Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
I’m not ready for that.
So, I close my eyes and allow myself to float in this enjoyable feeling of softness and bliss. I hold him like I’ll never have to let go.
I let myself enjoy tonight as if tomorrow will never come.
___
The unwelcome sound of my alarm clock is what wakes me.
I’m confused at first, annoyed at the sound and the too-bright light streaming in through the windows.
At first, it’s just like any other morning following a long night of not sleeping enough, but while the burning of my eyes is a familiar sensation, another is not.
Between my legs, I feel wet and sticky. A bloom of horror breaks open inside me when I touch the inside of my thigh and memories of last night come rushing back to me.
Landon fucked me last night.
I swallow, looking at the empty side of my bed. There’s no sign he was ever there, so he must have left after I fell asleep.
I fish my panties and shorts that he took off while I was sleeping out from beneath the comforter, then I gaze with horror at the stained bed sheets.
Oh my god. What do I do?
Antonia is coming today, but I can’t let her see these.
With shaky hands, I do the only thing I can think to do.
I call Hannah.
“Hello?” she answers, sounding a little alarmed since I don’t usually call her in the mornings.
“Hey, I have a question.”
I can hear my voice shaking. My legs feel wobbly with panic, too.
“Okay,” she says tentatively.
“It’s a cleaning question. Um, it might be kind of gross.”
“Okay,” she says, her tone even more unsure.
“Do you know how to get blood and cum out of sheets?”
For several seconds, she doesn’t say anything.
“The maid is coming today. Or the housekeeper or whatever, but I don’t want her to see them because she might tell my mom or Hayden. I don’t know what the housekeeper code is, but I’m guessing something like that might be reported. And then if that gets reported, I have to explain it, and I can’t explain it. So, I don’t know what to do. I have these sheets on my bed and I… should I just steal them? Should I shove them in my backpack and ditch them at school? Should I burn them? Can I just clean them? I don’t know what to do, Hannah.”
“Breathe,” she says calmly, since it’s clear from my ramble that I’m panicking. “Take a deep breath, then let it out.”
I do, blowing the breath out audibly as I try to gather my wits.
“Now, are you okay?” she asks.
“I’m fine. I’m okay. I just don’t know what to do with these sheets.”
“Are you sure? Did he… hurt you?”
“No. He… didn’t hurt me. I don’t want to talk about that right now, I just need to figure out…”
“The sheets,” she says softly. “We can handle the sheets. As it happens, I do know how to get both of those things out. If you want, you can bag the sheets and bring them to me. Or I can walk you through it.”
I nod. “Okay. Yeah. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
___
I flee the house without breakfast, opting instead to stop and get myself a breakfast croissant on my way to school. I eat it in the car, gazing up at the looming school building and thinking it has never looked so intimidating before.
It’s not until I’m on my way in and I realize Landon’s parking spot is empty that the feeling shifts.
I’m running a little behind since I stopped to buy myself breakfast, but presumably Landon ate whatever Antonia made for breakfast.
He should be here by now.
I don’t know what it means that he isn’t, but it makes my stomach hurt.
The prospect of seeing him made my stomach hurt, too, so maybe a stomachache was inevitable today.
I feel better knowing where he is, though.
As I enter the building, I pull my phone out of my purse to make sure I don’t have any texts from Mom. My thoughts go to catastrophic places. Something happened to him, or somehow Hayden found out what happened even though I know that’s unlikely.
Unless he caught Landon leaving my room.
I fell asleep with Landon still inside me, and I have no memory of him leaving, so I have no idea what happened.
My heart flips over when I see a text notification, but plummets when I see who it’s from.
Javi sent me another picture of the ocean, this time with a brighter sky since it’s later in the morning than when he goes for his runs.
I feel a pinch of guilt looking at it, but I don’t have the time or mental energy to deal with that right now. I know I should be exhausted since I barely slept last night, but I feel wired, bordering on jittery, when I check in on the book drive to make sure everything is on track.