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Chapter Twenty Two

"Do you realize I've danced more with you than I have with Garrett tonight?"

Prom was half over and Kay and I had barely left the dance floor. Kay smiled and bumped her hip into mine.

"Well, it's because for basketball players, those two have no rhythm. That does not bode well for any after prom activities."

I laughed. "We don't have time for after prom activities."

"Maybe you don't, but I think I'm going to blow this popsicle stand early."

"You can't leave me here by myself."

"You won't be by yourself."

I glanced over at Garrett. He was leaning against the wall, a glass cup of punch in his hand. We had danced together for maybe three slow songs the whole evening.

But his eyes had never left me once.

"I'm going to the bathroom. Buddy walk me?" Kay asked.

I was about to say yes when I felt a tug on my arm. It was Katy, our Junior Class President.

"Hey Brooke, I need you to join me onstage," she said with a smile. I glanced over at Kay apologetically. She shrugged.

"You win some you lose some. I'll pee fast."

She weaved through the crowd one way and I followed Katy up to the stage. Once the song ended, Katy picked up the microphone.

"ARE WE HAVING A GOOD TIME?!" she screamed. The crowd screamed right back.

"I have the pleasure of announcing this year's Junior Prom Prince and Princess."

I glanced to the left side of the stage. Our foreign exchange student from Brazil, Paulo, was with the Junior Class Vice President.

This wasn't boding well for Garrett.

"After tallying all the votes, it's unanimous. This year's Junior Prom Prince is Paulo Vega and Prom Princess is our very own Brooke Carter!"

Everyone cheered. Katy grabbed the tiara and put it on top of my other one. I reached up to steady it and laughed.

"Would you two please go to the center of the floor for the royal dance?"

I glanced over at Paulo. He was in my English class and was seriously doing better in it than I was. He took my hand and we walked to the center of the floor.

"Eh, how do they say it...Congrats?" he asked as we danced. I nodded.

"Yup, congrats. You too."

"Prom is amazing."

"It is pretty fun. Who's your date?"

He smiled. "No date. Just dancing with all the pretty girls."

I laughed. We small talked our way through the rest of the dance. I was ready to go find Garrett, when I heard Katy call my name again.

"Brooke, can you come up one more time?"

I held onto the tiara and walked back up. Katy was smiling brightly.

"The Junior AND Senior classes were wondering if you would do the honor of seeing Stuck Like Glue tonight."

I looked out at the crowd. I really hadn't wanted to perform. It was my prom. But everyone had just voted for me...

"Sure," I said with a smile. Katy clapped and handed me the microphone. I had her hold the extra tiara.

It's funny, but onstage I tend to adopt an alternate persona. I was more sexual, more flirty when I went onstage. The first time dad saw me perform live, he shook his head and said that was one genetic factor he had hoped he hadn't passed down.

By the time I was done I was feeling that amazing rush I always got performing in front of the crowd. I took my tiara back, blew a kiss, and headed out into the crowd.

With so many people stopping me, I figured I would never get back to Garrett. I wanted at least one more dance before we left...

"BROOKE!"

Kay came out of nowhere. "We need to talk."

I was still all smiles from the performance. "About what?"

Her forehead was creased and her cheeks were flaming red. "Garrett."

I frowned. "What about him?"

"I went to the bathroom and he was waiting for me when I came out. He tried to feel me up."

I stared at her in disbelief. "What? No way."

"I'm serious!"

I leaned towards her. She had downed way more punch than I had tonight. I took a big whiff. She reeked of alcohol.

"Kay did you spike your punch?"

She waved it off. "I did, but that's not important. What's important is Garrett's a ja--"

"Kay, I don't care what you do with anyone else, but leave Garrett alone," I said angrily. Her eyes widened.

"What? No! I would never--"

I brushed past her. It was bad enough that my best friend was, for lack of a better word, a slut, but for her to try something with my boyfriend?

I found Garrett by the punch table. His eyes widened.

"Brooke I--"

"Did you feel Kay up?" I asked.

"What? No! She came on to me. I think she's drunk," Garrett said. He looked around. "Listen, I don't know about you but I'm ready to get out of here. Prom isn't living up to expectations."

I touched my tiara and sighed. It had been living up to expectations.

"Do you want to take off?" Garrett asked.

The ingrained 'best friend' part of me told me I should tell Kay. The 'my best friend tried to move in on my boyfriend' part of me told me to just forget it. I nodded.

"Let's go."

--------------------------------

"Where are we?"

I was fast rethinking the 'Let's go' part of my plan. I had assumed we were going for ice cream or something.

We weren't anywhere near an ice cream shop. I knew that we weren't near any type of swamp, but we were somewhere in a very large park I had never been to before.

"I just wanted some quiet. All that music and drama..."

"Don't parks having closing times?" I asked.

"They do. But no one cares. All the cops are probably headed out towards town to pull over as many prom-goers as possible."

I was still looking out the window when I felt his breath on my neck.

"I can't believe you got Prom Princess and I didn't get Prom Prince. That doesn't seem fair does it?"

I turned to look at him, but between the giant car I was sitting in, the tinted windows, and the darkness all around us, his face was masked in shadow.

"Paulo's pretty popular. It's all in fun."

"Your song was fun."

I smiled. "Thank you."

His hand came out of nowhere and gripped my shoulder.

"I love the way your body wiggles up there when you sing."

My heart froze. The long buried feeling of pure fear came out of nowhere. It was his voice. My defense mechanisms were telling me this wasn't just playful banter. My hand slid towards the door.

I heard the automatic locks click into place. Before I could begin to feel for a way to manually unlock the door, Garrett's arms were around my waist. Between the silky material of the dress and the slippery leather seats, I couldn't keep control. I slipped down. Garrett was all over me.

"I always knew you were pretty," Garrett said softly. "But then you showed up in all those magazines and partying with all those celebrities and I thought to myself - gee, why couldn't I get a piece of that pie?"

"Those magazines have it wrong," I gasped. My arm reached up to the door but I felt his hand around my wrist. In seconds, he somehow wrestled and pinned me down.

"I'm tired of you playing games with me Brooke. I didn't think it would be this hard. And then your friend wouldn't even give me a blow job. I don't like to be frustrated Brooke."

I tried to yank my hands out of his grasp, but he was strong. Stronger than I had given him credit for. His weight pressed down on me. I opened my mouth to scream but he inhaled the scream into his mouth as his lips pressed down on me unrelentlessly.

After the kidnapping and after I had completed therapy, dad had enrolled the entire family in self defense class. At age eight, I was more interested in the cool outfit, but my brain searched for any of that information I could remember.

But it was hard to think. I felt oe of the thin straps of my dress being yanked hard. It snapped; Garrett's hand pressed against my bare breast.

I turned my head violently to break his lips from mine. When I did, I let out a scream.

I didn't expect to be slapped.

"Who's going to hear you Brooke?" he mocked. His right hand was clawing at my dress. Pawing and pinching me. I felt him harden. He let go of my hands. I heard the sound of a zipper being yanked down.

I knew I didn't have much time. I reached out and jabbed with my nails in the general direction of his eyes. I hit soft squishiness and knew I had a direct hit. He screamed.

I didn't waste any time. His dead weight came off me as he sat back. I used the opportunity to free one of my legs. I kicked him in the crotch.

He fell back against the driver's side door. I flipped around and smacked at the passenger side door. Finally my fingers wrapped against a round silver object that I knew had to be the lock. I lifted it up, grabbed my purse and stumbled out of the car.

I ran blindly out into the night, my dress a shambles, and my heart racing faster than it ever had in my entire life.

Except for one time. With my updo, it almost felt like I had just had my hair hacked off and my sides kicked all over again.

And this time grandpa and dad weren't here to rescue me.