Chapter 234: 234-His Half Brother Almost Sold Me
Clementine:
I kept the awkward silence on my lips before I finally uttered, "I just need a few minutes, I mean some time, just a few hours to relax, and then we can talk about it."
I excused myself, closing my eyes and leaning back, resting my head on the seat’s headrest. I could already feel them looking at me, but I never opened my eyes so I wouldn’t have to deal with their stares.
Soon, the car reached Troy’s place, and he jumped out to grab his bags. It seemed like he hadn’t even unpacked, because he came back out in just two minutes.
He rushed into the back seat, then stood in the doorway and gestured for me to join him.
"Hey, you cannot do that," Haiden complained, and even I was shocked by what Troy was doing.
"Haiden, please. There’s something I need to speak with her about," Troy requested. I guess he sounded so helpless that even Haiden gave up on arguing.
By the end of the day, it was going to be my decision, and I realized what Troy wanted to talk about. I could have been stubborn and told him no, that I didn’t want to talk now, but I’d learned a lot in the academy.
We never know when our past or any of our actions will come back to bite us, so it’s better to clear our side when we have the chance.
So I slipped out of my seat and moved into the back with Troy.
The car started, and we sat in silence for the first few minutes before Troy shifted in his seat and turned to look at me.
"I wanna know," he uttered, and the minute I made eye contact, he looked away. His body language screamed guilt, like he felt foolish for never letting me explain myself before.
"What happened to you never wanting to know my truth?" I asked, using the same words he had thrown at me whenever I tried to explain myself to him.
He lowered his head. His fingers kept squeezing his right hand into a fist and then letting it go, while his other hand rested on the seat, balancing his body with a fist made of his left hand.
"I was an idiot. A sixteen-year-old, emotional little bitch, dealing with a lot at home. But I want to know now," he requested, lifting his eyes to stare at me. I guessed only the truth would set him free now.
I sighed and looked out the window. "Well, for starters, your stepmother was the one who used my account to leak those pictures and make up rumors."
I paused and turned to look at him. His eyes were wide open, but I knew there was more to tell him than just that small piece.
Previously, when I was only fifteen, I’d been scared to tell him this, scared even to mention his stepmother’s name. I was already dealing with hateful people and fighting my battle every day with my family.
I didn’t want to include another name that would come after me. I wanted to take him into confidence first, make him sit down alone with me, because I knew how angry he was. He would have just gone around telling everyone I was accusing his stepmother. But that chance never came. We never sat together and talked about it.
"What about Messi? What the hell happened between you two, or more specifically, what the fuck did he do to you?" he asked, his jaw clenching so visibly that a sigh heaved from my lips.
"Well, I came to see you one evening. Your stepmother and your brother told me you were going to come soon. They asked me to sit down and wait for you. I did. Then Messi came around and said you were at the council’s office and he would drop me off to be on your side. Not thinking too much because, come on, I was only fifteen, I decided to go with him. If he was headed to where you were, he would just drop me off as well. But then he missed a few turns and it turned into chaos. I realized he was trying to kidnap me, to take me to someone, almost like to sell me off, maybe even traffic me. I don’t know. I know it’s a big claim, but that is my truth."
I finished, and the way his eyes kept growing was horrifying. He suddenly slammed his fist against the empty seat in front of us, catching Haiden’s attention. He turned around and looked at Troy.
"Why the fuck did you not tell me this before?" he screamed.
"Because that same night, the whole social media thing happened. And you wouldn’t even listen to me!" I argued back with the same intensity, but I noticed his arms swelling, almost like his wolf was coming out.
"What is going on?" Haiden asked. It was confusing that he hadn’t heard anything, or maybe he was just waiting for us to tell him so it wouldn’t look like he was eavesdropping.
"That fucking Messi tried to traffic her and she told no one!" Troy yelled, pointing at me.
"Why are you blaming me?" I asked, confused.
"He’s not blaming you, Clementine, for the abduction. He’s blaming you for never bringing it up. Do you know when people do shit like this, they don’t stop at one victim? There might be other victims too," Haiden turned around, arguing with me.
At this point, I began to realize they weren’t really wrong.
"It wasn’t as simple as two people arguing or beefing with each other," Troy hissed, covering his face with his hands.
"I thought nobody would believe me." As soon as I uttered those words, the two stopped talking and looked at me.
"Nobody believed me about anything. I wasn’t even allowed to speak up to explain myself, not even when I was asked to. Not even with something as simple as explaining the whole social media rumor," I mumbled.
When I looked at Troy, I saw guilt wash over his face.