Trust me. C h a p t e r 3 Graydon put his hands around my waist

The ride home was extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. Graydon put on some rock band I was unfamiliar with really loud. When I asked him to turn it down he just turned the music up, tuning out my voice.
 

I sighed and leaned back in my seat, trying to be comfortable which proved impossible, the music’s base shaking my chest with every beat. I took deep breathes to calm myself down. My therapist told me that when you panic you’re supposed to state the things you know about what surrounds you.
 

Well, I thought. I’m in a car. A white trailblazer. With a guy named Graydon, and he’s driving me home. He knocked me out earlier but… it was only for my safety. He’s also extremely hot and sort of obnoxious.
 

I took a deep breathe again and closed my eyes. I covered my ears with my sleeves and pretended that my mom was holding me. Before I knew it, Graydon was shaking me and telling me that I was home. 

- 

“Who was that guy?” Alex asked as I slung my bag off my shoulder and onto the counter. I bit my lip. 
 

“His, um, his name’s Greydon and he was just um, giving me a ride home from school?” I said. It was meant to be a statement but it came out as more of a question. I was always the worst at lying. 
 

I watched as my older brother, the one who knew me best, raised an eyebrow. We were in the kitchen, I was sitting on a stool at the bar while my brother was pouring himself some cereal. 
 

“Who is that guy for real this time?” he asked, smirking. I picked at my nails, not making eye contact. 
 

“Nobody. Just leave it, Alex.” I said stiffly. He sniffs, grabs his cereal bowl and goes to his room.

- 

My phone starts ringing “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran comes on and I flip it open. It’s my aunt.
 

“Hey, sweetie! How was your day?” Monee says.
 

I walk over to the counter and pick up an apple, crunching into it. “Pretty good.” I say, swallowing. “Yours?”
 

“My day was good. I had to fire a few people, though, so… eh. What do you want for dinner, honey?" 
 

I glance at the apple I just bit into. “I’m not really hungry.”
 

“Oh come on!”
 

“I’ll give the phone to Alex and he can say what he wants,” I say, striding down the hall. “Aleeexxx! Monee wants to talk to you!”
 

As I walked back to my room after giving my brother the phone, I dropped the half eaten apple in the trash.

You’re too fat already.