Page 76 of Love is Angry

A wave of terror washes over me. Julian? My stomach curls into a tight, heavy ball. My impulse is to throw my phone outthe window and go back to sleep until everyone forgets I exist—but I know that will never happen. Something set Julian off and I need to know what—and what he’s intending to do about it.

12:06 PM: I fear I may not have been clear enough before.

12:07 PM: You were told to keep your whore mouth shut. You failed to do so. According to the terms of our agreement, I am now well within my rights to take action.

12:14 PM: I’m going to give you one last chance to avoid my wrath. Come to my house and sign an NDA regarding our relationship, sexual or otherwise. Submit a transfer request to a university out of state. Lose my children’s numbers and never contact them again. If you agree to these terms, you will be compensated and we will never speak of this again.

12:18 PM: Failure to do so will result in great loss and suffering. You have until 5o’clock.

Wow. Such drama. Like seriously over the top super-villain shit. Who the hell does Julian think he is?

12:20 PM: It’s not you who’ll lose everything, Maddie. It’s your dad.

My dad’s landlord—that’s who he thinks he is. And he’s right. Fuck!

I rub my eyes hard, then my head. It’s quarter to one now—that gives me, what, three, three and a half hours to figure out what to do?

“Goddammit,” I mutter, moving my stiff and uncoordinated body out of bed. “Coming through. Clumsy feet, watch yourself.”

“What’s going on?” Rita asks, more awake now and looking worried.

“A walking ego with more money than sense is posturing threateningly,” I tell her. “I can’t think. I have to shower.”

With the hot water running down my body, my sluggish brain slowly wakes up and I realize what must have happened. Rhue went home last night to talk to his dad. He must have toldhim that he knew what really happened that day. But why? Was he calling him out or warning him? Was he trying to ruin my life, or is he just really good at doing it accidentally?

“Fuck it,” I say as I step out of the shower and towel off. “I’m sick of these endless questions.”

Once I’m dressed, I head back into my room. My phone is still plugged in and sitting on my bed—and so is Rita. She has her lips pressed tight together.

“Okay, chick. I snooped. You can be pissed about it later if you want, but right now just tell me what I can do to help. Who is this creep? You aren’t really going to transfer, are you?”

I hesitate. “Rita,” I ask. “Are we friends?”

It’s the same question I asked when we were driving into the woods for our hazing. She quirks her lips at me, then peers over at Lindsey and Cameron. They’re still sleeping. She gestures for me to come closer, so I sit beside her on the bed.

“When I was fourteen, I walked in on my older cousin screwing my best friend’s mom. She paid me two hundred dollars to keep my mouth shut. I took the money and kept my mouth shut. You are literally the only person I’ve ever told.”

I want to trust her. I really do. “Not quite there,” I tell her. “Something personal.”

She cocks her head and thinks about it for a minute. After a while, she gives me a nervous look, then checks on the sleeping couple again. She takes one of my hands in hers and turns her face toward the wall.

“I didn’t take two gap years,” she says so quietly that I have to lean in to hear her. “I graduated a year late because I have a learning disability. Then, in my senior year, my best friend died. We were super close and it fucking wrecked me. I mean—really wrecked me. I spent eight months in a mental hospital because I couldn’t keep it together. I didn’t think I was going to make it to college. I thought I was going to die in there.”

A tear slides down her cheek and I squeeze her hands. She leans into me and I put my arms around her, holding her while she shakes.

“Okay,” I breathe after she calms down. “I was Rhue’s tutor. He and I were sort of becoming a thing—nothing official, just heavy flirtation. Rhue’s dad is my dad’s landlord, and he owns most of the commercial property in Rochester. Last year—he raped me. Rhue caught him, but assumed we were having an affair. I told Rhue’s mom and she killed herself. Last week, Rhue finally found out the truth. He went home yesterday and had a talk with his dad. Now his dad is threatening my dad if I don’t do what he wants me to do.”

I cringe, still hugging her. I blurted it out so fast I couldn’t change my mind, and now I desperately wish I could snatch the words out of the air and swallow them. I’m terrified that Rita is going to hate me or feel tainted by our friendship and never speak to me again.

She pulls back, putting her hands on my shoulders, and stares at me wide-eyed. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” she breathes. “Well shit, that explains a lot. I was all, why are these two so horrible to each other? They’re clearly in love. But that, yeah, that just about covers the whole kit ‘n’ caboodle, doesn’t it?”

“Woah,” I say, startled. “You think I’m in love with Rhue?”

“You think you aren’t?”

We stare at each other for a moment, then she waves her hand dismissively. “I get it, complicated emotions, no time to process. What are you going to do?”

“I need to go home,” I tell her as I find my jacket and shoes. “I need to warn my dad and help him figure a way out of this.”

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