Retrocognition

58 | leave

The bell hanging on the café door rings as someone enters the building.

Startled by the unexpected noise, I turn in my seat and catch a glimpse of just the girl I'd been waiting for. I study her closely as she makes her way to my booth, taking in her long dark hair and latte-colored skin. She's beautiful in the most natural of ways, and I can easily see how she would have captured Jacob's attention.

Once Will had given me Daya's Instagram handle, I had wasted no time in reaching out to her. I'd been surprised when she answered the message I had sent her, and further taken aback when she agreed to meet with me. We had decided to meet at the café in the town next to Creekside, where Daya currently resides.

I offer Daya a polite smile as she settles herself in the seat across from me, meeting my stare with a pair of chocolate brown eyes. She returns the gesture, though I can sense that she isn't quite comfortable.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," I decide to start off by saying. "I'm sure this is a little awkward for you."

Daya shrugs dismissively. "Only if Jacob shows up. I have a restraining order against him."

This information takes me off guard. I raise my eyebrows, frowning as I take this news in. "I'm assuming things between you and Jacob didn't end too well?"

Daya snorts, her gaze veering somewhere to the left of me. "You could say that. More like our whole relationship wasn't too good."

I want to ask questions, though I refrain from starting further conversation as a waiter approaches to take our orders. Once we've given our drink orders to the waiter and he walks off, I clear my throat and think over what I want to ask Daya. I know I don't have much time to speak with her, so I have to be very precise with what I say.

"I'm guessing you want to hear the story," Daya sighs before I have a chance to bombard her with questions. "Are you seeing Jacob now, or something?"

"Something like that," I admit vaguely in a soft tone, awaiting Daya to continue with her story.

"Well, good luck with that. I hope he treats you better than he did me." She snorts once more, rolling her eyes out of annoyance. The waiter quickly comes back with our drinks before departing once more, leaving me alone to hear Daya talk about what her experience with Jacob was like.

Daya takes a brief sip of her coffee before offering me her undivided attention. "Jacob and I met when I was a freshman," Daya reveals. "He was a sophomore at the time. A mutual friend introduced us at some party. Anyway, he was considered hot shit at the time—I'm sure he still is. I was this nobody who couldn't believe he was interested in me. You could say I was naïve, falling for him way too hard much too fast. We were never official or anything—at least, not to him—but we were on and off again for months. At first, everything seemed perfect. I was dating the star of the football team, and suddenly I had all of these friends and felt like I was on cloud nine. Then the honeymoon phase faded and I was living through a nightmare."

Daya hesitates for a moment, inhaling a rattled breath as she shakes her head. I cling onto her every word, goosebumps beginning to dot my arms that seem to have nothing to do with the chill in the air.

"Jacob never wanted to put a title on our relationship because he didn't want to be tied down to one girl. I wasn't oblivious to the fact that he was talking to other people, but I didn't want to say anything out of fear of losing him. But as time passed, he started getting weirdly possessive. He didn't want me around any of my male friends. He was always trying to talk me out of going to my classes to spend time with him. Started monitoring my social media and reading my texts. Yet the whole time he was still messing around with other girls and refused to label us."

Daya's expression becomes conflicted as she absentmindedly swirls the straw around in her cup, her gaze distant. "Obviously, I became really fed up with his behavior. Especially when he started pressuring me for sex. We hooked up every now and then, but he started getting really aggressive about it. Specifically when he was drinking, which he began to do more and more often. It seemed like his drinking was getting out of control. When I didn't give in to what he wanted . . . he would hit me. He'd threaten me if I tried leaving or mentioned telling anyone about how he treated me. He said no one would believe me, because of his status at Redwood. You know, the golden boy. And he was right. When I tried seeking help, no one listened. Everyone thinks Jacob is this great guy, someone who could never do any wrong."

I inhale a rattled breath as Daya holds my stare, unable to stop myself from noticing the similarities between her experience with Jacob and my own.

"We went to this party one night," Daya continues, "and I was just so miserable I tried to drown my pain in alcohol. I got totally shitfaced. I couldn't even see straight. And Jacob knew, obviously. He told me we were gonna go back to my dorm, yet he still tried sleeping with me the second we were alone. I told him no. I said I didn't want to. But it happened anyway. The next morning I couldn't remember too much because I'd been so out of it, but I remembered us sleeping together. When I confronted Jacob about it, he told me it was fine because we were together. It couldn't be rape if we were somewhat dating. And I believed him. Even though it felt wrong, I just agreed. Looking back, I know the fact that we were talking doesn't change the truth. He raped me. I didn't consent to him. And then he did it again. And again. And again. I found out after a while that he was drugging me when we went to parties. Once I had proof, I took it to the cops and had a restraining order set in place against him. I transferred schools. I couldn't get away from him fast enough."

I lean back in my seat, my mind spinning as I try to take in all of this new information at once. Daya must be able to read the turmoil of my expression, as she softly asks, "Is it happening to you, too?"

My silence must be enough of an answer.

Daya eyes me with pity. "Look, I know we don't know each other, but Jacob Beckham is nothing but bad news, Blythe. Whatever rumors you've heard about him . . . they're most likely true. His family pays the school to keep his reputation clean. If the Beckham's didn't have so much power over the school, I would have done more to make other people aware of what Jacob is really like. For what it's worth, you seem like a decent girl. Leave while you can. I promise you, he isn't worth it."

I nod absentmindedly, trying hard to keep myself together. "Uh, thanks. Thank you for meeting with me. And for sharing all of that."

"Of course." Daya offers me a weak smile. "I hope I helped, if that's what you were looking for."

I meet Daya's stare purposefully. "You did. More than you know."