24. Lyric

24

LYRIC

A s I walk across campus that morning, I have a sick feeling of dread in my stomach. Whispers follow me around and people are pointing at me and snickering. Something has happened.

I don't understand until I see it. There are flyers posted everywhere and I mean everywhere on campus, plastered across every surface with my name in bold, ugly letters, along with a photo of me in lingerie. It's labeled, Proud Alpha Lambda Slut .

My heart sinks and I feel the blood drain from my face. People around me are starting to notice that it's me, the girl in the photo. They circle around, calling out ugly names and say crude suggestions of what I can do for them.

Their voices blur together into a cruel cacophony, their words cutting deeper than any physical blow.

"Huh, didn't realize she was that kind of girl," someone nearby sneers.

"She's a freakin' nerd. Of course she's desperate enough to slut around," another voice chimes in.

My vision blurs with tears, but I refuse to let them fall. Not here, not now. I'm frozen in place, unable to move as their words pierce me like the sharpest knife. The world spins around me.

I force myself to start walking, each step heavier than the last. I know that this is from them . This is in retaliation for my trying to stand up for myself. I only wanted to level the playing field.

I thought I could handle this myself. I thought maybe if I had pushed back, they would see that things could be different between us. But this… I can't understand why they wanted to hurt me so needlessly. I can't face anyone right now, not like this. The humiliation is too overwhelming. I break into a run, needing to escape the suffocating judgment of everyone around me.

I don't know where I'm going, my feet pounding against the pavement, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I just need to get away, to find someplace where I can be alone.

As I round a corner, I don't see him until it's too late. I collide with someone, the impact knocking the wind out of me. I stumble, and strong hands catch me, steadying me.

"Lyric? Hey, are you okay?" Cameron's voice is gentle and concerned.

I look up, my vision still blurred by my tears and see his worried face. The sight of his kindness shatters the fragile composure I've been clinging to. The tears I've been holding back burst forth and I can't stop them.

"I… I can't…" I try to speak, but the sobs choke the words. Cameron's expression softens and he pulls me into a comforting embrace.

"It's okay," he murmurs, rubbing my back soothingly. "You're safe now. I'm here."

I cling to him, my body racked with sobs. The dam has broken and there's no stopping the flood of emotions. Anger, hurt, betrayal—they all pour out of me in a torrent of tears. Cameron holds me, letting me cry on his shoulder.

For the first time since all of this started, I feel like I'm not alone. Maybe Cameron doesn't know what's going on, but he's the first person who hasn't cared. Right now, all I need is someone to hold onto, someone who isn't going to tear me down. And in this moment, Cameron is that someone.

As I cry, Cameron strokes my back, whispering soothing words. "Do you want to go sit down somewhere?" he asks. I nod, unable to speak.

He leads me away from the campus grounds, taking me down the street to a nearby coffee shop. It's quiet at this time of day and he pulls me to a table in the back, where we have a semblance of privacy.

Pulling a chair out for me, he nudges me to sit down and brings me a stack of napkins so I can wipe my face as I try to calm down.

"What happened?" he asks, his voice gentle.

"Did you see the flyers?" I ask, wiping the tears away, a bitter note in my voice.

His face turns quizzical. "What flyers? I haven't even gone on campus yet. I was out late, so I slept through my class this morning."

I shake my head. "I guess it doesn't matter, then. If you see them, ignore them, okay?"

Cameron's warm brown eyes are full of concern as he takes me in. "Hey, it's okay. Whatever is on the flyers is probably not true, right?"

"That's the thing. It sort of is," I mumble. "It's complicated, but the flyers are images of me in my underwear and they're calling me the "Proud Alpha Lambda Slut". My voice shakes as I explain it to him.

"What the hell, that's messed up! Who put those out?" he asks, a tinge of anger in his voice. "I'll report them if you feel like you can't."

"No, don't!" I cry out, my hand flying out to cover his. "Please? All it will do is make everything worse."

"Are you in trouble?" Cameron asks, his brow furrowed. "I can help if you're in some kind of trouble."

"It's… it's really complicated, okay?" I say, sniffling as I wipe away a few stray tears. "Archer Hudson and his brothers put them up, but I can't do anything about it."

Cameron swears, fury in his eyes. "I can deal with them," he says darkly.

"Please!" I say again. "Seriously, don't. I don't want to screw them over again."

His expression morphs into one of confusion. "Again?"

I sigh and sniffle once more. "Back in high school, you remember the incident? The fire in the gym at the pep rally?"

He nods, patiently waiting for me to continue. "They were pulling a prank. It was just a dumb prank. I don't think they meant to hurt anyone. But it all went wrong and they ended up getting sent away to military school."

"Yeah, I remember," Cameron says, a grim look on his face. "Those assholes deserved it."

"No, they didn't," I protest. "It's my fault. I got scared for them, so I told the police what happened. You don't understand, they lost everything because of me. If I'd only waited and talked to them first, then this whole thing could have been avoided."

"So this is their answer to your doing the right thing?" Cameron asks, his voice a mix of frustration and anger. "They post flyers everywhere degrading you?"

"I told you it was complicated," I say, a shudder escaping me. "The same day that everything happened was the day I was going to tell them that I was pregnant with their baby. We were all together. We had been since that summer. I never got a chance to say anything."

Cameron frowns. "Do they know now?"

"They still don't," I whisper. "When they saw me on campus, all their pain and anger must have come rushing back. I needed to protect my son, and I felt so bad for what I did. I agreed to be their errand girl and then things turned sexual."

"Were they forcing themselves on you?" Cameron asks, his voice low. I shake my head.

"It wasn't like that. It was consensual. I wanted it just as much as they did. But I got tired of the bullying and the bad attitudes. I tried to fight back and then they pulled this. I think they thought I was trying to use them, just like how they thought I did before."

Cameron's lip curls in disgust. "I understand you wanting to protect your kid, but this is going too far. Let me at least help you. I can help. You don't have to go through this alone anymore."

A little sob escapes me. "Thank you." I reach out and hug him tightly, feeling relief flood me. The cafe door opens with a jingle and the last person I expected to see walks inside.

Archer's eyes immediately land on us, and I break away from Cameron awkwardly.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" he says, storming up to our table. "After I told you not to talk to him again, you run straight into his arms?"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Cameron says, standing up with his hands balled into fists.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want," Archer retorts, getting into his space.

I stand up as well, not wanting to see them fighting. "Cameron, don't. Archer, I have nothing to say to you right now. Please leave."

Archer scoffs, rolling his eyes. "I came here to talk to you and make sure you understand why we are punishing you. But it doesn't matter how hard we try to teach you a lesson, you're always going to try to hurt us. So I guess screw it. We're done with you. You got your wish. You got exactly what you always wanted. You used us up until there was nothing left and now we're walking away."

Despair fills me and my eyes well with tears once more. All I wanted was for the boys to leave me alone, but not like this. As I watch him walk away, I break down crying once more. Cameron reaches for me, but I push him away, unable to accept any physical touch.

Is it going to end like this now? Not with a bang, but a whimper? Are we truly done, after everything we've been through? If that's all I ever wanted, why does it hurt so badly?