“Aaaand we lost her!”
I lift my head with a jerk that startles both Glyn and Ava, the latter being the one who caught my attention just now.
We’re having a girls’ night for the first time since Anni left about a month and a half ago.
This gathering includes a lot of drinking because none of us want to talk or think about the empty spot in our circle or the echoing sound of her absence.
We’re sitting on the sofa, dressed in fluffy pajamas, which was Ava’s idea. She said if we’re going to party at the house, we need to look like glam characters from black-and-white films.
So we’re all wearing her robes covered with feathers, faux fur, and everything uncomfortable.
“I was saying, have you heard the news?” Ava asks from her position on my right.
“What news?”
“Jonah turned himself in for drug acquisition and assaulting a minor.”
The bottle of beer tilts in my hand. I’m not drunk. Hell, I’ve just had this one, and it’s only halfway finished, so I can’t be imagining things.
“Did you just say Jonah turned himself in? The same Jonah we know?”
“Yeah, your ex.”
“Wow,” Glyn breathes out. “I didn’t know he was such a lowlife. You dodged a bullet there, Ces.”
My fingers tremble and shivers snake down my back and into the pit of my stomach.
“I guess Aunt Kim was right when she mentioned having a bad feeling about him,” Ava continues, oblivious to the sound that’s invading my head.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
“Yeah. This is so creepy. You really don’t know what people are hiding.” Glyn hugs herself. “But how did you hear about him turning himself in?”
“Uh, hello? It was all over the news. He’s the son of a higher-up in some ministry, and many are speculating that maybe his father is using his son as a scapegoat to hide his crimes. So he’s also under investigation. Following this whole charade is popcorn-worthy, I tell you.”
Mum and Papa probably saw the news, too. Is that why Mum told me she was there for me if I needed to talk about anything this morning?
“Cecy?” Ava grabs my arm, her voice spooked. “Oh my God, why are you crying?”
I pat at my eyes, only for my hand to be flooded with tears. Everything I’ve bottled up for years rushes to the surface like a tornado taking out everything in its wake.
My heart shrivels, my tears won’t stop flowing, and then everything just…pops.
“Ces.” Glyn’s eyes water as she grabs my arm. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m not,” I admit, my voice low and emotional. Usually, I would never show them this part of me. I hate being vulnerable, even with my closest friends, but I can’t fight it this time.
“Jonah…drugged me until I couldn’t move, but he made sure I was still aware of my surroundings so I’d feel it when he tried to assault me. The only thing that stopped him was his revulsion when I threw up all over him.”
Ava’s lips part. Glyn’s eyes water.
Both of them are caught in a state of shock, and I understand. There was a time when I honestly never thought the day would come where I’d talk about that experience out loud. I thought if I buried it deeper, if I dealt with it on my own, it’d be over.
Turns out, the exact opposite happened. That night devoured my spirit and consumed my life. It wasn’t until Ava mentioned it the other time that I realized how much I changed after that incident. Yes, I was always an introvert, but it was only after that trauma that I closed in on myself. I quit wearing dresses and skirts and switched to jeans and sarcastic T-shirts because that could help drive attention away. Baggy, unflattering clothes. Just anything that didn’t make me as pretty as that night.