Bringing You Closer To Me

Chapter 22

Nicole's POV

I fix myself a bowl of cereal and pour in some milk. Grabbing a glass of juice, I make my way into the living room and sit down. As I eat, I get lost in my thoughts. 

I don't understand Demi sometimes. One minute she'll be really nice and kind with me and then the next she's acting all weird and off with me. I don't know what I do. Today is Sunday, which is crap because that means school tomorrow, but the talent show is on Friday and that means just a week left of school!  

"Nicole. We need to talk." Demi says, sitting next to me on the sofa. 

"What about?" I ask finishing my cereal. 

"You." 

"And what about me?" I ask again, placing my empty bowl on the floor. 

"Hang on a sec." Demi gets up from her spot and walks to the kitchen, she says something that I can't hear and returns with Jennel. They each take a seat either side of me. 

"Woah, what's going on?!" I ask as Jennel places her hand on my knee. 

"We're going to help you." Jennel says smiling. 

"Yeah you both keep saying that." I reply sarcastically. 

"You can drop the act Nicole. We know...we know." Demi says placing her hand on my other knee. They both shuffle in closer to me.  

"Okay, you're both making me feel very uncomfortable right now. You know what?" I ask confused. I brush off their hands and move to the other sofa away from them. They share a worried look. Neither of them said anything so I persisted. "What do you know?" Something clicks in my head. This better not be what I think. 

"Nicole, we know what you didn't want to tell us." Demi says slowly. 

"How?" I ask knowing exactly what's coming. The confrontation I've been trying to avoid since I first set foot in this house. 

"I did what you said, I kept my ears open at work. I'm so sorry." 

"I don't want sympathy." I reply angrily. Demi's face matches my tone of voice; angry. Jennel notices this and slips her hand into Demi's, the anger seems to drain from her face. Their hands fit perfectly together. I hope I can trust someone enough someday so that I can have what they have. 

"If you don't want to talk about it, its fine. But just know we're always here to listen." Jennel says smiling reassuringly.  

"What do you actually know?" I ask Demi calmly. 

"I-I, um, I know that your dad r-r..raped you." she stutters, a pained expression falls on her face. 

"Is that all?" she nods. Okay here goes nothing. 

"My twelfth birthday, he took me upstairs to my parents room and told me to sit on the bed. He said he had a surprise for me." I start. Demi moves herself over next to me and slowly takes hold of my hand. I let her. "He, um he left the room and I sat there waiting. He returned after about five minutes and r-r-raped me." tears start to fall down both mine and Demi's face. "My mum ignored my cries...afterwards they told me my virginity needed to be taken by someone who cared about me." 

The room falls almost silent when I stop talking, the only sound being those of my sobs. Demi wraps her arm around my waist and pulls me into her. I rest my head on her shoulder as she plays with my hair, calming me. I'm aware of them talking but I cant hear properly, my blood is pounding in my ears too hard. 

Suddenly, I get pushed away from Demi. I whimper slightly at the loss of contact. "Nic, listen to me okay? I get how your feeling right now. I've been there. I also know that something like that stays with you for years." What does she mean she's been here? "Sometimes the most random, unlinked things can trigger a memory of it all. And its horrible, I know. But just know, it does get better. And one day you'll find someone who loves you so much and you'll be able to move on."