Twisted Devil by Ivy Blake
Chapter Fifteen
Ruby
I held onto Bella tightly as we sat in the back of the taxi. She hadn’t stopped crying for the entire journey and instead of probing her with questions- especially in front of our driver who kept tossing us concerned looks in his mirror- I just held her close and stroked her back as she sobbed.
I was relieved when we finally pulled up outside Bella’s house. I helped her get out of the car as the journey and her emotional outburst had sobered me up enough. I went to look for my purse, but the driver simply shook his head and told me that it had all been paid for before wishing us a good night and driving away.
Bella was wiping her tears away furiously as we walked up the driveway and instead of heading towards the door, she gestured for me to join her on the bench outside her house.
“I’m sorry that I ruined the party,” sniffed Bella.
“Don’t be. You didn’t ruin anything,” I said gently. “Did something happen at the party?” I added after a moment. I was annoyed at myself for leaving her alone now. Bella sniffed again and looked down at her lap as she played with the rings on her fingers.
“Basically, I was talking to one of the college guys that used to go to our school. His name is Nate,” Bella started slowly. “He was being really sweet and everything,” she added quickly when she spotted the worried look on my face. “We started kissing, and he touched my leg and I just panicked and it didn’t feel right even though I wanted to kiss him. That’s when I came to find you.”
I waited patiently as Bella considered her words. I took a deep breath in because I could tell that whatever she had to say was really difficult for her.
“I haven’t told anyone this,” she whispered, her bottom lip trembling.
“Earlier this month, after swim practice, my car was at the garage and both my parents were at work and I knew I needed to find a way back home.” Bella glanced at me sideways before resting her eyes on her hands again. “So, I was going to get the bus, but because it was pretty late, they were obviously taking longer to arrive. But I didn’t mind. So after practice, I was waiting at the bus stop and it started raining, which sucked but not the worst part of the day, I guess. I started getting worried because the bus still hadn’t arrived, but apparently they just do that sometimes. So I kept waiting, and it kept raining and then a car pulled up in front of me.” Bella stopped and wiped at the corner of her eyes.
“Anyway, the driver rolled down the window, and I realised it was… it was Coach Jenkins.” Bella’s voice wavered as she said his name. I nearly choked as I had a feeling for where her story was going, but I so badly wanted her to prove me wrong.
“Coach offered me a lift, and I told him that it was okay, that the bus would be coming soon, but he insisted. He was so pushy and told me he’d feel bad leaving his ‘star athlete’ out in the cold.” Bella grimaced. “Plus, there was traffic building up behind him because he’d basically stopped in the middle of the road, so I felt like I had no choice but to go with him. I wish I’d just waited for that stupid bus or walked the hour home,” Bella added.
“It’s okay,” I said as I rubbed her arm to reassure her. Bella shook her head and her shoulders started shaking as she went on.
“Coach started driving, and we mostly sat in silence because I was exhausted and not really in the mood to talk. So he put on the radio and I kind of zoned out until we got closer to my house. I told him that he could drop me off outside the gate because it would be easier, so he parked up just there…”
Bella pointed down the driveway to a spot just in front of the gate that was away from the main road. “I took my seatbelt off and thanked him for the lift, just ready to go inside, shower, then get into my warm pyjamas. But Coach grabbed my arm and stopped me. I was really confused, but in that moment, I kind of just froze.” Bella took a deep breath.
“Everything kind of happened in a blur. Like one moment he was going on about how great a swimmer I was and the next he was touching my leg and moving his hand like… up my thigh and stuff and telling me how it was amazing that I was so smart and athletic and beautiful and other dumb shit. Then he grabbed my hand and…”
Bella stopped for a second as she collected herself, her eyes still avoiding my gaze. “He grabbed my hand and put it in his pants and made me touch him.” I clapped my hand over my mouth to muffle my involuntary gasp.
“I tried to open the door, but he’d locked it and said that it was my way of thanking him for the lift.” Bella swallowed hard. “The whole time he made me do… that I was crying and praying for someone to walk past and see something and make it all stop.”
Tears were streaming down her face, thick and fast. “But no one did. I just remember watching the rain fall on the windows and trying to ignore the sounds he was making as I waited for it all to be over. After a while he… finished, buttoned up his pants and unlocked the doors as if nothing happened. I was literally shaking and crying as I got out of the car and he just smiled at me, said he’d see me at school and drove off down the road while I just stood there in the rain. I felt so disgusted with myself, I still do…” Bella’s words cut off as her sobs became uncontrollable.
My stomach dropped, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I’d heard stories like this before in the news or in movies and had always found them utterly disgusting, but the fact that someone just as disgusting and dangerous was working in our school and had hurt someone I cared about was too much to bear. It all made sense why she’d been so jumpy during gym, why her mood had been off recently and why making out with Nate had freaked her out. Bella had been keeping this all in on her own, and it was too much for any person to comprehend on their own.
“That’s so fucking horrible! I can’t believe he did that to you,” I said, shaking my head, wishing that it wasn’t true. Bella nodded in agreement and bit her bottom lip.
“I just keep thinking, why did this happen to me? Like what did I do, you know?” she said in a frustrated voice. “Like, now I think about it, I swear I used to catch him looking at me weirdly but I thought I was just imagining things, but maybe I could have prevented this from happening…”
“You didn’t do anything at all! Bella, I think you need to tell the school about this!” I exclaimed before lowering my voice again. Bella’s family were inside after all. “I really think you should.” Bella scoffed bitterly.
“Do you really think that they’re going to believe me? The only black girl at Valley High? You know what happens to girls like me when they’re seen to be throwing around accusations of sexual assault,” Bella added in a defeated voice. “Black women are already over sexualised as it is- no one’s going to believe me,” she choked out.
“I understand that Bella, and I just want to say I believe you,” I said firmly. “And I’m going to be here no matter what, to help in whatever way I can because that bastard is not just going to get away with what he did to you.”
I could feel myself growing angrier as I thought about the amount of times that Bella made herself swallow the truth and her fear of Coach Jenkins in all the classes and practice sessions that she would have had to spend with him.
“I feel so stupid for ever accepting the lift,” Bella whispered, her head in her hands.
“You didn’t do anything at all. This is 100% his fault, okay? Don’t you dare blame yourself, Bella.” I pulled her into another hug as she started crying again. I couldn’t believe that something so horrible had happened to her and that she’d been dealing with it on her own this whole time. Bella cried in my arms and I let her get out as much as she could.
“Thank you for being patient with me, Ruby. I know I haven’t been a great friend recently…” she began, but I cut her off because I couldn’t sit by and listen to her being so hard on herself.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ve been going through some really hard shit on your own. I’m not going to judge you for that. You’ve been a good friend to me from the moment I got here.” Bella gave me a sad smile and squeezed my hand.
“Are you going to tell your parents?” I asked warily. I didn’t want to push her if she wasn’t ready, but I knew that it was the right thing to tell an adult of some sort who would hopefully be able to help. Bella shook her head quickly and looked up at the windows behind her.
“I can’t bring myself to tell them yet, I just can’t…” she whispered between tears. I wrapped my arm around her and gently stroked her back until she calmed down again. “Just not yet,” she said quietly.
“That’s okay, there’s no rush. I’m glad you felt comfortable telling me, okay?” I said gently. “I can only imagine how difficult that was for you.”
“I’m gonna go in and get some sleep,” Bella said after a moment. It was starting to get cold and late and we did have school tomorrow. I had never expected the night to pan out the way that it had and I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to sleep so easily and neither would Bella.
“I’ll call you a taxi,” said Bella.
“No, don’t worry, I think I need the fresh air,” I said quickly, and it was true. I wasn’t quite ready to go home and was glad that the streets around here were all fully lit, which made me feel a lot safer. “I’ll text you when I get in.” Bella gave me an unimpressed look. “I promise, I will!”
“You better! Thanks again, Ruby,” Bella said as she gave me one last tight squeeze before walking towards her front door. I watched until she’d gone inside before making my own way home.
The whole way home, I couldn’t stop thinking about Coach Jenkins and how badly I wanted to kill him. If I had the strength and wasn’t afraid to go to jail, I had several ideas for what fate I’d like to endure him to. A million questions ran through my mind. How long had this shit been going on for? How many other girls had this happened to?
I was glad for the slightly cool air, which sobered me up entirely in perfect time before I got home. I’m sure Dad knew I’d had alcohol before, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react to me drinking on a school night. I was surprised to see the houselights still off and the driveway empty. Guess the kids are staying out real late tonight. I let myself into the house, jogged up the stairs, and turned the shower on. As I waited for it to warm up, I shot Bella a message:
Home safe. Always here to talk if you need, any time- I mean it x
Her message came back after about a minute.
Thank you, Ruby <3 B x
I wanted to run to school right away and tell somebody, but I respected Bella and wanted her to do it in her own time. I felt helpless that I couldn’t do more for her, but then I thought about how she must feel having to see Coach every day and act like everything was normal. I shivered with disgust as I thought of his bald head and sleazy, watchful eyes.
“Ruby, we’re home!” I heard Dad call up the stairs.
“I’m just in the shower!” I called back, even though my throat felt scratchy and hoarse.
“No worries, we brought extra Chinese if you want it!”
“Thanks!” I called back just before jumping into the steamy shower.
Thank God I’d gotten back just in the nick of time. I just wanted some time alone to process everything that had happened today. As I washed myself clean, my mind stretched to accommodate all the new information I’d accumulated tonight. Both situations with Tyler and Bella had been completely different and yet both completely changed everything I thought I knew. I wish I had more answers and knew how shit was going to end because right now I just felt like I was on the edge and had no clue what lay below or what the future would hold.
