Happy Everly After

Chapter 40

With a deep breath, I stepped out of the car and into the police station. My heart was pounding with nervousness, but also a sense of determination. I had made them all wait in the car, as I wanted to face this on my own, although my dad was itching to confront Sergeant Reynolds. Constable Bailey, warm and friendly, greeted me at the entrance and led me to a small room. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead, despite the coolness of the room. The air inside felt heavy, reminding me of my first failed attempt to report what had happened to me.

"Please Everly, take a seat", Constable Bailey said kindly. "Can I get you something to drink?" I politely declined.

"Okay, so I just want to run through some things with you", she continued. "I'm the assigned investigation officer. I'll be your point of contact during the investigation, answering any questions you may have and keeping you updated on the progress". I nodded numbly as she spoke. "I'll need to take a formal statement again since it wasn't properly logged at our last meeting. Please tell me what happened to the best of your knowledge".

She then suggested referring me to SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre), but I declined once again. Despite the difficult circumstances, I felt lucky to have such strong support from my loved ones. Riley was initially arrested, then released. I knew without her saying it was Sergeant  Reynolds doing. Riley did, however, have restrictions, including no contact with me or being allowed on school premises. This prompted me to bring up the anonymous messages I had been receiving.

I was told that it could be weeks or even months before the court case. But despite the uncertainty and nerves that came along with it, I was grateful that my case was finally being taken seriously. And on the day of the trial, I knew I would waive my right to anonymity. I wanted Riley to see the consequences of his actions and for him to look me in the eye.

Owen was the first one out of the car to embrace me and my parents followed. We ordered my favourite Chinese food, watched a couple of movies, and it almost felt like a fever dream. Like this couldn't be happening, it was too normal when soon I'd be going to court to face someone, I considered a friend who'd then assaulted me.

Later on, as we headed upstairs for some alone time, I lay in Owen's arms and we talked about everything and anything. Not just about what had happened, about our plans for college and Mr Carter apparently having a thing for Miss Levine. Before I knew it I was out like a light. I didn't even feel him leave, but when I woke up the next day, I instantly missed the feel and smell of his skin next to mine.

Garfield was right! I remembered that I had an assignment due on today's Monday morning that I had completely forgotten about. Frantically searching through my backpack, I finally found the crumpled papers and stuffed them inside.

"We're going to be late", Charlotte said impatiently as she watched me rush around.

"What else is new?" I replied sarcastically.

"I can't afford to get detention Everly", she reminded me. "I've barely seen Isaiah since practice has taken over my life. We have a date tonight!" Her face lit up with excitement.

"Okay, spill the details", I urged her.

"Right, so you have to promise not to laugh and reserve judgement".

"Okay... Sounds ominous, just tell me Charlotte".

"Well", Charlotte began with a smile, "he's taking me to a cooking class".

"You're kidding", I burst out laughing all the way to school.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh" she pouted. "Can you stop laughing, it's really not that funny".

"Sorry", I apologised between giggles. "Why a cooking class?"

"We were just casually talking, and he mentioned how great a cook he was. And then I mentioned how envious I was because I struggle with even boiling water. He took it literally and thought I wanted to learn". The image of Charlotte attempting to cook made me giggle again.

"Oh, go away Everly" she said, pushing me as she giggled herself.

We met at lunchtime in the library, it'd become my safe haven from the hectic chaos of high school. The familiar smell of old books and the sound of rustling pages greeted us as we settled into our usual table. Mrs Meyers watched us with hawk-like eyes, making sure we were behaving ourselves.

"I feel like we should be using code words", whispered Charlotte, glancing around the almost empty library.

"First of all, can you stop whispering? There's hardly anyone here and as long as we keep our hands to ourselves, Mrs Meyers won't care", I replied in a hushed voice.

"This isn't legal", Charlotte protested quietly, refusing to listen.

"What did he find out?" I asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately, he couldn't uncover who was texting you", she sighed.

I sulked, disappointed but not surprised.

"But wait, he did rule out some suspects. Cassie, Amelia, and Riley's phones are not the ones sending those messages", Charlotte added.

"Let's just leave it to the police then", I sighed, feeling defeated.