Whispers of the Sea

Chapter One - Part Two

Tillie POV

“Do you think Cody likes me?” the words cause me to look at her in utter disbelief.

“I refuse to believe you are that dumb,” I snap, walking away with my drink in hand.

“What are you talking about?” she whines as I sit on a couch on the back porch.

“Maggie, that boy has liked you for years. Literally turns everyone down because he is only interested in you. You cannot be that dense,” and yet when I look at her face, she is absolutely clueless as to what I’m talking about.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” I ask as she stares at me in confusion.

“No, I don’t. He’s never said anything about liking me or given me any sign that he does,” she says as I stare at her baffled. Have we not been seeing the same things over the years?

“Give me your phone,” the words come out a bit more like a demand than intended, but she gives me her phone anyway.

Me on Maggie’s phone: Tillie thinks you have had a crush on me for years. If that’s true, I need you to prove it.

My heart is beating with excitement from the moment I hit send. The anticipation only growing as the delivered status changes to read. The music stops inside the house, Cody’s voice replacing the sound.

“Maggie Noelle Lincoln. You asked me to prove that Tillie was right but I want you in front of me first,” he shouts into the DJ’s microphone.

Her mouth taking the shape of an O in shock at his boldness, shaking her head no. I grab her hand, drag her into the house, and shove her in front of him as a crowd circles around to see what is going to happen. Cody mouths a “thank you” to me as she looks at her feet, avoiding his gaze.

“I can’t prove that Tillie is right, Maggie. Once upon a time, she was but she isn’t now,” I can feel the disappointment radiating off of her and my heart breaks at the thought of publicly embarrassing my best friend like this. I move to rescue her, but stop when he shakes his head and holds his hand out, telling me to wait.

“She’s wrong because I don’t have a crush on you anymore, Maggie. I’m in love with you, and I have been for years,” his words shattering my last bit of sanity as I scream in excitement. Cody hands the microphone off to someone in the crowd, walks up to Maggie, and pulls her face into his for the most movie-like kiss I have ever seen in my life.

“God, Maggie.. Please be mine,” he prays out loud as he pulls away, his forehead resting on hers for just a moment. He leans back and his concerned face catches my attention as he stares at her.

“Is she okay?” I ask from the sidelines, worry beginning to consume the previous excitement.

“Is this a joke? Did you mean that?” Maggie’s quiet voice finally says breathlessly. I gasp behind her, appalled that she thinks I would set her up that way.

“I don’t joke about love, Maggie. I’ve been waiting for you to notice me since seventh grade,” he proclaims loudly, the adoration in his eyes is enough to make anyone weak in the knees.

“Seventh grade?! Cody! We’re seniors,” I holler, making Maggie jump.

“Yeah yeah. What do you say, Mags? Be mine?” he asks again, the entire crowd silent as they wait to hear her answer.

“Answer the man, Maggie! Everyone in this room is dying to know,” I shout impatiently.

“Yes... Of course, I’ll be yours,” she whispers to him, stepping into his arms and standing on her tiptoes for another kiss.

The crowd erupts in loud cheers and the music begins playing loudly once more in celebration of the new couple. I throw the rest of my drink down and grab another, dragging Maggie away from Cody to dance with me. Six drinks later and I realize that was not just regular punch. I didn’t taste the alcohol, but there’s no doubt in my mind I am drunk.

“Woah, you okay?” Maggie asks as I try to stumble off the dancefloor.

“I just need to go sit down,” my words fall out of my mouth in a slurred and jumbled mess.

“How about we go find you somewhere to lay down? You’re gonna hurt yourself,” she says gently as she wraps my arm around her neck, guiding me through the spiderweb maze on the stairs and hallway.

“This is Cody’s guest room. You’ll be safe here. I’m going to go get some water and food for you, okay? I’ll be back in just a bit,” she announces but I don’t respond. I start to doze off, but a loud banging on the door startles me awake.

“Someone is in here, jerk. Stop banging on the door,” I shout in my drunken stupor. The door opens and it is none other than Brock Kilbrook.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here?” he says in a mocking tone.

“Go away, Brock. I’m too drunk to deal with you,” I snap at him.

“I guess I won’t tell you what I know about Jake then,” he sighs as he walks back toward the door.

“What about Jake? Is he okay?” I stumble out of the bed, Brock catching me before my face hits the floor.

“Why don’t you sit down and we’ll talk?” I’m in no condition to fight or argue so I fall back on the bed.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, Tillie, but Jake is cheating on you. He went out of town with his dad to see a girl he dated in eighth grade,” he says condescendingly.

“Jake would never,” I try to sound confident even though the doubt creeping into my mind makes me want to cry. Why did I drink so much?

“But he would, Tillie. We used to fight all the time when my mom was married to his dad because he would complain about how clingy you are. He more than once said his old girlfriend was prettier and he was going to move out there to be with her. He was so happy when Rob filed for divorce. He knew he could go back home and talk his dad into moving while you were none the wiser,” Brock insists as a tear escapes my eye before I can stop it.

“Jake loves me, Brock. We’ve been together for five years. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say through gritted teeth as I wipe the rogue tear away.

“No, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve been blindly accepting everything he says because you love him, but if you really think about it, you know I’m right,” His words cause my heart to break from every drunken thought racing through my mind.

“You know, I have always liked you, Tillie. I think you’re pretty. Let me fix that hurt you’re feeling right now. Jake never has to know. You can live your whole life knowing you got him back,” he whispers as he lays on the bed beside me, his fingertips running up and down my arm with feather-like touches as he kisses my shoulder. The sensation makes me want to vomit, but I just turn my head away.

“I think you should go. Maggie will be back soon,” I try to say forcefully to no avail. He doesn’t move from the bed or stop touching me.

Instead he moves his light touches to my chest, lightly tickling the tops of my breasts. I try to push him away but find I’m not strong enough to move him. I sit up to move off the bed away from him but I stumble as my vision blurs from the alcohol. He sits up and pulls me back to his chest, wrapping his hand around my throat. Not enough to hurt me, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable.

“When was the last time you heard from him? Look at your phone. He’s not texting you because he’s too busy with her. Make yourself busy with me. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” he whispers, moving his hand from my throat, replacing it with his mouth on my neck. My head is swimming in alcohol and confusion from the scenario I’m in. I try to wiggle away, but his grip on me only tightens.

I check my phone, kicking myself when I see Jake hasn’t texted or called in three hours. Brock takes my phone, tossing it on the nightstand before running his hand up my thigh. Fear creeps into my thoughts and panic starts to set in. What is he going to do? Will he hurt me if I say no? Will he do it anyway? My thoughts come to a halt as his finger starts to inch towards my clit, but I stop him before he can find it.

“I… I don’t know,” I slur. I can’t think straight right now. I don’t want to think he would cheat on me… but maybe he did? No. Jake wouldn’t, but I guess it’s always possible. My thoughts jump from one extreme to the other, trying to make sense of it. Brock continues to try to touch me but I’m scared and too drunk to fight him anymore.

“Let's just do it. I’m not interested in playing,” my body completely numb from the heartache surging through my body.

“As you wish,” he mumbles before pulling his pants down and positioning himself between my legs.

“Remember, it’s not cheating if you’re thinking about Jake the whole time,” he whispers before plunging himself into my depths. What else did he think I’d be thinking about? I don’t even like him.

I groan in pain when he pushes himself inside me. I don’t want this. There is no pleasure. No orgasm. No moaning. At least not for me. Three or four thrusts in and he pulls out frantically, finding his release all over the front of my costume. I didn’t even want him to do this. Why didn’t I say no?

Darkness starts to creep into my vision as I lay on the bed like a dead fish. I faintly hear the sound of the door opening and shutting. Is that Maggie screaming? What is happening? I try to open my eyes but my body won’t cooperate as I slip further into a deep drunken sleep.

“Wake up, Tillie,” I hear Maggie’s voice as she gently shakes me awake.

“What time is it?” I ask groggily as I pull the covers over my head.

“It’s eight in the morning. I’ve already had to text your dad and Jake from your phone before they sent out the Coast Guard to find you. Get up,” she insists. I pull down the covers, the light burning my eyes and causing me to puke. A hangover, this is great.

“Take the Tylenol. Drink the Gatorade. Eat the food. I’m going back downstairs with Cody,” she commands before walking out of the room. A quick look around the room and everything from the night before comes rushing back. I had s*x with Brock. I cheated on Jake. Shame and guilt overwhelm me, the tears flowing freely.

Me: Please come back.

Maggie: I’m coming.

I toss my phone on the bed, the emotions flooding through my body making it hard to breathe. A few moments later, Maggie comes in the room and closes the door behind her.

“Are you mad at me?” I ask through my tears, terrified to look up.

“No, I’m not mad at you. I put you in here to protect you. I didn’t know that was going to happen. I’m mad at myself,” she asserts, sitting on the bed in front of me.

“I didn’t tell him no, Maggie… I let him do it,” new tears flooding from my eyes as I make the confession out loud.

“Tillie, you were so drunk last night I’m surprised you remember anything today. This isn’t your fault. He took advantage of you. Jake is going to kill him.” her last sentence sending me into a fit of panic.

“Maggie, we cannot tell Jake. I cheated on him, for God’s sake. Please don’t say anything to anybody,” I beg her through my sobs. She pulls me into a tight hug, petting the back of my head as she shushes me.

“Okay Till, I won’t tell anyone, but please know this wasn’t your fault,” she whispers to me gently.

“Does anyone know besides you and Brock?” I ask without looking up.

“No. I didn’t tell Cody and when I walked in last night, I shut the door before I started screaming at him. I smacked the hell out of him and threatened to tell everyone that he really has a micro p***s if he spoke a word of last night,” she states, making me giggle.

“All jokes aside, nobody knows outside of this room. I’ll keep it that way for as long as you want me to.” She extends her pinky for a pinky promise. My lips curl up in a small smile as I wrap my pinky around hers and we kiss each other’s pinkies, sealing the promise.

“We need to get you home. Your dad was ready to enlist every branch of the military to find you last night. He knows you drank. I told him you fell asleep,” she says, helping me out of the bed.

I get dressed, eat, and thank Cody for a great party half-heartedly before linking arms with Maggie as we walk to her car. We ride to my house in comfortable silence, my dad meeting us outside as we pull up.

“You scared me to death last night, Tillie. No more parties,” he says firmly. He thinks that’s punishment, but I couldn’t agree more. No more parties.

Maggie walks with me to my bedroom and sits with me for a few minutes. Listening to me cry, hugging me, and reassuring me that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I know I did. I cheated on the guy I love with his evil step-brother. He would never forgive me if he found out. Evening rolls around and Maggie stands to leave.

“Thank you for protecting me and taking care of me, Mags. You’re the best friend I could ever ask for,” I whisper as I hug her tight. She squeezes me back, taking a shaky deep breath.

“I will always be here, Tillie. Best friends for life,” she whispers as her own emotions swell in her throat.

“Go before you get in trouble with your parents or Cody,” I tease, pushing her out of my room, making her laugh.

I flop back on my bed, trying to sort out my own emotions. I miss Jake. I wish he was home but I don’t deserve him being home. What am I going to do? I don’t know but I have twenty-four hours to figure it out.

“Tillie Ann, come here, please. I have something for you,” my dad shouts from the living room. I jump out of bed and hurry to the living room to find him empty-handed.

“What do you have for me?” I ask confused, but he just smiles.

“I’m definitely yours, so he must be talking about me,” a familiar deep voice says behind me.

“Oh my goodness,” I screech, making both Jake and my dad laugh at me.

“When did you get here?” I shout out in excitement, but also a little out of fear.

“It was late last night/early this morning. Dad is staying out there with his parents for a little longer. I couldn’t be without my girl that long so your dad came and got me,” he says as he grabs my waist and pulls me in for a kiss. I melt into his touch, the kiss sending me on cloud nine for just a moment before I’m reminded that I don’t deserve him whatsoever.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” I whisper as I bury my face into his chest.

“I’m glad to be home. I’m glad to be with you. Wanna watch a movie and snuggle with me?” he asks so sweetly it makes me want to cry.

“As if you don’t already know that answer,” I tease him as we walk back to my bedroom. We curl up in the middle of my bed, watching the first Harry Potter movie and it’s in that moment I make a decision that could change everything if he found out.

Jake will never know about what happened last night with Brock.