Chapter 21
Wow, I can't believe that this story has come to 21 chapters…it's totally unreal. When I got the idea for it, I knew it was something special but I never expected it to go this far! :) I wish it could be a never ending story. Haha.
"But she's my best friend!" A familiar voice woke Kelsi up the next morning. She sat up with a smile, recognizing the voice as Ryan's.
She immediately got out of bed so she could make sure Ryan didn't get himself and the rest of her friends kicked out of the police station. She knew how he could be,
especially when he was worried; he wouldn't quit annoying the cops until they let him in or arrested him.
"Hey guys!" She said as she got to the bottom of the stairs and saw all her friends standing in a big group. From the looks they gave her, she was sure she looked about as bad as she felt. Sharpay was the first to speak up.
"You're safe!" She yelled, and ran over to give Kelsi a hug. "Oh my god, you have like, no idea how worried we've all been!"
Ryan was the next to approach her. "Hey." He said with a small smile, hugging her a lot more lightly than Sharpay. She could tell he was feeling a little uneasy, and she wasn't really sure why. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
"I think I'm still kind of in shock, actually." She said, and it was true: the whole situation was only just starting to sink it.
"That's expected." Ryan said. "But at least it seems like you're feeling a lot better than you look."
Kelsi narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks a lot." She said dryly.
"I try." Ryan said, smiling.
She looked around, trying to find Jason, and finally spotted him, hanging at the very back of the group, looking a little like he was trying to hide. Everyone but him realized she was looking at him, but he didn't notice considering he had his head pointed straight at the floor. Zeke nudged him with his elbow and he looked up.
He looked nervous, which made Kelsi also feel nervous, but she still found herself giving him a small, weak smile. His face lit up like Christmas and he walked forward, still nervous, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey." He said, and she laughed when his voice cracked.
"Hey." She answered back, suddenly feeling like the shy person she was in high school.
"Uhm." He said. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out, and it was making him want to hit himself for acting so stupid.
"I'm sorry about the text message." Kelsi spit out, hoping that it would get him to start talking.
"No-it's not- it's just-… I mean-," Detective Scott decided to chose the worse moment possible to walk back into the room, interrupting Jason.
"Are you ready to make your statement now?" She asked, clearly not realizing she had just ruined the moment.
"Sure." She said, faking a smile, even though she was more nervous than she had ever been; it was the first time she really had to talk about what Robbie had done to her and she was afraid she would break down and cry, and she didn't want to end up doing that.
She follwed Detective Scott to a small room with a table and two chairs that sat opposite each other; it made her feel like a criminal when she realized it was just like the interrogation rooms on TV.
She sat down in the uncomfortable chair and took a deep breath as Detective Scott sat down across from her. For a minute, neither of them said anything.
"So uhm," Kelsi said. "Where should I start?"
"From the beginning." Detective Scott said.
"The beginning of what?" She asked. "Tonight? Or our uhm, relationship."
"Well, for now, just tonight, but at a later time- when find Robbie and bring him in- you might have to describe some of the abuse before tonight, and you might have to testify against him as well." She said.
Kelsi swallowed hard. Testify? She hadn't even thought of that. There was no way she could do it, especially not with Robbie in the same room. For the first time, she considered the possibility that it might be better if they just never found Robbie, well, just as long as he never found her.
"Testify?" She choked out. "I…I don't think I can."
"I know that it's scary. I know you don't want to have to face him." Detective Scott said. "But isn't it worth it if you can put him in jail?"
"I…I don't know." Kelsi said.
"But you know, if he ever finds you again, he could try to hurt you again." She said.
"And he probably would." Kelsi said back. "But is there any chance I wouldn't have to testify?"
"Well, yes." She said. "If they could find enough evidence to put him away, or if he willingly admits what he did and doesn't want to go to trial."
"He won't do that." Kelsi said quickly. "He'll want to fight."
"Then you'll have to testify if you want him to be put away." Detective Scott said gently.
Kelsi sighed. She knew if she thought about it realistically, the best thing to do would be to testify against Robbie. She knew it would probably be the hardest thing she'd ever do, but if it came to it…
"Should I, uhm, start now?" Kelsi asked nervously.
"Go ahead." Detective Scott said.
"Okay, uhm, well last night, after we got to the hotel, I waited until Robbie was asleep-," Kelsi started.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but why were you at the hotel?" Detective Scott asked.
"Well, a few days, or nights, ago, Robbie decided that we were leaving and so we've just been driving and then checking into hotels at night for the past three days." Kelsi said.
"Did he make you leave against your will, or did you voluntarily go with him?" She asked.
"Uhm. I didn't want to go, and I told him that, but he didn't really make me go…" Kelsi said. "At least I don't think he did."
"Did he do anything to physically harm you after you told him that you didn't want to leave?"
"Uhm. I'm sorry, but I don't really remember." Kelsi said. "That whole night just sort of…blends together."
"Okay…well, if you remember any specifics, then please let me know." Detective Scott said. "Because if he took you and held you against your will, then he can be charged with kidnapping as well as already being charged with battery."
That shocked Kelsi- it wasn't something she'd ever thought of before, but it made sense. She'd always thought that it had to be a minor for it to be considered kidnapping, but what else would it be called?
"Okay, I will." She said.
"Start with when you left, at least as much as you can remember." She said.
"Okay, well, we left 3 nights ago, and we drove for a few hours before we checked into a hotel in Texas, and then the next day we drove again for pretty much the whole day, and then we stopped at another hotel last night, and uhm, wait, sorry, yesterday we stopped at a bathroom and I went in and turned my phone on and told my friends where I was and then-." Kelsi sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm really bad at this. Can I just write it down or something?"
"If that would be easier." She said.
"I think it would." Kelsi said. "I'm really bad at telling stories."
Detective Scott walked out of the room, returning a few seconds later with a pad of paper and a pen. "Take as much time as you need." She said.
Kelsi tried her best to write down everything that had happened in the past three days as detailed as she could, and ended up filling four pages. When she was done, she felt like her hand was going to literally fall off.
"Thank you." Detective Scott said when she handed over the notepad. "You can leave now, and I'll contact you if I need any addition information or if you need to testify."
"Uhm, I don't exactly have a phone right now, so should I give you some of my friend's numbers or my mom's…?"
"Do you plan on getting another phone?" Detective Scott asked.
"As soon as I possibly can. Hopefully even today, and tomorrow at the latest." Kelsi said.
"Okay, well, whenever you get it, call the police station and ask for me so I can get the number." She said.
"I will." Kelsi said. "Can I go now?"
"Yes." Detective Scott said. "And don't worry…they'll find him soon." She said as an afterthought as Kelsi rose and started to the door.
She just gave her a small smile in return, and walked back out into the lobby area where all her friends were. The first person she saw when she walked out there was, of course, Jason, looking even more nervous than before.
"Uhm, Jason." She said quietly, causing him, as well as the rest of them minus Ryan who was sleeping, to look up. No one said anything to her; they all knew what she had to talk to Jason about.
He stood up and followed her to the other side of the room so they could talk more privately. "I'm really sorry about earlier." He said. "I just, I was confused by your text message- okay, I still am-, but I was being really immature by not just talking to you about it, especially as a time like this and-"
"It's okay." She said. "You don't need to apologize. But I meant exactly what I said in that text message." She couldn't believe she'd actually admitted it, but her instincts had told her to just go for it.
"I was kind of hoping you would say that." Jason said with a smile. "Because, I uhm, feel the same way. I mean, I always have."
She smiled. Is this a dream? She wondered. It had to be- there was no way that what she had been waiting for for so long was actually happening. But then, how could it not be real? If it was a dream, it wouldn't be in a police station and she wouldn't be covered with bruises and in pain.
"Would y'all kiss already?" Chad's voice yelled out from the other side of the room, causing Jason to look down and Kelsi to blush.
But when she thought about it, it didn't really matter where she was or what she looked like. All that mattered was that the one person she really loved, loved her back, and Robbie was gone.
And that made the moment perfect.
No, it's not done. I know that sort of sounded like an ending, but it's not. Haha. There will be tons more drama and craziness before Jason and Kelsi can live happily ever after. And sorry times a MILLION for not updating sooner- I've had the worst writers block the earth has ever seen on this dang chapter. And I'm not sure if I like it or not, but at least it's longer(a lot of people were saying it should be). Oh well, I am now definitely rambling. It's about one in the morning and I'm starting to get all out of it and weird so I'm shutting up and posting….NOW. Okay I lied, not done. THERE WAS SOME JELSI...as I promised. Finally. :) REVIEW LIKE CRAZY :) :) :)!