She took back her hand. “Let me see your phone.”
“What?”
“Let me see your phone, Jaxen.”
I did only to prove to her this was crazy, finding it in my pocket. She was going to see this was all some big mistake. That her mom and my dad had misunderstood.
I pulled out the device in silence, well aware the entire boat was looking at us. Despite knowing I was innocent, the blood rushed to my head.
Then had to have drained from my face at what I saw.
My screen, like my entire screen, was filled with messages from my dad. He kept asking why I’d sent what I had and how I could do such a thing.
I unlocked the device to find more of the latter, more accusations on his end. He said I sent the photo to my stepmom, but that was bullshit. I didn’t have this picture and I didn’t even have my stepmom’s number.
I scrolled away despite what I’d seen. I was innocent. I was and would find nothing.
Until I didn’t find nothing, until I did see a message thread from a number I didn’t recognize.
I opened it up with a dry mouth, text messages over and over again with confusion. They asked me why I would do such a thing? They ask me what was the meaning of this. I scrolled up to find what this was, a picture I’d sent.
A picture of Cleo and me.
But that didn’t make sense. I didn’t have this picture, and before I could make sense of it, my phone was being taken from me.
Cleo had it, studying it, and though she looked at the device like she needed to confirm, so much despair cloaked her features.
I honestly thought she’d keel over where she stood. She actually visibly paled, holding her stomach like she would be sick. She threw my phone against the deck, instantly shattering the screen.
“Cleo, I didn’t do this.” Panicked now, panicked despite what I knew. That I didn’t do this, that this was completely fucked up. I crossed in front of her. “I don’t know how your mom got sent that picture, but I didn’t do it. I didn’t even have that picture. I sent it to that asswipe you went out with from your phone.”
“Because you didn’t have ample opportunity to take it from mine. Jesus, Jaxen.” She shook her head, blinking down more tears. “How many opportunities did you have? How many times had we fucked? You could have easily taken it while I slept.”
Silence around us, again everyone watching on. At this point, I noticed some of the girls cover their mouths, and a couple of my friends looked away. The guys had accused me of being with a girl before making it out to them today.
I guessed they’d been right.
Forcing myself to ignore their response, I kept my attention where it mattered.
“But I didn’t,” I pleaded, trying to make her look at me. “Someone must have gotten my phone.”
“Yeah, that’s rich.”
“No, that has to be it.” I stopped her again, a hand out. “I must have put my phone down. Actually, I did. We were at the club tonight, and I didn’t have it the whole time.”
I had left it on the bar at one point, for actually most of the night before I’d realized.
I shook my head. “Cleo, that has to be it. I left it on the bar. I hadn’t even realized it was gone until before we were about to come out here. I had to get it from the bartender and he had to get it from the lost and found.”
The complete truth, no lie. Someone had clearly set me up he
re.
But my stepsister looked no closer to buying it. If anything, she only hugged her arms closer to her body. Her expression twisted. “You’re trying to tell me that someone got your phone and sent that horrible photo to our parents with the sheer intent of screwing you? Screwing us?”
I knew how that sounded, but that’s exactly what I was saying. My lips parted. “I know how that sounds.”
“Yeah, like bullshit.”