Save Me(WITSEC #2)(11)

Their smiles dropped and the room went very quiet for a moment. Then Keelan jumped to his feet and rounded my bed, heading for the door. “I think we should order in.”

Colt also stood from my bed. “That’s a good idea. Want to eat at our place, babe?”

“Sure,” I said distractedly. The sound of my dresser drawer being closed pulled my attention. Creed tossed me a pair of loose pajama shorts with baby cartoon Avengers on them before scooping up Colt’s and his shirts off the top of my dresser. He tossed one shirt to Colt and they put them on before dashing out of my room, following Keelan.

I watched them pass Knox, who stepped aside to let them leave, as I pulled on my shorts. I was tying the drawstrings as I walked toward the door.

“Pretending you don’t have nightmares isn’t the answer,” Knox said, stepping in my way. “It might help you to talk about them.”

I looked up, meeting his intense brown eyes. “My nightmares are mostly of the night my family was murdered. I don’t even like to think about that night, let alone talk about it.”

“Just because you don’t want to think about that night doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” he said bluntly.

That had been the last thing my psychiatrist had said before I’d closed my computer on her and never attended therapy again. Alaska didn’t provide a huge selection of psychiatrists to choose from and none of them had experience helping people with my type of trauma. Which was why all my sessions had been via video chat.

“It sounds like your nightmares are a result of what you’re refusing to face,” Knox said. “We all have to face our pain, Shiloh. If you don’t, you won’t find a way to accept it and you’ll never be able to move on.”

His words were like a punch to my gut and he left me standing there, stunned.





4





Last night, after dinner at the guys’, I went home and watched the Food Network all night. Colt and Creed had offered to spend the night. I’d turned them down. They had been up all night when I’d been in the hospital and had gotten broken sleep because of me yesterday. They deserved a good night’s rest.

Despite missing school the previous day, Friday at school was thankfully uneventful. Sure, I got dirty looks from Cassy and her posse, but since I wasn’t cornered in the locker room or tossed in the school’s pool, I was going to call it a good day.

As soon as the final bell rang, Isabelle, Ethan’s girlfriend, and I met in the parking lot. We were going to have a girls’ afternoon to prepare for Ethan’s party tonight.

“How are you doing?” Isabelle asked as we climbed into my 4Runner. “Ethan told me what happened with that guy who attacked you.”

“I—I’m alright,” I said as I turned on the car.

“You don’t sound so sure,” she said, peeking at me before looking out her window. “I’d be a mess.”

“I think I’m still processing it,” I said and pulled out of the school’s parking lot. “I was terrified at the time. I was angry afterward. Now, I don’t know how to feel.” The truth was that I was disturbingly unfazed.

She tucked her long, dirty-blonde hair behind her ear. “That’s understandable. If you begin to feel overwhelmed while we’re out, don’t hesitate to tell me and we’ll go home, okay?”

Finally, I thought. I’d found a girl who could be a good friend. Logan would be happy. “Thank you for that. I’m really happy to be out, though. I love hanging out with the guys, but I’ve desperately needed some girl time.”

She smiled. “Same. I swear I’ve been spending all my time with Ethan.”

“What about your other girlfriends? They haven’t wanted to hang out?” I asked. I had seen Isabelle hanging around two other girls at school. I thought their names were Gina and Paige. Both were quiet and kept to themselves.

Isabelle didn’t answer right away, and I caught her sad expression before she turned her head to look out the side window. “They don’t like Ethan. They think he’s a player and don’t understand why I would want to date him. It doesn’t help that he’s popular, either.”

“What do you mean?’ I asked.

“Gina and Paige hate the popular crowd at our school. I mean, you know how bad Cassy and her friends are.”

I nodded. Yes, I did.

“I’m not proud to say that I used to judge Ethan and his friends because they hang in the same social circles. That’s why when Ethan first tried talking to me, I shot him down right away. I disliked him without truly knowing him. Seeing him trying to cover up his hurt puppy-dog look made me feel disappointed in myself. I guess you could say it was an eye-opening moment. So when he tried talking to me again, I listened.”

“I’m glad you did, because I can confidently say that Ethan is crazy about you.”

The joy that filled her eyes was genuine. “This place we’re going to does hair, too. What are your thoughts on adding that to the agenda? I think I want to take the plunge and dye my hair.”

She had told me she had been thinking about dyeing it pink. I glanced at my dark roots in the rearview mirror. “Sure.”

“Yes!” she exclaimed and pointed at the shopping center I needed to pull into. “Now I’m more excited than nervous.”