CHAPTER TWO

Jade walked into Hollywood Arts, hoping Cat hadn't beaten her. She looked around in Cat's usual places and discovered she wasn't there. As soon as she got back to the lockers, she grabbed Tori by the arm.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked as she was dragged to a utility closet. "What's going on? Please don't murder me, I didn't mean to scratch your car yesterday!"

"This isn't about my ca—you scratched my car?" Jade asked, fire burning in her eyes as she closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I just tripped and the buckle on my purse scratched it."

"I don't care about the car right now. I'm more concerned about Cat."

"Cat?" Tori asked with worry in her voice. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"

"I don't know, okay? I don't know. She's just not herself. Don't tell me you haven't noticed that she's been quiet and hasn't been weird."

"Cat's just an unusual person, Jade, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"You don't understand. You've known her for two years—I've known her since we were four. Something's not right. She's hiding something and I need to figure out what it is. We need to get the gang together and find out what's wrong with her."

"Jade, I'm sure she's fine."

"Please!" Jade said, her eyes filling with desperation. "I've never, ever asked you for anything in my life, I need you to help me. She's like my sister. If something is going on, I don't want to lose her. I can't lose her. Please help me," her voice cracked as she covered her mouth.

Tori nodded. "Okay… Okay, I'll help…"


Later that day, Cat still wasn't in school. It worried Jade more than it worried anyone else. Now, the gang was in Sikowitz's class room after school was over. None of them knew quite what to do, but they were all her friend and wanted to try.

"Has anyone heard Cat talking to anybody else, or on the phone maybe, about something unusual?" Jade asked.

"Not to me," Andre said.

"Me, either," Beck chimed in.

"What about you, Robbie? She say anything non-Cat like?" Tori asked.

"Well, she was at my house a few days ago," Robbie said. "We went swimming, but nothing weird happened."

"She didn't seem different to you? Attitude wise?" Jade asked.

"A little, but I just figured she was having a bad day. Didn't wanna push it if she was having girl issues," he said. "There was also… she looked different."

"Different how?"

"Body wise. I can't place it. She was floating on her back though, so it could have just been the way she was laying."

"What was different?"

"She was just a little thinner than a few weeks ago. She said she was a little stressed with homework," Robbie said. "Could this be anything serious?"

"Anything with Cat can be serious, you know her story, Robbie," Beck said.

"Her story?" Tori asked. "What story?"

Jade sighed and ran her hands over her face. "She isn't all there in the head."

"Uh… I've noticed."

"Not stupid-wise. She was brainwashed by her parents. She and her brother both have psychological issues. Her brother is a lot worse than she is. He just went insane one day and bit a chunk of Cat's leg out of her. Her parents made her think that it was okay because he didn't understand what he was doing, but they told him to bite her."

"Why wasn't she taken away?"

"She was, for about a week. She told the social workers and the police that her brother had head issues and that he didn't mean to bite her. They believed her because she was a kid."

"How old was she?"

"Seven," Jade said.

Jade hated the Valentine family except for Cat. She couldn't even sympathize with Max. He wasn't just mentally challenged, he was fucking evil.

"So… Why doesn't Cat think anything is wrong?"

"She was diagnosed with Stockholm syndrome. She blocked all the bad shit out of her head, so she doesn't even remember the bad stuff. She thinks she got the scar on her leg from a dog bite. She doesn't remember her brother torturing her by holding her down and holding knives over her face, or trying to make spiders bite her and bees sting her. She doesn't remember the sexual abuse her brother and father did to her..."

"God… How old was she when all this happened?"

Jade stayed silent, tears sliding down her cheeks. Everyone noticed but no one commented on it.

"She was eleven. It went on until she was thirteen… Maybe even still going on," Andre said. "She missed a lot of school sometimes."

"She would show up with bruises all over," Beck said. "Said she fell down the stairs."

"She did," Robbie said. "But, only because that son of a bitch pushed her," he said, kicking a chair. "I swear to god if they're still touching her I'll kill both of the mother fuckers."

"Robbie, calm down," Beck said, standing up and putting his hand on Robbie's shoulder. "We all need to be as rational as possible. We have no idea what's going on at Cat's house."

"That's what pisses me off."

"We have to do something," Jade said sniffling. "We have to find out what's going on with her to make her different right now. Not what happened in the past."

"What happens if she's cured from the Stockholm?" Tori asked. "Is that possible?"

"It's possible that she'll finally realize that what her parents allowed to happen to her was bad and not okay just because her brother's a lunatic. It's possible that she finally realizes that she was raped, not playing a game that was so special she wasn't allowed to tell anyone… It's possible that… she realizes all the shit she's gone through and she finally just breaks down," Jade said, sobbing.

Beck walked to his girlfriend and knelt in front of her, hugging her and stroking her hair.

"Jade…" Tori said. "I know I haven't known her as long as you have, but I wholeheartedly believe that she will be okay in the end of all of this. She'll come out of it. She's strong."

"She's not strong," Jade said. "She's messed up in the head, Tori. She was made to believe that sleeping with her father and her brother was okay and normal and that every family did it. She was made to believe that her brother's violent outbursts are okay."

"Why don't we go to her house? Corner her until she tells us what's wrong."

"No. We don't force her to do anything. That's how her father works, not her friends. We just need to make sure she knows that we're here no matter what, when she needs to talk. And we won't leave her."

"How are we supposed to do that if she doesn't come back to school?"

"I'll find a way."


Cat zipped her backpack up just after putting her homework and textbooks in it. She'd been working on homework all day. She skipped school. Her brother wouldn't let her go, so she stayed locked up in her room all day.

The petite redhead walked into her bathroom, turning the water on to fill up the bath tub. After she undressed she clipped her hair up away from her face so it wouldn't get wet while she took her bath.

The girl stepped into the tub and sat down, letting out a small sigh as she leaned back. "Finally…"

A few minutes passed before her phone rang. She reached over to the counter and accepted the call, holding it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hey," Jade said.

"Hey Jade…"

"Um… Are you feeling okay?"

Cat stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Yeah. Why?"

"I just… You seem different."

"I'm not. I'm Cat."

"Seriously, Cat… What's going on?" Jade's voice cracked.

"W… why are you crying, Jade?"

"I'm worried about you. Everyone is."

"Who's everyone?" Cat asked, sitting up a little.

"The gang… My mom. If she's worried about you then something is wrong, Caterina."

Jade hardly ever called her by her full first name unless she was really serious.

"…I'm fine, Jade…" Cat said quietly.

"You're not!" Jade shouted. "You are not fine! What's going on!"

"Cat!" Max yelled. "It's play time, Cat!"

"Shit… Shit," Cat whispered. "Okay, I can't talk right now, Jade, I gotta go."

"What? No, we're talking about this now," Jade said.

"I can't... "

"Cat!" Max yelled again.

"I can't Jade, I really can't," she said, hurriedly.

"Caterina Evangeline Valentine, don't you dare hang up on me!" Jade snapped.

Cat breathed heavily for a few seconds. "Jade, stay on the phone… Start a voice record, and do it now, and don't talk whatever you do, please stay quiet," she whispered quickly.

"Cat, what's going on? Is it your dad? Max? Are they trying to do something? Can you get away?"

"Not fast enough, I'm in the bath, I—"

"Cat!" Max yelled again.

"Please, just stay on the line and record it," she whispered harshly before putting her phone face down on the counter.

On the other line, Jade did exactly as she was told and started recording the phone call. She muted her end so they wouldn't hear her.

"Max, no!" Cat yelled.

"It's play time, Cat," Max said.

Jade heard water sloshing around and heard Cat scream.

"Max, stop! Stop it! I'm ovulating!"

Jade covered her mouth, sobbing as she threw her phone on her bed, running to the house phone by her bedroom door. She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" the operator asked.

"I—I'd like to report a rape that's currently happening," Jade said with a sob.

"Ma'am, are you in danger?"

"No, it's my—it's my friend, her brother—he's hurting her."

"What's the address, ma'am?"

"1156 Varsity Avenue, please hurry, her brother is hurting her, please hurry!"

"There's a deputy on his way right now, ma'am. What's your name?"

"Jadelyn West."

"Alright Jadelyn, what's your address?"

"6632 Litchfield Court."

"We'll send a deputy out to you to talk to you. Would you like to stay on the phone until they get there?"

"No, I'll be fine, just please get someone to my friend's house, please, hurry."

Jade hung up and walked over to her cell phone. Hearing Cat's screams, she sobbed, running her hand through her hair.