Yesterday’s intimate moments with Jake
flashed through my mind.
Now, looking at the crumpled tissues on the
floor, a wave of humiliation washed over me,
tearing me in two.
((
<
8:05
Without another thought, I stumbled out of
there.
2
414
Back home, my aunt and uncle had breakfast
ready.
“Riley, honey, where’s Jake?” Aunt Carol asked, placing a bowl of oatmeal in front of me.
I forced a smile. “Jake went out with his friends
after the party last night, you know, to
celebrate.”
Aunt Carol added a side of bacon. “I knew I
couldn’t trust him. And your uncle always said
he’d take care of you.”
“It’s okay, Aunt Carol,” I said, trying to sound
casual. “The girls and I shared a hotel room, it
was safe.”
8:05
414
2022
“Oh, that’s good, yeah it’s probably better he wasn’t there then, a bunch of girls.”
I kept my head down, took a spoonful of
oatmeal. It burned my tongue. My eyes stung, but I didn’t dare look up. Aunt Carol would see
right through me.
Halfway through my oatmeal, Jake sauntered in, yawning, and plopped down across from me.
As Aunt Carol went to get him a plate, he kicked my leg under the table.
“Why’d you run off this morning?”
My breath hitched. My hand balled into a fist
under the table. How could he still act like this
after what happened?
When I didn’t answer, he snatched my oatmeal
and started eating it with my spoon.
<
8:05
1000
A familiar gesture. It was just like him to
playfully steal food to tease me growing up.
But things were different now.
414
Remembering this morning, anger flared inside
- me.
I stood up abruptly, grabbed the bowl, and
dumped the remaining oatmeal in the trash.
I looked at him, a cold fire in my eyes. “There’s
more in the kitchen if you want it.”
Jake stared at my bloodshot eyes, leaned back,
and crossed his legs.
“It’s just oatmeal, chill out.”
He stood up. “You’re still the same as when you
were a kid.”
I was speechless, like I’d swung a punch and hit
く
As he brushed past me, he slipped a small pill
into my pocket.
“Take it,” he murmured.
Watching him go upstairs, a chill ran through
me despite the summer heat.
He knew everything.
