Read Online Mistrust by Margaret McHeyzer - Free Book Online Page A

legs.
    “Oh,” I gasp as I take the phone and see what it is she’s seen. My hand comes to my mouth as I hold in the screams threatening to break through. “Shit,” I whisper.
    “I want to beg you to tell me it’s not you, but there’s no denying it is.”
    Even with blurred vision, it’s obviously me. There I am, lying on the grass, in my beautiful green gown with my arm thrown over my face, my dress hitched up, with my lower half exposed. Dropping Sam’s phone I bury my head in my hands to cover my shame, and my tears. “Shit,” I whimper between my heavy tears.
    “What happened, Dakota?” Sam rests her hand on my thigh and rubs it in gentle circles. “You had sex? You could’ve told me.”
    Gathering my strength, I shake my head. “It’s not that,” I say. Swallowing down the bile and trying my hardest to hold onto the little pride I actually have left, I lift my head from my hands.
    “What is it?” Sam tilts her head to the side and offers me a reassuring smile. “You can tell me anything.”
    “Promise me you won’t tell anyone, including Mom and Dad.”
    “I promise,” she quickly agrees.
    “No, Sam. Not like that. Promise me. ”
    “I promise,” she repeats herself.
    “Sam. This is serious. I don’t even want to tell you, I would never have said a thing if it wasn’t for that disgusting picture.”
    “You’re scaring me, Dakota. Just tell me.” She squints her eyes as she knits her eyebrows together.
    “You have to promise me.”
    “Sister first and always.” She crosses her heart. “I promise I won’t say a word.”
    “On prom night, I blacked out and woke up early the next morning out by the bleachers. My panties were missing, and so was one shoe. I don’t remember anything at all, except I had, and still have bruises all over my body. And I had dried blood on the inside of my legs.”
    “Oh my God, Dakota! We have to tell Mom and Dad.”
    “NO!” I yell, but quickly try and calm myself. “You promised me, Sam. You can’t say anything.”
    “You said you don’t remember anything. What exactly can you recall?”
    “Um.” I look at her and notice the pleading look in her eyes. “The last thing I remember is dancing with the girls.”
    “Nothing after that?” I shake my head and look down at my now knotted fingers. “I have to ask. Were you drinking alcohol?”
    “Don’t be stupid, Sam. There were teachers everywhere. Anyway, I only had a soda.” An epiphany hits. “Oh my God. A soda. I remember there was the soda Reece brought back for me.” Standing I begin to pace.
    “Reece gave you a soda? I don’t get it.”
    “He asked if anyone wanted a drink.” As if I’m watching my prom in rewind, I see him hand me a drink. “He asked and I said I’d like a soda. Levi told him he wanted a Coke but Reece flipped him off. They came back a few minutes later and Reece gave me my soda before the girls called me over so we could dance.”
    “Is that all you had? One soda?”
    I rake my left hand over my face and through my hair, tugging on the silky strands as I reach the ends. “That’s all I remember. Everything else is hazy. Until I woke, I can’t remember anything else.”
    “What do you mean by hazy?”
    “More like blank. Like a sheet went over me after I had the soda Reece bought over, and it didn’t lift until I woke the next morning.”
    “Dakota, that’s not right. Something isn’t adding up.” Sam is on her feet now and leaning against a park bench. “You didn’t drink, so you can’t say you were drunk. Maybe you were drugged.”
    “I don’t know how. I didn’t take anything anyone gave me.”
    “Dakota?” she says in a serious tone and looks at me with her chin tipped up and her eyebrows high.
    “I didn’t!” I protest. “I swear, I didn’t take any drugs.”
    “Not voluntarily,” she says quietly. “But you did have a drink.”
    It all comes crashing down, answering the ‘how’ question from my prom night. “Crap,” I