The Sound of Silence (Previously I Know What You Did Last Summer)

{Twenty-Five} Because of You

The second Kevin sat down in the vacant seat on my left the next morning, I wished for a hole to open up under me.

He walked into the classroom with a smug look, as if the rest of the class was beneath him and he could walk all over them without a second thought. He smiled at some girl in the seat behind him, then said something to Chris Owens, Captain of the Varsity football team, before falling into the seat beside me.

He didn't look in my direction. I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't feel a wave of relief wash over me over such a trivial thing. I saw those piercing blue eyes every time I shut my own. I had no desire to be faced with them now.

Mr. Nicholson stopped at my desk multiple times throughout class, as if he were afraid that I'd have another episode and cause a scene in the middle of his classroom. I couldn't really blame him. If I were being completely honest with myself I was shocked I hadn't had one yet either.

By the time the end of class rolled around I think both of us were letting out a shaky breath of relief. Rather than wait for Kevin to doddle and slowly make his way toward the door after making conversation with everyone in the room, I rushed for the hallway without looking back.

I collected myself once I reached my locker, resting my forehead against it as I inhaled a breath of fresh air then exhaled it. I slowly pushed it shut. The moment I glanced up, my heart lurched into my throat. Kimmy stood a few inches in front of me, clutching a red notebook tightly against her chest.

"Hey." She whispered.

I waited until I was able to catch my breath to respond. "Hey."

We stood there, inches apart, in absolute silence for a couple minutes before Kimmy closed the small gap between us, invading my personal space.

"I know what he did." She breathed.

My heart sunk into the deepest depths of my stomach as I swallowed the vile that had rose in my throat and met her dark eyes.

"What?" I said it so softly it was barely audible.

She looked me up and down, eying me skeptically. "Are you the girl he assaulted?"

My breath caught in my throat and for a second I was sure I stopped breathing in general.

Almost in slow motion, Kimmy became a blur in front of me. My hands started to tremble at my sides, the little I'd eaten churning in my stomach, easing it's way up, and all I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears.

"What are you talking about?" I was finally able to force out.

"Were you the girl he assaulted?" Kimmy repeated, as if saying it a second time would make it easier to understand.

I could feel a tight knot drop my from my chest to my stomach; I did the only thing I could think of.

I shoved passed Kimmy and took off down the hall without looking back.

*

"I want to hang that bastard and cut off. . ." Isabelle started, cracking her knuckles so loud I was sure the entire cafeteria could hear them snap back into place. Her eyes were burning holes through Kevin, who sat in his usually spot at the table in the middle of the cafeteria. The only unusual thing about it was that Kimmy was nowhere to be seen.

Isabelle had handled it fairly well, I suppose. She hadn't immediately gone for her stepfather's shotgun in the basement and went to shoot Kevin, which had honestly been one of the hundreds of scenarios of how she'd take the news that had replayed in my head for months. Instead, she had been extremely understanding and comforting and had even told me that she'd almost had the same thing happen to her at a party last year. She thanked me for opening up to her but told me she couldn't promise that she wouldn't hang Kevin by his feet and torture him.