Beautiful, p.12
Beautiful, page 12
He nodded while shoveling in the pancakes. “I have a feeling I said something wrong,” he said with a smile. Kissing my mother on the cheek, he chuckled and said, “Love you, Mom.”
She sighed and replied, “I love you, too.”
Once we got into his truck, I laughed. “I would take her to that special spot y’all have. Maybe set up a picnic, bring one single rose, and ask her. She’ll like that.”
Mitch looked at me and smiled as he started to drive. “Thanks, Sky. What about you?”
Pinching my eyebrows together, I asked, “What about me?”
“Prom. Would you go if Wyatt asked you?”
I gripped my arms, as if in pain. The idea of going to prom with Wyatt had once been a dream. There would be nothing but whispers and stares if I went now. “I seriously don’t think Wyatt will ask, and if he did, I would say no.”
“Why?” he asked, frustrated.
With a gruff laugh, I shook my head and looked out the window. “Why would I go? So, I could hear people making snarky comments? Jenny would have a field day if I showed up at prom.”
“You have every right to be there, and she is just a bitch. No one cares anymore about what she says, Sky. Look at the people who have started talking to you again.”
I turned my head and looked at him. “A handful of people, Mitch. That’s it. The notes have finally started to die down. The last thing I want is to draw attention to myself again.”
“So, you’re going to miss your senior prom and let people like Jenny win?”
Swallowing hard, I forced the tears to stay at bay. “You don’t understand.”
“No, Skylar, I don’t understand. You were so happy with Wyatt. Things were getting better, I thought. You know deep down inside that Jenny set up Wyatt with that kiss, yet you keep him at arm’s length. You are miserable without him. Why can’t you admit that you love him?”
“What?”
Mitch laughed as he pulled into the dealership and parked. Looking at me, he shook his head. “Please don’t act like that is a shock to hear. The two of you are head over heels in love with each other. Stop letting what other people do or say keep you from happiness, Sky.”
My chin quivered as I looked into my brother’s eyes. “I’m scared, Mitch.”
Taking my hand in his, he kissed the back of it. “I know, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really believe with all my heart that Wyatt is the one. The way he looks at you, Skylar, anyone can see it.”
I chewed on my lower lip as I let his words sink in. “We’d better get going, or we’ll both be late.”
***
I couldn’t stop thinking about what Mitch had said earlier. Every class I sat in, I wouldn’t hear a damn thing the teacher said. Each time I closed my eyes, I’d only see Wyatt.
Am I in love with him?
I already knew the answer was yes. I thought I had fallen in love with him the first time he smiled at me.
The bell rang, causing me to jump. Jacob walked by me and smiled. I returned it with a polite smile.
As I walked to my locker, I knew what I had to do—face my fears, open my heart, and trust that Wyatt would take care of it.
Standing at my locker, I took in a deep breath of air. Opening the door, a note fell to the floor. I wasn’t even reading them anymore, but for some reason, this one caught my eye. There was a photo in it. I looked around as I bent down to pick it up. Slowly unfolding it, I caught my breath when I saw a picture of Jenny leaning against a wall with Wyatt resting his hand on the wall above her head. He was laughing as she smiled up at him. My heart fell to my stomach.
My heart pounded in my chest, but I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions, not this time.
“You’ve finally pushed him away.”
I looked up and saw Michelle staring at me. “What?”
“Sky, did you think he would sit around and wait for you? It’s been months since you’ve really talked to him. He probably got tired of waiting around for you to come to your damn senses.”
I glared at my best friend. She was frustrated with me. I knew that. She was like Mitch. Neither one of them understood why I’d tried to keep Wyatt at arm’s length.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I replied, “Why are you saying that? You know why I’ve done what I’ve done. The talking and the hate notes will just get worse.”
She glanced down at the picture in my hands. “Because they have really stopped.”
I was about to respond when I saw Wyatt walking up to us. Quickly moving the picture behind me, I took in a deep breath.
“Hey, Sky. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
My eyes bounced over to Michelle. She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head.
Ugh. Did she have any idea how hard it had been to ignore Wyatt? No. She thought it was easy, but it had about killed me.
As much as I knew I needed to talk to Wyatt, this was not the place. If I told him I was leaving, maybe he would offer to walk me out to my car.
“Um…I was actually getting ready to leave. I have a dentist appointment.”
Wyatt smiled that drop-dead gorgeous smile of his, and my heart dropped to my stomach.
“May I walk you out?”
I looked around to see if anyone was watching us. “Um…sure.” Shutting my locker, I turned to Michelle. “I’ll call you later?”
She smiled and nodded her head. “You’d better believe you will. See ya around, Wyatt.”
“See ya,” Wyatt said while pushing his fingers through his hair and smiling.
Oh God, I’ve missed seeing him do that. I felt an ache between my legs, but I pushed it aside.
As we walked outside, Wyatt tried his best to make me laugh, and I tried my best not to be charmed by him, but I felt myself smile. I still needed to find out about the picture.
Wyatt grabbed me by the arm and stopped walking. “Skylar, please. Please stop avoiding me. I can’t take it. All I do is think about you, and it’s killing me to see you walk through these halls every day. I miss you. I miss your laugh, your smile, your touch…the way your lips felt against mine.”
I wanted to fall into his arms. I wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay. But that familiar feeling of being scared crept up. “What about Jenny?” I asked, pulling my arm from him and walking again. For some reason, I felt the need to get away from here as soon as I could.
Wyatt let out a sigh as he walked next to me. “Jesus Christ, Skylar, will you stop with that? You know nothing is going on with her.”
He was right. I did know that. I stopped and turned to look at him.
I noticed someone standing at the top of the stairs, but Wyatt walked closer to me and blocked my view. He grabbed my face, bent down, and kissed me. His soft lips pressed against mine, and I found myself getting lost in the passion of his kiss. I slowly moved my hands up. Wrapping my arms around him to deepen the kiss, I felt as if I was finally letting go of my insecurities. I didn’t care who saw us kissing. All I knew was, I was in Wyatt’s arms again.
“She’s a damn good kisser, isn’t she?”
Fear filled my body as I pulled away from Wyatt and spun around. It was him—Charlie. My heart raced faster, and my head started spinning.
It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe.
“Yes, she is,” Wyatt softly said.
I turned and looked at him as he looked at me with such love in his eyes. He smiled. He had no idea who this was. Looking past Wyatt, I saw Jenny standing there. She looked pissed.
My attention was drawn back to Charlie when I heard him laugh. That wicked, evil laugh had been haunting my dreams for months.
Why is Charlie here? What is Jenny doing outside? Did she follow us? Is she meeting Charlie?
I couldn’t stand the thought of being so close to him. When he smiled at me, my whole body trembled.
“I have to go.” I pushed my way past Charlie and ran to my car.
Wyatt called out for me, but I needed to get away. Jumping into my car, I started it and drove off.
By the time I got to my house, I could hardly breathe. My phone buzzed with a text message. Figuring it was Wyatt wondering why I’d rushed off, I grabbed it and opened it.
It was from an unknown sender. The second I saw the picture, my whole world stopped.
“Oh. My. God. No…”
CHAPTER TWENTY
* * *
Wyatt
FUCK. JUST WHEN I get her to talk to me, she freaks again.
I watched as Skylar ran to her car and jumped in.
I looked back at the guy who was staring at her as she drove away. He turned and looked past me. He winked and smiled at someone. Spinning around, I saw Jenny standing on the steps.
Oh, great, just what I need.
“Take it from me, dude. She’s a good fuck, if you haven’t already figured that out.” The guy threw his head back and laughed.
What the hell?
“What did you say?” I asked while taking a step closer to him.
I felt someone touch my arm. I turned to see Jenny standing there.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me. “Wyatt, let’s go for a ride. I could really use something to eat and drink. Please?”
My eyes bounced between her and the guy. “What do you mean, she’s a good fuck? Who?”
He smiled a cocky-ass smile at me.
Holy shit. This is Charlie.
“Sky, of course. She’s probably the best lay I’ve ever had.” He looked at Jenny and winked. “No offense, Jen. You were good, too, babe.”
“Shut the hell up, Charlie. You’re such an asshole.”
My head was spinning. What in the hell is happening?
I felt my hands balling up into fists. I was going to kill this motherfucker. I moved toward him, only to have Mitch step in between us.
He put his hand on my chest and looked at me. “He’s not worth it, Wyatt. Let’s just go find Sky. I’m worried about her.”
I stopped and looked at him. “She went to the dentist…didn’t she?”
Mitch shook his head. “No. Michelle said she got another note. I think she took off somewhere.”
With a confused expression, I asked, “What do you mean, another note?”
Mitch glared at Jenny. “Let’s just go. I’ll tell you when we get to the truck.”
Jenny reached for my arm, but I jerked it away. “Wyatt, wait! I have to talk to you. You have to let me explain. Please.”
Shaking my head, I stared at her. I couldn’t even stand to be near her. All she ever tried to do was trap me into situations. “Why? So, you can fabricate another picture?”
A tear slipped from her eye. “Please just let me explain.”
“I need to find Skylar. You’re the least of my worries right now.”
Mitch and I jogged to his truck.
After we got in, he started to tell me everything, “Skylar has been getting notes ever since the thing with Charlie. Some of them were threats, but most were just downright mean and hateful. They slowed down until you moved here and started hanging with her. Then, they started back up.”
My heart was breaking as Mitch kept talking. Knowing that Skylar had been going through all of this alone gutted me.
“In her own weird way, she thought if she pushed you away, people would go back to ignoring her and leave you alone. It killed her to do it.”
“Shit,” I mumbled. “Why didn’t she tell me about the notes?”
Mitch shook his head. “She hasn’t even told our parents. Only Michelle and I know.”
“I want to kill that fucker. When he told me she was a good fuck, I wanted to kill him.”
“Imagine how Skip and I feel. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to stop myself from going after that asshole. Skip almost did kill him. Beat his ass so bad that he ended up in the hospital. Charlie was supposed to be his best friend, and he raped our sister. Every day of my life, I fight the urge to kill him.”
We drove around for over an hour, looking for Skylar. I looked out the window, wondering where in the hell she went. “Mitch, where do you think she is?”
“I have no clue, Wyatt. She could be anywhere.”
Closing my eyes, I whispered, “Angel, where are you?” Then, it hit me. “Shit. The lake. Mitch, she’s at the lake.”
“The lake?”
Mitch turned his truck around, and we headed out toward Inks Lake State Park. I was willing his truck to drive faster. Something told me I needed to get to her fast.
Mitch’s phone went off with a text message. “See if that’s Sky.”
I opened the text message and instantly felt sick to my stomach. “Motherfucker. Pull over, Mitch. Pull over now!”
Mitch pulled over, and I threw his phone on the seat as I jumped out of the truck. Leaning over, I started throwing up.
The next thing I knew, Mitch was cursing like a sailor behind me. Then, I heard him on the phone.
Why? Why would anyone send that picture? Sick motherfuckers.
“Dad, someone is sending a picture of Skylar around. They’ve posted it everywhere!No, Dad. It’s Skylar…naked, and it looks like someone is…someone is…” Mitch started crying. “Why, Dad? Why would anyone post that picture? I don’t know where she is, Dad. Wyatt thought she might be out at the lake.”
I listened to Mitch talk to his father for a few minutes longer. I waited for him to finish before I walked back to his truck. I’d never in my life felt so angry yet so devastated at the same time.
My poor angel.
Dragging in a deep breath, I went to get into the truck when I noticed another truck driving by with the music blaring. When I looked at the driver, I saw it was Charlie.
Where in the hell is he going?
Skylar. He must know where she is.
Quickly jumping into Mitch’s truck, I yelled for him to get in and drive. He looked at me like I had lost my mind.
“Mitch! Now!”
“Um, Dad, listen, I have to go. I’ll call you right back. Dad, I know! We’ll find her, but I’ve got to go right now!” He hung up and looked at me. “What in the hell, Wyatt?”
“Charlie just drove by. I think I know exactly where Skylar is. She was there the first time I saw her outside of school. She said she went there to think and be alone.”
Mitch pulled out and gunned it. “How would Charlie know where it was?”
“I don’t know. She might not even be there.”
“He’s not supposed to be anywhere near her. She has a restraining order against him.”
“Then, punch it, dude. We need to find her before he does.”
Mitch drove so fast that my knuckles where white from holding on, and I swore, he said every cuss word known to man and some I’d never heard before.
I told him about the area where Skylar and I’d first officially talked. When he pulled in, we both saw Skylar’s car…and Charlie’s truck.
If he touches her, I’m going to break his neck.
Jumping out of the truck before Mitch, I ran toward Skylar’s car.
Mitch ran up behind me. “Where is she?” he asked as he looked all around.
My heart had never beat so hard in my chest before.
Please let her be okay.
I took my phone out and called her, but it went right to voice mail. Then, I heard her.
Mitch took off running before I even had a chance to move.
Grabbing his arm, I pulled him to a stop. “Wait! I have an idea.”
He looked at me like I was crazy. “What? Are you kidding me? My sister is alone with the fucker who raped her!”
I pushed out a deep breath. Just hearing that made me want to kill Charlie. “I need you to trust me. When we get there, turn on the video on your cell phone, and keep it facing Charlie.”
Mitch looked at me with a confused expression.
“Trust me,” I urged.
He nodded his head and motioned for me to start walking.
I headed toward Skylar’s voice. She sounded like she was shouting.
If that asshole hurts her at all, I swear, he won’t live to see the light of day.
As we came around a tree, I saw Skylar first. Her hands were balled up in fists, and she was shouting at Charlie. I saw Mitch out of the corner of my eye, and he looked like he was ready to attack and kill Charlie.
“Why? Why would you post that photo, Charlie? What reason could you possibly have for posting it? I’m passed out in the picture!”
“Sky, I didn’t post it! I think Jenny saw it on my phone one night after we’d had sex, and she must have sent it to herself. Do you really think I want that picture out there? It only proves…”
They were both so busy shouting that neither one of them noticed us walking up.
“Proves what, Charlie? That you drugged me and raped me?”
Charlie ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “Skylar, I didn’t mean to ever hurt you. I’ve always wanted you so badly. I knew you’d never give me the time of day, and—”
“So, you drugged me? You were my brother’s best friend! He trusted you. I trusted you! I thought you were my friend, Charlie. You ruined my life!” Skylar screamed, causing all of us to jump.
My heart was beating so hard that I was sure Mitch could hear it. All I wanted to do was take Skylar away from here, away from the bad memories, and away from this asshole. It was killing me to stand here and see her hurting, to hear what that asshole had done to her.
“Skylar, you don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to tell everyone the truth, but my father won’t let me. He just keeps saying that I am going to be taking over the family business and that you probably wanted it anyway. I…I didn’t know what to say or what to do.”
I walked closer as I saw Skylar start to cry harder. She kept repeating how her life was ruined.
“Why don’t you be a man and tell everyone the truth, asshole? Now, with this picture out, it’s just going to get worse for Skylar, and you know it,” I said, walking toward her.
When she looked up at me, she caught her breath. For one brief moment, she had life in her eyes. She seemed relieved to see me. I wanted nothing more than for her to run into my arms. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to love her.
