Chapter 97: Chapter 97

He stalks toward Steph and grabs the small camera from her hands. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Dropping it to the ground, he stomps on it repeatedly.

“Chill out, dude, it was a joke,” she says and crosses her arms in front of her just as Tristan enters the room.

“A joke? You put something in her drink and you’re up here with a video camera while Dan tries to fucking rape her! That’s not a goddamn joke!”

Tristan’s mouth falls open. “What?”

Ever the manipulator, Steph points an accusatory finger at Zed and starts crying on command. “Don’t listen to him!”

Zed shakes his head. “No, man, it’s true. Go ask Jace. She asked him for a benzo—and now look at Tessa! The camera they were using is right there.” He points to the ground.

Holding the blanket against me, I try to sit up again. I fail.

“It was a prank. No one was going to hurt her!” Steph says with a fake chuckle that seems meant to hide her maliciousness.

But Tristan looks at his girlfriend in horror. “How could you do that to her? I thought she was your friend!”

“No, no, baby, it’s not as bad as it seems—it was Dan’s idea!”

Dan throws his arms up, also wanting to avoid blame. “What the fuck! No, it wasn’t my idea! It was yours.” He points to Steph and looks at Tristan. “She has a fucked-up obsession with Hardin . . . it was her idea.”

Shaking his head, Tristan turns to leave the room, but seems to change his mind as he swings his fist through the air, connecting with Dan’s jaw. Dan crumples to the floor, and Tristan makes toward the door again. Steph starts after him.

“Get away from me! We’re done!” he yells and disappears.

Circling, looking at everyone in the room, she yells, “Thanks a fucking lot!”

I want to laugh at the irony of her planning this horror show, then blaming everyone else when it backfires in her face. And were I not lying here, catching my breath, I would laugh.

Zed’s face hovers above mine. “Tessa . . . are you okay?”

“No . . .” I admit, feeling dizzier than ever. At first it was only my body that was slow; my mind was clouded only slightly, but now I can feel it becoming more and more affected by the drug.

“I’m sorry I left you alone. I should have known better.” After Zed tucks the blanket more tightly around me, one of his arms hooks under my legs and the other settles across my back, and he lifts me from the bed.

He starts carrying me out of the room, but he stops in front of Dan, who is just picking himself up off the floor. “I hope when Hardin finds out about what you did, he fucking kills you. You deserve it.”

I’m slightly aware of all the gasps and whispers going on around me as Zed carries me through the crowded house. I don’t care, though. I just want to escape from this place and never look back.

“What the hell?” I recognize Logan’s voice.

“Can you go upstairs and get her dress and purse?” Zed asks quietly.

“Yeah, sure, man,” Logan responds.

Zed backs through the front door, and cold air hits me, making me shiver. At least, I think I’m shivering, but I can’t really tell. Zed tries to tighten the blanket around me, but it keeps slipping. I’m not any help, since I can barely move my arms.

“I’m going to call Hardin as soon as I get you into my truck, okay?” Zed says.

“No, don’t,” I groan. Hardin will be so mad at me. The last thing I want is to be screamed at when I can barely keep my eyes open.

“Tessa, I really think I should call him.”

“Please, no.” I begin to cry again. Hardin is the only person I want to see right now, but I don’t want to know how he’ll react when he finds out what happened. If he had been the one to show up instead of Zed, what would he have done to Dan and Steph? Something that would’ve landed him in jail, I’m sure.

“Don’t tell him,” I say again. “None of it, shhh.”

“He’ll find out anyway. Even with the video destroyed, too many people know what happened.”

“No, please.”

I hear Zed’s frustrated sigh as he shifts my body into one arm so he can pull the passenger door of his truck open.

Logan comes back as Zed places me on the cold seat. “Here’s her stuff. Is she okay?” he asks with obvious concern.

“Yeah, I think so. She’s on benzo.”

“What the hell?”

“It’s a long story. Have you ever taken it?” Zed asks.

“Yeah, once, but only half, and I passed out after an hour. You better hope she doesn’t start hallucinating. Some people have crazy reactions to that stuff.”

“Shit,” Zed groans, and I can picture him twisting his lip ring between his fingers.

“Does Hardin know?” Logan asks.

“Not yet . . .”

The two of them continue to discuss me as if I’m not there, but I’m relieved when the heater in the truck finally shifts from blowing cold air to warm.

“I need to get her home,” Zed finally says, and within seconds he’s in the truck next to me.

Looking at me with a worried expression, Zed says, “If you don’t want me to tell him, where do you want to go? You can come to my place, but you know how pissed he’ll be when he finds out.”

If I could form an actual sentence, I’d tell him about our breakup, but since I can’t, I make a sound that is something between a cry and a cough. “Mother,” I manage.

“You’re sure?”