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OWEN’S POVAs I walked away from Gracie, I had to fight the lump in my throat that threatened to suffocate me. I should have listened to her this morning and just let the two of us sleep in and completely ditch school altogether. It would have saved us from the shocking surprise this morning, letting our friends tell us in advance so we could talk about it and prepare for it.Instead, my girlfriend can’t even stomach being around me right now. I know she loves me and I know she believes me when I told her that I didn’t have anything to do with what happened in that video she was sent but at the same time, I know it has devastated her seeing Chloe walk through that door this morning. Looking at me right now is just a reminder of every emotion she felt when she watched that video for the first time. All her self doubts, all the hurt, all of the feelings of inadequacy. I can just see it all running through her mind right now and there is not a single thing I can do about it because my me
As I walked down the hill, away from the school, I realized two things. One, it felt great being out in the cool, fall morning air. It was both refreshing and rejuvenating, especially considering my mood and everything I was feeling. But, more importantly, I realized the obvious second thing. That I hadn’t really thought this completely through when I left the school.Owen had drove both of us to school this morning so I was without a vehicle and a mile from town. Not that a mile was a big deal but I was six miles from the house and that was a bigger problem. As I contemplated my options, I decided to go to the diner. It was only a mile and a half and that distance was much more manageable.I made it down onto the road without anyone running out of the school chasing after me so I breatehd a sigh of relief and started walking back toward town, staying in the short grass along the side of the road. The traffic was fairly light and nobody really paid me any attention. If there was anythi
The second Chloe walked out the door with Courtney, Owen swiftly turned to me and started to talk but I raised my hand to stop him.“Not here.” I hissed.I threw my history book in my bag and zipped it up before standing up and draping it across my back. I didn’t even glance at Owen as I marched across the small space from our desks to the door. I could hear him behind me but at this moment, I didn’t even know if I wanted him to follow me. I was upset and I needed to be alone and I knew that was something he wasn’t going to allow.I made a beeline down the hall for the stairs and practically ran down them. There was only one place I could think to go right now, the same place Courtney and Danny had taken me to talk the last time I was so incredibly upset with Owen, the balcony over the gym. I glanced back to see Owen still behind me, head down and looking completely distraught.I felt guilty for the way I was acting but I couldn’t help what I was feeling at the moment. It wasn’t his fa
Every insecurity I had ever known since meeting Owen came rushing back as the rush of blood drowned out everything except my heart beating loudly in my ears. I watched as Mr. Hanson’s mouth moved and in the recesses of my mind, I could hear the echo of his big, booming voice but couldn’t comprehend a single word he said. Whatever it was, the blond bombshell standing in front of us only had eyes for one person and it wasn’t our history teacher.Her entire focus was on my boyfriend and as I looked over at him, he was looking anywhere and everywhere except her or me. I watched as he finally settled on the safest position he could manage at the moment, his head down. He looked distraught, guilty even and for some reason, the fact that he wasn’t looking at me and begging forgiveness just pissed me off.As my luck would have it, there was only one empty seat in the entire classroom and it was on the other side of Owen. But, who was I kidding. There could have been twenty empty seats and she
The news Chief Harding and Detective Clements brought to our doorstep had me in a funk all day Sunday. One that I just couldn’t shake. I went through the motions and did actually enjoy our time with Nonna but it was always there, right in the back of my mind that there had been yet another body found. Another young woman’s life taken too early by this crazy madman that just seemed to be in the wind at every turn.I was completely shook at the fact that the crimes had now escalated to include sexual assault in addition to the murder. It was bad enough to think of these poor women being strangled and the very life being choked from them but to know that he had now escalated to torturing his last victim and committing the ultimate crime of brutality, shame and degradation was almost too much to even fathom. I can’t even imagine what that poor woman went through in her final moments and I know this psycho has to be stopped but I am powerless to do anything about it right now.My mood was f
I stared at Chief Harding like he had just grown a second head. My heart was pounding so hard, I could hear it in my ears, blocking out most other sounds. Another body? Victim number five? But not around here. What did that mean?I voiced the question aloud. Chief Harding looked back at Detective Clements before both looked back at me again.“Honestly, Miss Butler, we don’t know. The Tennessee Bureau will take over and let us know. It could be that he has moved on or it could just be that he knew the heat down here was too much right now.”“I am so sick of this,” I whispered, looking down at my hands in my lap. “Why can’t I just live a normal life?”“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Chief Harding answered, dropping the formality. “I have kids, two daughters and I would be going crazy right now if either one of them were going through something like this. I can’t promise you that this will be over anytime soon but I can promise you that we will try our best to keep you safe. As of today, I am putti