Page 2 of Get Me (The Keatyn Chronicles 6)
"What was that?" one of the reporters asks breathlessly.
"My bikini. The one I was wearing when I first met him on the beach."
"Oh, that's sick," she says.
"He also left us something."
"What?"
"An envelope addressed to my mom. Inside were photos of me. From everywhere. School. With friends. Boyfriends. He'd been following me for months."
"Wow," Maggie says.
"And that's why I was sent here. And why I had to lie about who I am. I'm hiding."
"So, are you going to hide out forever?" Riley asks.
I tell them the rest. About Vincent following my friends. About the breakins at the rehab centers. About Vincent showing up at the surf tournament and later in Miami. About the nationwide search for the next Abby Johnston. About the photos of Tommy and Brooklyn with their heads blown off.
About going back to the club to see Vincent.
About the girl's death.
"That's why I lied. I wanted everyone to hate me because I need to protect you. Protect Eastbrooke. Because if he finds out where I am, he'll come here. And it won't be pretty."
"What are you going to do now?" Maggie asks.
"I'm fighting back. I'll probably end up kidnapped or dead but, hopefully, he'll end up in jail." I shut my eyes tightly, not loving my odds. I look directly at the reporters. "Either way, you'll have another story."
Cooper escorts the press out of the room while I get hugs and words of encouragement from my friends.
Riley wraps an arm around my shoulder and whispers, "You told me the truth. Mostly."
"Yeah, I did."
"I got it all done," Annie says, handing me back my phone. "You should have told us."
"At first, I didn't know you well enough to trust you. Once I did, I was afraid to put you in danger."
"You were going to take me home to meet your parents," Dawson says flatly. "Your real parents?"
"Yeah. I was going to tell you the truth on the plane."
"And I fucked it up. I'm sorry."
"Which really made me afraid to trust any of you."
"Okay," Cooper says, heading back into the room. "I think you should all either go dance or head out. It's getting late."
Dallas narrows his eyes at me. "Coach Steele is being awfully helpful."
"After the Miami incident, he was brought in to babysit me. Be my bodyguard."
Maggie gives me a smile and a wink. "Lucky girl. Have a good Christmas break. Be safe. And I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"You better be coming back to Eastbrooke."
"If I can't, at least now you'll know why."
Dallas joins the hug. "If you don't, you better stay in touch."
"I will. I promise." I turn to Riley. "Hey, can I catch a ride to the hotel with you and Ariela?"
Riley looks around, seemingly surprised. "Where's Aiden?"
I put my head down. I don't want to say it. My heart hurts.
"Is he meeting you at the hotel?"
"He walked out and didn't want me to follow him."
Riley shakes his head. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, Riley!" I snap.
"We'll give you a ride," Ariela says sweetly, comforting as always.
"Thank you. I'll meet you out front in a couple minutes."
As soon as everyone leaves the room, Cooper says, "I'm coming to the hotel with you. And you need to explain to me what really happened."
"Whitney was going to share something about Peyton. It was bad, Cooper. Something that should not have been shared. I couldn't let her do it."
"So you outed yourself for a friend?"
"Yeah, I guess so. It just all happened so fast. In retrospect, I should have confessed to having an affair with you or something like that. We could have dealt with it a whole lot easier. I mean, big deal if you got fired and I got expelled. I didn't tell you this, but I was going to tell Aiden the entire truth tonight as soon as we left the dance. I guess it was what was on my mind. And you don't need to come to the hotel. I'll be fine there. Just meet me at my loft on Monday morning, as planned."
"Look, I know you want to call the shots. I get it. I like your bravery and your boldness, but you need to listen to me and do what I say."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Let me guard you 24/7. I believe it's in your best interest. At least until we know if this is contained."
"You're probably right."
His eyes get big and he laughs. "Did you really just agree with me?"
"Yeah, I did. I don't think I'll be in danger at the hotel. Even if it gets out, Vincent won't know where I am. Everyone else is staying at another hotel near here. It's where all the parties are. Riley and Aiden wanted us to be somewhere . . . nicer . . ." I sigh, thinking about the amazingly romantic night I was supposed to have.
"What's your room number?" Cooper asks, getting out his phone.
"1214."
He calls the hotel and makes himself a reservation, securing an adjacent room. "Don't leave the hotel room without me."
"Aiden walked out when he heard the truth. If he's gone when I get to the hotel, I'll want to go home. To my loft."
"Sounds reasonable. I need to tie up a few loose ends with the dean and break the news to Garrett."
"Do you have to?"
"He has computer experts who can monitor social media sites. They're skilled hackers, which may come in handy. We need to be sure you aren't compromised."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Don't let him yell at you. It's not your fault."
As I leave, I can't help but glance back at the students dancing to a slow song and wish Aiden and I were still out there.
Epic, weed-induced dream.
Midnight
Riley hands me a flask the minute I get into their limo.
I shake my head. "I'm okay."
"How did you speak so calmly about almost being kidnapped, the stalker, and possibly dying?" Ariela asks.
"It's been four months since it happened. I suppose I'm just used to the facts. I hope I didn't ruin your night."
Riley grins at me. "Some of the events were a bit unexpected but, you gotta admit, it's been an interesting evening."
Ariela nods in agreement. "Was it hard for you to lie?"
"At first, it was easy. All I was really lying about was my parents. But the more I got to know people, became friends with them, the harder it got. That was another reason why I almost didn't come back to Eastbrooke after Thanksgiving break. I felt like I was being eaten from the inside out. I love you guys. It was killing me."
She pulls me into a hug. "I'm glad we know the truth."
My phone starts buzzing. I look down at it, hoping it's Aiden. Instead, I see the name of someone I don't want to deal with.
"Shit, I better take this," I say. "Hey, Garrett."
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
I hold the phone out as Garrett continues to yell at me. About Vincent finding me. About how stupid what I did was. How he's going to come get me himself.
Riley and Ariela start making funny faces at me.
It feels so good to have them on my side. To not have to hide all this.
I start to laugh.
Loudly.
Like I'm high.
I used to wish I were dreaming. That this whole thing was just some epic, weed-induced dream. But I'm glad it's not. Because I would have missed out on making some amazing friends.
"What the hell are you laughing about?!" I hear.
I put the phone back up to my ear. "Nothing. I'm with some friends."
"Did you hear anything I said?"
"Kinda hard not to. Are you done?"
"Excuse me?!"
"I don't need to be yelled at, Garrett," I say calmly. "I know what I did was not good for me, but it is what it is. I can't change it. Why don't you take some of that passion and use it to motivate your computer wizards. The dean threatened students with expulsion if
they didn't comply, but I need keywords relating to my family and all the students' social media monitored. If anyone posts anything, it needs to be deleted somehow. I need major damage control. Vincent cannot find out about Eastbrooke."
"You know you're not going to be able to go back there now."
"I know I can't. Um, I have to go. I'll text you," I tell him because I don't want Riley and Ariela to hear what I need to say.
Me: Just because I can't go back doesn't mean I don't want to protect the school. Please monitor it. Please, do whatever computer magic you can to keep it and my friends safe.
We pull up to the hotel and Riley says, "What are you going to do about Aiden?"
"That all depends on if he's here or not. If he is, I'll try to talk to him. The bitch of it all is that I was going to tell him the truth tonight as soon as we got to our room. Tonight was supposed to be the night, and I wanted him to know before we were together like that."
"We understand why you lied, Keatyn. Aiden will too."
"Do you think so? The look on his face. The way he held his hand up, telling me not to follow him. It killed me."
"If he loves you the way I think he does, you'll work it out."
"I hope so."
"Don't forget, we're doing brunch in the morning."
