Page 49 of Dirty Liars
For once, he doesn’t push it. He actually leaves.
Now this, this really makes me wonder what’s going on with the holy trinity.
Dana shows up not too much later to check on me for lunch, and to stock up on some of those chocolates, when she sees the half-empty cocoa on the floor and shakes her head.
“What did you do to those boys?”
I glance up from my work and mime pulling my hair out from the roots. “I don’t know, but their guilt is starting to drive me a little insane.”
As if to drive the point home further, there is one last knock.
Both Dana and I look at each other, then at the door and shout for them to go away. The silence on the other side of the door is deafening.
“I think that might keep them at bay for a bit,” Dana says on her way out, but she makes me promise not to let them distract me any further.
I think it’s just guilt making them act like this. Once time has passed again, they’ll go back to their old ways. It’s how things are. But I’m going to enjoy their sweetness while it lasts. That’s why, even though I was getting a little bit smothered earlier, I’m disappointed when they don’t come back later on in the day.
But they gave me this time to study, so study I do.
In the morning, I ace the test.
Even though all I did was stay in bed all day yesterday, I’m still exhausted after the make-up exam so I head back up to my room to take a nap instead of heading straight to first period. I need a nap, and my teachers know that I’ve just come out of the hospital so they’re a little more forgiving about me missing a few more classes.
I sleep a little longer than I mean to and end up rushing down to try and catch the last half of French class. Madame Bisset is already concerned for me, and I don’t want to give her any more reason to look too closely. I’m in such a hurry to get to class that my hair is still plastered to the back of my head in a tangle when I nearly walk straight into Chris Hardy.
He’s one of Astor’s less friendly minions. Unlike Astor, he doesn’t have a secret soft side. He’s all hard edges and cruel jokes.
“Oh look, it’s the druggie. They didn’t send you to rehab?”
I take a couple steps back and evaluate whether or not I can just walk by him … but I took the back staircase and it’s too narrow. I took this on purpose to try and avoid running into anyone, but I guess this now defeats the purpose.
“Come on Chris, let me pass.” I look past him and try to walk forward, but he just juts out and arm and stops me in my tracks.
“I don’t think so. Not until I’m finished with you.”
Chris slaps the top of my books with the palm of his hand, knocking them out of my arms with a thunderous sound as they slam onto the concrete floor. Before I can start to recover from the shock, he’s grabbed me by each of my shoulders and shoved me up against a wall.
My voice doesn’t seem to be working. I was just trying to get to class. This isn’t the first time Chris has tried to haze me, doubtless under Astor’s orders, but it was always small things before. And it was never physical.
He draws one arm across my throat so his forearm presses against my windpipe. His free hand bats mine away and reaches down to grope my breasts. I start to struggle, but he just pushes harder on my throat and I can’t breathe.
His hand moves feverishly down to the top of my skirt and starts untucking my shirt so he can shove his hand up it. I try to push him off me again, but he presses hard enough it feels like my windpipe is about to collapse.
His hand is up my shirt, trying to wheedle its way into my bra when he’s yanked backward so hard he nearly falls on his ass. I slump forward, my hands flying up to my neck as I gasp for air. It burns and stings on the way down to my lungs. I finally glance up, my breath slowly returning to me, and I see it’s Astor holding him by the collar of his shirt.
Never before have I seen rage like that in a man’s eyes.
“Hardy! Don’t you dare lay a hand on her again. Get up, get on your feet. Now!”
Chris stands up in total shock; his face red as he looks at Astor in confusion. I can almost see a puppy misunderstanding its master before me.
Astor isn’t done. He lunges forward, this time grabbing Chris by the front of his shirt. Both boys are big, but Astor has a certain authority about him that makes him fill the whole room. “You’re lucky it was me that caught you. Blair probably wouldn’t let you live.”
He holds him there for a second longer, then lets him go to stumble back again.
“You walk over to her right now and apologize, and it better be genuine, or I will hang your ass from the flagpole myself, right now.”
Chris comes straight for me and I can see him trembling. He glances at Astor, and then back at me. I’m glad I’m not the only one completely terrified of him.
