Being the Bad Boy's Victim (34 page)

Well, that sure helped stop the tears.
Not!
I tucked my knees to my chest and lay my head on them.  Rocking myself back and forth, I sobbed until I could take it no longer. My eyelids were extremely heavy and I felt as if my whole face was swollen. Letting out a shaky sigh, I straightened my legs and placed my keys in the ignition.

Knock! Knock! Knock!
[Cue in the “bloody murder” scream.]

I jumped up from my seat, screaming at the dark figure outside my window, my voice surprisingly strong for someone who had been sobbing her eyes out only moments before.

“Bella! Bella, it’s me!”

I stopped screaming at the sound of her voice—Anna’s voice.

“A-Anna?” I whispered. Realizing she couldn’t hear me, I unbuckled my seatbelt, opened my door, and got out.

“Oh, my God!” she whispered, “Y-your face.”

Self-conscious now, I placed my hair in front of my face, even though it was already pretty dark outside. The cutting wind sliced through the air, chilling me to the bone.

“W-What do you w-want?” I hiccupped slightly, a few stray tears escaping my eyes.

She looked at her hands and bit her lip. “I was on a walk, and I saw you crying in your car…”

“And? Was it not just a few hours ago that you made me feel horrible and unsure of myself? W-why do you care now?” I asked, my voice broken and dejected.

“Listen,” she started, her eyes were fixed on the ground. “My house is down the street,” she said, motioning towards the end of the street. “I need to explain something to you.”

I let out a weak scoff. “Seems like all everyone wants to do today is explain something to me. Believe me, that doesn’t help ever.” Then I moved to get back inside the car.

“Wait!” Anna cried out, placing her hand on the door handle, holding it back. “Please, please let me explain everything.”

I sighed, looking back at her. “Anna, I can’t… I can’t take any more,” I whimpered at the end, shaking as a couple of tears fell down my face.

“You need to hear this, I promise,” she pleaded.

And that was how I ended up sitting on her couch, wrapped in a soft blanket with a warm cup of tea in my hands. She leaned against the counter, watching me cautiously.

“Remember when we were friends?” Anna asked softly, causing me to look up at her.

I smiled wanly, nodding as I cradled the cup to my chest, the warm steam relaxing me. I watched as she walked over to the chair opposite me.

“Why were you crying in your car?” she asked after a few moments of silence, her eyes fixed on me.

I looked away before letting out a sigh. Then, I began to explain.

A few minutes later

“I-I’m so sorry,” Anna sniffled out, tears running down her face.

I winced at her pained expression, not expecting that reaction. Truthfully, I was worried that she would just laugh when I finished and be happy that Connor hurt me.

“It hurts so much,” I whimpered, looking down.

“I can’t believe he actually went through with it,” Anna whispered. Guilt, pain, and horror flashed across her face as she stared at me, tears still flowing from her eyes.

My ears perked up and I stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

She bit her lip and looked up at me. “Okay, Bella, I’m going to tell you something… Well, it’s a shitload of something, but I need you to not interrupt me. You really, really need to hear what I have to say.” She stared at me, waiting.

After thinking about what she said, I finally nodded my head, signaling for her to continue.

She took a shaky breath and looked away. “Where to begin…” she muttered.

I shifted so that I was more comfortable, bracing myself for whatever I was about to hear next.

And let me tell you one thing, nothing, nothing could have prepared me for what she told me.

“We were friends in the beginning, you and I. It wasn’t until after a while that I started feeling left out, that I had been replaced by you, and that Jess no longer wanted or needed me as friend,” she sighed and looked down.

I bit the inside of my lip as the tears welled up within my eyes.
Damn! I really need to stop crying.

“Anyways, I brushed it off at first, really. Jess and I weren’t actually best friends before you came, and I have other friends. But I just got so jealous. I’ve known Jess for so long. But you two, after having met just a few days, have become almost inseparable. I felt so insecure, and I don’t know why.” She paused, looking at me. “Please don’t hate me,” she added.

“I don’t,” I said quietly. “I just don’t understand how you could say all those things to me because you were simply just jealous. I… I just feel like there’s more.”

“There is,” she confirmed, “and you’re going to hate me so much after I tell you all of it.”

I flinched at her tone. It sounded dejected and already pained, as if she had already given up.

“Don’t say that,” I whispered, “I won’t.”

Yeah, so maybe that was a lie. From what I could tell then, she did something really bad. But I wasn’t sure, at that time, how I was going to feel after she told me whatever it was she did.

She gulped and wiped away the stray tears trailing down her pale cheeks. “Oh really? Well, first, did you find that picture in your locker?”

“What picture? Not that…” My eyes widened and I made a gasping noise, looking at her in horror. “You’re my stalker!” It wasn’t a question.

“No!” she cried out, her eyes wide with alarm. “I’m not the one who took that! I was just the one who put that in your locker,” she rushed out, holding her hands up in surrender.

I stared at her in silence, my heart pounding loudly within my chest, which felt as if it was about to burst. “Continue,” I managed to squeak out, my heart accelerating as I uttered that one small word.

She nodded, noticeably tensing some more, as she thought about what to say.

“I am not your stalker,” she repeated. “But in a way, I’ve been his assistant. Remember what happened on Halloween? Yeah well, I wasn’t involved in that. But he was. Bella, you don’t understand how bad this is. But I promise you, I’m going to help you. I won’t let him do this to you anymore.”

I was speechless. I mean, really, what was I supposed to say?
Oh, thank you for telling me now that you’ve known all along who my stalker was and oh-so-casually have been helping him.

“That picture pretty much proves how insane he is. He was in your house! And…” Anna continued.

“Yeah! I’m aware of the fact that he was in my house, petting me like some kind of animal!” I snapped at her, my anger overwhelming me.

“Bella, please, let me finish!”

Bullshit!

“No!” I hissed at her, standing up. “I don’t care anymore what you have to say! I’m calling the police and…” Then my mouth went dry at the sight that confronted me. Somehow, during my angry tirade, Anna pulled up her sweatshirt, revealing her bruised and scarred stomach, large bruises indicating where she had been most likely punched or kicked the most.

“Bella, I would have told you. I wanted to tell you so badly! But he just kept hurting me…” she trailed off. “I was too scared of what he might do to me if I did tell you.”

“Wha—— I… Anna, you…” I spluttered, stumbling on my way over to her, wincing as her bruises became more gruesome the closer I got.

“What happened with Connor was a set up,” she whispered, her hands grasping my wrists lightly. “He wasn’t lying to you.”

“What? But, who?” Then I jerked back in horror and nervously whispered, “It wasn’t… it wasn’t you… Was it?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “I told him I was out with my parents. But I guess he just got desperate and found a replacement at that time. He planned it so that Connor would look like he had gotten wasted, and hooked up with some slut and cheated on you. But I promise you, it’s not true. He didn't cheat on you.”

“So, when you said all those nasty things about Connor using me…” I trailed off, looking at her.

“He was making me,” she said, confirming my suspicions.

“He,” I repeated. “Who is this ‘he’? Why haven’t you told me yet?” I was growing anxious and sick as I began to feel the full impact of everything she just told me. “You keep saying how he made you do all those things and how dangerous he is, yet you haven’t said anything about who he is!”

“Bella! Bella, calm down!” she cried out, taking a step forward.

I stumbled backwards, putting a couple of feet between us.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” I screamed. “You saw the note and you know what it says! My life is in danger here, and potentially, also the lives of the ones I love, and you just stand there and say ‘calm down’?” I was enraged at this point.

“Bella, you need to let me finish! I need to! You can’t just take in all that I’ve said without letting me finish first!”

I stared at her, my chest heaving. Finally, I managed to gather the energy to stop myself from screaming at her. “Finish then, why don’t you?” My words were hushed yet they were laced with venom.

“You’re right, Bella. I should have told you about this the second I found out, but I didn’t. I was scared for myself. He was abusing me on a daily basis, even when I hadn’t done anything wrong. Imagine what he would have done if I told you! And, yes, I was being selfish, but that’s what fear does to you. And I know you know how I feel.” She paused, looking into my eyes. “I know what happened to you.”

I felt waves of nausea, confusion, and worry wash over me—drowning me. “Wha—— H-how?” I managed to whisper, tears again filled my newly dry eyes.

She sighed and urged me to sit back down on the couch that I had abandoned, which I did obediently. “This guy, your stalker… he knew you. He knew you before.”

“Sam!” I immediately shrieked, more tears falling from my eyes. My parents had lied to me and now he was out to get me. I was going to die!

“Not Sam,” Anna countered.

My sobs came to a halt as I stared at her through my blurry vision, a hiccup escaping my lips as I fought to hold back the sobs.

“N-not Sam?” I asked.

“No,” she said, looking at me.

I stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

She realized what I was doing and she let out a groan of frustration. “I can’t tell you who it is, Bella! If I could, don’t you think I would have already?”

“Then what was the point of all this?” I nearly shrieked. I had been so close, so close to knowing who it was, and she was saying she couldn’t tell me. Well, this was just the best fucking day ever, wasn’t it?

“If he asks me if I told you, which is something he does often, he will easily see through my lie. And then, not only will I be in danger, but you, too,” she explained.

“So how am I supposed to know who it is?” I asked, a slight bit of annoyance leaking into my tone.

“Well, if you managed to find out, without me necessarily telling you, then I wouldn’t be lying if I say that I never told you when he asks,” she said, looking at me intently.

Then, it clicked. She wanted me to figure it out on my own, which was why she was not telling me, and also so it wouldn’t get us into trouble with whoever this person was.