Keep It Secret by Sam Vickery

Author:Sam Vickery [Vickery, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

1990

I sat on the edge of the double bed Bonnie and I shared, having dressed in my pyjamas after a long soak in the bath. It had helped a bit, but when Roxy had caught sight of me coming out of the bathroom, I'd felt the shame wash over me once again. I hadn't wanted to go over the whole story with her, it was too hard to force out the words, I was beaten up, I don't know why. Instead, I told her to go and ask Simon, and said I wanted to be alone. Now I could hear music playing downstairs, Madonna, so Bonnie must be home, but she hadn't come up. I felt tired, like I could crawl into a cave and stay there for six months. It was still hard to understand how anyone could be so angry at me to want to hurt me so badly. I couldn't remember the last time I'd even spoken to those girls. I stared at the carpet, my ribs hurting with every breath. By the intensity of the pain, I was pretty sure they were broken.

A quiet knock sounded at the door and I was about to shout for whoever it was to go away, when Simon pushed it open, stepping inside.

“Hey you,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Not good,” I answered, not meeting his eyes.

“You not coming downstairs for dinner? I bought Chinese, your favourite.”

“I'm not hungry.”

“I'm not sure that's true.” He sat down beside me on the mattress, his leg pressed against mine as he took my hand, holding it gently between both of his. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Belle. This wasn't your fault.”

“Did you speak to their parents?” I asked, looking up at him.

“No, Belle. I didn't speak to their parents.”

“Oh.” The disappointment was like swallowing a rock, sitting cold and unmoving in the pit of my belly. I'd really thought he would help me. I'd trusted him.

“Hey. Don't look so sad. In my experience, going to the parents is about as useful as going to talk to the school. Everyone gets in a big flap, talks a lot about how they're going to fix the situation, how it's totally unacceptable, but nothing actually gets done. Meanwhile, the bullies are pissed off that you've grassed on them and take their anger out on you. It's a waste of time and it won't help. It only makes things so much worse.”

“You mean we do nothing,” I said flatly.

“Nope. I mean we cut out the middle man. Go right to the source and cut it off there.”

“So... you went to see the girls themselves?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

“I'm not sure that was a good idea. You could get in a lot of trouble.”

“I said I'd stand up for you, protect you, didn't I?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that's what I've done. I found the girl who spat on you first, since it sounded like she was the ringleader. She won't be bothering you again. You can be sure of that.”

“Really?

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