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Walking into the kitchen, I frowned as I grabbed a soda out of the fridge. “How does anything back there have anything to do with me?”
There was a pause and the bomb of all bombs was dropped. “It’s about Blaine Fitzgerald. He’s been arrested.”
The can of soda skipped from my fingers and clanged off the floor. It rolled under the table. I stood there, staring at the fridge. “What?”
“He’s been arrested, Avery. That’s why I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I thought… I don’t know, I thought you would like to know.”
My legs felt weak, so I turned and clutched the counter with one hand. The room tilted like I was sick again.
“Avery, are you there?”
“Yes,” I said, swallowing. “What happened?”
“It was at the start of summer, but it was kept quiet until about the middle of August, when he was arrested. There was a party being thrown. Some younger kids were there from what I heard,” he explained, and I closed my eyes. “It was a girl you went to school with. I think she was a year younger than you—Molly Simmons.”
I remembered seeing her name in one of his emails and assuming something totally different. “What… did he do?”
David didn’t answer immediately. “He was charged with sexual assault and several other offenses. He goes to trial in June, but has been out on bail. It’s not looking good for him. There’s a lot of evidence. The only reason I know any of this is because his father came to mine to represent his case. My father turned the case down. I want you to know that.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Thank you for not representing the asshole? I didn’t know what to say at all. I was stunned. I’d always wondered if Blaine had done what he’d done to me to someone else and if my silence would enable him to do it again. I had hoped not—I’d prayed that wouldn’t be the case.
“The girl he… raped contacted your family.”
I didn’t know what I was more shocked about: the fact that this girl contacted my family or that David had actually said rape. “What? Why? I haven’t said anything. I’ve kept my—”
“I know, Avery. I know you didn’t say anything, but she went to the same high school as you. She heard the rumors about you and Blaine, and well, she put two and two together. She went to your parents first and I’m sure you know how well that went.”
I needed to sit down before I fell down.
“When they refused to even speak to her, she came to me.” David paused. “I didn’t tell her anything, Avery. That’s not my place, but I think she’s been trying to get a hold of you. I don’t know how she got your information.”
“I don’t think she has.” I plopped down on the couch. Then again, I deleted almost every email I didn’t recognize. “The girl? Is she… okay? I mean, did she seem like she was okay?”
David cleared his throat. “Honestly? No.”
Rubbing my brow, I let out a low breath. “Of course she’s not. That was a stupid question.”
“You might want to, uh, check your email or something. She really seemed like she needed to talk to you and that was back in August.”
“I can’t say anything to her. If I do and it gets out, his family will sue me and my family for millions.” Bile rose in my throat. “It’s a part of my nondisclosure.”
“I know,” David said. “But like I said, I thought you’d like to know what is happening.”
My head was full of so much I could barely pick one question to ask. “And the charges? You think they’re going to stick? That’s he’s going to go to jail?”
“From what Father has seen, the charges are going to stick. He’s going to go to prison, Avery, at least for several years.”
My eyes fluttered open. Relief swamped me, so potent, so powerful that it was like having a ton of bricks removed from my chest. Never in my wildest hopes had I expected this. Blaine wasn’t going to jail because of what he had done to me, but justice was being served. Finally. I just hated that this had to happen to another girl—a girl who probably faced a terrible amount of censure for coming forward, but had stuck to it. A bit of the relief turned into guilt and shame. What if I had told my parents no? What if I had held my ground? This might not have happened to Molly. And only God knows how many other girls this could’ve happen to that we’d never know about. My stomach roiled at the thought.
“Anyway,” David drew the word out. “I just wanted to let you know.”
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it. “I’m sorry about not responding. I thought… well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.”
“I know what you thought. I haven’t really given you a reason to think anything other than that.” He paused, and my eyes widened. “Look, I want to tell you that I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“All these years, well, I never knew what really happened, but I should’ve done something,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did.”
