she put it, JJ was one of those "no good, inferior, low life boys girls like to go for." I didn't know whether to take that as an insult, or just genuine help, so I chose to accept option two. She looked over at Julia when she said this and Julia then told me of a boy she once dated named Keith. She thought he was everything she ever wanted until he turned out to be a total slum bag. And, she informed me, it had all started when he refused to pay for her half of a meal on a dinner date, arrogantly claiming that she should pay for them both as he abruptly left from the table. WOAH.
After all the briefing, I reiterated once again we were going as friends. Julia thought this was hilarious.
"Yeah, and I don't have the biggest crush on Theo James." She countered, rolling her eyes and handing me a tube of red lipstick.
"Use this; it's brand new and also one of my favorites." She snickered and sauntered out of the kitchen."Good luck!" Kathy called from out the door.

YOU ARE READING
Anchor (Book 1)
Fantasy*COMPLETED* Natalie Coleman's life is forever changed after she is attacked by masked strangers and she discovers a world that is supposed to be hidden from ordinary eyes.