Chapter 29 #2
The Hopelys’ patio was completely dark. I stood and asked myself whether I wanted to go home or back inside their house.
My entire body resisted the idea of going back in, screaming for me to leave through the backyard and run to my house.
But I knew if I did that, I would have to tell my parents why I had come home.
Cassandra would wonder why I left early.
There would be no way to hide what had just happened.
I tried to picture walking into my home and telling my mother what Gary had just done to me, but the words caught in my throat.
I couldn’t tell them now, not like this. And Cassandra? She was going to hate me enough already after what had happened with Will and Alex earlier. I couldn’t put this on her too. I had to go back into the Hopely house and wait it out.
I could get through the rest of the night and leave first thing in the morning. I would figure out what to do tomorrow. I wiped the tears from my eyes until I was sure all was quiet inside. I crept my way back to Cassandra’s room.
Cassandra was waiting for me, awake and staring at her door. We were both silent for a moment looking at each other.
“Are you okay?” she asked, surveying me. There was something strange about her expression. I nodded, still shaking, and crawled back into the bed beside her.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
It was early the next morning when Cassandra and I were woken up by a loud conversation. Somewhere deeper in the house, we could hear tense voices.
“What are they going on about?” Cassandra asked, rolling over sleepily.
“I already checked everywhere in the house!” Mrs. Hopely was saying. “And the pool and the backyard.”
“Did you call the Dearlings?” Mr. Hopely asked, voice rising. “Maybe she’s over there?”
The sound of his voice made me shudder, reliving what had happened the night before, but Cassandra didn’t notice. She was listening to her parents intently, trying to figure out who they were talking about. Her entire body was still.
“I already did,” Mrs. Hopely snapped. “She’s not there. They broke up last night.”
“Oh … Well, what about her other friends?”
“I already called them all. She’s not with them. Her car is still here, Gary. So is her phone. And her bed is still made. Why would she leave without her phone?”
“She snuck out last night.” That voice belonged to Victoria. “I saw her leave.”
“Excuse me?” Mr. Hopely’s voice was a roar. “And you let her?”
“We were fighting,” Victoria said. “I told her I wouldn’t cover for her. But I thought she’d come home.”
“What time was this?” Mr. Hopely roared again.
“I don’t know. Eleven? Midnight?”
“Where was she going?”
“I didn’t ask. Maybe to see Will?”
“I’m telling you, she didn’t make it home,” Mrs. Hopely insisted. “I don’t think she slept here!”
Gary went silent and then said, “Victoria, go wake up the girls.”
A second later, Cassandra’s door swung open and Victoria’s pale face appeared in the doorway.
“Get up,” she said quickly, clearly tense. “Alex is missing. Mom and Dad can’t find her anywhere.”
The next few minutes passed like seconds.
Cassandra and I pulled on shoes and jackets and headed outside with the rest of the family, screaming Alex’s name.
Mr. and Mrs. Hopely argued about what they should do next, and I tried very hard to avoid Mr. Hopely.
I couldn’t focus on my own pain or shame, not right now.
Not when Alexandria was missing. And while I knew it was like her to sneak out from time to time to see Will, she was always back in bed by morning.
She knew how strict her father was. She would never risk getting caught. Something was definitely up.
Sam grabbed me roughly by the shoulder as Cassandra and I looked in the side yard. “Rosie, go home and get your parents. We’ll need help looking.” She said this just as Mrs. Hopely said, “I’m going to call the police.”
I didn’t wait. I saw Mr. Hopely’s eyes narrow at me, watching as I took off into the woods, running down the familiar path that led to my own backyard.
I stopped at the edge of our patio, bent over and trying to catch my breath. I had a stitch in my side from the run. Too many things were weighing on me: Alex was missing, and Mr. Hopely had assaulted me.
I knew which was more pressing. I pulled myself up and realized I had left my keys in my bag in Cassandra’s room, but when I yanked on our back door, it was unlocked.
That seemed a little weird, but I had enough to worry about.
The door made the usual chirping alarm noise as I opened it, filling the silent, darkened house.
I have been assaulted. I couldn’t shake the thought as I stumbled back into the safety of my own home. Mr. Hopely forced me over the sink and touched me.
I felt tainted. Only yesterday, everything had been fine, and now I felt broken, used, and discarded. But I couldn’t do anything about that right now.
Will was in the kitchen with my mother, both of them speaking quickly and loudly, panic written across their faces.
“Did they find her?” he asked me as I walked into the room. “Her parents called. They said they think she left the house last night and didn’t come home.”
I shook my head, unable to find the words.
“What the hell is going on?” my father asked as he came down the hallway. Tommy followed behind him. They both rubbed sleepily at their eyes.
Mr. Hopely, I thought. That’s what’s going on.
But what I said was “We can’t find Alex. They’re all out looking for her.”
My family sprang into action at my words, throwing shoes on over bare feet and heading for the back door. But still, all I could think as we headed outside was Mr. Hopely attacked me.
Within ten minutes, we had found Alex’s body. Victoria spotted her first. Her scream led the rest of us to her.
I couldn’t move, the horrific sight twisting and solidifying into my brain. The girl I had known my entire life was now stiff and unmoving. Her eyes were open, and her clothes were practically torn from her body. No longer a girl, but a corpse left in the woods.
I watched both my family and the Hopelys grieve. Will broke down in my mother’s arms. Alex’s sisters were numb with pain. I heard her father’s guttural sobs.
Alex was dead and Mr. Hopely was her grieving father. I couldn’t say anything about what he’d done.
Within a week, at the Hopelys’ insistence, the police had zeroed in on Will. If I had said anything then about what Gary had done to me, it would have looked like retaliation. Who would have believed me?