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Chapter Twenty Eight

-- Brooke --

"I don't want to go."

"You need to go. You don't have any reason to hide."

It was Monday. Uncle Bri and Aunt LeighLeigh had taken Kay back home late last night. A full day of school loomed ahead of me.

The paparazzi had grabbed hold of the story and run with it. They had taken several pictures of me leaving the police station. I couldn't even believe how horrible I looked. Some of the news outlets were outraged at what happened. Others actually had the audacity to blame me. It was the 'false image' coming back to haunt me.

"I think she should take a few days off," Noah suggested. He had been suspended for the entire week. I knew it was going to kill him not to be able to play bodyguard.

"Carters don't run," mom said. She looked at me with a gentle smile. "Right?"

I looked up at her and took a deep breath.

"No, we don't."

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I felt all eyes on me from the moment I pulled into my parking space. Kids turned to look at me as I hoisted my backpack out of the back seat.

It was an icy reception. Several members of the basketball team hovered by the front door, their arms folded. Donnie glared at me.

"Bitch," he hissed. I ignored them.

Up until lunchtime, I was pretty sure my high school life as I knew it was over. I was contemplating hiding out in the bathroom when I heard someone call my name.

Five girls were sitting at a round table in the corner. Most of them were juniors, but I didn't know their names. I walked over cautiously.

"We wanted to talk to you," one of the girls said.

I sat down and placed my tray in front of me. The girls glanced at each other.

"We heard what happened," another one of the girls said.

I grabbed my tray again. A blonde on my left touched my arm.

"I dated Garrett when you were on tour. He didn't take no for an answer."

"After Laci broke up with him I went out with him," a brunette sitting across from me said. She split a leaf of lettuce in half. "He took me out to this spot in the middle of nowhere overlooking the ocean and--" she trailed off.

The other three girls had similar stories with other members of the basketball team.

I was shocked.

"And no one went to the police?" I asked increduously.

"I was embarassed."

"I was scared. I didn't want my parents to find out."

"But if no one stands up to him, he'll keep doing this," I said.

"Well, we figured they'd do something considering you're like a celebrity and everything. And they did. We're all safe."

"Yeah, he won't be getting out anytime soon. We just wanted to let you know that you're not alone."

I didn't know what to say. I was staring at two other girls that had been hurt by Garrett and all I could think was...

Where were they to tell me all of this before?

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By Wednesday, Garrett was back in school. He had only spent two days in juvie and the school hadn't bothered to suspend him at all.

I saw Laci, one of the girls I had talked to Monday, in the hall.

"Did you see who's here?" I asked. She nodded.

"This isn't going to be over until more people come forward," I said.

She didn't answer me. I walked away.

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I managed to avoid Garrett for the next two weeks. During that time, what I can only call miracles took place.

The first good thing to happen occured when Dad and Noah went in front of the judge. Luckily, all of the press surrounding the 'Violation of an American Honey' must have swayed the judge. As dad suspected, there was a hefty fine, damages to be paid, and community service...but no jail time.

The second good thing to happen was that the girls that had pulled me aside finally decided to step forward. Their testimony combined with my photographic evidence and Trevor's eyewitness account sent Garrett back in front of the judge.

By the last week of school, rumor had it that Garrett would be spending at least a year in juvie. A call to my grandpa confirmed the information as true.

It was great to have connections.

The third good thing to happen was kind of silly compared to the first two things, but it was nevertheless important. With two days before summer vacation, I was finally going through all the junk in my purse when I came across Trevor's number.

I hadn't called him at all since I had seen him at the police station. I decided to just call and see how his nose was.

It was the least I could do. I dialed the number and waited through the ringback tone.

"Hello?"

I knew he didn't recognize the number.

"Hey Trevor. It's Brooke. Carter," I added at the last moment.

"Brooke! How are you?"

He sounded happy to hear from me. I smiled.

"I'm okay. How's your nose?"

"It's better."

I bit the inside of my cheek. That was the extent of my planned conversation.

"We finished recording our album. How about you?"

"It's been done for a few weeks," I said. "My first single drops next week."

"What's it called?"

"Chaotic," I said. He laughed.

"That's probably a good choice."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Our duet will be my second single."

There was a pause.

"Really?"

"Yup. It's really good."

"Anything you do is good."

I blushed.

"If you want, maybe you can come over and listen to my album?"

"I'd like that."

I smiled.

"But I can't for a couple weeks. The guys and I are doing some fundraiser in California."

I was surprised to realize I was disappointed.

"Oh. Well, after you come back?"

"Sure."

"Alright. Well...have a good trip."

"Thanks Brooke. And thanks for calling."

"No problem."

We hung up and I leaned back against my bed.

I couldn't wait to be done with school for the year. The way I looked at it, there was no way that Summer could be worse than the Spring.

I wanted to release new music. I wanted to get back out on the road.

It was time to get back to life.