Katie's Glimpse (The Glimpse Series) (8 page)

  “How can you still
love him?”

 I shrugged. “I love
the Seth I used to know, and I’m waiting for him to come back,” I said, trying
to believe my own words.

 She shook her head.
“I think this is the real Seth. All that in the beginning was just an act.”

She pulled me into
her arms for a gentle hug. I made her swear that she would keep this a secret
and reluctantly, she agreed. She walked me to my next class, giving me a sad smile
as she walked away to hers.

Seth was waiting on
me at his jeep after school with another apology and an “I love you”. He drove
me home and reminded me of the New Year’s party at JT’s house that night. He
informed me that he would pick me up at eight. He kissed me, and I went into
the house with my usual fake smile plastered on my face.

JT was having a huge
New Year’s party at his house and a ton of people were invited. His parents let
him do whatever he wanted, so I knew there would be alcohol available and no
adult supervision. I didn’t want to go but knew Seth would be seriously angry
if I blew it off. I told Mom that I wouldn’t be home until 1 am and after some
discussion with Dad, they gave me permission to go. I was a senior now and had
never given them a reason not to trust me, or so they thought. They knew JT’s
parents and were fooled like most other adults and thought they were
responsible parents. I didn’t tell them any different. They made sure I had my
phone and when Seth arrived at eight, Dad sat him down for a long conversation.
Once again, he worked his magic and had my parents believing he was a great
guy.

 I almost snorted
when he said, “She’ll be safe with me, Mr. Crane.”

    
The word
safe and Seth do not belong in the same sentence
. I knew I should break up
with him. I didn’t love him anymore, but I was scared of him. I figured I could
just wait it out until summer. We would go off to different colleges, he would
meet somebody else, and I could get on with my life without him.

We arrived at the
party, and it was already crowded. I spotted a group of kids gathered around a
keg, but we walked past them without stopping. I let out a sigh of relief, glad
to not have to deal with that. We found a spot on the couch and sat down. JT
spied us and hustled over, smiling at me. I gave him a tight smile before
looking away.

“Your girl needs to
loosen up,” JT said, impatience obvious in his voice.

  Seth caught my
face in his hand, turning me to meet his gaze. I gave him the best smile I
could muster up. “I’m good,” I replied sweetly.

 His eyes narrowed
as he studied my face. “It’s a party, Katie. I know that you don’t drink, but
you need to try it at least once.”

 “No thanks,” I
answered, squirming out of his grasp.

 He flicked JT on
the arm. “Go get her something girly to drink. She won’t be able to handle
anything too strong,” he said with a laugh.

  As Seth was
distracted watching a couple of guys doing keg stands, JT spoke in a low voice
intended for my ears only, “You’ll like it. I promise.” He gave me a wink
before heading off to the kitchen. He made my skin crawl, but I tried not to
show it in front of Seth. I knew whose back he had, and it would never be mine.

JT brought back a
plastic cup and held it out to me. I took it from him, eyeing the red liquid
warily before lowering my nose and sniffing it. It smelled like berries. I took
a hesitant sip and almost gagged. It tasted terrible. It might have smelled
like berries, but it didn’t taste like them. Both guys laughed and urged me to
take another drink. I choked down a few more swallows, barely resisting the
urge to hold my nose as I did. I hoped it was enough to satisfy them so they
would stop badgering me about it.

 “I’m going to get a
drink. I’ll be back in a minute,” Seth said and looked at JT. “Don’t let
anybody mess with her, okay?”

 “Man, I’ve got
this. Nobody’s going to bother your precious Katie,” he replied, waving him
off.

 I started to freak
out a little. I didn’t want to be stuck on the couch with JT. I tried to get up,
but he slapped his hand against my leg and using his elbow, pressed me back
into the couch.

 “Nope, you’re on my
watch for a while, princess,” he said and squeezed my leg, before slowing
sliding his hand away. He picked up my half empty cup, holding it in front of
my face. “I suggest you drink the rest of this before he comes back, or I’ll
tell him you tried to kiss me.”

 I glared at him,
wanting to slap the smug look from his face, but instead I calmly replied, “He
wouldn’t believe you.” 

“He might or he
might not. That doesn’t really matter. He would still be mad, maybe mad enough
to do more than pull your hair,” he said, lightly tugging my ponytail. I
watched in horror as he closed his eyes and smiled, as if he were enjoying the
memory.

 I began to shake uncontrollably
as my eyes darted around the room for Seth.
Where is he? What’s taking him
so long?
I attempted to swat the cup out of JT’s hand, but he pulled it
from my reach before I could make contact. “Uh uh, careful. You wouldn’t want
to waste any.” After a few seconds, he sighed and held the cup in front of me
once again, “Just drink it, Katie. For once, can you not be such a loser? I
mean, the whole school knows that’s what you are. Why do think you only have
that Hallie girl as your friend? She’s a loser too and losers stick together.” 

 I gasped at his
words, and felt a blush of embarrassment creep up my neck and into my cheeks.
Hallie
isn’t a loser!
Seth had told me once before that I wasn’t a loser either,
but then he wanted me to change.
Is this really how he and everyone else
sees me?
It had never bothered me to think it, but to actually hear it from
someone was a different matter. I looked at the cup and with determination in
my voice, I replied, “I am not a loser.” I took the cup from his hand and
chugged the contents. It tasted terrible, but I managed to keep it down.

He smiled and reached
over, patting me on the head. “Good girl,” he said, like I was a puppy. I
ignored him and scanned the room for Seth, but he was nowhere to be found. My
nose began to tingle, and I couldn’t resist the urge to rub it. Close to my
ear, JT’s voice startled me. “It’s already working, huh?” I just shrugged my
shoulders and went back to my main goal of finding Seth.

The longer I sat
there, the heavier my eyes became. I tried to stifle a yawn, but it was no use.
I heard JT chuckle beside me and looked up at his face but it seemed blurry,
almost like my eyes were out of focus. “I need to go to the restroom,” I said,
my words sounding slurred. I shook my head and spoke again, but the words
sounded the same.

 “Okay, I’ll help
you up,” JT replied, and even though I knew he was right beside me, his voice
sounded far away. I tried to stand but fell back on the couch. He pulled me to
my feet, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Come on, pretty girl. I’ve got
you.”

 The room was
spinning, and I fought to keep my heavy eyelids open. I knew something was wrong
but couldn’t figure out what. My brain was too fuzzy. I tried pulling away from
him, but his grip only tightened as he dragged me down the hall to what looked
like a bedroom. I dug my heels into the carpet, trying to slow us down. I knew
better than to go into a bedroom with him.

 “Katie, stop
fighting me! The bathroom is right through my parents’ room,” he insisted,
dragging me the last few feet until I was inside.

 He closed the door
behind us but struggled with the lock as I continued to push against him. With
one final shove, I was free but the momentum had me crashing to the floor at
his feet. He leaned over, a victorious smile on his face, and picked me up. He carried
me to the bed as my mind drifted off. I rolled over onto my side and closed my
eyes, thankful that I was safe in my bed at home.

 I felt the heavy
weight of someone on top of me and opened my eyes. JT’s face was too close to
mine and when he noticed I was awake, he smiled. I felt what he was doing and
wanted to push him off but with my battle against unconsciousness failing, I
finally gave up and everything went black.

***

 I woke up feeling
too warm and struggled to open my eyes. I was on my stomach with my face pressed
into a guy’s bare chest. I swallowed back my hysteria for a second and tried to
focus on the person I was smashed against. I could feel his arms around me,
touching my bare skin. I squirmed and lifted my head, afraid to see whoever it
was. Before a scream could leave my lips, JT clamped his hand tightly over my
mouth.

 “Don’t scream, or
I’ll have to hurt you. Do you understand me?” I nodded my head. “Now, I’m going
to move my hand but if you scream, you will regret it!” he snapped.

 He slipped his hand
away from my mouth. “Wh-what did you do to me?” I asked, as my tears began to
flow.

 “What I’ve wanted
to do since you started dating Seth,” he stated plainly, his face showing no remorse.
He loosened his arms at my waist a bit, and I took this as an opportunity to
escape. I tried to roll away from him, but he yanked me back by my arm. He
tried to snuggle me to him again, but I kept my face held off his chest. He ran
his nose along my cheek and through my tears before forcing my head against him.

He spoke in my ear,
his voice calm and steady, “You are so beautiful, but if you ever tell anyone
about this, you might not stay that way. Did you know that my family has so
much money that I could get away with anything? Probably even murder.”

I froze at his
words.
Murder? Did he just threaten to kill me?

Panic and fear
overtook my body, and I began to shake uncontrollably. I could no longer hold
back the sobs that had been building ever since I woke up in his arms. I played
his threat in my mind over and over, believing every word he’d said.

He rubbed my back
tenderly as he shushed me and told me I was okay. My mind was reeling.
One
minute he says he’s going to kill me and the next he’s being gentle.
I
pulled myself together and decided the best chance I had at getting away safely
depended on me doing whatever he told me to.

 “Now, you’re going
to go in that bathroom, take a shower, and get dressed. Then I’ll take you to
Seth. Last time I saw him, he was kissing a very cute cheerleader,” he said.

 I slowly got up and
did exactly what he said, while he watched me the entire time. I think shock
must have set in, because I no longer felt anything- not scared or angry, just
nothing. I was numb.

When I was finally ready,
he leaned down and gently kissed my lips. I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe.
“You are going to go back in there and act normal. You will never tell Seth or
anyone else about tonight. Are we clear?”

“Yes,” I whispered
and followed him back to the living room. He led me to the couch where I
spotted Seth passed out, that same cheerleader he’d been talking to at school sitting
in his lap. She locked eyes with JT and immediately hopped off Seth’s lap and
walked away.

He pushed me down on
the couch next to Seth before picking up a glass of what looked like water from
the table in front of us. He smiled at me and threw the contents into Seth’s
face. “Wake up. It’s almost midnight,” he shouted.

I looked up at him
in shock.
It’s almost midnight?
That meant I’d been out of it for almost
four hours. What had JT put in that cup besides alcohol and worse yet, what did
he do to me all that time? I felt panic trying to bubble up again, but one hard
look from JT squashed the feeling.

Seth came to and was
furious. He clenched his teeth, the vein in his temple throbbing. “What the
heck,” he yelled, wiping the water from his face before finally noticing me
beside him. “Where have you been? I came back and you were gone. I waited but
when you didn’t come back, I went and hung out by the keg.”

 I glanced up at JT.
What was I supposed to say?
Your best friend was raping me for the last
several hours
. I wanted to and started to open my mouth to tell him just
that, but JT spoke first, “Bro, your girl can’t hold her liquor. She got sick,
so I helped her clean up but then she was all over me. I had to push her away
several times. Man, you need to keep her on a shorter leash.” Horrified, I
stared at him and knew this was not going to end well for me. As if sensing my
fear, JT added, “But hey, don’t be too hard on her. She was drunk, so maybe she
was just confused.”

I was floored by his
nerve.
Did he seriously think he did me a favor by throwing in that last
part?
I watched as a proud smile broke out on his face. He was completely
twisted. I planned to keep my mouth shut and stay far away from him.

I peered at Seth,
afraid to see how much damage JT had done. He studied my face intently. “I’ll
take you home,” he said, his voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed him.

 I stood up and
winced at the pain, but Seth didn’t seem to notice. JT did though and gave me a
wink before walking away. Seth grabbed my hand, squeezing it hard, and led me
outside to his jeep. He didn’t speak and kept his eyes straight ahead. I knew I
needed to calm him down before things got worse. I reached over and tried to
take his hand, but he jerked it away. He looked into my eyes with a piercing
gaze and growled out, “What did you do? Did you throw yourself at him?”

 I shook my head
violently. “No. I would never do that. You know me, and I’m not like that.”

My words did nothing
to calm him, and I watched as rage slowly overtook him. His hands clenched at
his sides and his eyes clouded over. “Are you calling him a liar?” he asked. I
knew this was a loaded question. He was fiercely loyal to JT, but not to me.
There was no right way for me to answer this question, so I didn’t say anything.
I continued to meet his gaze, knowing he saw the fear in my eyes as I tried to
brace myself for what was coming.

 “Are you ignoring
me?” he asked, poking me hard in the chest.