Page 3 of Get Me (The Keatyn Chronicles 6)
"I won't. We have a lot to plan. Damian decided to do a different song for the video. This one will be a lot more fun, I think."
We take the elevator upstairs, Riley and Ariela getting out on the eighth floor. I get the keycard out of my clutch as the elevator dings.
I walk slowly to my room.
No. Our room.
The room that was going to change our relationship; take it to a deeper level.
I'm afraid. Afraid I'll open the door and see that his stuff is gone.
While I'm contemplating if I should go in, the door bursts opens and Aiden comes out, carrying a bunch of bags.
My heart sinks.
Or breaks, maybe.
"Aiden," I say breathlessly.
"We need to talk," he says in a very serious, he's-so-done-with-me tone.
All of a sudden, I want to run.
Run away.
Run out of the hotel.
It was bad enough to see him walk out.
It's going to be even worse to hear him say it.
"You walked out when you heard the truth about who I am."
He narrows his eyes at me. "I saw Peyton leaving in tears with Whitney's computer. I went to check on her. It was pretty obvious that whatever Whitney was going to say was about Peyton, not you."
"You're leaving, though," I manage to squeak out, my eyes focusing on his bags.
"These are Peyton's bags. Remember, we let her put them in our room?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Peyton told me what Whitney was about to do. You outed yourself for her. I appreciate that," he says flatly.
This feels so surreal. I want him to hug me. Tell me he doesn't care who I am.
But he doesn't.
"I need to take her bags upstairs. Come with me. I know she'd like to thank you."
"Where are your bags?"
"Still in the room," he says, giving me half a flicker of hope.
"Oh."
"It's been a rough night," he says.
"Yeah."
"How did you get here? Is the dance over already?" He looks down at his watch and shakes his head. "I went out to check on her and found her bawling hysterically. She wouldn't tell me why. Just kept crying, rocking, and clutching the computer. Saying she was going to have to tell Mom and Dad. How disappointed they would be. She hadn't told me, but our parents decided to come tonight instead of tomorrow to help take our stuff to New York. Anyway, when we got back here, she told us everything. Half of what she said was hard to understand, but we got the gist of it."
"Riley gave me a ride. How did your parents take it?"
"Better than I did." He hangs his head in shame. "I went to Eastbrooke to take care of her. I should have known."
"It's not your fault, Aiden."
"I was coming back to the dance to get you right after I delivered her bags."
"You were?"
"Boots, I told you that I'd never walk away again. I'm a man of my word," he says sternly. Clearly insinuating that I'm the opposite of that.
I'm a liar.
"You lied for my sister, but you didn't tell the truth. I know you were acting. That wasn't the real you."
"Jake said the same thing."
"Was everyone mad?"
"At first. But I told them the truth. You looked really mad. I was afraid you wouldn't ever talk to me again."
The serious look returns to his face.
"Let's not do this in the hall. Why don't you come with me to deliver the bags, then we'll come back here to . . . discuss."
"Um, okay. Is Peyton doing okay?"
As we head to the elevator, he says, "She's better now."
I nod as he hits the button for the floor above us.
He's silent in the elevator.
My heart is pounding. I feel like I'm being pulled under by a riptide.
Like I'm treading water but losing the fight.
Waiting to drown.
I can picture it. We'll talk to his sister, go back to our room, and he'll tell me that he hates liars. That I should have told him. That we're through.
We exit the elevator and I follow him down the hall.
He's walking fast.
A man on a mission.
Wanting to get it over with.
Peyton's mom opens the door and immediately throws her arms around me, dragging me into their suite.
Peyton is sitting on the bed. Her dad is looking somber on the couch.
"Thank you for what you did for Peyton," her mom says.
"Uh, you're welcome," I reply.
I sit on the bed next to Peyton. Her eyes are red and swollen from crying and there's not a speck of mascara left on them. I give her a hug and whisper, "Did you really tell them the truth?"
She answers me out loud. "Yes. I told my family everything. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I feel so much better. It's such a relief not having that secret hanging over my head."
"We're very grateful you stopped Whitney from showing the pictures, though," Aiden's dad says.
A crazy and inappropriate thought flashes through my brain and I'm tempted to say he can thank me by giving me Aiden as payment.
"We're prepared for the worst." Peyton rocks on the bed, holding her knees to her chest. "I know it's not over. Whitney will have backup copies. Best case scenario, she goes to the dean. Worse case, she releases it to the press. We'll deal with the fallout of it together. And even though I told Damian about it, I'm sure this will be the end of us." She starts sobbing. "I can't ruin his career. And as soon as Whitney finds out we're together, there will be no stopping her."
"Whitney will not be a problem."
"What do you mean?" her dad asks. "Of course, she is. We'll have to worry about it for the rest of her life."
"Peyton, after you left, Whitney did try to threaten me, telling me that I couldn't stop her. That she has copies of the photos. But I told her that I could and would."
"How?"
I grin broadly, knowing that--for once--I used my inner mean girl for the greater good.
"I told her if any photos ever leaked out--if there was even a hint about them--that I'd release a few photos of my own. Only I wouldn't bother with the press. I'd send them to her parents. Her college. Her boss. Her husband. Her friends. Whoever is in her life at the time."
"What pictures?"
"She's been sending pics to Camden for years. Naked. Partially naked. In a recent one, she was even lying on Coach Steele's desk. She thought she could make him jealous. Make him fall in love with her, maybe. Who knows. But what matters is that Cam has kept everything. He felt guilty he didn't tell Dawson about them right away, so he decided to save them, just to use as proof should Dawson ever de
cide to marry her."
"Wow," Peyton says. "I knew she was obsessed with him. I didn't realize how much."
"Cam warned me that Whitney was planning something. He was worried about you, so he sent me the whole file. And he was right. She's been planning this since that day she sat alone at the lunch table."
"I pushed her."
"I told you it would backfire. There's a big difference between standing up for yourself and tearing someone else down."
Peyton shakes her head. "I'm so stupid."
"Chalk it up to a life lesson. Anyway, I had a couple of the photos on my phone and showed them to her."
"What did you say?"
"That I'd ruin her."
"You and Cam are really good friends. Thank you." She dabs her tears. "Do you really think it's over?"
I give her a hug and say, "Yes."
Aiden clears his voice.
The sound of it makes me jump.
"Since we seem to have everything covered here, Keatyn and I are going to head back to our room. We have some things of our own to discuss."
He gestures toward the door.
I give his parents and Peyton an awkward wave goodbye.
He's quiet on the elevator, on the walk down the hall, and as we go into our room.
After the dirt, the No more lying, and all the You can tell me anythings, I understand why.
He has every right to be mad. I should've listened to my heart and told him. I had so many opportunities, going all the way back to that day in the chapel.
"Before you say anything, I need to tell you something," I blurt out.
He takes my hand and leads me over to the chaise, where we both sit down.
He lets go of my hand but I quickly grab it again, clinging to it like a life raft.
"I'm sorry I lied to you. There's a lot more to the story. I understand if you hate me. I deserve it. But you have to know that there were so many times I wanted to tell you. Remember the slutty video? When Dawson and I broke up? I was taking him to meet my parents that weekend. I was going to tell him the truth. That's why I was so upset. I was more upset at myself for trusting the wrong person again than I was about us not dating. And that's why, after what happened with Chelsea, I forgave you but wouldn't see you. I couldn't lie to you anymore. I was in deep with you, and I knew that eventually I'd have to tell you, and that you'd hate me for lying. But then you brought me dirt and told me our pasts didn't matter."
