Page 111 of Under the Influence

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

CORI

“Nothing is ever how you think it’s going to be, is it?” Benson, whines into the phone.

“You don’t know how much I relate to that right now,” I groan. “Are things not working out between you and Amelia? She’s a great dancer.”

“No, Cori. We just don’t mesh, not like we did. You anticipated my next move, practically read my mind, and she’s stiff.”

I think back to dancing with Benson. I’ve never felt safer, and it was like all the trouble in my life vanished.

“You’ll get it. You just have to trust. In case you have forgotten, we didn’t mesh so well in the beginning either.”

“Because you don’t dance like anyone else I’ve ever met. There’s no one like you. You made me great. Without you, I’m just okay.”

“Benny, you know that isn’t true.”

“It is,” he sighs. “I’ve always known you were the one that made me look good. Now the whole school knows it too.”

His words stab me. I hate seeing Benson upset, especially when I know he's a great dancer, with or without me.

“Prove. Them. Wrong.” I emphasize.

“I’m trying. I really am, but without you and Aspen here, I kinda feel like I don’t belong anymore.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. If anyone belongs at Brooks, it’s you. Is Zander leaving you alone?”

He goes silent, and I force my eyes shut and purse my lips, “Benny, please tell me no one is messing with you.”

“No,” he whispers. “But Zander is not trying to fly under the radar like he was. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”

Oh no. I can feel the bile forming in the back of my throat as dread coats my words. “Do I even want to know?”

He huffs, “Probably not. He’s playing the victim, and everyone feels sorry for him. He made up some sob story about how you drugged him and slept with him to get back at Aspen.”

“Jesus.”

He hesitates a moment before continuing, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but wouldn’t it be better for everyone if you guys just told the truth?”

My protective instinct immediately kicks in. My voice is already dripping in anger before I even realize it.

“Why? So Aspen died for nothing?” I yell.

At least with people thinking that Zander and I betrayed her, there was some reason for her death. Even if it was a lie, I could handle the hateful stares and rumors.

“Aspen is gone, Cori! She’s gone, and she’s not coming back. I think protecting her is a little pointless at this point. Besides, she knows the truth now. She’d want you to tell the truth and come back to school. Where you belong, dancing with me!”

Benson is the only person that knows the truth. Not my parents, not Aspen’s. My dad is still trying to get Zander kicked out of school and arrested for a video that I destroyed, which he wasn’t even in.

“I can’t, Ben. There’s more on the line than my reputation, for everyone involved.”

“You are such a people pleaser. That is the problem here. You think you can run away and avoid the situation, and it will blow over. I hate to break it to you, but a sixteen-year-old girl is dead, cops are still lingering around here like flies you can’t swat away, and Zander isn’t helping your case.”

I sigh, “Zander can’t tell anyone that it wasn’t him in the video either, and you know why! So whatever he has to say to make himself seem like a victim is fine with me. Even if it’s that I drugged him, forced him, whatever.”

After I say that, I realize I could probably get in trouble if the police think I did anything without his consent. At this point, it’s his word against mine because there is no proof. I know there isn’t because I deleted it. My dad has become obsessed with looking for something that I know doesn’t exist anymore.I appreciate his efforts to clear my name, but he can’t know why I needed to destroy it..