Beautiful (19 page)

Wyatt shook his head. “Who knows? I’m wondering if it’s gotten back to Charlie’s father.”

Pressing my lips together, I closed my eyes. “A few people have texted me.”

“About the video?”

I opened my eyes and looked into his beautiful eyes. “Yeah. They said they never believed Charlie’s side of the story, but his father came to their houses and talked to their parents. I guess he made a few threats that if people supported me, things would be
difficult
for them—whatever that meant.”

“The guy is an asshole, and I hope he gets what is coming to him.”

“Me, too,” I said with a nod. “Do you think things will ever go back to normal?” I asked Wyatt.

He pulled me to him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I’m not sure, angel. The only things I care about are you and the future we have together.”

Smiling, I felt my cheeks grow hot. “I hope it involves more kissing.”

He winked. “Oh, hell yes.”

My smile dropped. I knew I had to be completely honest with Wyatt. I prayed he would be patient with me. “Wyatt, I need you to know how much I want to…well, how much I want to be with you, but I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to take that step.”

Pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, he gazed into my eyes with such a loving look. “I’m in no hurry, Sky. I want you for the rest of my life, and I’m willing to wait until you’re ready. I’d never do anything to rush you. When we finally do make love, I want it to be perfect for you.”

My chest fluttered as I went breathless. “You’re like a dream, do you know that?”

He laughed and rubbed his nose against mine. “Am I now?”

“Yes. First, you came in and saved me from the hell I had been living in, and then you made me feel so loved and cherished. I don’t know how you do it.”

He placed his hands on my face and stared into my eyes. “Skylar, I’ve never felt this way before. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Every breath I take, I take it for you.”

Oh my…

“Just when I think you couldn’t possibly make my heart beat any harder, you go off and say something like that.”

With a wink, Wyatt replied, “I try.”

My heart grew heavy as I thought about the photo Charlie had taken of me passed out. It clearly showed he was raping me. Everyone had seen it.

“How can I show up at school tomorrow, knowing everyone has seen that picture?”

Taking my hand in his, Wyatt kissed the inside of my wrist. “You show up with me, and we walk, hand in hand, through the halls. You don’t think about it or worry about it. Things might get worse before they get better, but I promise you, as soon as we graduate, I’ll take you away from Marble Falls for a bit.”

Lifting my eyebrows, I grinned. “To Italy?”

Wyatt chuckled. “You want to go to Italy?”

Nodding, I replied, “I’d love to go to Italy.”

“My father’s best friend lives in Venice. I bet I can arrange that.”

Throwing my hands up over my mouth, I exclaimed, “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am.”

I threw myself into him, and Wyatt wrapped his arms around me and spun me around while we both laughed.

In that moment, I knew everything would be okay. The road ahead wasn’t going to be a smooth one, but it was one I knew I could travel along with Wyatt by my side.

“Our next hurdle—well, after going to school tomorrow—will be trying to convince my parents about Italy.”

With an evil grin, Wyatt replied, “Leave that to me. I have a feeling I can sweet-talk them into it.”

Pulling my head back in surprise, I said, “You have met my parents. This is not going to be easy.”

With a sexy grin and a wink that melted my heart, he replied, “Oh, how I love a challenge.”

Wyatt

The knock on my bedroom door caused me to glance up from the book I was reading for English class. “Come in.”

My father slowly opened the door and poked his head in. “Hey. You have a couple of minutes?”

Setting the book down, I nodded. “Yeah. Have you found out anything?”

“About an hour ago, Charlie admitted that he slipped GHB into Skylar’s drink. He wanted her to be awake enough during it, but he thought she would never remember anything. Clearly, he hadn’t given her enough for her not to remember. I looked at the statement she gave after it’d happened. She said she woke up to Charlie raping her. She could talk, but she couldn’t move, and then she passed out again.”

I could feel the anger beginning to build up as I thought about what Charlie had done to Skylar. “What kind of a monster does that?” I numbly said.

“A kind who was obsessed with her and thought he would get what he was after. When he realized Skylar was going to remember, he went home and told his father, who came up with the idea to say they’d had consensual sex, but that after it happened, Skylar felt guilty for cheating on her boyfriend.”

“Jacob,” I said.

Skylar had been dating Jacob at the time.

“Couldn’t they have tested Skylar for the drug?” I asked.

My father frowned. “Here is where it gets beyond crazy. Charlie’s father paid off someone at the hospital to say there was no GHB in Skylar’s system when, in fact, there was.”

Standing, I began to pace. “How much power does this man have? Paying off people at the hospital, going to kids’ houses and threatening them and their parents.”

My father drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “It appears he only had to go to a few houses—mostly, the football players’. He knew how much they could get other kids to sway in the direction he wanted. With a few promises of scholarships and a couple of threatening words, kids were soon turning against Skylar. All it took was a few, and then the rest—I’m sad to say—followed with no proof, no real facts…just a he-said-she-said.”

Pushing my hand through my hair, I let out a frustrated groan. “I hate that this happened to her, but the truth is out. Now, when she walks through the halls tomorrow, I hope all those assholes feel like shit, knowing what they did.”

My father hit me on the back. “I know, son. And I also know how mad it makes you that Skylar was treated the way she was. Just remember to keep your cool. There still might be some kids who want to continue down the path of trying to bully her, especially because they know they were wrong and they don’t like being wrong. Tell Skylar to keep her head up, and things will most likely clear up pretty fast. Kids will be talking tomorrow because of the picture and Charlie’s confession. Just be there for Skylar.”

“I will. Her parents are going to the school tomorrow to find out why no one ever did anything about the bullying. I mean, it was pretty much just notes and trash talk when no teachers were around. Skylar’s dad was ready to kill someone earlier.”

My father chuckled. “I can imagine. After you called and told us everything, I called Skylar’s father, Paul. We talked for a good length of time, and I let him know that I’d be more than happy to answer any questions they might have.”

Reaching my hand out, I shook my father’s hand. “Thanks, Dad. Skylar means the world to me, so thank you for all of this.”

With a smile, he hit the side of my arm. “I know she does, son. I know she does.”

I tossed and turned all night. Finally, at three in the morning, I sent a text to Skylar.

Me: I was thinking about you, sleeping beauty. I hope you see this when you first wake up.

Less than a minute later, my phone buzzed.

Sky: I can’t sleep. My mind is spinning, and I’m worried about what people are going to say at school. That picture was very graphic. People, like Jenny, are going to have a field day with it.

Me: Don’t worry. I promise it’s going to be okay. It will be overshadowed with Charlie’s confession.

Sky: I hope so. It’s so degrading. I can’t stop thinking of something though. Who posted it?

I wasn’t sure if I should tell Skylar that my father had the FBI investigating it. The nature of the photo itself was cause for an investigation.

Me: We’ll find out, angel. For now, please go to sleep. I’ll pick you up in the morning, and we’ll go to school together.

Sky: Okay. I’ll try to sleep. I love you, Wyatt.

Smiling, I felt my chest squeeze.

Me: I love you, too, angel.

Skylar tightly gripped my hand as we walked up the stairs and into school. Her breathing was practically at a pant.

“Just breathe, Sky. It’s going to be okay.”

She nodded and looked around. “Right. I’m okay. I’m fine.”

As we walked, hand in hand, I was stunned that so many people were completely ignoring us. It was like, now that the story had broken and there wasn’t anything else to talk about, Skylar was old news. It was that fast. I was sure word had gotten around that Skylar’s parents were coming down on the school for not stopping the bullying in the first place.

Walking up to her locker, she dragged in a deep breath before she opened it.

Nothing. No notes.

She let out the breath she had been holding. Glancing behind me, I couldn’t help but notice Jenny watching us. I knew she was the one who had posted that photo. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to prove it.

“There’s nothing here.”

“Are you okay, angel?”

She smiled and replied, “Yeah, as long as I know I’ll see you at lunch.”

Laughing, I said, “You’ll see me in English. I had Mrs. Richardson change your schedule back. She said it took effect immediately.”

Skylar threw her arms around me and buried her face into my neck. “I love you, Wyatt Smith. I love you so much.”

The rest of the day proved to be not that eventful. Skylar said about four or five people came up and apologized to her. They all still kept to their normal tables at lunchtime, and it was still just Mitch, Michelle, Skylar, and me at our table. It was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing about it.

After school, I walked up to see Jacob leaning against the locker next to Skylar’s. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to walk away without a fight now.

“I wish you could give me a second chance, Sky. I care about you so very much.”

With everything in me, I kept back. I wasn’t going to be one of those jealous types of boyfriends. I needed to let Skylar handle this how she saw fit.

“I’m sorry, Jacob, but saying you care about me and asking for a second chance doesn’t make what you did any better. Someone who cares about someone else wouldn’t have done the things you did.”

“I never spread the rumors, Skylar!”

“You never tried to stop them either. You’ve never done anything, Jacob. That’s the problem. I know what it feels like now to have someone care so deeply about me that they would move heaven and earth for me. I know what it feels like to be loved.”

“Come on, Skylar. Are you saying you love Wyatt Smith, the new pretty boy in school who all the girls have been falling over for months?”

“All the girls but me. You don’t really know anything about me, Jacob. But you can know this. I’m going to be okay, and one of the main reasons I will be is because of Wyatt. And, yes, he loves me, and I love him. If you can’t respect that, then we really have nothing else to talk about.”

My chest was sticking out with pride.
God, how I love that girl.

Glancing over Jacob’s shoulder, Skylar caught a glimpse of me. Her smile made my knees weak.