Ripple Effect: A Novel (22 page)

I look out the passenger window at the gray-tinted world beyond my car and start to feel numb inside. “Leison will do horrible things if he knows I told.”

“I wish you would tell me,” she whispers. “What horrible things, Ces?”

My eyes can’t make contact with hers. “Just trust me.” I would surely have a nice sparkly urn to place my ashes in if she knew.

Sometimes I wonder if that’s a legit over-exaggeration––my death by his hand. I wonder if he is just merely a rapist, or if he’s more . . .

“Cecily.” Mom shakes my shoulder and brings my attention back to her. “Are you okay?”

Trick question. Trick answer. “I’m fine, Mom . . . just a little tired.”

Something pounds on my door, making my eyes pop open and my heart clench. I should be paranoid, but no . . . I’m pissed. I just want to sleep the day away and wait for the antibiotic to take effect!

“What?” I bark.

Hazel pushes the door open. “Get out of bed! It’s freaking one in the afternoon!”

“Bite me!” I roll over and close my eyes again.

Her body lunges through the air and lands on mine. “Ces, wake up!”

“Why?” I moan, trying to gain my breath back from her attack.

“I’m hungry and want to go to lunch. I just ditched English to come over here,” she replies. “Get up!”

I grumble at her. “Hazel, you’re so annoying right now!”

“What if I said that I have a surprise for you?” Her voice holds that annoying taunt like she has something that I really, really want in her grasp.

My eyes crack open into slits and I stare at her gorgeous face.

With innocence, she smiles. Of course, she’s like a beam of sunlight with her golden hair and dazzling green eyes. A healthy blush fills her cheeks, and I am so very jealous of how lively she is. I feel like a corpse. “Kelly.” Hazel’s green eyes flash with excitement.

Pushing her off of me, I sit up and give her my full attention.

“We’re going to lunch with Kelly and Darien.” She smiles and scrunches her nose.

“We can’t all ditch school like that, Haze.”

“Says the girl who skipped a solid week . . . . Who cares!? We’re seniors!” She laughs and flicks off. “Get dressed. You have twenty minutes.”

I feel so confused, but at least my headache is gone. “What about my mom? I’m sick. I have freaking strep throat! You’ll catch it!”

“I’m not going to kiss your hound face or anything!” Hazel laughs then shoots me a glare. “I said, twenty minutes!”

“Okay! Get out so I can change!” I yell.

“Loves!” She shoots me a kiss before leaving my room.

I scurry out of bed and start throwing clothes on. As I tuck my skinny jeans into a pair of brown boots, I look in the mirror and cringe.

Pulling at the white blouse I’m wearing, I finally have to admit that my bruises aren’t going to go away and I will have to wear a different shirt. I throw a purple hoodie over my head and call it good.

Stupid bruises. Stupid Leison.

*              *              *

We meet up in a little diner on the outskirts of the city. It is a thirty minute drive, but it is scenic and pretty. I love the fall and all of the wonderful colors.

Checking my makeup for the third time, I ask, “Are you sure I look okay?”

Hazel laughs as she changes the song. “You look smokin’! You feeling okay?”

My eyebrow rises as I shoot her a look. “Just dying, that’s all.” I fake a cough.

“How do I look?” she asks, pushing her blond hair out of her face.

I laugh and roll my eyes at her. “Not all of us have spider-leg eyelashes, Queen Hazel.”

Hazel blinks her eyes a few times and swerves the car.

“Hazel!” I yell, my chest pounding.

She laughs. “Oopsie!”

After rolling my eyes, I force myself to laugh. Or I just might cry.

“Are you going to tell Kelly about Mr. Stalkward?” Hazel asks me quietly.

I chew on my lip anxiously. “Dr. Reed saw a bruise today, on my chest. He wanted to do a physical and I wouldn’t let him. After seeing the marks of death on my body, he would surely call the Sheriff. Let alone––it is procedure if there are any signs of foul play.”

Hazel’s eyes open widely. “Was he freaking out?”

“Understatement,” I mutter.

“Maybe you should, Ces,” Hazel says quietly, “tell the Sheriff.”

I shake my head. “He threatened Adie’s life, Hazel.”

She lets out a moan. “What sick game did you get caught up in?”

“How do I win without getting a game over,” I ask.

Hazel bites her lip. “You think he’s ever killed someone?”

“I don’t know,” I say, frozen in the horror of it all. “Do I want to know?”

“Do you want to die?”

My mouth opens in disgust. “Hazel!”

Her eyes flash me a look. “I’m serious!” She grabs my hand. “You’re layered in his crap, but I’ll hose you down. This doesn’t have to haunt you . . . he doesn’t have to kill you. Sheriff Copper won’t let it happen!”

“Hazel, seriously,” I say, pushing her away. “I’m not telling! No one will believe me if I do, and Leison will make it seem like he’s innocent. He’ll hurt my sister. The guy is the master of deception. Then, he’ll take the scholarship away from me––or––or something, I don’t know!”

“Well, are you going to tell Kelly at least?” Hazel looks at me. “He’ll gladly kill him for you.”

I roll my eyes at her. “I don’t know if I’ll tell Kelly.”

“Well, I think you should,” she pipes in, returning her attention to the street. “Just saying that maybe this guy is like a serial killer, not just a rapist!”

My eyes narrow.  “Just because you are in AP psych does not mean you know how to profile a serial killer.” I laugh. “And don’t even say that your obsession with serial killers helps this in anyway.”

“He’s a serial killer!” she yells.

“He’s a rapist!” I yell back.

“It’s the same thing!” Then, she swerves the car again because she is distracted with yelling at me.

“Hazel, just shut up and drive!” I bark. “We aren’t talking about this anymore and I want to arrive in one piece.”

Thankfully, the diner comes into view and I swear that the light from heaven is shining down upon it. After all of this Leison talk, I am grateful to be out of the car and heading toward the most delicious waffles in town.

Inside the diner there’s a bunch of bear décor and it feels like I’m walking through an old cabin. The place has the best waffles in town and is “teenager-friendly”. My Papa worked with the guy who owns it. He is retired now and loves his little diner.

“Cecily Wolf!” he yells as I enter through the doors. He’s a short, round guy with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. He feels like an uncle to me.

“Hey, Uncle Randal!” I run over to hug him. “You’re looking sprig, my friend.”

Randal laughs as he shakes his head. “Like your father, you are.”

Not the first time I was told that today. I smile. “He’s a good man.”

“Come on over here. I have a batch of fresh waffles waiting for you.” He directs us to a booth and on the way we encounter the boys.

“Hi!” Hazel says, louder than necessary.

Kelly looks at me and smiles. “You look beautiful.”

My cheeks go redder than the already fever-induced-red they are, and I look down at my old hoodie and jeans. “You do too.”

His brow lifts and he starts laughing. “Thanks, I try.”

“I mean . . . thanks!” I smack my forehead and Hazel holds back a laugh.

Kelly hugs me tightly before letting go. For some reason, he’s the only person that can touch me—the only person I don’t cringe away from. “I’m happy to see you.”

“Me too,” I reply and a feeling enters me that I should tell him about Leison. I push it aside. “Have you had their waffles?”

He smiles as he shakes his head. “I’m not exactly from here.”

“They are to die for!” I throw my head back and my mouth waters at the thought of them.

Once seated, we order our food and wait. The hardest part of eating out.

“So, the royals were looking for you,” Darien tells me cautiously.

My stomach instantly hurts and I think I want to puke.

“Just ignore them, Cecily,” Hazel demands. “It was just the duchess.”

“Why is she so nasty?” I ask. “I don’t get it. Our entire lives she has been like this.”

“No one gets it,” says Darien. “Ever since her mom left and brother died, she has been the nastiest human being to roam this planet.”

Kelly’s face fills with shock. “That’s quite a statement.”

Sighing, I look down at the table. “What did they want?” I ask Darien.

“Sabrina was trying to figure out why you were a no-show to her party on Friday. She was frantic about it, too . . .”

The taste of vomit fills my mouth. “What does she even care?”

Hazel slams her hand on the table. “Yeah!”

Kelly can’t help but to laugh.

“Be careful when you go back to school, okay?” Darien asks, genuinely concerned.

“I never want to go back to school,” I mutter. “Besides, I’m sick and will be out for a while.”

Darien’s brow lifts. “How long?”

I smile. “I do what I want. Maybe forever.”

The food arrives and my spirits lift instantly. The smell of golden delicious waffles fills me as I take a long, deep breath.

After Kelly takes a bite, he exclaims, “Amazing!”

“I said it!” I laugh and add more whipped cream to mine.

The bell sounds for a customer. Hazel looks toward the door. Suddenly, she drops her fork into her food and lets out a squeak. She looks at me, wide-eyed and terrified.

“What?” I whisper. I go to turn around to look, but she grabs my arm to stop me.

“Mr. Leison is here!” she says in an intense whisper.

I have to cover my mouth to keep from puking up my delicious waffle. Tears fill my eyes as I stare at Hazel in sheer horror. “What do I do?”

“We’ll call the cops,” Darien whispers.

Kelly stares at us, super confused. “What––
who
is this guy?”

I hold my finger up to my mouth to silence him. “Don’t say anything.”

On Kelly’s head is a ball cap for a west coast baseball team. I pull it from his head and ball all of my hair into the cap before setting it on my head. Kelly is super confused now.

“Here he comes!” Hazel whispers urgently.

I drop my head and pretend he’s not there . . . and that ultimately, he can’t see me.

“Hello,” says Mr. Leison, followed by the waft of his sick smell. The sound of his voice makes me cringe. “Darien, Hazel. Cutting class today?”

Hazel smiles innocently. “As are you . . . right, Mr. Leison?”

He laughs at her kindly. “You are a clever child, Hazel.”

I glance at Kelly under the brim of the cap and he’s glaring at the man.

“Darien, what brings you to this table?” Mr. Leison asks. “You are a bottom feeder, aren’t you?”

Darien tries not to scowl. “I was under the assumption that teachers weren’t supposed to get caught up in the student politics . . . or personal lives.”

This strikes a chord with Leison and I sense his glare toward Darien. “I could have you put in detention for ditching class.”

“I could have you fired for––” Before Darien can finish his sentence, I kick him in the shins really hard.

“Who are you?” Leison asks Kelly.

His lips purse with reluctance. “I’m not from here.”

“Where are you from?”

Kelly glares at him, but not on purpose. “Not here.”

“Hazel, where is Cecily?” Mr. Leison asks, shrugging Kelly off.

Hazel shrugs and looks away from him.

Mr. Leison laughs. “Isn’t Cecily your right hand?”

“Yeah.” She’s getting defensive. “She’s sick, so what?”

“Who’s this?” he asks, tapping the top of the ball cap. I cringe.

Kelly pushes his hand away from me. “This is my sister. She’s deaf.”

Leison glances away with disgust and walks away smugly.

“Creep,” Hazel whispers to Darien.

Mr. Leison turns around abruptly. “If you see Cecily, let her know that I missed her today in World Civilizations, would you, Hazel? Actually, tell her that she has about a week of absent work to make up.”

Darien looks ready to kill the man.

Hazel bites the inside of her cheek in anger, but nods. “Of course, Mr. Leison.”

Once we’re clear, I let out a loud exhale. “Oh, my––that was so scary!” My heart is pounding in my throat.

Kelly touches my arm. “What was that? That creep teaches at your school?”

Desperately, I look at Hazel to help me explain.

“That psychopath molester . . . ,” Darien mutters under his breath.

Kelly looks from me to Darien to Hazel and back to me. “Hold on!” It clicks for him.

“Shh!” I motion. “Don’t make a fuss!”

Rage fills Darien and it’s all he can do to not to chase down and kill Mr. Leison. “He’s a sick freak, that’s for sure!”

Kelly tips the cap up so that he can see my face. “That man did something to you, didn’t he?” His blue eyes fill with concern.

Tears fill my eyes and I nod my head. There’s no escaping it.

Hazel reaches across and holds my hand tightly in hers.

“I think that Darien explained him best,” I whispered. “Psychopath molester.”