She'd Seen It
Dear Readers - Thank you for being here for the 50th Chapter of The Spring! I am tickled pink that all of you are on this journey with me and enjoying the story. THANK YOU! There is much more to come! Please consider supporting The Spring with a paid subscription, and as always, be sure to like and comment or share with a friend. Catch up on the story right here:
Previously: Ryan Dominguez tells the team about his situationship.
Ryan looked up to the ceiling briefly and sniffed, then huffed a long breath.
“We, well, she asked me to come over and it was maybe mid-October? She’d been working on her dress for a while and wanted my opinion on how to finish it because it was taking forever by hand. We hung out in her workroom for a while, and we talked about the butterflies and looked at the real McQueen dress over and over and talked about it. I thought she could finish it in time if she glued the butterflies, but even that would take a while. So she asked me to help her, and I did.” Ryan shrugged, eyes beginning to well. “And we just started talking more as we worked on the dress. She asked me if I’d seen Tripp and I told her I hadn’t — that he’d disappeared when school started. She told me she was sorry about that, but not surprised, and said that Tripp was only interested in Tripp. I agreed. I didn’t have any more illusions about him. She admitted that she didn’t know he was into guys, but thought it sort of fit because of how he sort of…like he courts guys like Seb and Dash in a way?” Ryan looked at Mark.
“Courts them? Tell me more about that?”
“Like, he wants those guys around all the time, you know. So he has the beer there and drugs, and invites Jen Tyson over…it’s like he sets it up so they have everything they want. And it’s not just Seb and Dash, it’s like other guys. The jocks, the popular guys at Xavier. I-I dunno, Alexa thought his family was okay with it all because they want him to be popular and otherwise, he probably wouldn’t be, you know?”
“So is that what he gets in return?” Mark asked “To be popular?” Ryan shrugged.
“I guess? I mean, it seems kind of silly, but for people like that I guess it’s more important than…than, I dunno, maybe Tripp doesn’t know how to have real friends.” Ryan got quiet, staring at the tabletop.
“Let’s go back to you and Alexa working on her Halloween dress.” Jeannie suggested. “How did Alexa seem that day, was she happy overall do you think?” Ryan was quiet a moment.
“Yeah?” He said softly, barely meeting Jeannie’s eyes. “Yeah she was. I mean, she just seemed, like, relaxed? You know, she wasn’t ever really relaxed with Seb. She, she always was kind of nervous, like, edgy? I think she wanted to like him more, but it never really happened. She never really fell for him.”
“Did she ever tell you what happened at Tahoe?”
“No. Not really. She said she had to give up on Seb then, though. She knew she wasn’t special to him otherwise he wouldn’t have treated her the way he did. She didn’t go into it. She said he came by and tried to explain that it was GHB that Tripp had dosed him…she believed him, and I think she even forgave him, but still thought he was…I dunno, sort of weak? Like what guy lets another guy set his girlfriend up for some kind of cheap sex game?”
“Did Tripp ever mention GHB to you?”
“Yeah, he said he had some and that it was kind of fun - that people got crazy and didn’t remember anything after. He said he’d used it on Seb at Tahoe - he told me that himself.”
“Did you tell Alexa that?”
“Yeah. She thought it was interesting. She asked me if Tripp had told her anything else about Tahoe and he had. He said, he said he’d done a video of Seb and Dash getting it on with Jen Tyson, but Alexa looked at me and kind of smirked a little? She said she’d seen it.”
“She’d seen it?”
“Yeah, she said someone sent it to her, but she didn’t know who.”
“What do you mean?” Ryan sighed.
“Okay, she didn’t show it to me, but there’s like a chat room they all use I guess? She said someone sent her the video in a separate chat - like a private DM I guess? She didn’t know who had sent it — she said the handles people use are kind of weird and you don’t really know who anyone is, but someone sent it to her direct and it was this video of the three of them having sex and she recognized the room because she’d been there, it was the place in Tahoe. So, she figured it was Tripp that sent it to her because he must have been the one taking the video, right?”
“And he admitted that he was doing the filming to you?” Ryan shrugged and nodded.
“I guess? That’s what he said.”
“Why would Tripp send it to her?”
“I dunno? I mean, I think that’s why she kind of rolled her eyes, you know? Like, she already knew Seb and Jen hooked up all the time, and she was done with Seb and everyone knew it, so like why would he bother?”
“How did Tripp, or the person who sent it to her, know it was her if handles were unrecognizable?” Mark asked.
“I guess, if you knew your friends’ handles then…”
“So whoever sent it to her knew her handle?” Ryan shrugged again.
“I guess? I don’t know how it works. But it didn’t bother Alexa, she kind of thought it was ridiculous. But then, she said she got another video from the same handle, and it was something else.” Ryan’s eyebrows raised.
“What was it?” Jeannie asked quietly.
“Alexa said it was in the same room, but it was Seb and Tripp.” Ryan’s voice faded. He swallowed hard, “She said it was Seb and Tripp but Seb seemed totally out of it, but they were kissing and it seemed sloppy, but then, she said it got graphic. She didn’t understand why anyone would send it to her, but they had. She was convinced it was Tripp just trying to goad her, but she didn’t care. She kind of just thought it was gross. But then she got an idea about it, you know? She had this way about ideas, they kind of came slow but once she landed on it, she made it happen. Like, she thought of the butterfly dress last spring and was hot to make it for months, but it finally came together, you know?”
“So what was her idea about the video?” Jeannie prompted.
“She, she thought that since Tripp had shown me the video of Seb and Dash with Jen, that maybe he’d show me the other one, or that I could maybe find it on his phone and send it to her or myself — you know, like to prove that Tripp had taken it. Then it could be revenge porn or something and Tripp could get in trouble? That was what she was thinking. I mean, some stranger sent it to her over the internet, we just had to prove who it was, right?”
“But you weren’t spending time with Tripp any more.”
“I know, but she asked me to think about it in case we ever did get together again. But, like, that didn’t happen until Halloween and I didn’t get the chance.”
“Is that why Alexa followed you upstairs?”
“Maybe? I dunno, we didn’t plan it. Maybe we should have.”
Paco appeared in the doorway with the iPad, bringing it to Mark, who opened it up to an image of a hallway, clearly showing Jim Hartman holding Ryan Dominguez by the throat against a wall, Tripp Hartman looking on.
Mark looked at Jeannie who inhaled deeply before looking back at Ryan.
“Ryan, is this you against the wall in this photo?” Mark spun the iPad around for Ryan, who leaned forward to look.
“Yes, that’s me. Wow, you can see everything.”
“Can you positively identify the other two people in the photo?”
“Sure, that’s Tripp Hartman right there, and that’s his Dad, holding me against the wall.”
“Okay, thank you Ryan, I think we have enough for now.”
“Actually, one last thing, Ryan,” Jeannie began, “can you tell me why Alexa may have emailed Seb a few weeks before Halloween?” Ryan wrinkled his brow in surprise.
“She did? I - I didn’t know that. No, I don’t know why, but she was thinking she wanted to tell Seb about the video, you know? She didn’t think he knew, that like, someone had taken a video like that. Let alone that someone was sending it around online.”
“You think she wanted to warn him somehow?”
“Well, yeah. Alexa - she, she’s a good person, you know? She was.” Ryan’s voice whispered. “Even if Seb had been sort of terrible, she knew he didn’t deserve that.”
“Do you think that was why she was hanging out with him on Halloween?”
“I guess? But Seb was already pretty drunk so I don’t know if it happened.”
“Okay thanks, Ryan. One more thing, I promise.” Jeannie said. “Do you know if Alexa was seeing anyone new? Did anyone catch her interest?”
“You mean, like to date?” Jeannie nodded. “No, not that I know, but like, we didn’t talk that much lately, you know. But, still, I think she’d have told me.” The light outside had faded to deep blue, with the building lights beginning to flicker on. Paco got up to turn on the overhead, causing everyone to blink in the harsh glare.
“Okay Ryan, I think that’s everything.” Jeannie gave him a half smile. “We’re going to chat with Ed this week because we need to discuss if we need to take any action regarding the lying.” Ryan paled. “You’ve been incredibly helpful here, but lying to officers is a very serious thing so I’m not sure what action will be taken, if any.” Jeannie looked at Ed, who nodded at her. “Fair?” Ryan looked at her and nodded slightly. “Thank you for everything today. You did very well, and I’m so sorry about Alexa.” The boy nodded, tears welling again. Mark handed him his phone which he pocketed in his hoodie as he rose. Ed patted him on the shoulder and the two left.
Jeannie sat quietly, staring at the opposite wall. Neither Paco nor Mark said anything for a moment.
“Is that motive for Tripp?” Paco ventured quietly. “I mean, if Alexa took that photo and told the Hartmans, is that enough for them to come after her?” Mark inhaled slowly and Jeannie turned to face them both.
“That feels like a big leap.” Mark said. “You drug and hit a high school girl to delete a photo from her phone?”
“Yeah, I agree.” Jeannie said, brow scrunching. “I’m not sure that it’s enough for motive. But the whole thing is a little unhinged, no? I mean, a stranger forwarding her a sex video online? Even if she didn’t care, that’s some nefarious shit.”
“Not to mention highly illegal.” Mark added, heaving a sigh and arching his back to stretch. “We have GOT to figure out a way to get into that chat room.”
Cliffhanger!