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Yesterday when I went to gym class, the shower doors hadallbeen changed,andthere was a panic button inside. The doors were now heavier duty and had hidden hinges with double deadbolts on them that locked from the inside while the outside of the lock was completely inaccessible. It was a flat piece of metal with no hole and no visible screws. A person would have to destroy the door around the lock to get it open, and by then, you could hit the panic button.
After making a little stop at Headmistress McArthur’s office, I learned the only way to unlock the door from the outside was with a magnetic tool she kept in a large safe in her office. The panic buttons were installed first—so students would see them and allow the devices to act as a deterrent—but they weren’t active.
Yet.
I was the only student who knew that, though—for obvious reasons.
There was only so much that could be done in a two-day period, so they opted to do it that way. The wiring was still being worked on, but by Monday, the panic button would sound in the gym, the PE teacher’s office, and the main office. It would work much like shower and bathroom emergency call lights in hospitals.
It sounded like a lot, but she informed me that even if what happened to me hadn’t happened, it was a wise decision to put them in. What if someone slipped and hurt themselves when no one was around? There were students with health issues. What if someone had a medical emergency?
“You were the catalyst, but we should have had those to begin with,” she’d said. “I want this school to be safe, and that is a place where students are their most vulnerable.”
What happened to me would never happen again. The locker rooms were safer for bullied kids and those with disabilities. That was definitely a win.
When she’d told me after the incident that she wouldn’t tolerate that behavior, she wasn’t joking. She’d made a change that very day. I liked her.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop everything.
Of course, the video and photos that were taken of me showed up on Crestchat. I wasn’t at all shocked by that, but I also wasn’t embarrassed. With the way I was angled, they only managed to get side boob and a full shot of my ass as I turned. Neither were things I found particularly humiliating.
Nice try, though.
Add on to that the condoms in my locker, the notes and cash in envelopes asking for various sexual favors, and random comments in the hall, and that was my whole week. While it was annoying, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.
However, itwassomething I realized would wear me down over time. It had already started. It was exhausting dealing with it all day every day. Even if I could handle it right at that moment, I knew that would change if I didn’t find a way to stop it.
I had to find a way to get control over it before it got control of me. I remembered back to that moment in the bathroom when Damian told me he planned to tell Asher. That desperation in my voice when I’d practically begged him not to.
I never wanted to give them that kind of power ever again.
It was the end of the day on Friday, and that meant I’d made it through my first week at Crestview. It felt like an eternity had passed, but I decided to put it behind me and enjoy the weekend. There was a football game tonight, but I didn’t much care about that. I wasn’t the biggest sports fan. I enjoyed playing them, but I didn’t much care for watching them. I just wanted to snuggle up in bed, eat some ice cream I’d have to bust my ass to work off, and watch some Hulu or Netflix.
God, I’m fucking boring for an eighteen-year-old girl.
When I arrived at my door, the light caught the metallic lock at the right angle to reveal a few scratches and gouges. Upon closer examination with the flashlight on my phone, I noticed more gouginginsidethe lock. All locks were changed between students. That meant my lock was brand new. Far too new for that kind of damage. That meant someone had tried to break into my room.
I really needed to get cameras set up. There was no way in hell I’d let anyone fuck with me in my only sanctuary. It was the only safe place I had in the world, and I wasn’t about to let anyone take it from me. As screwed up as it was, I found the thought of it being someone from school comforting as opposed to the alternative.
That someone who meant me true bodily harm might have tried to break in.
As I let myself in and walked around to check my little apartment, I reminded myself that Crestview was secure. To get in or out, a person had to go through two gates with armed guards. One was closer to the school, and the other was a mile away closer to the road. I wasn’t exactly sure how big the school’s property was, but from what I could tell, it was massive.
The lake, school, dorms, employee parking garage, and rest of the grounds were all surrounded by woods. There was a 10,000 square foot building used for large events. That was where they hosted prom, graduation, family events during parents’ weekend, and more. From what I’d gathered, students also went in there from time to time to play in the rec rooms since there were pool tables and other things.
The school also had the standard football field, soccer field, tennis courts, and track. They also had an archery range. It hadn’t been used in a few years since the school stopped competing because of a lack of an instructor, but I wanted to see if they’d allow me to use it from time to time so I could get some practice in. It would be a nice change from the normal stuff I did.
You know…nothing.
A knock at my door startled me from my search, and I went to answer it.
“Hey!” I said, stepping to the side to let Luna and Justin in.
He wore light colored jeans and a tight fitting, ribbed, black tank. It was tighter around the collar and shoulders like I liked for myself, and it showed off things I didn’t want to take notice of—like his incredibly toned arms, a muscular chest, and even the musculature of his abs.Wow.
He’d whipped his shirt off and held me the other day, but I was far too out of it to get to enjoy the view. There was nothing sexual going on in my mind that night, so seeing him now kind of took me by surprise a bit.
“See somethin’ you like?” Justin asked, reaching up with his thumb to playfully wipe at the corner of my mouth. “Ya got a little—”