“Are you okay, Megan?” she asks in a caring, yet professional voice. “What happened?”
I bite my lip.
“Casper, get your father’s bag.” He leaves the room. “Megan, it’s nice to meet you finally, even under these unfortunate circumstances. I will take care of you, okay?”
I nod and my chin quivers. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” She goes into his room and brings back a chair. She instructs me to sit sideways in the chair and Casper returns. He sits on the edge of the tub, facing me, while she goes to work on my back.
I feel her pulling the small bits of mirror from my back and I try to ignore it but wince every time. Casper holds my hand.
“Can I ask what happened?” Mrs. Truitt asks.
I bite my lip.
“This asshole—”
“Language, Casper.”
He shakes his head. “Even that word isn’t the right one to describe this guy. He had her on the floor, Mom. He was going to—”
“Calm down,” she tells him.
“No! Something worse could have happened.”
“I think you took care of him,” I whisper and flinch as Mrs. Truitt rubs a liquid on my back.
“What did you do, Casper?”
“Nothing that he didn’t deserve.”
Mrs. Truitt places a hot towel over my back and I lay my head down into my arms on the back of the chair. She sifts through my hair, checking my head.
“Casper, go into Cora’s room and get her some clothes.”
He obliges. And now I’m alone with Mrs. Truitt. She works methodically in silence for a little bit and speaks.
“I know this is a very difficult situation. But if you need anyone to talk to, I can recommend a counselor. She’s a good friend.”
“Thank you.”
“Should I call your parents? Anyone?”
“No. Please. I’m not…I don’t want anyone knowing.”
“Don’t feel ashamed for one second,” she says facing me. “This was not your fault. You did nothing wrong. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
I clench my teeth to hold back the tears and she returns to her work.
“I want you to know how happy you’ve made my son. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him smile for a girl.”
I’m not sure what to say to this, but lucky for me, Casper comes back in time with gray sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. When she finishes, she hugs me and tells me to come back if I need anything. Mrs. Truitt leaves the room and I stand there, holding my arms in front of my chest, inspecting the damage in the mirror. I’m a mess. A battered back. A cut on my head. A torn dress. It’s overwhelming. His mom taped bandages to my back, but I still look terrible.
“I’m so sorry, Megan.” Casper peers at my reflection.
“It’s not your fault. C-could I take a shower?”
“Yeah, of course.” He walks behind me to the closet, pulls out a fresh towel and sets it beside the shower. “There’s shampoo in the shower. Let me get some other soap.”
I nod, and then I’m alone. As I stare into the mirror, a sudden rise of panic surges through me and I see a flash of Adam slamming me against the mirror.
“Here.” Casper’s voice startles me in his return. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I found some soap or lotion or whatever this stuff is from Cora’s bathroom,” he says, placing several bottles on the counter.
I raise my eyebrows and try to smile at his naïveté, but my lips won’t budge.
“Yeah,” he says, awkwardly and turns for the door.
The panic returns. My heart is lodged in my throat. I’m terrified that someone can easily walk in as I shower and attack me. I know I can lock the door, but what if someone breaks in through the window? “Casper.”
“Yeah?” His eyes meet mine.
“Um, I have sort of an odd request.”
“What is it?”
I bite my lip and move my hair behind my ear. “Could you…could you leave the door open and talk to me?”
His eyebrows furrow. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m—”
“It’s okay. Really. I understand. I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Okay.”
I watch him take a seat on the floor outside the open bathroom door. I turn the shower on, waiting for the hot water to come through. I ease out of the dress and chuck it in the trash. I want to burn it. I shower, washing every bit of my attacker off and change into the sweats Casper lent me. After towel drying my thick hair, I walk out, and he immediately stands. I give him my towel and he tosses it on the bathroom counter.
“Do you want to stay here tonight?” he asks.
“Um, I don’t think that would be okay.”
“You can sleep in Cora’s room. It’s really late.”
Well, I can ask Casper to take me to my car and I’ll go home and somehow explain in the morning why I’m not at Cherry’s. Especially after I begged to stay the night. Or I can stay at Casper’s.
“I’ll leave early in the morning,” I say.
“You can stay as long as you like.”
“Thanks.” I give a small smile and follow him to Cora’s room. It’s big like his, but a lot of the decorations have been removed since she’s away at college.
“If you need anything, I’m next door,” he says and shuts the door.
I pull back the blankets and slide underneath. I fall asleep rather quickly only to find myself looking out over a lake. It’s dark, but the crescent moon reflects in the black water. The stars glitter in the black sky. Casper and I have managed to live for years together. No one has come after us, and we have no idea
