144 - The chapter where they try to sort everything out

Christian

We stood together in silence in that position as I willed every bit of it to stick, and it wasn't long before I could hear movement in the house, indicating that perhaps our friends had returned early because of the confusion. My doubts were removed when Sky emerged at the beginning of the stairs, sighing with relief as she found us. Rose, who had her eyes closed, didn't notice her presence, and I made a silent gesture with my head for her to leave us alone, which she didn't hesitate to do.

Her cell phone began to vibrate steadily in some corner of the room, eliciting a heartfelt groan from the girl. I let her go, looking around, frowning as I saw the device thrown near a wooden column, a few meters away. I stood up, going over to pick it up.

"They released my number and... practically exposed everything about me," Rose explained, wiping the tears from her face, "I got a lot of calls and…”

I picked up the device, noticing that the screen was cracked, but it was working. I unlocked it, finding several notifications of messages, missed calls, comments on photos on her social networks, and private messages. The girl was being bombarded in every way!

" I'll keep this for now, okay? " I held up the device " let's get out of here.”

" I can't stay in that room " she started crying again " they came into my room, they took my clothes! I've never felt so... exposed!”

I turned back to her, kneeling in front of her, holding her hand and drawing her attention back to me.

" 'I know, Rose. But I promise we'll find out who did this, we'll fix everything and you're not alone " I assured her " and we'll change rooms, for now we'll stay in mine, we can take the double bed there.”

For a second, Rose seemed to have pulled herself together enough to follow me to the stairs. We went down to the second floor and I took her to my room, sitting on the bed, pulling her to lie on my lap.

" Rose, I know everything is shit right now, but it will get better " I tried to make her stop crying.

" They've ruined my life, Christian! How am I going to get to class tomorrow? " She stared at me with watery eyes, trying to hold back the tears.

I wish I could say that we would go back with our heads held high, knowing that video was fake, but even I didn't feel like going back as I remembered the look on everyone's faces when the video started circulating, some looking at me with pity, others with amusement, and I knew that what I had faced wasn't even half of what she must have gone through, being exposed like that.

" I won't be able to hear any more jokes or offenses, what they did... I've never felt so... dirty…”

She sat up, looking at me with despair on her face. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to stop my eyes from starting to water when seeing her in that state.

" Rose, no! You can't put yourself in that position, it wasn't you! I know it, and you know it, and....”

" What does it matter? We know that, but everyone believes it was me! People will judge me and offend me just the same " she cut me off, stopping me from completing that sentence, and as much as I wanted to console her, I knew she was right.

"We'll work something out..." I tried again.

"How? " she said back harshly.

" Finding the people in that video " Liam's voice made us turn to the door of the room, surprising us to find all of them there.

Rose dried her face quickly, turning to our group, looking unconvinced by this plan.

" 'And how do you plan to do that, Liam? " she raised her face to look into his eyes.

He approached her undeterred, sitting down next to her on the bed, holding her hand, forcing her to look at him.

" This is my business, Rose. We're going to find out who did this, and prove that it wasn't you in that video, even if I have to go to hell after those people," he declared in a serious tone.

Rose looked away, seeming to be trying her best not to cry in front of all our friends. And I knew how much she hated feeling vulnerable, but she needed to allow herself to be supported at that moment. The others, who were still standing at the door, approached.

" You are my girl, my little Rosemarie Miller-Campbell. It doesn't matter if now you and Davis have gone public. You're still my girl,” he emphasized.

" Our girl,” Theo knelt down in front of her, holding her other hand, “and it's time they remembered that no one can mess with you!”

That was enough to make Rose collapse once again in a heartfelt cry, being supported by Liam, who wrapped his arms around her, hiding her face in his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head.

I stood up, going to the window in an attempt to disguise my discomfort at seeing her in that state once again. And I wasn't the only one, Theo remained in the same position as before, head down with his hand on her leg, trying to give the girl some comfort. Camille looked lost and Sky occasionally wiped away a tear that escaped from her watery eyes. The only sound in the room came from Rose's sobs and no one dared to say anything, not when our unshakeable girl was in that state.

We stayed that way for a few minutes, until the sobs stopped and she managed to control herself enough to walk away, getting up and leaving the room. We remained silent until I heard a door, probably from the bathroom close, showing us that at that moment she needed some privacy.

" Dude, here's your car key, I'm sorry I took it without asking and I'm sorry I scared you, Cutie " I took a deep breath, taking the key out of my pocket, handing it to my friend.

"They crossed all the limits this time," Sky returned angrily.

"How did they get in here? " Cam sniffled.

"It was probably the party we had last week, we need to find out who did it," Liam took a deep breath, "I was serious about going to hell to find out the truth.”

" If the person isn't in hell, I'll personally take care of sending them there," I muttered.

" 'You mean figuratively, right? " Cam's eyes widened, but I didn't bother to answer.

" 'When I find out who the guy was who took part in this, he'll be sorry. And I don't mean getting kicked off the team.  And your cousin better not be involved in this, because if she is…”

Liam looked away, not knowing what to say, everyone seemed astonished by my reaction, and it was Theo who finally decided to speak up.

" 'You better calm down, man. It won't help Rose to see you in this state. You'll end up scaring her.”

I left the room grabbing my cell phone, turning it on before ignoring all the notifications that started coming in nonstop. I knew he was right, if Rose even suspected what I was planning to do with the son of a bitch who participated in that, she would surely shut down, pretending to be fine, and that was something I couldn't allow.

But before I could walk away, Liam's voice caught my attention.

" Yes, I'm listening... She's not available at the moment, I'm sorry " I turned around, returning to the room " No, I'm serious....”

I was surprised to see the tense expression on everyone's face. Who is he talking to? Why didn't he just hang up?

"I know you're trying to talk to her, but her cell phone went down again and..." That's when the look on his face changed, my friend paled considerably at what was said on the other end of the line. "Addison, what video was sent to Jack's cell phone?"