When it hurts (ongoing)

Chapter fourteen

Austin tries to per sway me back to bed, his beautiful eyes swimming with concern "Are you sure you don't want to stay? I can look after you."
Just then I hear a high pitched scream "Nora!"
I walk out the door, Carter and Austin following behind me just as clueless.
"Nora!"
When I reach the bottom of the stairs I'm overwhelmed with relief. Jess is standing there with red rimmed eyes, darting in and out of all the rooms in the house.
When she sees me she rushes forward, pulling me into her arms "Thank god."
"Jess what's wrong-"
"Nora I'm so sorry" she cries "When I couldn't find you last night I just assumed you went home. But then your mom called me this morning saying you hadn't came home and I was so worried something happened to-"
I don't know what surprises me more, Jess's grief or the fact my mum noticed I hadn't came home.
I pull back, placing my hands on Jess's shoulders "Jess it's ok, I'm fine."
She hits me in the chest "Then where the hell did you go?"
I laugh, surprised by her sudden mood change "I'm sorry, I went upstairs when I couldn't find you."
She frowns "But why would you stay the night-"
When I freeze Austin steps beside me, putting his arm around my waist reassuringly "Her drink got spiked, crashed in my room."
Jess's eyes widen, she clamps a disbelieving hand over her mouth, shaking her head dismissively "What? Who? How?-"
I cut her off, massaging my scalp "Can you drop me home? I'll tell you everything on the way."
Austin cuts in "I'll drop you both home."
Jess shakes her head "No it's ok my car is outside."
Austin's eyebrows furrow, he looks uneasy. I touch his chest, he looks down at my hands.
"Thank you for looking after me" I've never been more grateful "Who knows what could have happened if you weren't there."
He's about to reply, but when I reach up and kiss his cheek he falls short.
I grab Jess's hand and drag her out the door, desperate to go home.

                                      ***

It's the next day, a Sunday, when I'm walking down the street with a coffee in my hand that I hear Jackson calling my name. I was hoping I wouldn't run into him until school tomorrow. That I would have the weekend to recover before I had to confront him. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the possibility he could've put drugs in my drink. "Nora!"
I turn and see Jackson sprinting down the street after me, I begin speed walking, staring at the door to the bookstore just a few steps away.
Just a little more....
He roughly grabs my wrist, yanking me backwards to him "Slow down! Didn't you hear me calling your name?"
I ignore him "I'm late for work Jackson, what do you want?"
He steps back, surprised "Why so cold? What's your problem? Are you on your period or something?" He laughs like he's said something hilarious. I narrow my eyes at him, my patience wearing thin.
"What happened to you last night?" He asks like he doesn't know "I searched everywhere for you."
Clearly not everywhere
I shrug, trying to stay composed "I crashed in Austin's room."
His eyes widen in disapproval "You're joking. I don't feel comfortable with that."
I laugh humourlessly "And I don't feel comfortable with you putting drugs in my drink but here we are."
Genuine surprise crosses Jackson's face "What? Drugs? What are you talking about?"
"I was drugged last night" I cross my arms over my chest "And I only had one drink."
He nods, urging me on.
"That drink came from you."
I didn't think his eyes could widen even more, but they do. He holds his hands up defensively "How could you even accuse me of that. I never made any of the drinks, I took them from the bowl of punch that was already made."
His reaction takes me by surprise. Jackson has never been a good liar, he makes it too obvious. When he is lying he tries to play it cool, he manipulates you, says things like "Believe what you want". When he's telling the truth he acts how he is now, defensive because he knows he's not the culprit. I know I'm not being naive when I believe he wasn't responsible for the drugs. But he still gave me a drink from his friend who was more than capable. Im too weary of him now, any trust we had is long gone.
"Even if you weren't the one who drugged me, you pressured me into taking a drink I didn't want in the first place."
He buries his head in his hands "You're right, I'm sorry Nora. I don't know what to say."
I glance back at the bookstore door, at the closed sign that should say open "I'm tired of accepting your apologises Jackson, it's always the same old."
I walk away, dogging his attempt to grab my wrist. I lock the bookstore door and wait until I'm sure he's gone to open it.