11. Wren
11
WREN
M y lungs cramp and my throat aches as I try my best to get my breathing under control. Shame and humiliation fill me as I’m on my knees with the taste of Briggs’s cum on my tongue.
When I agreed to do this, I never thought it would be this bad. I’ve never given a blow job before, but I can’t believe what Briggs just did to me is normal in any way. I couldn’t breathe. I thought he was going to kill me. Choking me with his cock.
Now the asshole is patting my back, trying to calm down the storm he caused.
I wish I’d chosen the hand jobs, but at the time, this seemed like the lesser of two evils. Why? Because at least I only had one guy to touch. It was probably irrational, but the thought of having any kind of sexual relations with three guys instead of one had made my choice easy. Maybe it’s a little of my mom’s fault too. She is known to jump from guy to guy and the last thing I want is to be like her.
I know it’s not the same. I’m very aware of not having a choice here. Well, not one that matters anyway. I’m pretty sure now that I chose wrong.
“Let’s go,” Preston urges his two friends. “Unless you’ve changed your mind and?—”
“I think she’s had enough for now.” Briggs’s voice booms through the room. “Plus, I’ll stand by my word. I’ll leave her alone for the rest of the day.”
“You didn’t promise her we would leave her alone,” Carter’s sinister voice fills the space, and my fear revs up once more. “You don’t have to touch her…”
“I said she’s had enough!” For once, I’m actually glad Briggs is here. “Let’s go,” he orders, as he straightens up.
His friend mumbles something under his breath I can’t make out, and I probably don’t want to either, before all three of them exit the room.
“See you tomorrow, bird,” Briggs reminds me before the door closes behind him, leaving me alone on my knees in the center of the room.
Regaining my composure, I grab my backpack off the floor and get up to my unsteady feet. My knees are weak, and my heart is still racing in my chest when I head to the door and leave the classroom of my nightmares.
As I walk down the hallway to the next bathroom, I feel like everyone is staring at me, like they know what just happened. I speed walk faster, not caring that I’m almost running now.
When I finally get to the bathroom, I’m relieved to find it empty. I drop my backpack next to the sink and turn on the faucet. Using my palms to gather water, I splash some on my face before I drop my head sideways into the sink and let the water run into my mouth. Straightening up, I swish the water around my mouth before spitting it back in the sink.
That’s when I take in my reflection in the mirror. My face is pale, my eyes are puffy and red, my long, brown hair is a tangled mess, and my lips are swollen.
There is no way I’m going to my next class, I decide. I weigh my options. I walked to school this morning, and I would rather not make another hour trip on my already worn-out shoes. The only other choice I have is to ask someone for a jump, and the only person who would help me is Maya.
I pull out my old phone with the huge crack on the front screen. I unlock it and go to my text messages.
ME: HEY, CAN YOU HELP ME OUT AND GIVE MY CAR A JUMP?
She texts back almost immediately.
MAYA: SURE THING! I’LL MEET YOU IN THE PARKING LOT IN TWENTY MINUTES. I’M STILL IN CLASS RIGHT NOW.
ME: THANK YOU!
Picking up my backpack from the ground, I sling it over my shoulder and make my way to the parking lot to wait for Maya. I stand there waiting, hoping that I’m not going to run into Briggs and his friends out here again.
When Maya finally comes walking toward me, I sigh in relief. She wears a smile I wish I could reciprocate, but the corners of my mouth just won’t turn up, no matter how hard I try to force them.
“Oh no, what did he do now?” she questions when she gets closer.
I think about telling her everything, but I’m not ready to relive what I just went through. “You know the usual.” I try to downplay it. “Tormenting me every chance he gets.”
“I’m sorry he is such an ass, and I’m even more sorry that there is nothing I can do to help.”
“You are helping me right now. I really need my car to drive home.”
“Do you have a jumper cable?” Maya asks. When I nod, she continues, “Hold on, I’ll drive my car in front of yours.”
Her car is parked a few rows down from mine, and she drives it over quickly, popping her hood before she gets out of it. I get the jumper cables from my trunk and pop my own hood. As I connect the cables, I say a silent prayer in my head, hoping that it will start. I get behind the wheel and squeeze my eyes shut as I turn the key in the ignition. The motor stutters a few times but rumbles to life a moment later.
“Thank fuck.” I sigh.
“Yay!” Maya claps her hands together in joy. “I’m glad I could help!”
“Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver,” I say, climbing out of my car to give her a hug.
“You’re welcome,” Maya answers while hugging me back. “I’ll be your hero anytime you need me.”
I thank her three more times before taking the cable off and closing our hoods. Maya says goodbye, and she drives off in her small car while I get into my own little death trap. At least it’s no longer the slut mobile.
The entire ten-minute drive home, I think about what Briggs did to me in that room while his friends were watching. I feel disgusted and used, angry and, most of all, helpless. As he told me over and over again, there is no one who would help me, not even the police would go against one of the five families. Not with Carter’s dad being the chief of police.
The only way to get away from him is to leave this town, go somewhere he isn’t part of a powerful group of people. But how am I going to do that? I have barely enough money to live, and my scholarship is only good for this school. My options are slim, and I know the only way out is through. I have to somehow live through this until I graduate. I only hope his cruelty has an end. I don’t know how much more I can take of this. How much further is he going to take this?
Tears prick my eyes by the time I park in front of my apartment complex, but I blink them away. I walk inside and up the staircase that always has the faint smell of piss hanging in the air.
I’m so engrossed in what happened with Briggs today that I completely forget about another danger lurking in the shadows. I unlock the door to my apartment and push inside.
“There she is,” Brandon sneers. “I was thinking you were never going to come home.”
I have half the mind to turn around and run, but where the fuck am I going to go? “Where is Buck?”
“Beer run,” he answers right away, his beady eyes roaming my fully clothed body, making me feel exposed.
If Buck is on a beer run, that means he is not drunk yet, and he’ll be back any minute now. Brandon is not stupid enough to do anything now. I close the door behind me and speed walk toward my room.
“Where do you think you are going?” He jumps up from the couch and cuts off my way. Alarm bells go off in my mind.
“My room. I have to get ready for work.” It’s not a lie. Even though my shift doesn’t start for a few hours, I do have to get ready soon.
“Maybe I can help you get ready?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” I say sternly, but he still doesn’t get the message.
He takes a step toward me. The smell of sweat and alcohol invades my senses. The little I ate today is threatening to come back up as I take a few steps back. The back of my thighs presses against the side table, and I know I have nowhere else to go.
Brandon eats up the space between us and the same fear I felt earlier with Briggs comes rushing back. My hand shakes as I reach back until my fingers brush against the lamp.
“Let’s have a little fun before Buck comes back, shall we?” He reaches for me, his dirty fingers grabbing the side of my face, making me recoil. “Don’t be shy. I know girls like you want it.”
I grab hold of the lamp, and with all the strength I have, I swing it upward at his head. The base crashes into the side of his skull with a shilling sound. His head flies to the left while he stumbles back.
Not wasting any time, I try to get past him and into my room, but he recovers quickly, grabbing my arm with his left. He surprises me when his right fist slams into my face. My head snaps to the side, and for a moment, I see black. My knees go weak, and it takes everything in me not to let the darkness pull me under. His cruel hands are on me and all I can do is hope for a miracle.
“What the fuck?” Buck’s voice booms into the room. “Get off her!”
I blink my eyes open and slump against the wall closest to me. My heart races in my chest, and my head feels murky. I look up at Buck still standing in the door, holding a twenty-four pack of beer under his arm while glaring at his friend. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?”
“Nothing.” Brandon waves him off. “We were just having a little fun. Isn’t that right, Wren?”
“Fuck off, you psycho!” I yell at him.
“Get the fuck out before I kick your ass,” Buck growls. I’ve never seen my usual carefree roommate so upset. “Now!”
“That bitch hit me with your lamp,” Brandon tries to argue, pointing at the lamp on the ground.
Buck puts down his beer and heads to his room. “I’m getting my shotgun.”
“Jesus, fine!” Brandon throws up his hands. “I’m fucking leaving already.”
“Good and don’t come back, asshole,” Buck sneers as Brandon walks past him and out the door.
I bring my hand up to my cheek, where the asshole punched me. I hiss when my fingers brush over the already swollen skin.
“Are you all right?” Buck asks with serious concern in his voice. “I’m sorry I brought that asshole in here, darlin’. I never would have if I had known what a prick he was.”
“It’s okay, Buck. You didn’t know.”
He gets me a bag of frozen vegetables from the freezer. “I knew these would be good for something one day.” He hands me the bag, and I place it on my cheek. The cold feels amazing on my throbbing face.
“I’m going to go to my room and get ready for work,” I state.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You got hit in the face pretty good.”
“I’m fine,” I assure him. I need to go to work because I need the money. Not mentioning that a punch in the face is not even the worst thing that happened to me today.