— Nobody's Safe

NATALIA WASN'T SURE why Clay Jensen always showed up when it was night time. Maybe it was because he knew she'd always look after him regardless of the circumstances. She'd do anything for that boy. That was clear and his tape made that clearer. Now, he'd listened to the one tape she'd been scared he'd get to. Bryce's.

It had been known Bryce was a bad guy. He acted on impulse and didn't consider the consequences since there were practically none. How could there be? He was a white rich guy with powerful lawyers in his corner.

Things like this happened every single day, but it always got old. Nobody ever wants to point the finger at the true culprit.

Natalia understands her privileges and then again, she's still a woman. Rich white men rule the world and that became more and more apparent at school.

When Clay knocked on her door once again, she didn't even bother to check. Something in her told her it was very important. She seen blood dripping from various places on his face, he held the doorway with one hand and his stomach with the other.

"Jesus Christ!" Natalia groaned, widening the door and helping Clay in. Her parents were asleep in bed so the coast should be clear. "What in the hell happened to you, Clay?"

She helped him up the stairs and to her bedroom which had a bathroom connected to it. It was a Jack and Jill styled one, but they didn't have to worry about it since the guest room was connected to it.

"Let me go wet a washcloth." Natalia mumbled, walking into the bathroom. She grabbed one off the shelf and ran it under the warm water, wringing it out right after.

She came back out to Clay, who sat on her bed and crouched in front of him. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was in a straight line.

"What happened?" Natalia questioned again and began to clean him up. He winced as she went over some spots on his face.

"I confronted Bryce." Clay responded and Natalia exhaled sharply, continuing to clean him up.

"I mean, did you get what you wanted out of it?" Natalia asked and he nodded triumphantly.

"I got a confession from him. He confessed," Clay answered. "I'm gonna get his fucking ass, Nat."

"Oh, he swears now. You're a changed man." Natalia commented and Clay looked up at her. He watched as she pulled her hand away. "I'm done."

"I have changed, Nat." Clay whispered into the space between them. Natalia nodded, grabbing his hand. "You must've too. You're room is uncharacteristically clean."

"It keeps me from going insane." Natalia replied honestly.

"Well that's oddly productive." Clay muttered as he readjusted himself as if he were to stand.

"What are you doing?" Natalia asked and he pointed to the door.

"Leaving?" Clay response and she shook her head, easing him back down.

"Chill for a minute. I'll drive you home," Natalia offered and Clay shook his head, trying to stand again. "Jensen."

"I don't wanna be, like, a burden." Clay grumbled and Natalia rolled her eyes.

"You can't be a burden, Clay," Natalia assured him. "Are you thirsty?"

"No, Nat. Thank you." Clay replied and Natalia huffed, tilting her head. "Fine. I am. Only a little."

"I'll be back." Natalia told the boy before retrieving her water. She knew he listened to his tape. That must've been why he'd been acting like a weirdo.

When Natalia returned Clay had been reading the book on her nightstand. She's been reading it on and off. With a life like hers, it was hard to concentrate when her life was going to shit.

"Impulse by Ellen Hopkins." Natalia remarked as she entered the room, announcing her presence. He wasn't startled. He slowly looked up from the spot he was at. A couple pages after her bookmark. "It's one of my favorites ironically. I read it around a year ago."

"It's good. From what I read." Clay said, putting the book back and taking the water Natalia handed him.

"Why'd you come here, Clay?" Natalia asked as he sipped from the water bottle. "I mean, why didn't you just go home?"

"I heard my tape, Nat." Clay told her, his tone seemed to falter from his other words.

"Oh," Natalia said faintly. "Did you... did you think it was a lie? Like everyone else?"

"No. Almost every word Hannah said was her truth. None of it was a lie." Clay told her and she nodded.

"I agree." Natalia whispered and Clay grew uneasy.

"Did you really have sex with him?" He asked, but he was afraid to know the real answer.

"No." Natalia whispered and Clay seemed surprised. He wrung his hands out, nervously planning his next words.

"So, what was that... audio clip about?" Clay asked after a moment of silence.

"It was fake." Natalia admitted. She'd told nobody this information. Somedays she wished she told Hannah too.

"But, then... why does the audio sound like you?" Clay questioned and Natalia sighed, looking at him.

"We faked it." Natalia told him and he furrowed his eyebrows with confusion.

"Then why did you let the whole school think you had sex with him?" He quizzed and Natalia looked back down to her feet, embarrassed. It felt good to tell Clay, but scary. Nobody knew the truth.

"We just needed one person to believe, so we didn't say anything." Natalie answered, picking at her nail beds.

"Why?"

✺ ✺ ✺

Natalia was drunk. Too drunk. School had been back and it was the beginning of Sophomore year. It had been late. Bryce was having a large group of people over, but Natalia didn't care. She was ready to let her worries float away and have fun with her friends.

She had been stumbling around like an idiot until someone caught her. Bryce. His smile was sickly sweet as he held her up. He genuinely looked nice for a moment.

"Bryce, thank you. You're a lifesaver." Natalia chirped, patting him on the shoulder. She began to walk away to find Justin.

They hadn't seen one another all night despite what the pair had told everyone. They'd been eye-fucking each other all night had been the biggest lies of their life. There was no lust either.

Natalia saw Justin as her brother. Her bestfriend. She loved him, but strictly platonically. When he called her name, she turned to him. He sat in the corner of the room, next to Zach.

"Bex!" Justin called out, beckoning her over. Natalia shot a thankful smile at Bryce and made her way over to her friends.

This pissed Bryce off and Justin knew it.

"Listen, if you're gonna be on my ass about how much I drank, I only had two beers." Natalie lied because everyone knew she had like seven.

"Right, Nat. Stay with Zach." He seemed distant as he caught Bryce's stare. His eyes seemed to summon Justin. He went over the guy he called his brother.

"I see what you did there. Protecting her." Bryce commented before taking a swig from his beer.

"She's drunk."

"And it's me, Justy." Bryce replied and he looked back at Natalia. She was talking with Montgomery now, she ruffled his hair. They broke up about a month ago and yet she still forgot they weren't together when she was drunk.

"So, just leave her alone. I'll take her home."

"You know, if you don't fuck her, I will."

His words seemed like a threat. Natalia laugh was heard from across the room as Montgomery fixed his hair, his smile wide.

Justin looked back at her angrily. Not because she was talking with Monty or because she was pissed drunk, it was because he felt responsible for whatever Bryce would do.

He walked away and grabbed Natalia by the hand. She waved goodbye to Zach and Monty, walking through swarms of people with a huge smile on her face.

"Where are we going?" Natalia quizzed and Justin kept quiet, dragging her into the first door her seen. A large bedroom with a bathroom attached.

"I need you to sober up." Justin told her as he walked her to the bathroom.

"Oh, Justin. I'm fine."

"You won't be!" Justin shouted as he wet his hands under the sink. Natalia's face dropped at his serious tone.

"Well, what's wrong?" Natalia asked, concerned.

He put his wet hands on her cheeks making her flinch.

"Answer me, Justin." Her voice sounded terrified. He sighed and gripped the sink turning away from her.

"I don't know what he'll do to you, Bex." Justin whispered and Natalia bent down to his, level sobering up, thanks to Justin's seriousness.

"Who? Who'll do what to me?" Natalia asked and Justin looked to her.

"Bryce. I don't want him to... do anything you don't want." Justin replied and Natalia's face dropped.

"Like... sexually?" Natalia quizzed.

"Like rape, Bex." Justin said, cringing at his words.

"Well, fuck. I need to go." Natalia said, scrambling around to the door, but stopped when Justin grabbed her wrist.

"Bex, we have to something. He might not do anything today, but he might a different time." Justin said and Natalia sighed.

"Then what do we do? Pretend?" Natalia asked and Justin nodded. "Justin, I wasn't being for real."

"I am. You and I can like film it, so everyone will know it's fake." Justin suggested and Natalia ran her hands over her face.

"When other people hear us, it'll be spread all over. You realize this, right?" Natalia quizzed and he nodded.

"I don't want anything to happen to you." Justin said genuinely.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Natalia whispered and she went into the bedroom part. They went into the bedroom and set down the phone on the nightstand. "This is proof we aren't actually fucking."

"Jesus, Bex. Let's get this over with." Justin grumbled and he sat on the bed. Natalia sat right next to him and looked at him to start.

✺ ✺ ✺

NATALIA BIT THE inside of her cheek. She was waiting for Clay to speak. He'd been quiet for a good minute. She crossed her arms and looked at him attentively. She didn't want to pressure him to speak, but she desperately wanted to know what he thought.

"Nobody's safe." He whispered. Natalia furrowed her eyebrows and waited for him to disclose more.

"What?" Natalia quizzed and he looked up, grabbing her hand.

"Nobody's safe with Bryce Walker. Nobody." Clay divulged and Natalia pursed her lips.

— Savior Complex