Lola bent at the knees, and spreading her arms wide, scooped up most of the photos on the floor in one sweep. Shoving them into a haphazard pile, she sank into a sitting position and let her back rest against the lockers.
“Who would do this, Marti? I wasn’t imagining things at all, someone has been following me all this time.” Letting her head drop to her knees, she squeezed her eyes shut and begged for reality to be a dream.
“What the fuck is this shit?” At the sound of Oliver’s furious voice, she cringed. Fuck. She should have continued the cleanup — he wasn’t going to take this well. “Lola. Are you okay? What’s going on?”
Not wanting him to worry, she gave herself another few seconds to find her courage and then met her brother’s bewildered stare. She let out a giggle that sounded manic even to her ears as she did her best to brush off the entire incident.
“Oh, Ollie. It’s nothing,” she rose to her feet and moved away from the lockers, forcing her brother to avert his eyes from the display of images of her. “A little prank from some friends, that’s all.”
Oliver studied her, took in the dull eyes and tear-stained cheeks. “Nice try. Who in the fuck— ” He whirled around, scanning his gaze over the few students that remained as if the culprit would instantly present themselves. Lola touched his face gently in an effort to calm him.
“Please. Just leave it alone. For me. I’d really like to go home,” she pleaded. Oliver’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides several times, his nostrils flaring. He didn’t believe her lie at all of course, and was livid that someone was messing with her. While they might not have ran in the same circles at school, it was still a well-known fact that she was his little sister. Knowledge that kept the players at bay and bullies in their corners. Lola was a sweet natured soul, who had no idea of the allure she held. Without himself and Beckett to look out for her, he knew she’d have been the target of more than one guy in the school wanting to be the one to “make it” with her.
They didn’t talk about their feelings often, especially their childhood and subsequent adoption by their parents. That didn’t mean he didn’t love her, just that he saw no point in reliving the past. As her self-appointed protector, if what she needed was to to go home, he’d make sure she got there.
“Let’s go,” he replied curtly. He swung his arm around her shoulder and led her towards the doors. Lola cast a glance back at Marti, telling her with just one look she was grateful for everything. She knew she’d take care of the rest of the photos; she was already in the process of doing exactly that. Now, all that was left to do was figure out who exactly was trying to terrorize her.
Barkey’s warm fur had never felt so comforting as Lola lay cuddled with him on her bed later that night. It had taken a herculean effort to get Oliver to refrain from spilling the beans to her parents about what had happened at school. He’d put up quite the argument, but in the end he’d agreed to give it a few days. As long as there were no other incidents, he’d keep their parents out of the loop. She was immensely grateful she hadn’t filled him in on everything else that had been going on; he’d never let her leave the house again, much less keep quiet about the photos.
Letting out a soft bark as was his habit, Barkey snuggled closer, burying his nose in her neck. He’d always been intuitive to her needs, a true best friend. At the quiet knock on her door, she groaned.
“Not now, Ollie,” she called out, hoping he’d leave her be. When the handle turned and the door cracked open, she sighed. “Honestly, I don’t need — Beckett,” she stammered. Her step-brother lingered in the doorframe, concern marring his handsome features.
“Oliver got called in for a shift at the grocery store,” he explained. “And it’s the parents night with the Keller’s. I, uh, I heard about what happened at school.”
Mortified, she threw herself back on the pillows, patting Barkey absently when he let out a short bark in protest of his spot being disturbed. “Great. So everyone’s talking about it?”
Taking the fact that she didn’t tell him to take a hike as an invitation, he entered her room, closing the door behind him. “I wouldn’t say everyone…”
Lola threw an arm over her eyes and suppressed the urge to scream. It was all so infuriating, that some person out there had the audacity to take such liberties with her personal space. Anger taking over, she shot to her feet and paced the room.
“I honestly wish I knew what terrible thing I’ve done to deserve this. I mean, who does that? Spies on girls, invades their privacy and then showcases their fuckedupness to the world? Do people really want to see me terrified? Scared to go anywhere ever again? I just don’t get it.”
Beckett was quiet, his dark stare following her around the room. He was big, he took up so much space in her room it was somehow difficult to navigate without coming in close contact with him. Heat radiated from his body, or perhaps that was her own body temperature starting to rise as flashes of her fantasy of the two of them played across her mind. There was a darkness in him, pieces of himself he fought to conceal. Against her better
