Chapter 48
Zoe
Is it really possible to get over the past? Or does it always catch up with you at one point or another?
—Zoe
Later, I won’t be able to remember what I was doing backstage. I think Katie wanted me to get something from one of the prop rooms. In the end, it doesn’t really matter why I go there, just that I do.
As I’m turning a corner, I see Reed and Charlotte walking down the corridor.
Reed looks angry, and he’s holding Charlotte by the arm.
He pulls her after him, and she tries to break away, but he’s gripping her arm too tightly.
I follow them without thinking and suddenly get a bad feeling in my stomach.
Charlotte is clearly trying to get away from him, but she doesn’t look scared.
I walk quietly so they won’t hear my footsteps; they haven’t noticed me yet.
I briefly wonder if I should get help. Whatever is going on between the two of them doesn’t seem to be good.
But instead, I keep following them and watch Reed pull Charlotte into one of the changing rooms. He slams the door behind them.
But I can still hear their voices clearly when I stop outside the room. There’s just a gap of a few inches at the bottom, just wide enough that I can hear every word.
“You’re making this more dramatic than it needs to be,” Charlotte says.
“I’m making this dramatic?” I can hear the incredulity in Reed’s voice. “Are you fucking serious?” he says sharply.
I’m about to open the door and ask if everything’s okay when I hear my own name and stop dead.
“I can’t get Zoe expelled!” Reed hisses.
My body turns to ice. Freezing cold from one second to the next. What the hell?
“Of course you can. Just talk to your uncle,” Charlotte says condescendingly, and I wonder how I could have been worried for her even for a second.
“I can’t! What am I supposed to tell him?
That you’re a jealous bitch because, unlike you, Zoe has parents who actually love her?
Because she’s actually liked by her classmates?
Should I tell him that you want to get rid of her because she’s better than you?
I don’t know a thing about ballet. Just because I convinced him to accept you here doesn’t mean—”
“I got accepted because I’m good!”
He laughs. “You got accepted because you blackmailed me, Charlotte. And then I had to make up some bullshit about your reach on social media being good for the school and how this place means soooo much to you.”
His voice sends a shudder down my spine. I should really leave, but I’m paralyzed. Charlotte blackmailed Reed. This is insane. And now she’s trying to get me expelled?
“Do I have to remind you why I was able to blackmail you in the first place?” Her voice has become menacingly soft.
“Fuck you, Charlotte!”
“No, thank you. Talk to your uncle, Reed, or I swear to you, I’ll tell the whole world that Zoe wasn’t lying and that you were the one who raped her.”
My heart stops. One second. Two seconds. Then it starts again, much too fast. I’m dizzy. Why am I suddenly so dizzy?
What did she say? My mind is messing with me. This isn’t really happening; it can’t be.
“Forget it! If I’m going down, you’re going down with me, Charlotte! You’re just as guilty as I am. You put the roofies in her drink, and you sent me to her room. You told me she wanted it.”
I.
Can’t.
Breathe.
“And you’re a gullible idiot! Make sure she’s expelled, and then no one will find out. Now get out of here. If anyone sees you, there will be questions.”
The door opens, and I’m still standing there, motionless. Charlotte. Reed. Me.
One night.
Then everything was different.
My chest feels much too narrow. So does my whole body. Everything is so, so wrong.
Charlotte gave me the roofies. My best friend.
Reed raped me. My brother’s oldest friend.
I need to run far, far away, and I fight the urge to scream, cry, and call for help. But I can’t move.
I’m paralyzed.
Breathe, Zoe.
Reed raped me.
Charlotte helped him.
“Fuck!” Reed’s yell snaps me out of my trance, and I whirl around and run. But his legs are longer. He’s faster than me, and Charlotte doesn’t bother to keep up with him. I want to scream as he grabs me by the wrist and drags me into the next room, but I can’t make a sound. My voice doesn’t work.
It’s so dark in here. So dark. The door closes with a solid click behind us.