Ransom(16)

I grin through my tears, suddenly feeling better than I have in ages. I have a friend. Who would have thought?

“So here’s the deal.” She lays her hands flat on the table. “Karen and I both feel terrible. We hate that you’re thinking we would use you to get close to the band. We want you to know that if you come, we won’t say a word about you introducing us. We promise.”

“I’m not coming,” I say quickly.

“Why not? You said you like their music. Besides, why would you pass up the opportunity to hang out with me and Karen?” She shoots me a grin. “We’re like, the coolest girls ever.”

I laugh. “True. But I can’t go with you. There are… there’s history with us. Me and Daltrey. I can’t see him.”

Her eyes widen, and I can tell it’s killing her not to ask me what kind of history I have with her favorite rock singer. I sigh, knowing I have to tell her. In fact, the idea of confiding in Paige actually doesn’t make me feel sick, which is weird in and of itself.

“We were good friends, actually. Like, really close. Since we were kids. And then he left with his brothers to record their album and go on tour, and… things got complicated.”

“Wow,” she whispers. “I want you to know that I’m very compassionate toward your issues but… holy shit! I’m sitting next to someone who is close friends with Daltrey Ransome.”

I laugh. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t lying when I said I haven’t talked to him since he left last year. Everything changed after that, Paige.”

“He ditched you,” she summarizes.

“No, it wasn’t like that. I’m the one who cut off communication.”

She stares at me. “Sorry, but are you fucking insane? Why would you do that? Have you seen him?”

I smile sadly. “Remember when I said that things got complicated?”

She nods.

Oh, what the hell. I have to tell someone besides Dr. Jacobs someday. “I was really lonely when they left. Daltrey had this plan that I would join them on tour for the summer when school got out, sell T-shirts or something. But in the meantime, this guy asked me out. Justin. I thought he was nice.” I take a deep breath. “I was wrong. Really, really wrong.”

She wrinkles up her nose. “I’ve had a few of those myself.”

“Yeah, well, he dumped me. And that’s when the rumors started. He told people stuff about us… private stuff. And it became a pretty hot topic around school.”

She holds up a hand. “You don’t have to say anymore. People talked shit about me in high school, too. Bastards. Karen calls them slut-shamers—people who think it’s okay to make fun of girls for having sex but idolize the boys involved. It’s so stupid and hypocritical.”

I gulp. “Yeah, but in my case, he had… there were pictures.”

Her mouth drops open, and I feel a flush creep up my neck. She could rail against slut-shamers all she wanted, but there was no way I could tell this story without feeling like the world’s biggest slut.

I need to just get it over with. “I thought he was just messing around when he took them on his cell phone. I freaked out, of course, and told him to delete them. He promised me he did.” I stare down at the table, willing the churning in my stomach to stop. “I’m the dumb-ass that believed him, I guess.”

“Don’t you say that.” She reaches across the table to take my hand. “He’s the asshole, Daisy. It’s not your fault. You’re not the first girl who trusted the wrong guy.”

The touch of her hand feels odd because I haven’t allowed any physical contact for so long. I savor the sensation for a moment before freeing my hand by using the excuse of picking up my coffee.

Tears threaten, and I blink them away. “It seems like there was a certain group of girls just waiting for something like that. Probably the ones who were jealous of my friendship with Daltrey.” I smile sadly. “He was always such hot shit, you know? Even back then. Everyone wanted a piece of him.”

She grins briefly. “I have absolutely no problem at all imagining that.”

I take a sip of my now-cold coffee, wondering exactly how much more I should tell her. “It got… it got really nasty. The pictures were all over the Internet, on people’s phones. They even photocopied them and passed them around at school.” I swallow hard, willing myself to keep it together. “Then they started sending me messages. Texts, stuff online. They threatened me and called me terrible names. Encouraged me to just… you know, be done with it.”

She swears softly. “Daisy, I’m so sorry that happened to you. People are assholes.”