I cough. My head hurts.

"Jen? Jen!"

"Are you okay?"

It sounds like a boy. Weird.

As I open my eyes I see three faces in front of me. Minho?
The boy smiles in relief. Next to him are the faces of my friends. Vivie and Celia.

"Where's Jake?" I say the only thing that's on my mind.

"Gone. We called the police", Minho answers.

"Thank you", I whisper and a tear rolls down my cheek. Minho wipes it away. My head hurts still but beside that I feel nothing. My mind is empty.

For the first time I look around a bit. I'm sitting on a leather couch in a dim lighted room. The room doesn't look familiar.

Celia notices my confused expression and answers before I even get to ask.
"We are at Minho's, thank him. He was the one who found you with Jake and called the police. He said he lives near and that we could take you here until you wake up", Celia says everything very quickly and smiles brightly once she's done.

I am even more confused. Minho? The same boy who I was friends with as a child? Why?

"R-really? Thank you Minho. I'm... really thankful!" I'm trying my best to sound as sincere as I am, but the words come out not so nicely.
Minho only nods and smiles awkwardly.

Vivie clears her throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great. I have a headache."

Someone leaves to bring the medicine and I fall asleep again.

...

"Jen!"
I turn around as I hear the familiar voice.

Jake stands at the bottom of the stairs and smiles. A happy smile creps to my face as well.

"What took you so long?" I ask fake-angrily.

"Sorry", Jake laughs.

He looks so adorable in his big pink hoodie. Jake walks closer and takes my hand.
I squeeze his soft hand, but suddenly Jake hits my back against the wall.

I try to scream but nothing comes from my mouth. Jake leans closer.
"... it was easier to... control you..."

"... you... liked me..."

"Jen!" suddenly he is Ethan. He looks concered.

"... Jen... everything was alright...", he is Jake again. Jake cries. It makes me cry as well, but there's no tears.

"Jen!"

I open my eyes. I'm wet from sweat and tears. And I'm still laying on the leather coach.

Celia looks at me with worry in her eyes.
"A nightmare?"

I nod.

"We need to talk about Jake later. It's important. But right now you need to rest, don't think about him, don't think about anything. Your mom is on her way."

I nod again.

The room is empty expect us.
I'm not sure if I fell asleep again, but the next thing I know is that my mom covers me with a blanket.

...

I wake up to the feeling of someone gently stroking my hair.
I peek at the person and she seems to be my mom.

Mom notices that I woke up and gives me a reassuring smile.

"How do you feel Jen?"

I clear my throat quietly. "Fine."

"The thing about Jake has been cleared. You don't have to worry about it."

I nod.

"Jen... what was your relationship with Jake before this happened?" mom asks calmly.

I decide to tell everything. What was our relationship already like when we were still dating. That Jake wasn't "the nice boy" mom thought he was. How things continued like after we broke up. And what yesterday exactly happened.

"Jennifer... Why didn't you tell anyone?" mom whispers tears in her eyes.

"I... I tried to talk to you about it, but..." I reply quietly.

Mom pulls me into a very warm mom-like hug.
It was all I needed at that moment.
There were however still three people who deserved an explanation.