Page 132 of Unexpected Prejudice

As I spoke, my sight landed on my broken leg. They didn’t kill me, but they killed my future. I’d never be able to play football again, meaning my scholarship was gone, and with it, the chance of going to college. And while I had lost everything, they were still out there, enjoying life and hurting others.

“No, you don’t understand,” he said calmly. “They’ve been arrested, for real this time. They’re not getting away with what they did to you.”

His words shocked me, and I turned to look at him with my mouth slightly open. For a second, I was taken aback by the dark circles under his eyes, but then I reminded myself that his pain was irrelevant and that I couldn’t bring myself to care for him. Not anymore.

“How?”

He scoffed. “I made it happen.”

“You made it… happen?”

Shay-Lee raked his fingers through his blond hair before sitting on the chair beside the bed. “I made it look like what they did to you was a hate crime and ensured everyone knew about it.”

He did what?

“How?”

“It’s better if you don’t know.”

“Nah,” I said. “If you’re not going to tell me everything, you better go.”

Rubbing his knees with his palms, he bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Fine, let’s see…” He hesitated for a second. “I planted evidence, paid off some eyewitnesses, and brought back all the homophobic shit they spat out for the past year.”

Did he just admit to fabricating evidence for my sake? But why?

“You broke the law?”

“Many times.”

Irritated, I clenched my jaw. “You know what I mean.”

He huffed. “Yeah, I do. I mean, yes, I broke the law. But only to make sure they went to prison.”

“Why?”

“Because they almost killed you, and even without that, I promised you they would pay for what they did to Laura.”

Nothing of what he was saying made sense.

“But you betrayed me. At the party, you—” My throat went dry, and I struggled to speak. I was in no state to have this conversation, and yet, I wasn’t about to put an end to it. There was still stuff I needed to hear so I’d know if that little shred of hope blinking inside my chest could be real.

“Here.” He handed me a cup of water which I drank slowly, using a straw.

“Better?”

Ignoring his question, I put the plastic cup down. They broke my left arm, but at least kept my right one almost untouched. “Why go through the trouble? Why do all of that? You made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Because I made a promise to you. It was all part of my plan that went completely off the rails.” He then leaned closer, his eyes meeting mine. “You were right that night at Don’s room, when you said I cared for you. I do, a lot.”

His words surprised me, making my chest tight with warmth. For so long I’d been desperate for him to say something about how he felt, and he finally had. Shay-Lee just said he cared for me. But before I got too excited, I reminded myself that Shay-Lee was a master of lies and manipulations. If the guy said good morning, you had to look outside and search for the moon. So, who knew if he was telling the truth?

“Go on.”

“At first, I planned to get a confession out of them, to record them admitting to raping Laura. Considering how they told me everything, it wouldn’t have been a challenge, but I still needed to make it look like I was still their best pal. Ever since the night at Pacific Green, they suspected something was happening between you and me. It’s one of the reasons they treated you the way they did. They were jealous I was fond of you. After being their friend all those years, you know how they are. They always need to feel special, like they have power. They always sought my approval, and suddenly, my attention was on you. That’s why I ignored you, to make them think you were nothing to me. I thought that would work, and they would trust me again, but then you showed up at that party.”

Don and Lin always wanted to be at the top of the food chain, and since Shay-Lee was ruling our school, they did their best to stay as close to him as possible. What Shay-Lee was telling me right now didn’t sound unlikely and actually made a lot of sense. I was never noticeable, and even though Shay-Lee and I kept our relationship a secret, there were still times he treated me differently. So, Shay-Lee hadn’t ignored me because he changed his mind, but because he wanted to keep me safe?

“They were about to hit you, so I panicked and tried to chase you away. I thought it would work if I said all those terrible things to you.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I called you right after the party, but you didn’t pick up.”