Touch Me

Chapter 3

f**k!

She was so f*****g screwed

“B-but…I didn’t even see him⸻” She tried to reason, but they just laughed at her.

“Well, that won’t be what the school paper will say. Imagine this headline, “Top Student Caught Humping Half Naked by The Pool, Past Curfew”, just imagine the scandal that would be,” Leah smirked cruelly at her.

“W-what do you want?” Alexa stammered as she tried to find a way out of this. If they published that picture, even if she was to explain what really happened, it would be her word against theirs; 4 against 1. And even then, the fact that everyone would see it was enough to put her to shame.

“Well, to start: I want you to tell Professor Sherman not to put your project piece at the Artist’s Hall and pick mine instead. My piece is better than yours anyway,” Cassie said arrogantly, while the others chuckled behind her. Alexa still wondered how Cassie managed to get into Wingston with the pieces she made, much less how she managed to stay.

“But I don’t decide that—” Alexa tried to say, but Cassie took a step toward her and slapped her. She gritted her teeth as her cheek stung while the three others ‘oohed’

“I’m not stupid, b***h. I know that if you tell them you don’t want to put it there, they won’t force you. So, do as I say or everyone will know that you’re a slut who likes to do it by the pool,” She fisted her trembling hands. Calm down, you can find a way out of this.

Despite her effort to keep herself together, fear and anger clashed inside her. She struggled to keep from hyperventilating and calm herself, knowing that it would be impossible to find a way out.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? You mental or something?” Luke asked as he laughed at her. Leah laughed and leaned closer to her boyfriend.

“We’re not done with you yet, hoe,” Leah speaks up as she runs her hands down her boyfriend’s chest to near the bulge in his shorts. Gross.

“What more do you want?” Alexa asked through gritted teeth.

“Cassie and I are going shopping tomorrow; you’ll pay for everything we buy,” Leah says smugly.

“And don’t even bother to act as if you got no money, we know you’re loaded,” Cassie glares at her.

“Oh, and I need you to give me 1000 dollars, I need to buy myself a new guitar,” Luke says as Leah giggles; Alexa thought of the new looking guitar she saw him with last week. She didn’t understand why they were extorting her, they all came from money too⸻ maybe not like her family, but still, they’re loaded.

Her gaze moved to Ren, expecting him to be the next one to say what he wanted, but he just gave her a sly smile. Somehow, that smile spiked Alexa’s fear more than their demands and the consequences if she didn’t comply. His smile reminded her of—

No, don’t think about it. It’s been 7 years.

Despite her efforts, the more she looked at Ren’s smile, the harder it was to suppress her memories until they all flashed through her mind. The flashbacks once again brought her the feeling of helplessness; she hadn’t noticed she was trembling and tears were now falling down her cheek until they stopped laughing and looked at her with ridicule.

“Aw are you crying slut?” Leah taunted her. Alexa hastily wiped the tears away as she asked them if she could leave before her roommates came searching for her.

“Fine, you can go. But from now on, you will do everything we say. Meet us at the gates tomorrow at 9. If you don’t show up, then say goodbye to being a top student,” Cassie tells her with a glare. Alexa nodded and turned to leave before Ren’s voice spoke to her.

“Oh Alexa, one more thing,” —She heard him walk closer until she could feel his body against her back— “Keep in mind that if you tell anyone, not only will we spread the picture, I’ll even report you for harassment, tell them that it was you who blackmailed me. And with these three as my witness, your reputation is as good as ruined; good luck starting a career with that stain on your record,” He said in a low voice, making her tremble with the memories that it brought back.

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Alexa’s tears finally fell freely as she slammed the door of her dorm room behind her and leaned against it, holding in a sob as to not wake up her friends. But Sarah immediately sat up as she heard the door slam shut, a black facial mask on her face.

Sarah removed her mask and got down from her place on the top bunk and rushed to Alexa’s side.

“Alexa? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did something happen?” Sarah asked loudly as she checked Alexa for any injuries. Her loud voice woke Shannon and Jane. Upon seeing Alexa crying against the door with Sarah fussing over her, they immediately got up from their bed and rushed to her. But before they could interrogate her, Alexa rushed pass them to the bathroom and locked herself in.

Her friends pounded on the door as they demanded to know what happened. But Alexa remained quiet; she sat on the floor and leaned against the door, trying to stop her memories from flashing back into her mind. Stop it Alexa— he’s gone and he won’t be coming back.

After a few minutes, Alexa finally got herself together. Her friends had stopped pounding at the door and decided to give her time. She got up and walked to the shower, stripping her clothes as she went. She let the warm water calm her down and allowed her to think of an explanation for her breakdown to her roommates. Turning off the shower, Alexa grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself before picking up her discarded clothes and putting them in the hamper. She took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping out.

All the lights in their shared dorm room were on; Shannon and Jane were talking quietly while Sarah was pacing around. They all looked at her as soon as the door opened. She didn’t pay them any mind as she walked to her drawer and grabbed some clothes before going back to the bathroom. When she finished changing into a comfortable oversized shirt that she took from her brother and some pajama pants, she walked out of the bathroom and immediately sat on her bed. That’s when they came to her.

“Alright Alexa, we gave you enough time. Now it’s time to speak. What the f**k happened to you?” Sarah demanded.

“Nothing, something triggered a flashback and it shook me,” Alexa tried to say as calmly as she could.

“What flashback?” Jane asked her with a confused expression.

“Just...just about what happened before I moved here to America. That’s all. Nothing else happened,” Jane’s confused expression changed into understanding. Shannon looked at her worriedly. But as always, Sarah wasn’t buying her bullshit.

“And what—pray tell—triggered that flashback?” Sarah asked, obviously trying to hold herself back from demanding answers.

“I just...I just had a little accident by the pool, and it reminded me of..,” Alexa trailed off, looking away. Shannon knelt in front of her and held her hands comfortingly while Jane sat on the bed with her and gave her a side hug.

“It’s okay Lex, we get it. You’re okay, everything will be okay,” Shannon murmured to her, rubbing her back. But Sarah knew her better than the two others, and she always knew when Alexa wasn’t being truthful.

“No Shannon, it’s not okay, not until she tells us the truth—” Jane cut her off before and glared at her.

“That’s enough Sarah! She’s already shaken up as it is. Stop being so overbearing already,” Shannon snapped at her, standing up.

“I can tell she’s hiding something Shay,”

“She already told us what happened. What more do you want?”

“I want her to tell us the truth. Whatever caused her to—”

“Enough!” This time, it was Jane who snapped at them both.

“Your arguing isn’t helping Alexa. Instead of the two of you snapping at each other, why don’t you just comfort her instead?” Jane tells them as she continues to rub Alexa’s back, who remained quiet and kept her eyes on her hands.

Jane then turned to her. “Get some sleep Alexa, we’ll talk more tomorrow,”

She urged her to lie down and tucked her in. She told Shannon and Sarah to get to their beds and turned off the lights before going to bed herself.

Alexa didn’t blame Sarah; she indeed always knew whenever Alexa hides or lies about something. In their group, Sarah was always the more passionate and outspoken one, which is why she was in performing arts, majoring in drama.

Shannon was the hyper one, but she had an eye for details. She was always analyzing everything; her decision to major in graphic design suited her for that exact reason. Jane was the laid back but observant one and was always playing referee between Sarah and Shannon when they both got too heated; but Jane was incredibly talented, her ability to see art in almost everything made her one of the top students majoring in photography.

Alexa was the quiet and reserved one in the group, though she can be really sarcastic, she mostly keeps it to herself and only speaks up around friends or family. She was the youngest one; just about to turn 21 in 4 months, Jane and Shannon were both 21 already and Sarah was 22 as she started college late. That made them very protective of her, hence Sarah’s reaction.

Alexa almost always keeps to herself and didn’t particularly like to draw unnecessary attention. That didn’t really stop people from noticing her whenever she was with the girls; everyone always seemed to look at them whenever they passed by. She didn’t blame them; Sarah, Jane and Shannon were all beautiful. Sarah with her blond hair, russet brown eyes, warm ivory skin and curvy body that suited whatever role she took on. Jane was the hot, nerdy girl; golden brown hair, golden skin, hazel eyes behind cute glasses and a fit body. Shannon’s red hair was what drew people to look at her, combined with her olive, green eyes, fair skin and slim body; she was a bombshell.

Alexa knew she was pretty, mostly because her family and friends kept repeating to increase her confidence; sapphire blue eyes with a gold spot that formed like a ring near the pupil of her left eye due to her central heterochromia; dark, curly, chestnut brown hair paired with her porcelain white skin that sometimes made her feel like a ghost. She was slender and slightly toned from swimming and the defense classes she used to take. Her eyes alone drew enough attention, but she was glad that the girls tended to form some sort of protective circle around her.

It was because of that fierce protectiveness that she didn’t want to tell them what really happened. She wanted to handle it quietly, but if they knew, they would definitely blow it up; maybe try to call Cassie and her friends on their bluff. But Alexa saw the look in their eyes and heard it in Ren’s voice; they would really do it if she didn’t comply with what they wanted. Alexa let out a deep sigh.

What the hell am I gonna do?