Chapter Twenty-One

In Which Elisa Realizes She May Have Been Wrong

Charlene and Elisa were sitting on the couch, the letter on the coffee table in front of them, and they were both staring at it like it was a bomb about to explode. Or maybe one that had already went off. Colin had left the apartment to talk to her mom about places he could apply for a job. The second he was gone, she had burst, telling Charlene about the letter. She had practically shoved it into her hand, telling her to read it. Once she had finished, they’d both sat there in total silence. Elisa felt like she was stumbling through an endless fog, like she was sleepwalking and had yet to wake up.

“Holy shit,” Charlene finally said.

“I know.”

“I can’t… I don’t even know Gianna or Wick, and I still want to find him and kick his ass.”

“I know them both, and my thoughts are a bit more…stabby.” Elisa ran a hand over her hair. “I mean…holy shit. Gianna’s only a little older than Lucia. For Wick to do that to her…”

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “About… everything.”

“Well, Wick only kissed me once, but I still want to wash out my mouth with holy water,” she said. “You won’t tell anyone else about this, right? Not even Colin.”

“Of course not,” she assured her.

“Thanks. I’m not even sure I should’ve told you, to be honest… I just—I’ve only known for half an hour, and I can already feel it weighing on me. I can’t imagine how Gi and Darcy must feel.”

“Well,” she said, reaching out to touch Elisa’s arm gently, “I can help you carry the load.”

Elisa ran a hand through her dark hair. “I think… I think I may have been too hard on Darcy.”

Charlene nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it’s not your fault—you couldn’t have known.”

“Still. I… I’m still mad at her for breaking up Bobby and Julieta,” she admitted. “Although what she said about him being pulled away so easily is an…annoyingly good point. But the situation with Wick—I had it all wrong.”

And she honestly couldn’t believe how wrong she’d been. She’d spent months happy to believe Darcy was the sort of person to ruin someone’s life for no reason, but now that she knew the truth, she was frankly shocked she had managed to be so restrained. If it were Elisa’s sister, she wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to keep herself from running him over in the street on sight.

Darcy was still an annoying, stuck-up jerk. But she was also someone that would do anything to protect her little sister. And her best friend. Even though she had been wrong about Julieta, she did seem to sincerely believe she was protecting Bobby.

She still couldn’t say she liked Darcy, but Elisa could feel the last of her hatred for her slowly draining away.

…

Elisa spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday rereading the letter and restraining herself from either calling Wick and screaming at him or calling Gianna to apologize endlessly for ever having believed what he had said. As tempting as both those options were, from what she had read, Darcy’s sister was finally starting to move on, and Elisa didn’t want to bring it all back.

Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about Gianna—fidgety, jumpy, nervous Gianna—and all she’d been through and what seeing her sister in that position must’ve done to Darcy. Despite their history, Elisa would’ve needed a heart of stone to not sympathize with her for that.

It was still on her mind as she got to Communications I on Monday morning. After the weekend she’d had, she’d almost forgotten about school and that she had to return to reality. But Monday came, and return, she did.

She took her usual seat next to Willow, and the first thing she said was, “Did you read the letter?”

Elisa nodded. “Yeah. About twelve times.” She fidgeted nervously with her pencil. “Willow… You read Darcy’s letter before she came to deliver it to me, didn’t you? She…she said you helped her write it.”

“Yeah, I, uh, supervised.”

She hesitated, glancing around the room to see if anyone else paying any attention to them. No one was. Scooting closer, Elisa spoke in a lowered voice.

“Was everything she said about her sister and Wick true? I mean, I can’t imagine even Darcy would lie about something like that—not with her own sister—but…I thought I got to know Wick pretty well, and…I’m kind of in shock, reading that he’d do something like that with… To a fifteen-year-old girl. I believe her, I just…”

Willow nodded. “I get it. It’s hard to process. But it’s all true.”

“Gianna’s only fifteen…”

“Oh, it’s worse than that,” she said, her lips twisting into a small scowl. “I know the letter didn’t mention an exact timeframe, but this was about a year and a half ago. Gianna was thirteen when they began…uh.”

“Dating?” Elisa offered, stomach churning even as she did.

She shook her head. “I’m sure Gi thought of it as dating, but I think the proper term for what Wick was doing is ‘grooming.’”

“How—how old was he?”

“When he and Gianna began seeing each other? About twenty, twenty-one by the time Darcy got him kicked out.”

She stared at the floor. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Willow patted her arm. “I actually was a bit sick, when I found out. I mean, you hear about this shit all the time—secondhand stories from other people, the news, PSAs, you see it in the movies…but when it’s someone you know, when it’s someone you love as much as I love Gianna… It’s almost too much to handle.”

“But you did.”

“I did. I think Gianna and Darcy are both still in the process of handling it. For Gianna, I’m not sure the process will ever end.”

Class began after that, but Elisa barely even pretended to pay attention. School was, for once, the last thing on her mind.

…

Elisa’s sisters had been confused when she told them she wanted to talk to all of them, but had agreed when she added, “It’s super important.”

All five Benitez sisters were crammed into her room, Elisa on her feet, pacing back and forth nervously.

“Okay, look—what I’m going to say may sound a bit weird,” she said. “But I need you all to listen. You all remember that I was kind of going out with George Sedgwick a few months ago?”

“Sure, but didn’t that only last for like, one date?” Maria asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Look, I’ve just found out something about Wick’s past, and it’s… Let’s just say I’m now very glad I am no longer in contact with him. I need you all to promise you won’t go near him. Promise that if he tries to talk to you, or even looks at you, you’ll walk away. And I—I know it sounds strange, but you can’t ask me why.”

Camila frowned, concerned. “Did he do something to you?”

“No—no, not me, specifically. Just… He’s bad news. Really bad news. And I can’t sleep easy until you all know to keep away.”

“I don’t know why you can’t tell us,” Maria said slowly, “but if it really means that much to you, then…I promise.”

Camila nodded. “I promise, too.”

“Why can’t you tell us?” Lucia asked, tilting her head curiously.

“Because a lot of it… A lot of it, I was asked to keep private, and a lot of it involves people I barely know, and a lot of it is super personal and sensitive information about someone you guys have never even met. I’m trying to respect the other people’s boundaries, but…I had to warn you about him.”

“Fine. I promise,” Lucia said, though she still seemed confused.

Elisa let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you. I know this is weird and awkward for you guys, but you all just took a load off my mind.”