“Yeah, that is hot,” Rage admits as he examines the car.
“You like it?” Marcus asks, knowing full well Jay can hardly contain himself.
“See Marcus, that’s why you my boy real!” Jay says, hugging Marcus tightly.
“Okay, okay, let’s get it over with; tell us about the car,” Ameana says.
“This isn’t a ‘car.’ This is…love. This is my love. Ya know what? That’s what daddy’s gonna call you, Love.”
“Tell us about the car already,” I ask.
Marcus and I exchange a quick look. It’s better to get Jay to give us the facts now. If we don’t he’ll interrupt us every five seconds with what he ‘thinks’ are interesting facts about the car.
“Love is the new Bugatti 2015. It’s faster than the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Sport. It has 1,600 horsepower and can go from 0-100km/h in 1.8 seconds! Can’t you, Love?” Even Rage had to shake his head as Jay whispered sweet nothings into the hood of the car. Jay dives into a ton of facts about his new toy and I zone him out. I’m not the only one. Once he starts in on the leather seats, Marcus ducks away and heads to Headquarters. Jay doesn’t even notice because he’s still going on and on about the car.
Then with no warning, Rio walks up to Jay and sucker punches him! It happened so fast, we don’t have time to process it. Rio has knocked Jay down to the ground and is now beating the hell out of him.
We shout for them to stop but it doesn’t help. Jay has no choice but to fight back but he’s confused as to why his friend is attacking him.
“Yo, what hell, man?” he says between jabs.
“I swear to Omnis I’m going to kill you!” Rio vows as he grabs Jay and hurls him to the other side of the Great Hall.
“Marcus!” I call out.
Ameana tries to use her power to stop the fight. Rio blocks her with his shield. Rage looks on, amused to be witnessing this first hand. Miku runs down the stairs and pleads for Rio to stop. Rio doesn’t pay her any attention.
“C’mon man, chill.”
“I’m gonna crack your face open, then I’ll chill,” Rio replies.
He then lunges at Jay and the two roll around on the floor. Jay Glides away from Rio and then gets the upper hand. Rio realizes Jay is gone and repositions himself to prepare for a counter attack.
Finally, I see Marcus rushing towards us. With one fell swoop, he is able to grab, separate, and suspend both Guardians in mid-air.
Jay wrestles to get free and barks at Marcus to let him go. Rio curses Marcus for interrupting the fight and says he won’t stop until Jay is in Difi.
Marcus hurls both of them back down to the ground.
“What the hell is going on?” he demands.
“Jay has been messing around with Miku. He’s been treating her like some freaking whore!”
“I would never treat her like that!” Jay says, insulted.
“Whatever, I know how you are; a girl for every occasion. Isabelle was lucky to get away from you.”
I knew it was gonna happen even before it did. Jay leaps on top of Rio, they fall to the ground again and this time, Jay is the one bashing him in the face, repeatedly. Ameana uses her powers on Jay and sends him into the air.
Jay shouts and curses but Ameana doesn’t put him down.
Rio is so enraged, he doesn’t care that his eye and chin are swollen. He looks up in the air and makes a promise to Jay:
“YOU TOUCH MY SISTER AGAIN, IT’LL BE THE LAST THING YOU DO!” It is only after Rio walks away that Ameana allows Jay back on the ground. Jay wipes the silver blood from his bruised cheek and passes Miku on his way to his new car.
“Why the hell did you tell him?” he says, pissed and disgusted. Miku is about to speak but Jay storms off and gets into the car.
Miku looks like she’s about to burst into tears. She runs upstairs. I know Ameana will look after Miku. But something tells me I should go with Jay. He is livid. I tell Marcus and he agrees. He says he’ll talk to Rio. Although I’m not sure talking is really going to help all that much.
I jump into the car with Jay. He says he wants to be alone and I say it’s too bad because I’m going with him. This may not have been a good idea. That boy is more dangerous as a driver than he is as a Guardian.
I have never been in a car that went that fast. Every single thing on the road is a blur. That includes traffic lights. I try and wait it out thinking Jay will calm down and reduce his speed.
That so did not happen. He turns and sees that I’m pale and that’s when he finally starts driving at a normal speed.
Well, normal for him.
“She knows what her brother is like. Why the hell would she tell him?” Jay asks.
“It was pulling them apart. She had to do it.”
“That doesn’t make sense. We’ve hooked up a bunch of times without Rio knowing. Why is it pulling them apart now?”
“Maybe something’s changed.”
“Nothing’s changed. We’re friends, have’n fun.”
Jay turns to me and sees the reluctance on my face. He pulls the car over.
“Emmy, does Miku have feelings for me?”
“Let’s just say you guys really need to talk.”
On the drive back, Jay is deep in thought. I feel like I’m somehow invading his space so I stay quiet and allow him to figure things out in peace. Meanwhile I use the Mind Tracker to see if Ameana is with Rage. That would mean she is done cheering Miku up.
Inside the Mind Tracker I can see Rage’s room. Ameana is there but she looks very upset. Rage plops down on the chair and scolds Ameana for yelling at him back in the meeting. He waits for Ameana to argue back in the fiery way she normally does.
But she doesn’t scold him or shout at him. Instead, she does something that surprises both me and Rage: Ameana sits on his lap and curls up to him. She looks more like a lost kid than the second in command.
Judging by Rage’s reaction, this softer side of Ameana is still very new to him. He looks down at her, not sure what to say.
“Yeah…so what’s happing now?” he asks awkwardly.
“I knew her and Jay used to hook up in the light. But now she has feelings for him and she didn’t tell me.”
“How do you know?”
“That’s the only reason she would tell Rio. It means she cares so deeply for Jay she’s afraid to confess to Rio. That’s what’s been getting in the way of her ability to heal.”
“Now that he knows, they should be able to heal each other.”
“It’s not that, Thomas. She’s my best friend. She’s in love with a guy and she didn’t tell me. I’m losing her.”
“There’s a vial in Hun’s Market that could help you gain someone’s trust. I could get it for you.”
“No, I don’t want a mixture. I want a friend.”
“You guys used to like, share and crap?”
“Yeah.”
“What changed?”
She doesn’t answer. Rage figures it out.
“Oh, you started seeing me.”
She buries herself even deeper against his chest. He looks down at her and strokes her hair.
Rage is being…tender.
When we get back, Jay takes off to his room.
I call out after him.
“Hey, aren’t you gonna talk to Miku?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t have what she’s looking for.”
“Jay, I know it hurt you to lose Isabelle, but--”
“—Emmy, I know you want to help, but believe me, there is nothing you can teach a Guardian about loss. Good night.”
I go to look for Miku to try and cheer her up. But Ameana is there already. I decide to give them their space and go lay down. The battle was crazy today and my body is still sore. I find Jay and Rio standing by my door.
“I thought you were going to bed,” I ask him
“We need to show you something,” Jay says gravely.
“Are you guys friends again???
?
“No,” Rio says with certainty.
“But it’s not about us,” Jay replies.
“Okay, what is it about?”
“We keep tabs on everything that’s happening at Livingston Academy since the Quo attacked there,” Jay informs me.
“Okay…”
“I found this link on the school’s site,” Rio adds.
“What is it a link to?”
“It’s a video.”
“A video of…?”
“You.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
CHERRIES
I take Rio’s cell and view the video. It takes a few seconds for me to truly wrap my head around what I’m seeing. I’m looking at a video of me getting undressed. It’s taken from inside my bathroom. I’m watching myself take off my clothes one piece at a time until I am completely naked!
Then I step into the shower. I thought the video would stop there, but there is yet another camera recording my movements from inside the shower. I watch myself turn on the water and lather up with body wash.
My hands shake so badly, Rio’s cell falls out of my hand. Jay is quick enough to catch it before it hits the ground.
“Where did you get this?” I ask Rio. He exchanges a look with Jay.
“WHERE?” I shriek.
“The school’s website was hacked and the link was added. When you click on it, that’s what you get,” Rio replies.
“Why would demons want to film me getting undressed?”
“It’s not a demon. It’s a website called ‘Poke the Cherry.’ It has a ton of videos, just like this one, where girls don’t know they’re on camera. I did a little digging and the site belongs to Lucas.”
“What? No, no.”
“It’s true, Emmy,” Jay says regretfully.
“No, he wouldn’t do this to me,” I sob.
“He’s done this to a few girls. He gets close to them then plants cameras everywhere. It’s kind of a game-slash-side business. He shows the first clip free then charges for the rest,” Rio explains.
“The rest? There’s more videos of me?”
This can’t be happening. This just cannot be happening.
“How many are there?” I ask.
The guys look at each other again but remain silent.
“Damn it, just answer the freaking question!” I bellow.
My voice is so shrill, I don’t recognize it. Even the Guardians are taken aback by the frenzy in my tone.
“Over fifty videos,” Jay says.
“Oh no…”
I try to hold my tears back. I really, really try to be strong.
“Okay, okay. Um…I don’t understand any of this. But it’s gonna be okay. You took it down right, Rio?”
“I did.”
“Okay, that’s good.”
“But it had already been online for over a week.”
“So hundreds of people have seen this?” I ask mortified.
“It’s worse than that,” Jay says sadly.
“Jay, I’m watching myself secretly being filmed naked by my boyfriend who put in online for money. How could this possibly get worse?” I snap.
“The video went viral.”
Suddenly my image of Jay and Rio has changed. I see them in front of me but they are distorted and have a ‘floating-like’ effect. They look back at me, concerned.
My entire body is shaking from being both too cold and too hot. Beads of sweat travel down my forehead and a pain shoots up my arm. It feels like an ape is resting on my chest and the harder I try to breathe, the worse it gets.
“You’re having a panic attack, Emmy. You have to try and calm down,” Rio says, reaching out for me.
“No! Don’t touch. Don’t touch me,” I beg as I continue to struggle for air.
I feel like they are crowding me although they are really nowhere near me. I need more space. Jay offers to calm me down using his powers.
“No, don’t do anything. Just leave me alone,” I plead.
Jay and Rio beg me to sit down but everything is floating in my head and I can’t find where in space the chair is. Then a thought grips me that’s so disturbing and so awful, I clutch at Rio’s clothes and beg him:
“Did you let Marcus see the video? Did he see it?”
I don’t give Rio a chance to answer.
“Rio please, I’m begging you, please don’t let him see…” I wail into his chest.
“Emmy, calm down,” Jay pleads.
But it’s too late. The room goes black.
I wake up on a small bed in one of the rooms in Cree. Jay and Rio look distressed standing over me.
“What happened?” I ask in a whisper.
“You had a panic attack,” Rio explains.
“I don’t get panic attacks.”
“Some people get them all the time and some get one once and never again,” Jay explains.
“Does he know?” I ask.
“No, he’s meeting with Nipoe. We haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet,” Jay informs me.
“Don’t let him—”
“—we won’t let him see the video,” Jay promises.
“How many hits did it get?”
“A little over sixty thousand,” Rio replies.
I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap the blanket around me tighter. Every inch of me feels cold to the bone. Luckily the tears falling from me are warm. At least when they first flow; eventually they too grow cold.
Jay reaches out to touch my shoulder. I pull away from him and look straight ahead. When I speak again, my voice is void of emotion. I ask questions like a third party that’s barely interested in the answer.
“What kinds of comments were left on the site?” I ask.
“Most were from guys saying lame, sick things,” Rio says.
“And the girls, what were they saying?”
“They think you knew you were being filmed,” Jay says hesitantly.
“They called me names?”
“It doesn’t matter, baby girl. Try to put that stuff out of your head,” Jay advises.
“What did they call me?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rio insists.
“What did they call me?”
“They called you a skank; said you just wanted attention,” Rio says gravely.
“Emmy, none of that matters—”Jay begins.
“—please go away.”
“We can’t just leave you like this, baby girl.”
“I’m not a baby. And I’m not your girl. Please, go away. Both of you.” I’m not sure how they’re reacting to being asked to leave because I don’t care enough to look at their faces. I just keep staring into the void. After a few minutes, my silence makes it clear to them; I really do want to be alone. Jay and Rio leave the room.
I pull out my cell and I find that I have seventy-eight messages. They are all from numbers I don’t recognize. I listen to the first one. It’s a message from some guy saying he would love to join me in the shower next time.
I don’t know how he got my number. I’m not sure it even matters. I call Lucas and he picks up on the fourth ring.
“Hello,” he says casually.
“Why, Lucas?” I ask without an ounce of emotion.
“It’s just for fun. And you looked great on camera.”
“Why did you do this to me?”
“Why are you being so uptight? It’s just for fun.”
“YOU FILMED ME NAKED WITHOUT TELLING ME, YOU SICK BASTARD!” I yell so loud, the room feels like it’s vibrating.
“Yeah, but you got over fifteen hundred ‘likes!’”
I hurl the cell at the wall and it shatters on impact. I pull the covers around me even tighter. I curl up in a ball and close my eyes. That’s when I hear them outside my door. Miku and Ameana greet Jay and Rio. Rio tells them what happened.
Shortly after, I hear Marcus’s voice.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
Oh no…
I would give anything to b
e somewhere else right now. Having to listen to the team explain to Marcus how Lucas played me makes me queasy.
I’m guessing Marcus immediately takes to the air because the team calls after him.
“Where are you going?” Rio asks.
“I’m gonna find Lucas,” Marcus vows venomously.
“Find him and do what?” Miku replies.
“You know what,” he snaps at her.
“Look, we all want to throw down on this fool. But he has a soul, so you gotta back down,” Jay insists.
“Back down after what he did to her? The only part of Lucas I won’t touch are his eyes so he can watch me dismember him,” he vows furiously.
“Wow, Marcus, thought you guys would throw this Lucas guy a party and tell him he can only have cake if he says he’s sorry to the human. But you’re violent and angry. Nice,” Rage comments.
“Marcus can’t handle this like you would, Rage,” Jay counters.
“This situation would never happen to me,” Rage says laughing.
“Why is that?” Miku asks.
“Because if a guy did that to my girl, I’d treat his whole family to a complimentary gasoline bath.”
“Marcus, you can’t take care of this,” Ameana warns, ignoring her boyfriend.
I can hear Marcus pacing back and forth. I picture his wings flapping violently against the air.
“I’m not gonna stand here and let him get away with that!” Marcus swears.
“Emmy has just been violated by a guy she trusted. Who is by her side when she makes this discovery? Two guys” Ameana says.
“So?” Rio asks.
“So she needs to be in a guy-free zone right now. You, Jay, and Marcus go away and let us take care of this,” Ameana offers.
“What are you going to do?” Marcus asks.
“Well, someone taught this Lucas guy it’s okay to treat girls like trash. Miku and I will reeducate him.”
“And you know just how much fun education can be,” Miku says dripping with so much malice she sounds a little like Redd.
“Wait, Ameana, you’re gonna go off and defend Emmy?” Marcus asks.
“This is bigger than her. Lucas has to learn to respect young women. And who better to show him than kind, gentle young women like Miku and I.”
“Wait, let me go—”