I lead Lyss into my bedroom and shut and lock the door. She crosses her arms and stands in the middle of the room. She looks on the verge of tears. "What happened Alyssa?" She looks around my room for a minute before talking.
"I got your text last night but decided to wait before calling you, cause I figured you were with Adrian. I got really, really drunk and danced a lot with this guy named Zeke. He seemed cool and I was just having fun. By the end of the night I could barely walk so Zeke said he'd give me a ride home. He helped me to his car and sat me in the backseat. I asked if he had anything to drink and he said he had some water in the trunk. I was kind of in and out of it so I don't know how long he was gone, but the last thing I remember is taking the water from him. This morning I woke up having no clue what happened or where I was. My phone is missing." She finally starts crying and I catch her before she falls onto the floor.
"God, Lyssa, I'm so sorry." I hug her and she clings onto me like her life depends on it. And in a small way, I think right now it does. "Have you talked to the police?" I feel her shake her head.
"No and I don't want to. I don't want to tell anyone." I frown.
"Lyssa, I can't just not say anything to anyone. Especially Bren, since she let you in. She's going to ask me what happened."
"Lie to her. Please Emma. I can't tell anyone. I can't..."
"Okay, shh, I won't. Let's get you in the shower okay? Clean you up." She nods and I lead her to the bathroom. I make sure the other door is locked before starting the water. I go to leave, to give Lyss some privacy, but she's just sitting on the closed toilet doing nothing. I look at her a few seconds before making up my mind that I'm her best friend and right now she needs me more than anything, and I need to be there for her, no matter what I need to do.
I stand her up and help her undress, helping her wash up under the water. I cringe as I see the cuts, scrapes, and already nasty bruises all over her body. After she's cleaned up I dress her in my robe and lay her on my bed. It looks as if she's asleep before her head hits the pillow.
I gather her clothes, which smell like booze, and put them in a trash bag. After hanging up the towel I bring the bag downstairs to the garbage bin outside. Just as I'm coming inside Bren appears in the kitchen. "What happened to Lyssa?"
"She got drunk last night and got into a fight." I don't feel bad for lying to Bren, but it feels wrong to lie about what happened to her. Bren shakes her head while tidying up the table.
"What does her mother think of her drinking?" I shrug. "Maybe I should have a talk with them." I glare at Bren as she glances at the phone.
"Don't. You hardly know them, it's not your place to say anything." She puts her hands on her hips.
"Well I don't see you doing a thing about it, do I? No, you tag along with her." I roll my eyes and open the fridge, scanning my options. I suddenly feel starving. I grab the leftover pasta casserole and stick it in the microwave. I can feel Bren's eyes on me as I get a fork and a bottle of water. I finally turn on her.
"What do you want Brenda?" She narrows her eyes.
"I want a stepdaughter that's a little more respectful."
"Yeah, well I want a stepmom that's not such a self righteous bitch with a spoiled brat daughter. But we can't have everything we want, can we?" As soon as the words come out I know I'm going to regret them later, but that felt too good to care about the consequences. I watch Bren open her mouth a few times before stalking off into the living room. No doubt to bother my dad at work.
I shake my head as I open the microwave door and take my casserole out. I gather the fork and water and head back up to my room. I almost make it when I can hear my cell phone ringing from my bed. I open the door without managing to drop my food and set it on my dresser, hurrying to answer the phone before the other person hangs up. I glance at caller ID but don't recognize the number.
"Hello?"
"Hi Emma."
"Who's this?"
"Adrian."
"Oh, hey! How'd you get my number?"
"Oh, um, I'm good at guessing?" I chuckle and set my water bottle on the dresser beside the food.
"Yeah right. Fess up."
"Okay, it was Lyssa. But tell her I tortured it out of her." I smile and glance down at her. She's exactly as I left her. "So, I'm not busy today and was wondering if you wanted to show me around town."
"Don't you have a job or something?"
"I start that tomorrow."
"Convenient." I look casually out my window to see him sitting on his bed. I jerk back and accidentally hit the wall, which makes me curse.
"You okay over there?" I rub my head.
"Yeah, just stepped on something."
"So what do you say?"
"I wish I could, really, but I'm kind of busy today."
"Oh, doing what?" It might just be my imagination, but he seems disappointed.
"Uhmm.. I can't really get into details but I have to stay with Lyss today."
"I saw her walking up a bit ago. She okay?"
"Uh, not really."
"Anything I can do?" I think about asking him if he'd like to beat the shit out of someone, but decide against it.
"No, that's okay."
"Well hey, if you two need anything, just come over." I'm about to tell him thanks and I'll call him later, when I stop. I didn't read the text last night but I'm still stressing over that, and now I have Lyss to take care of.
"Well, maybe some company wouldn't be a bad idea. Mind hanging out over here?" I take a chance and peek into Adrian's room just in time to catch him smiling.
"Sure, I'll be over in a few minutes."
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