Chapter Eight

Keanu's eyes widened as his fingers let go of the papers and Alice drew them to herself, her hands flying to the top of the papers to touch the tear that marred the top of the sheet.

"I'm so sorry, Alice," Keanu said. "I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay. It was just an accident."

"Did it ruin the words?"

She stared at the tear. It fringed the top paragraph, but the words remained intact and legible. "It's alright, I won't have to reprint it."

"That's good," he said.

Footsteps sounded behind them as the front door opened and closed softly. Mike came walking in carrying some plastic bags with boxes inside that probably contained the fried chicken.

"Hey, the food is here!" Mike said. "Sorry, there were some problems with the payment." He put down the bags on the table. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Alice said.

"Keanu, will you get the beers?" Mike asked, and Keanu nodded, glanced at Alice with a smile and disappeared into the kitchen.

Alice retreated to her room with her papers and both of them ended up watching the shows late into the night. Similar days followed and she somehow managed to get Leonard to apologise to his father about what he did, though he did so reluctantly. Despite that, she knew that deep down he cared about Keanu, but he simply had difficulty expressing that because all his friends had divorced parents who had estranged them, so they were frequently dissing them to him and he had picked that behaviour up, thinking it was normal.

Before long, more days passed and she turned 17. She had a small gathering at the beach with her closet friends and family to celebrate her birthday, and Leonard gave her a bracelet that had his name engraved in the inner band. The night passed by in a blur after she had her first sip of beer that Leonard snuck in after they separated from the group their parents were in. She puked it out right away, wondering why adults loved it so much. When they returned to their parents, the guilt that she had went against the rules weighed heavily on her, so she decided to end her birthday early.

The next day, she came over to Leonard's to talk to him about her feelings. Since she was almost part of the family already, she had a key to his place. She entered the home and walked in, calling his name out. A voice sounded from beyond the sliding doors in front of the kitchen, and Alice followed it out to their pool. Leonard was seated at a beach chair and he beckoned her over as he slid to the extreme side of the chair.

"Sit here," he said, patting the seat next to him on the same chair. He was dressed only in his boxers.

She snuggled herself onto the seat and smiled at him. "Leonard, I have something to say to you."

"What is it?"

"I feel bad about drinking that can of beer last night, and I don't think I want to again until I'm of age."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you're overreacting? Rules are meant to be broken."

"I don't know, I just think that my parents put a lot of effort into taking care of me and making sure I don't make the same mistakes they did when they were younger, and when I took that sip from that can, I felt as if I was betraying them and causing all their efforts to be in vain…" Alice said, explaining slowly. But as she went on, she could see the focus in Leonard's eyes glazing over and they lowered to the collar of her shirt, dancing lightly around her collarbone. "Leonard, are you listening?"

"Yeah," he said. Putting one arm around her back, he pulled her closer to his body and nestled his ear into her hair, sniffing it deeply. "God, you smell so good." He drew his nose to her cheeks and slid it down the side of her neck, breathing her in. He raised a hand up at her body and palmed her breast, squeezing it so tightly that she let out a cry of pain.

"Ouch! Stop that, Leonard," she said.

He ignored her, and grabbed onto her thighs. Forcing them apart, he put his hand between her thighs and held them open.

"Stop!"

He grunted in annoyance and reached for both her shoulders. Flipping her down onto the beach chair with his body over hers, he tried to force her shirt up to reveal her breasts. He kissed her on the mouth forcefully as she pressed hard on his chest, trying to get him away.

"Leonard!"

But there was no use. He was stronger than her, and he peeled her shirt over her head. She froze and trembled in fear, her stomach sinking to the floor. She always had nightmares like this, but this was no dream. It was the cold hard reality. Tears sliding down her cheeks, she shut her eyes tight as she attempted to block out every sensation she was feeling. Praying that it would be over soon, she pictured herself at home on her bed, safe and alone.

The splash boomed into the air and the pressure on her skin departed. Her eyes flew open and she saw ripples streaming out across the pool. Her chest rising and falling unevenly with panic, her eyes darted everywhere and found Keanu standing by the edge of the pool, fury in his eyes and lips pursed.

He had clearly thrown Leonard into the pool, and saved her from the assault. His forearms were spotted with water droplets and his shoulders were shivering with rage.

Just then, Leonard surfaced in the pool, angry shock in his features as he glared at his father with a posture that was ready to spring into action.