Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry that it has been so extremely long since I've updated. Thanks to my sister though (who kept pushing me), I finally got another chapter written. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate all the encouraging words.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven:

Alyssa slowly pushed the door open, glancing uncertainly at all the students crowded throughout the school hallway. She still didn’t know who had seen her and Shane on Friday, so she expected someone to say something to her at any moment. What student wouldn’t have reported them or started rumors about them if they had seen what they had?

But no one paid her any attention as she hurried to her locker. Alyssa wasn’t sure what to think of that? Maybe the person hadn’t actually seen her and Shane kiss—maybe they had just seen the aftereffects.

She tried to shrug off her doubts about the identity of the eavesdropper and turned her thoughts in a different direction. Alyssa hadn’t spoken to Shane since their kiss. After they had heard the door slam, she had made a quick excuse to leave and had rushed out of the gym in a hurry to get home before anyone questioned her. She hadn’t looked back to see Shane’s expression, but she knew he was probably as confused as she was. Why wouldn’t he be?

Sighing she pulled her English book from her locker and looked around. Gwen always met her at her locker before school, but Alyssa didn’t see her best friend anywhere. That was odd.

Alyssa waited until the last possible second, not wanting to leave if Gwen was just running late. But when the last warning bell rang, Alyssa reluctantly pushed off of her locker and headed to class, keeping her eye out for Gwen as she did so. Where could that girl be?

At lunch she finally found Gwen in the back corner of the cafeteria at the table that some people called the “black hole” because it was almost hidden under a set of steps leading to the upper part of the cafeteria. Alyssa shrugged off the feeling that her best friend was hiding from her and slowly sat down.

“Where’ve you been all day, Gwen? I was starting to think you fell off a cliff,” she teased, but wasn’t greeted with Gwen’s usual smile. Instead her friend shrugged, not even taking her eyes off of the food on her lunch tray.

“Sorry, I had to pick up some things at the office for my tutoring session today,” Gwen said quietly. “That’s why I wasn’t at the lockers this morning.”

Alyssa nodded. “Is something wrong?” She studied Gwen’s expression, feeling extremely confused by her friend’s attitude. This was a first.

Gwen shook her head. “Nope.” She picked up her lunch tray and got to her feet. “I’ll see you later, Alyssa.”

That was definitely a brush-off. What was up with that? Gwen had been nothing but friendly since that first day in the girl’s room. Had Alyssa done something wrong?

Before her next period she made a trip to her locker to switch books. As soon as she opened the door, a piece of notebook paper fluttered to the floor. Frowning, she bent over and retrieved it. Her lips turned in the other direction as she read the note. We need to talk. Please come by my apartment after school, if you remember where it is. If not, I wrote the address down below. I hope you feel comfortable meeting me. The address was listed right below and at the bottom were his initials, S.W.

The rest of the school hours passed in a hurry as she anticipated going to meet Shane. She wasn’t sure if she should be nervous, worried, or excited about this, but she tried not to think about how their conversation would go. Would he want to just forget that Friday ever happened or was he interested in pursuing something with her? And if it was the latter, what did that mean for his job? Alyssa shook her head as she unlocked her car. So much for not thinking about it.

The drive to Shane’s apartment seemed longer than it had the other time she had been there, but she finally found herself pulling up behind his car. Her nerves hit then and she hesitated before getting out of the car and walking up to the door. As Alyssa lifted her hand to knock she noticed that her hands trembled slightly. What was she so worried about? How did she want this to go?

She knocked once, waited, and when he didn’t come right away she started to turn back towards her car second guessing her decision to come by. But as she stepped away, the door swung open behind her.

“Leaving already?”

Alyssa could hear the smile in his voice before she even turned back around and saw it spread across his face. “Maybe,” she admitted, feeling the heat rushing to her cheeks.

“Usually people knock at least twice before giving up,” Shane teased.

Alyssa dipped her head, thinking that she couldn’t blush any deeper. “Sorry. I’m just a little nervous about this.”

Shane nodded, his smile getting smaller but his eyes getting warmer. “Me too.” He motioned inside. “Will you at least come in for a couple minutes?” He noted her hesitation. “I won’t bite, I promise.”

Alyssa smiled and stepped past him to enter his apartment. “I see you managed to start decorating your living room,” she said, remembering how empty the room had been before. Now though, picture frames were set out on the entertainment center and an antique lamp was placed on one of the obviously new end tables. A single painting hung above the couch. It was of two hands reaching towards each other but not quite touching. Behind the hands was a wall that seemed to be cracked in half. She had seen the painting before, but somehow she found herself staring at it this time.

“I didn’t want anyone else to think that my bathroom was the most treasured room in my apartment. That would be rather embarrassing.” Shane followed her gaze to the painting. “That was my uncle’s. He was kind of like a second father to me until he died when I was 14.”

Alyssa met his gaze, frowning at the sadness that rested in his marble-gray eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Shane shrugged slowly, looking back at the painting. “After I got my own place my parents gave that to me to keep.”

Alyssa smiled. “It’s a beautiful picture. I really like how it’s simple, but really powerful.”

Shane’s eyes traveled back to her and he slowly returned the smile. “Yeah, me too.”

…………

As Shane stared at Alyssa he had an incredible urge to kiss her again, but he knew they had to talk before they did something like that again. They had to figure this out. So, reluctantly, Shane broke eye contact and stepped in the direction of the kitchen. “I’m going to grab a bottle of water, would you like something?”

Alyssa shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Okay. Have a seat then.” He retrieved the water and then took a seat in his recliner since she was seated on the couch.

For a minute neither of them said anything, but he finally broke the silence. “About Friday, Lyssa….”

Alyssa smiled.

“What?” He asked, her expression making him nervous.

She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just….no one has ever cut off the first syllable like that before.”

Shane ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, sorry.”

“No, I like it,” she said quietly.

He noticed the hint of a blush on her cheeks and decided that he liked it when her cheeks went rosey like that. “Anyway,” he continued, “did anyone say anything to you at school about….seeing us?” Shane asked hesitantly.

Concern was clear in Alyssa’s expression and for a moment he was afraid to hear her answer. But then she just shook her head slowly.

“No. When I walked into school this morning I was sure somebody would approach me, but there was nothing. Nobody said anything.”

Shane frowned. Who could it have been? “I guess we shouldn’t worry about it unless we have to.” He hesitated, not sure how to phrase his next question. “Uhh….”

Alyssa tilted her head as she waited for him to continue. When he didn’t she said, “Yeah?”

Shane leaned forward in his seat and entangled his hands with hers but didn’t look at her right away. “Lyssa,” he said softly, shortening her name again since she had liked it the first time. “We haven’t known each other very long and I know these feelings are extremely inconvenient for both of us,” he finally met her gaze, “but I care about you. A lot. And to be honest, I’d consider quitting my new coaching job just so we could be together.” Alyssa opened her mouth to protest, but he quieted her with a finger to her lips. “But, you’ll be graduating in about two months, so I don’t think I’ll have to do that.” He paused. “And though it’s not illegal for us, I’d feel better if you were eighteen.”

Alyssa read his unspoken question and quickly replied, “Next week actually. My birthday is next week.”

Shane felt relieved at that. “What are you doing to celebrate?”

“Our nanny Hannah will probably make me a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, my favorite, and she’ll sing happy birthday for me, solo.”

Shane frowned at the sad smile that rested on her face. “Your parents?” he asked quietly.

Alyssa gave a long sigh. “They’re in charge of a big software company and they travel a lot. They’re in town at the moment with their newest assistant, but their plans are to leave by the end of the week.”

Shane’s jaw tightened. They couldn’t even extend their stay for a couple of days to celebrate their only daughter’s eighteenth birthday? He wished he could give them a piece of his mind. What kind of parents were they?

Alyssa must have noticed his expression for she squeezed his hand gently. “It’s okay, Shane. I know they’re busy,” she assured him.

Shane shook his head. “That’s no excuse. They should be here for you.”

Alyssa offered him an appreciative smile, but shrugged at the same time. “I’ve learned to get used to it.”

Shane made up his mind in a second. “Will you let me do something to celebrate with you?”

He expected her to politely refuse and tell him that he didn’t have to do that, but instead her unique, deep-violet eyes filled with tears and her smile widened. “I’d like that.” Alyssa caught him by surprise as she threw her arms around his neck. “I’d like that a lot.”

Shane wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight. From the way that she clung to him he guessed that she didn’t get very many hugs and that thought made him hold her even tighter.

“Shane,” she whispered, her breath tickling the side of his neck.

“Yeah?”

Shane felt her hand run through his hair before she said, “Thanks for invading my space.”

Shane decided that this was as good a time as any to bring up the subject that weighed most heavily on his mind when he thought of Alyssa. “Lyssa?” he said gently. “Will you tell me what happened with Sawyer?”

Alyssa stiffened in his arms and then pulled away.

“You were going to tell me about it the last time you were here, but you got interrupted.” He reached for her hand, but she instinctively pulled it away and used it to brush the hair from her face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He wasn’t really sorry that he had asked, he was sorry that Sawyer had treated her so horribly that the subject caused her so much pain.

There was an extremely long silence between them--so long that Shane almost thought that she wasn’t going to say anything at all, but she did.

“I really thought I loved him. And I thought that it went both ways. That’s why I had decided to tell him—to say those three little words. Easy right?” Her eyes drifted all over the room except in his direction. “But that whole night, through our entire date and during the ride home, I just couldn’t get over my nerves and say it.” Alyssa began to draw invisible lines across her palm. “So when we got home and I still hadn’t said anything, I knew that I had to create the perfect moment. Maybe inside the house in front of our fireplace that I knew Hannah had probably lit for me before she had left for the day.”

The farther she got in her story, the slower her words came and her voice began to tremble. Because she hadn’t let him take her hand, Shane carefully reached over and put a reassuring hand on her knee.

“So,” she continued slowly, “I asked him if he’d like to come inside for a little bit. I hadn’t thought it would be a problem not having my parents or Hannah there. I trusted him and I trusted myself.” Alyssa breathed a long, shaky sigh. “Sawyer agreed and we went into the house. The fireplace was on like I thought it would be, so we settled down there, leaning our backs against the couch. He commented on my new red dress for the second time that night, saying it made me look….s-sexy,” she stuttered over the word, tears coming to her eyes. “T-Then he kissed me. I returned it at first, but then he became more insistent about it—almost demanding.”

Shane felt his heartbeat speed up as he realized where her story was going, but he didn’t stop her. He needed to hear exactly what had happened and she needed to say it.

Alyssa’s lower lip trembled as her tears began to run. “I pushed him away and told him that I didn’t want it to go any farther, but Sawyer didn’t take me seriously. He actually laughed and told me to quit being silly. He g-grabbed me and started kissing me and touching me everywhere. I tried to push him away again, but he was too strong so I-I tried to yell out. He got mad and he….he slapped me.” A sob escaped her lips and she shoved her trembling hands between her knees. “A-After that I didn’t have the energy to fight anymore, so I just cried as h-he…..he tore my dress and….” Alyssa’s head dipped into her lap and her body shook with sobs. “I-I didn’t want to do it….I s-swear I didn’t want to do it,” she cried into her hands.

Shane felt his heart breaking for her and at the same time he felt anger boiling in his chest. Sawyer was extremely lucky that he wasn’t within a mile of him because Shane wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t want to strangle the guy.

Shane moved to sit next to Alyssa and she instantly fell against him. He wrapped her in his embrace and rubbed her back in a soothing gesture.

“I-I didn’t want to d-do it,” she said again, her voice softer then it had been before.

Shane kissed the top of her head. “I know that, Lyssa,” he said, reassuring her. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I let him into the house,” she cried.

Shane used his finger to tilt her head up so she was looking at him. “You just trusted him. And he violated that trust. That was his fault, not yours.”

Shane heard the hesitation in Alyssa’s voice when she spoke again. “He still doesn’t leave me alone.”

Shane remembered the time in the parking lot and nodded. “I know.”

Now that she was calming down she brushed away some of the tears on her face. “I’ve tried to discourage him, but I just don’t know how. He won’t let me go.”

Shane would really like to get his hands on Sawyer. The guy raped her and continued to harass her. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” he whispered, trying to keep the anger out of his tone. He didn’t want Alyssa to think he was mad at her.

He felt Alyssa’s helpless shrug. “I threatened to, but he said it would be my word against his. And….” she paused, “he said that any one of his friends would give him an alibi for that night.” Fresh tears slid down her flushed cheeks. “So I just tried to slide into the background of things. I quit cheerleading to avoid Sawyer and I took up tutoring so that he would probably leave school before I got out of my sessions.”

Shane tipped his head back and rested it against the top of the couch. He wasn’t sure what to say. What was he supposed to tell her? How could he make this all better for her? Sawyer had made a complete mess of her life without even giving it a second thought.

Author's Note #2: First of all, PLEASE REVIEW! I wouldn't be able to keep writing without hearing my readers' comments about my chapters. Second of all, for someone who mentioned this in a review, it is NOT illegal for Shane and Alyssa to kiss. It would only be illegal if they were to actually sleep together.

Thanks, as always, for reading everyone!

-Mrs. Teacup