The Unexpected Twist - Marline (best books to read for young adults .txt) 📗

Prologue

He was hot. Very hot. His eyes were dark, beautiful and mysterious and his dark brown hair hung perfectly around his face. Cliché way to start a story, I know, but it’s an important detail. Because his hotness allowed him to do almost anything. He could get any girl he wanted. He was always invited to parties and even if he wasn’t, he could always get in. He was extremely popular, with the teachers as well as with the students. And he could treat me as if I was worthless. I hated him. From the moment I had set eyes on him, about a year ago, we were at silent (or sometimes not so silent) war. The worst thing about our hatred for each other was the fact that I had to see him everyday. If it wasn’t at school then it was at parties and what made matters worse was the fact that our parents were friends. They had regular dinners and get togethers and I often did not have a way of escaping these. So I had to sit through a dinner, look at his annoying face and listen to his irritating voice. I had to endure sneers which were often sent my way and my parents did not, or would not, notice the fact that he treated me worse than dirt.

That day, we were both invited to a party. The host was Jennifer Zaria, head cheerleader and extremely pretty. She had the whole school wrapped around her finger. I had been contemplating for weeks whether I should go or not but eventually decided to go because it was one of the biggest events in the year and I hated hearing my friends talk about the party afterwards and not be able to take part in the conversations. I met up at Cameron’s house to change and get ready for the party. And this is where the story begins.


Chapter 1

“Cam, can I borrow some shoes? Because none of the shoes I have fit with what I’m wearing.”
“Yeah, sure, just pick any.”
“Thanks.”
I opened her closet and let my eyes drift over the dozens of shoes she had in there. I was happy that she had the same shoe size as me because her shoe collection was incredible. I picked some black stilettos because they fit perfectly with my pink and black top. Then I observed myself in her floor length mirror. I was secretly satisfied with the way I looked and felt as if I could conquer the world. I glanced over at Cameron and hoped that she would decide to take it easy tonight and not get too drunk.
We heard a car honk and Cameron ran around the room grabbing her purse and her phone.
“Come on, we’ll be late.” Cameron said excitedly. We were being picked up by one of her friends and so we ran downstairs.

“Cameron? Have you seen Cameron?” I asked a random person, whom I did not know. I was staring to become anxious. Who knew what Cameron would do in this state of mind? She was extremely drunk and incoherent. It was kind of a pointless question considering the fact that the person probably had no idea who Cameron was. He gave me a confused look.
“Tall, brunette, wearing a darkblue, strapless top.” I explained quickly. To my surprise, he nodded.
“She went over that way,” He pointed in the direction of the staircase.
“Thanks,” I said to him and then ran up the stairs. I had to be careful not to trip over drunk people. There was a door on the left and I opened it to find a couple making out. They didn’t even notice that I had opened the door and I quickly closed it again, uninterested in what was going on there. I opened a door on the right and then the bathroom door. Cameron was nowhere in sight. Where was she? Slightly panicked I ran up another flight of stairs to the third floor. There was one door and I opened it immediately, too impatient to knock or to listen if anything was going on inside. And there she was, sitting on the bed, with her arms wrapped around her legs. I ran over to her immediately.
“Cameron! Cameron what happened?” She looked up at me, her eyes glazed. I could see that she was still drunk but at the same time, that she knew what was happening.
“Oh Claire!” She sobbed. “I didn’t want to... but he forced me . I couldn’t help it, he was so strong. I’m so stupid, I thought he was going to show me the stars. Oh why did I ever trust him?” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
“Cameron, tell me what happened.”
“He.. He raped me” She said, and then looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Who?” My question was blunt but I didn’t care. Whoever this person was, he was going to pay for it. A deep hatred took place in my heart, an emotion so strong that it scared me. At that moment, I was capable of doing anything to this person who had raped my best friend.
“I.. I don’t know.. I couldn’t see. He was tall and strong. That’s all I know.” Cameron whispered. I heard the agony in her voice and momentarily forgot about my hatred. I focused entirely on Cameron.
“Cam, I’m so sorry! I cannot believe anybody would hurt you like this.” I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. We cried together, tears of sadness for Cameron’s ruined future and tears of anger at the person who had taken away Cameron’s most prized possession, the one most beautiful gift she could ever give to her husband: her virginity.

Cameron was still not at school. Since the day of Jennifer’s party, she had not come out of her house. I had gone to visit her as often as I could but it was getting harder, because Cameron did not react to anything I said or did and she just sat on her bed, or in her chair, staring out in front of her. When I asked her if she had told anyone else besides me she grew furious and extremely defensive.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone, Claire. If you tell anyone, anyone at all, I will personally get back at you.”
“Cameron, your parents should know about this.” I tried telling her gently.
“GET OUT!” She had shouted at me. She picked up a book and threw it at me. I had to jump aside so it wouldn’t hit me.
“But Cameron..”. I tried to reason.
“OUT,” she screamed. I got my bag and walked out the door. Tears started streaming down my cheeks the moment I closed her bedroom door and I ran out of her house.

On my way home I pondered about the whole situation. I knew that I had to get back at the person who had raped Cameron but for that I would first need to know who it was. I had an idea, but I needed proof. I sighed as I realized that there was only one person who could help me find out if Stan was really guilty of rape, and that was the one person who I despised most: Liam.


Chapter 2

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked Liam. He was standing a few meters away and looked at me, slightly confused.
“And why would I do that?”
“Please. Just please help me.” I pleaded.
He raised one eyebrow and then asked me: “What do you want me to do?”
“Can you flirt with Jennifer to find out where Stan was at her party two weeks ago?”
“And why exactly do you need to know that?” He was skeptical and I saw that he was leaning towards saying no.
“I..” I paused, knowing that I could not tell him the truth. “I’m sorry, I cannot tell you.”
“Then I’m not doing it either.”
“No, please. It’s important.” I nearly begged.
“Hmm.” He scrutinized my face for a couple of seconds and then made a compromise.
“Fine. I’ll do it if you agree to go up to Stan and try to find out yourself.”
“How would I do that?” I asked him, completely confused.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, flirt?”
“Flirt?” I looked at him incredulously, realizing that he was making me do the same thing as I was asking him to do. The only difference being the fact that he was good at it and I wasn’t. “I can’t flirt.”
“Practice.”
“What, I have to stand in front of a mirror and practice my flirting or something?” I was starting to get annoyed at him.
“No.” He said without a hint of embarrassment or self consciousness. “Practice now. On me. Pretend I’m Stan and practice what you would say.”
“In your dreams.” I was about to walk out the door when he called me back using a simple sentence.
“Fine, then I’m not doing it either.” I was holding the door handle and saw my knuckles whiten as I tried to compose myself. I had to do it, for Cam. I took a deep breath and then turned around.
“Are you serious?” I first asked him, cautious.
“Yes. Come on. Flirt.” It was an order.
I slowly walked up to him but when I was a couple of steps away from him I turned away. “I can’t do this.”
“Ok, then I won’t do it either.” He now knew what to say to make me flirt and I hated the fact that he had this kind of power over me. I closed my eyes and resolved that I would do this and that I would see it as a personal sacrifice towards Cam later.
I opened my eyes and took the last steps towards him. I stood close, closer than I had ever stood to him before and immediately his deodorant penetrated into my nose. But, although I would never admit this to anyone, I liked the smell. I looked up at him through my lashes and ran my fingers along his arm.
“You know Stan, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.” I said to him.
He played along.
”Really?” He asked me.
“Yes. Come with me outside?” It was a question but he did not have to answer. I took his hand and pulled him out to the balcony. I put my arms around his neck and I felt his arms slip around my waist. My heart started beating faster. “I tried to find you at Jennifer’s party two weeks ago but I couldn’t find you anywhere.” I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear: “Where were you?”
“I’ll tell you.” He said, while looking deeply into my eyes. “But only if you kiss me.”
“Hmmm.” I said, pretending to think. “Promise?”
“I promise.” He said. I looked up at his handsome face and realized that it would be easy to kiss him. It would be my first kiss but the way we were standing now, I only needed to lean up a little for my lips to be able to touch his.
“All right.” I said and then leaned up to him. When our lips touched I knew that this kiss could not have been more perfect. Our lips moved together as if they