He’s Not Done With Me
1605 Words
The woman nodded, pulling out a form. “What’s the nature of the harassment?”
“Anonymous messages,” Lyric said. “Threatening ones. Targeted at her.”
The woman looked at me. “You’re Solene?”
“Yes.”
“You have the messages?”
I showed her.
She read them, one by one.
Her expression changed. Just slightly.
“This isn’t the first complaint we’ve had about Briar Maddox,” she said under her breath.
My eyes widened. “You’ve had others?”
She looked at me, suddenly stiff. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you did,” Lyric said, leaning in. “So let’s not pretend you didn’t.”
The officer hesitated, then sighed. “Off the record? Yes. But nothing ever stuck. His family has pull. The girls back off, the files get archived, and the school protects its reputation.”
“So you’re telling me if something happens to me,” I said, voice cracking, “it’ll get buried?”
She looked me in the eye. “Not if you don’t stay quiet.”
That night, back at Lyric’s apartment, we didn’t talk much.
We just existed.
Together.
Until the knock came.
This time, it wasn’t soft.
It was fast.
Hard.
Relentless.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Lyric was off the couch in seconds.
She peeked through the peephole.
Then looked at me.
“It’s him,” she said.
I froze. “Briar?”
She nodded.
Another knock.
“Solene, I know you’re in there!”
His voice was sharp. Off.
Lyric stepped toward the door. “Don’t open it.”
“I’m not.”
“Solene!” he shouted. “I need to talk to you. You’ve been lied to!”
I flinched.
Lyric grabbed her phone. “I’m calling someone.”
“No!” I said, too fast. “Let me… let me handle it.”
She looked at me like I was insane.
But she stepped aside.
I opened the door a c***k, chain still locked.
Briar’s face was flushed, eyes wild.
“You need to listen to me,” he said.
“You’re scaring me.”
“I didn’t send those texts. I swear. Someone’s trying to frame me. Someone who hates me.”
“Who?”
He swallowed. “Savannah.”
My stomach turned.
“She’s dangerous,” he said. “You don’t know what she’s capable of. She’s manipulating you.”
“You said she was the one who cheated on you,” I said. “You didn’t mention anything else. You never mentioned a police report.”
He froze.
“Because it didn’t exist,” he said.
“I’ve seen it.”
“No, you saw a screenshot. You think that’s proof?”
“She had records. Messages. Dates. Names.”
Briar’s voice dropped.
“You believe her over me?”
I didn’t answer.
“You think I’m a monster?”
I still didn’t speak.
And his next words came out like venom.
“Then maybe you deserve whatever happens next.”
I slammed the door in his face.
The door trembled as it shut behind him.
I leaned against it, shaking, my heartbeat slamming in my chest like a warning bell I couldn’t silence.
“You heard that, right?” I said.
Lyric stepped forward slowly. “Every word.”
She didn’t touch me.
She didn’t have to.
Her silence said everything.
“I think… I think he meant it.”
Lyric’s jaw tightened. “So do I.”
I slid to the floor and pressed my palms to my face. “How did it get this far?”
Lyric crouched next to me. “Because you trusted someone who wore a good mask.”
“I didn’t know he had that in him.”
“Most of us never do. Until we do.”
I looked up at her, my voice barely there. “What if he hurts someone?”
Lyric didn’t blink. “Then we don’t wait for it to happen. We stop him.”
Later that night, Lyric sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping through her sketchpad while I stared at the ceiling, barely able to think straight.
“Do you think he’s still out there?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
“You think he’s watching us?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I think you should stay here tonight. With me.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving.”
Her sketchpad fell shut. “Good.”
A beat of silence passed.
“I keep wondering…” I said.
“About what?”
“What would’ve happened if I hadn’t answered his text that first night. If I hadn’t gone to that party. If I hadn’t fallen for either of you.”
Lyric’s eyes softened.
“You didn’t fall for us,” she said. “You fell for pieces of yourself that we helped you see.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t just want him. You wanted stability. You didn’t just want me. You wanted fire. You were trying to figure out which version of you felt more real.”
“And now I don’t know who I am at all.”
Lyric shook her head. “No. Now you’re closer than ever.”
I woke up to knocking again.
But it wasn’t violent this time.
It was measured. Controlled.
Still, I froze.
Lyric was already out of bed, halfway across the room. She looked out the peephole and exhaled.
“Darcy,” she whispered.
I scrambled off the mattress. “Let her in.”
Lyric opened the door and Darcy burst in, barefoot and frantic.
“Why the hell is Briar threatening people?” she demanded.
“What?” I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“He showed up at my apartment an hour ago,” she said. “He was pacing outside my building, and when I came down, he said something like…‘Tell Solene she’s playing with fire. And I hope she remembers who lit the match.’”
“Oh my god…”
Lyric’s voice cut in. “That’s it. We’re reporting him. Officially.”
Darcy nodded. “I brought the stuff. Screenshots. My notes from that night at the party when he flipped. I’ve been documenting everything since you told me he scared you.”
“You have all of that?”
Darcy pulled out a flash drive. “Yeah. I didn’t know if you’d need it. But now I know we do.”
Lyric turned to me. “We go first thing in the morning. No more waiting. We file everything we have. With campus, with the city police, with anyone who will listen.”
I nodded slowly.
But my chest felt tight.
“I’m scared,” I whispered.
Darcy moved forward and grabbed both of my hands. “You don’t have to be brave. You just have to be honest.”
The police station smelled like paper and tension.
Lyric sat beside me. Darcy hovered nearby with a document folder clutched to her chest like armor.
The detective took my statement quietly.
I gave him my phone. The texts. The screenshots. The voice memos Lyric had helped me record the night Briar banged on the door.
Darcy handed over her notes.
The detective’s brow furrowed as he read.
“Did he ever threaten you directly?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Last night. He said, ‘Maybe you deserve whatever happens next.’”
“Did he say what he meant?”
“No. But he didn’t have to.”
The detective nodded, typing something.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said. “This kind of case? Emotional abuse, harassment without physical harm, it’s hard to prosecute. But the more records we have, the stronger your case becomes. We’ll file a temporary no-contact order. You’ll be notified when it’s in place.”
“And if he ignores it?”
“We arrest him.”
That night, back at Lyric’s apartment, I sat on the edge of the bed holding my knees to my chest.
“I should feel better,” I whispered.
“You’re still in shock,” she said gently.
“I feel like the moment I relax, he’ll show up again. That he’s behind every shadow. Every text.”
Lyric sat next to me. “Then don’t relax. Not yet. Stay aware. But stay alive too. Don’t let him take more of you than he already has.”
I looked over at her.
“Do you think I let it happen?”
“What?”
“All of it. The manipulation. The gaslighting. Staying quiet for so long. Do you think I let it happen because I wanted to believe he loved me?”
Lyric’s expression cracked.
She reached over, took my face in both her hands, and whispered:
“You didn’t let it happen. You survived it.”
My throat tightened. My eyes burned.
“You think I’m strong?”
“I think you’re a goddamn storm,” she whispered. “And you’re just now learning how to rain.”
Later, while Lyric slept beside me, I checked my phone again.
No new messages.
No missed calls.
And for the first time in days, maybe weeks…
I let myself believe it might be over.
I put the phone down, curled deeper into her warmth, and closed my eyes.
But sometime around 3 a.m., it buzzed again.
Unknown Number,
You think a piece of paper protects you? Cute. But I never needed permission to break you. And I’m just getting started.
- Writer
