CHAPTER TWENTY

Isabelle POV

Dad and I walked into the police station, being greeted by a secretary at the front desk.

"Mr. Griffin?"

My dad nodded once in confirmation.

"Perfect. They're waiting for you and your daughter in there."

The secretary gestured to one of the interrogation rooms.

"Thank you," my dad told her before steering me in that direction.

I was grateful for his hold, one arm wrapped around my shoulders and the other grasping the arm closest to his body. My legs were weak and I was almost certain if he wasn't helping me I would just collapse on the ground. I felt disgusting in my day old clothes... the same clothes I was wearing when he did that to me. I didn't even want to say the words anymore. I had when I first got home yesterday in front of my dad, but now the words just made me feel even more dirty than I already did.

"Mr. Griffin," one of the officers inside greeted my father. "So glad you and your daughter could join us."

I raised my gaze from the floor to glance at the other occupants of the room. There were two police officers as well as Ashton. He was sitting in between a man and a woman who I assumed were his parents. I quickly looked back down at the floor before he could make eye contact with me.

"Alright, here's how this is going to work. We will only be speaking to your daughter and son. We will speak to them one at a time. If either Mr. Pearce or Miss Griffin would like their parent or parents present, we will allow it. However, we ask that the parents remain silent the entire time. We only want to hear Mr. Pearce and Miss Griffin's statements. The other party will not be allowed to listen in on each other's statements. Everyone understand?"

There were murmurs of agreement and head nods by nearly everyone in attendance. My father agreed for both of us.

"Very good. Which of you would like to begin?"

"She can," Ashton spoke up.

I looked up at him, startled. I thought for sure he would want to go first to create some sort of fake story to cover up what he'd done.

"Son-"

"No, Dad. She can go first. I don't care."

"Alrighty then. If you three will come with me to give them some privacy," one of the officers stood and ushered the Pearces out of the room.

"Okay, Miss Griffin. Would you like your father to stay in here with you?"

"Yes, please," I spoke for the first time, voice small.

"Okie dokie. Can you just tell me what happened yesterday? Take as much time as you need."

The officer fell silent then, waiting patiently for me to speak. I found my father's hand under the table and he gave mine a gentle squeeze of encouragement. I kept my gaze on the table in front of me as I took a shaky breath before beginning.

"I met Ash on the first day of school. Every day starting then, he would tease and pester me any chance he got, trying to get me riled up. I was pretty good at ignoring him most of the time. Yesterday was no different at first. He had overheard me talking to one of my friends at my locker. I..."

I swallowed, tears forming in the corners of my eyes as I thought about it.

"It's okay. Take your time. We're in no hurry," the officer assured me.

I looked up at my father, directing my next words at him, pretending I was just telling him what had happened.

"I told them what happened with Cass. They also knew it was my birthday. Both things were stuff I wanted to keep quiet. I didn't want it to make it back to Ash. But of course, he heard anyway. He teased me about being the birthday girl first. It didn't get bad until English. It's the only class I have with him. He sits behind me. He kept making comments, trying to get me to acknowledge him; to turn around. But I was ignoring him. I was doing so good until he made that comment... It was loud enough that the entire class and the teacher heard him."

Tears were flowing freely from my eyes now as I spoke.

"What did he say, Belle?"

"He called Cass a douchebag... announced to the whole class that I would have lost m-my virginity that morning if m-my douchebag boyfriend had bothered to follow through... I got angry. The whole class went quiet, including the teacher. I asked him what he had called Cass... And then he repeated it. I told him Cass was more of a gentleman than he would ever be... and he responded by saying if he were in Cass's position he would have actually followed through. That was when the teacher sent us out; told us to go to the principal's office. We never made it... He pinned me against the lockers. Told me to decide: go somewhere private or stay there... I told him to let me go, but he insisted, saying the only reason he was giving me the choice was because I was the birthday girl... I told him I wanted to go somewhere private... so he took me into an empty classroom...layed me down on some desks.  He covered my mouth, told me we were going to keep it as quiet as possible... My eyes were closed... but I felt it. I felt him inside me... Oh, Daddy..."

I buried my face in his chest and he brought one of his hands to the back of my head, the other rubbing up and down my back as he rocked me slowly in his arms.

"Shh... It's okay, baby, it's over now. He can't hurt you any more."

"I'll give you two a few minutes. We appreciate your cooperation."

"Thank you, Officer," my father told him.

"I-it should have been Cass... why couldn't it have been Cass?" I sobbed.

"I don't know, Belle. I'm so sorry it had to happen like this."

As my tears subsided a bit, the officer came back in accompanied by Ash.

"Miss Griffin? Mr. Pearce has asked if you'd be present during his statement. Normally we wouldn't allow it, but he insisted we at least ask you. Would you be willing to stay?"

I looked to the jock, who looked nothing like the cocky son of a bitch who had pestered me nonstop at school. He looked almost sorry for the whole situation.

"I... I'll stay."

"You sure, Belle? You don't have to," my dad said.

"I'm sure."

"Alright. Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step out for this part."

My dad nodded, giving my hand a squeeze before slipping out of the room. Ash took the seat he had previously occupied beside me and the officer resumed his spot across from us.

"Mr. Pearce, I'm going to ask for the same thing I asked Miss Griffin. Just tell us what happened yesterday. Take as much time as you need."

"I overheard Belle talking to her friend by her locker yesterday. She told them how her boyfriend had nearly had sex with her earlier that morning around midnight. I also figured out it was Belle's birthday from listening to the two of them talk. However, Belle was trying to keep the whole thing quiet. She didn't want the news spreading... about her and her boyfriend or the fact that it was her birthday. I followed her in the direction of her first class, teasing her like I normally did. This time, however, I brought up that it was her birthday. And then when we were in English I brought it up again. She was ignoring me, so in an attempt to get her to pay attention, I made a comment about how she had nearly lost her virginity that morning but her douchebag boyfriend had backed out before she could. Everyone heard. She turned around then, we made a few more comments, ending with me saying that if I were in her boyfriend's position I wouldn't have backed out. Then in the hall on the way to the principal's office I pinned her against the lockers, gave her a choice. I ended up raping her in an empty classroom."

I was speechless as I listened to him recount everything that happened, almost exactly how I had said it did. He didn't leave out any of the major details, only some of the smaller ones like what exactly was said.

"Thank you, Mr. Pearce. We will be looking over both statements and will inform both your families about a court date if and when it is scheduled as soon as we can."

"Thank you, officer," Ash told him.

He stood and moved to help me out of my chair. I just stared at him for a minute before accepting the hand that was offered to me and standing up. We walked out together, the police officer bringing up the rear. Dad's eyes narrowed as he noticed us holding hands, but Ash quickly let go.

"Ready to go home?" Dad asked me.

"Yeah..." I nodded, leading the way out to the Impala.