I was terrified. As I walked through campus I paid attention to the groups of people that surrounded me and the students that walked by. The report was coming out today, there was no going back after this. I questioned if I was doing the right thing about a hundred times last night while I was having one of my many breakdowns. But no matter how many times I tried to tell myself that a lot of people were going to be hurt, deep down I knew it was the right thing to do. Macy and Emily deserved justice, the justice Conrad and the administration fell short of giving them.
After the meet at OHSU, when Connery caught me talking to Peyton, I lied my little ass off. Aunt Claire raised no liar, but I just couldn't do it. The guilt was eating me up inside though, that was one of the many reasons why I ignored Connery all weekend. Stensby and Peyton told me I was just being a coward and that he deserved to know it from me, not from reading all about it on the school's paper. And I agree, I am being a coward and he deserves better than to find out from reading it on the paper like everyone else on campus.
That's why when I woke up this morning, I managed to build up the courage and I texted him. We need to talk. Let's meet after Emerson's class near Webster Hall. Connery didn't reply, he called me instead but I declined the call. I wasn't prepared for all of his unanswered questions yet.
When I reached Fisher Hall I quickly walked up the three flights of stairs, the elevators were crowded and I couldn't afford being late. Out of all of the days, today wasn't one of those days where I wanted to hear Emerson's voice besides the hour we had to endure for today's lecture. I tried to spot Connery but the unread message I had on my phone, told me that he wasn't coming to Emerson's class today. Can we talk after practice? Something came up. I can't make it to Emerson's class. I replied to the text right before I walked into the auditorium. Ok.
Stensby was sitting in the second row after where Connery and I usually sit together ever since we began to hang out. So I walked over to where my best friend was sitting and I grabbed the empty seat next to him. "I'm glad to see that you made it on time. Did you get tired of hearing Emerson's scolding tone?"
"Yes," I reply. "And I'm still avoiding Connery so I wanted to make sure I got to class before him so I wouldn't have to sit next to him. I got here early for nothing though, he isn't coming to class today."
"I see," Stensby says giving me a look. "And I for a second thought that you wanted to spend some quality time with your best friend."
"That too."
"Yeah right," Stensby rolls his eyes. "May I ask why you're still avoiding Connery? We've already stated that you're just a coward but still, what are you waiting for?"
"For the right moment," I reply.
"There is no right moment Ev, you have to face him sometime." Stensby pauses. "You do realize you're both on the same team right? What are you so afraid of?"
If I was being completely honest, I was afraid of losing him. But I knew that I was going to, either way, there was no outcome in which he wouldn't walk away from this. It didn't matter if I had told him a week ago, last night, or today. He was still going to walk away and I wasn't ready to face that.
"Do you think I don't know that?" I glare at my best friend. "And it doesn't matter what I'm afraid of Stensby, at this moment, my fears are the least of worries."
Shortly after Stensby and I finished talking Prof. Emerson walked into the auditorium. "Good morning class," She greeted. "I hope you're ready for today's class, it's going to be a good one. And before you think I completely forgot about the fact that you have a quiz today, you're mistaken. But since I'm feeling a bit compassionate today, we'll have it during the last ten minutes of the lecture."
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Peyton. It's done. A few seconds after I had read those two words, everybody's phones began to ring and it was the only sound you could hear in the crowded auditorium. Emerson began to scold us for not having our phones on silent but nobody seemed to care. Everyone had their attention glued to their phones. The Macy Kingsley and Emily Cohen Case: Betrayed by the Administration. The title of the article read.
The article had every single detail of what happened to both girls, the way they were treated by Chancellor Scott, and campus security, but best of all, attached to the article you could see the video I took the night Connery took me to Laguna Seca. Everyone started whispering about it, even Emerson chimed in once she realized what was going on.
For the rest of the class, Emerson manages to give today's lecture. She seemed to be in a better mood, it definitely had something to do with the article. Out of all of the professors on campus, she's always been involved with victims of sexual assault and advocating for more security on campus. Hence why she's always butting heads with Chancellor Scott. This is the first time that the paper has published a piece like this one.
Everyone on campus knows what goes around here, but nobody says anything or does anything for that matter. It's one thing to watch from afar how it happens to other girls but a completely different thing when you're the one being held down against your will.
After we took the short ten-minute quiz, Emerson dismissed us. I put all of my things away in my backpack and I walked out into the aisle with Stensby by my side. "Peyton did a pretty amazing job with that article. She must have a lot of powerful people here very pissed off."
"I hope they are," I tell my best friend as we go down the flight of stairs. "It was time someone spoke about the truth. Just like my grandmother says no puedes tapar el cielo con un dedo."
"You guys should be careful," Stensby warns. "If Tommy Scott is part of that gang, it puts you guys at risk."
"I'm not afraid of him Stensby," I tell Stensby as we walk out of Fisher Hall. That may be a little white lie, I must admit. The times I thought of Tommy and his friends doing something to Peyton or I had crossed my mind several times. "The time has come to finally put Tommy Scott in his place and if it has to be me, let it be me."
"I'm meeting with Kelsea at the library, we have this group project thing," Stensby complains. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Since when are you the responsible one?" I ask Stensby and he rolls his eyes. "Wait, isn't Kelsea the girl from the volleyball team that you've been trying to get to bed for the past month? I should've known better than to think that you were capable of being responsible."
"Oh shut up Green," Stensby says making me laugh. "I won't confirm or deny but that's not the reason. I'm this close to failing the class and I can't afford it. Coach warned he would take me off the starting line up."
"Well, go on then, I'll be okay," I reassure Stensby. "I have to head to the firm anyways."
"Before I go, don't stress about Connery. He will understand eventually, you're doing the right thing. You always have been. If he isn't capable of seeing that, he wasn't worth your time from the start." Stensby says offering me a smile before he walks away.
.
The firm was not as crowded as it usually was for a Monday morning. I greeted Laura on my way to Jared's office, she greeted me back like she always does with the biggest smile.
Before walking into Jared's office I knocked on the door captivating his attention. He was currently going through some paperwork. Once he looked up and saw my small figure through the glass door he signaled for me to come in.
"Good morning Jared," I smile. "The article was published this morning, have you had the chance to read it?"
"I have, Peyton, did an excellent job on the piece. Olivia does too, she called and said that the article was the missing piece on our case." Jared says enthusiastically.
"That's great news," I say as I take a seat in front of Jared's chair. After everything that's going to happen today after practice, I needed to hear at least some good news.
"They are," Jared pauses. "Olivia is sure that more victims will come forward after they see that other girls have come forward too."
"I'm pretty sure they will too, they must be scared that he will do something to them again, that's why most girls don't come forward," I add. "Or maybe they have, but we know how BGU has been handling rape cases lately."
"They must be collecting dust in a box somewhere in Chancellor Scott's office," Jared says. "How have you been holding up? I know your friend is Scott's stepson."
"I'm okay," I'm not. "It's our job to get justice not only for Emily or Macy but for all of those girls that have been victims of Tommy Scott."
Jared smiles. "You're going to be a great lawyer Everest, you have that spark in your eyes every time you talk about the cases we work with. It's going to take you places."
"Thank you," I smile. Jared doesn't shoot that many compliments about my work ethic often but I gladly take them when he does throw them my way. He's a great lawyer and what better person to notice than him? "Is there anything else I could get started with while we wait for the article to have its effect?"
Jared nods. "Yes, can you review my notes on the Walter case? I have the deposition tomorrow but I feel like I'm missing something."
"Sure, I'll get back to you with the feedback before I leave," I tell Jared as I take the case file from his hands.
With the case file in hand I stood up from the very comfy chair and I walked over to my small desk. I reviewed Jared's notes for a few hours and I wrote down a few things he missed that would for sure help him in tomorrow's deposition.
Before I knew it the time on the clock gave me the first warning that I had to leave for practice. I have been dreading it, but I had to face the music sometime. Jared was in a meeting when I walked into his office to leave the case file, so I just left the file on top of his desk with a little note telling him that he could call me if he wanted to hear my point of view rather than having to read it.
The drive to the pavilion was, unfortunately, a short one, it usually took me about forty-five minutes to get there but with no traffic in sight, I reached the pavilion in twenty. I searched for Connery's car in the parking lot but it was nowhere to be seen. He's usually the first one to get here, he must've read the article or else he would've already been here.
I got out of my car with my bag in hand and walked into the pavilion. The locker rooms were empty which meant that everyone was waiting by the pool for Coach Jennings. I quickly changed into my Speedo printed tie back one piece and in no time I was already out of the locker room.
To my unfortunate luck, everyone was talking about the article. Connery had to know, especially since the boys were giving me strange looks. I decided it would better for me to stick with Regan, at least until practice started. I had forgotten about the part where I was still swimming in the boy's lane.
Everything was going smoothly until a very pissed Matthew Connery walked through the main hallway and was headed in my direction. Yeah, he had definitely read it.
"What the actual fuck Everest?" A very pissed Connery questioned me. I understand the anger but he could tone the attitude down a bit.
I didn't know how to respond. By the time I could make the words come out everyone was staring at us. "I can explain, let me just explain."
"You can explain?" Connery says with a sarcastic laugh. Ok, now he was just being an ass. "I had to find out about your little fucking article through Inez when it should've come from you in the first place."
"Connery, calm down," O'Connor warns Connery. "You will end up regretting it if you don't. This is not the place to talk about this."
"Fuck off O'Connor," Connery spits at his best friend. "Why did you do it? Was this your hidden agenda all along? I trusted you, Everest. I took you to that place because I trusted you and you pull that shit by filming him? Do you even know what you just did?"
"How can you say that? Of course, it wasn't Connery. I would never use you like that. It was never my intention, I found out about Chancellor Scott the night of the charity ball. I swear." I pause. "I was just doing my job."
"Your job?" Connery sarcastically laughs again. My blood began to boil. "It's sad to see that you call that a job and from the looks of it you don't do yours very well."
Connery shoved his phone in my face showing me explicit pictures Macy had sent to Tommy. This can't be true. There must be some sort of explanation.
"Look who turned out to be a lying whore Everest, she was asking for it ever since she walked through the fucking door." Connery spits in anger. I didn't even think about it twice, it came out of nowhere. In a matter of seconds my right hand connected with Connery's cheek.
"Have a little more respect," I spit. My blood was completely boiling at this point. "If we were talking about your sister we would be having a different conversation and you know it."
"How would you feel if someone was pinning me down against my will, ripping my clothes off, running his dirty hands all over my naked body while he waits for his buddies to join in on the fun and laugh it off taking turns while I'm sobbing on the bed?" I said raising my voice. "How would you fucking feel Connery? Tell me!"
"Well, we aren't talking about my sister and this isn't about you either." What the hell was wrong with him? "Aside from destroying someone's reputation and tearing down a family without knowing the whole truth, you've done nothing."
"You know what, I was so wrong about you Matthew Connery." I pause. "You're starting to sound a lot like the sorry of an excuse you have for a stepfather. It's pathetic. You're not half the man that you think that you are."
"Everest, just please walk away," O'Connor warns as he grabs my hand but I yank it away. "Walk away."
At this point, I didn't fucking care anymore. "Mark my words Matthew Connery, I will do everything in my power to get those girls the justice your stepfather fell short of," I spit in anger as I walked up closer to his face. "And if you're waiting for me to apologize for destroying your picture-perfect family, you'll be waiting for the rest of your pathetic life for an apology that will never come, because I won't apologize for doing what's right."
I walked away after that. I had to or else I was going to break down right then and there. It took a lot of strength and courage to say what I said, but he was asking for it the minute he called Macy a whore.
Out of all the things that I had thought of, nothing could've prepared me for what just happened. I thought Connery was the one that was going to end up walking away but it ended up being me because sometimes you just have to know when to walk away.
I had to walk away but not because I didn't care about him, but because the moment I had to fight for it, for him to understand. I had already lost him.
A/N
hey guys! I'm so happy that I finally got the chance to update this chapter, I was waiting for this one since I first started writing the first chapter. A lot went down in today's chapter and I have so many questions for you guys!
what do you guys think about Connery's reaction? would you have slapped him just like Ev did? (I think he deserved it.)
thank you so much for your support, know that it never goes unnoticed and I'm forever grateful for it. I'll see you guys in the next one, we'll get to see things from Connery's POV. I'm excited to keep writing that one as well.
ps. I will start posting the timer on my insta stories so you can set a reminder and be notified when I will upload as well :)