Page 111 of Play With Me
A few teammates of mine walk into the Cove, and they turn to look at me, one nodding in my direction and the other giving me a thumbs up. A silent gesture of support, I guess. I’m thankful for it. It could so easily go the other way, but the person I want the most support from isn’t here. I glance down at my phone.
One more minute until he arrives.
He’d better fucking be here, I think.
As I stare at my phone, Maya messages me, telling me everything is ready to go. That must mean that not only does she have all the stuff she needs to publish, but she has contacts in the media as well. Someone just needs to give her the go-ahead.
It’s up to us to put an end to Colton’s misery, to set him free from his family.
The clock ticks forward, and I glance toward the doors, but the man I’m waiting for doesn’t show up. Paulie must notice my growing panic because he stares at me, worry in his gaze. But he doesn’t break away from his friends, just continues to chat with them while we both wait. We’ll give him time.
But fifteen minutes later, my food growing cold in front of me, I realize he may not show up.
I shoot him a text, asking where he is.
He reads it immediately but takes his time responding, almost as if he’s coming up with a good excuse.
When he finally does message, he replies that he can’t make it. He’ll explain soon. It’s curt and not at all what I was hoping for.
My heart sinks, and my mind is stuck on the first part. He can’t make it. Not even an apology for letting me walk into the lion’s den myself. He left me here to face my peers alone.
I respond, telling him that we made a promise to do this together, that we both need to be unashamed. I hit send just as Paulie makes his way over to me.
“You need to eat that,” he tells me softly. “Don’t give them anything more.”
“They’re all talking about me, huh?”
“Yeah, but it’s not all bad. Half of them are pissed that anything was leaked in the first place. Maya needs to get thatinfo out to the public, so you look like the victim you are in all of this.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” I still want Colton to be the one to pull the trigger. It’s his life. I don’t know whether I have that right.
So, I do what Paulie suggests and force the food down. I even talk animatedly with him, even though inside I’m slowly dying. But he’s right, I don’t want to give them anything. By the time we leave, I’m exhausted, drained, and ready for bed.
There has to be a reason Colton didn’t show up. I know he’ll tell me what happened, but it better be a damn good reason. Because as Paulie and I make our way back to his car, I feel those stares, hear laughter following me all the way home.
I don’t even want to go to class tomorrow. I just want to hide in bed all day, to pretend none of this exists. But I can’t. Because I have to show them—specifically his stepfather—that they won’t win this. That they might try to hurt me, hurthim, but we will persevere.
Those photos won’t ruin us.
If anything, they will ruin him.
So, I pick myself up slowly and make my way through the next two days.
Without him
Colton doesn’t call me, so I assume the worst—that he’s decided I’m not worth it.
At first, I thought maybe he was hurt in some way, but he assured me he wasn’t.
His brief, placating text messages don’t help my worry. They don’t give me anything to work with, so I imagine it all. All to the detriment of my mental health.
Midweek, I see that Maya released the tapes. I didn’t tell her to, but I’m assuming Colton told her to go ahead.
It makes me incredibly proud as I watch his stepfather and mother face criticism and humiliation as more and more isbrought into the light. Secret after secret is exposed. The videos Maya sent in are damning, and there’s nothing they can really do to defend themselves. Colton’s family, which rarely made the news unless they were featured at a charity gala, is now a huge society scandal.
The media are reporting nonstop on how cruelly his mother and stepfather treated Colton for years, even bringing up the allegation that Erick had Colton’s father murdered. It goes further than this because there’s a police cover-up to consider as well. It’s all a major shitshow, bigger than even I imagined. I don’t think Erick considered this when he threatened me, but I’m proud of us for exposing it. Of Colton for telling Maya to publish it, and for Maya in making good on her promise to take this family down.
Speaking of my sister, she’s taking the brunt of the press, attending different interviews that have been requested. I’ve been called and emailed, and I’m sure Colton is receiving his fair share of inquiries as well, but I don’t answer and I don’t respond. I don’t want to explain myself. I just want to be left alone.
