Page 37 of When October Starts

“Shit, Juno, you’re bleeding! What the hell happened?”

His hand touched the bloody wound on my head, and he pulled me into his apartment to sit me down onto the couch.

He kneeled in front of me, his hands brushing my hair out of my face. “Shh, Juno. I need you to breathe in and out calmly.” He kept his hands on my cheeks while his thumbs brushed over my skin.

His touch was enough to make me concentrate on my breathing. I kept my eyes on his, but I was scared to see the emotion in his turn into more than just concern.

“Tell me what happened, sweetheart,” he whispered, staying calm.

A few more sobs escaped my throat. Before Benji could call him, I had to tell him what happened.

“They know,” I choked out, trying to hold back the next sob. “They saw a picture of us.”

“Who’s they, Juno?” His voice was serious now.

“Benji. Pixie.”

He swallowed hard, but instead of going into it more, he was more concerned about my head. “You need to go to the hospital, Juno. You’re bleeding pretty bad.”

“No,” I frowned. “I don’t wanna leave you. They’ll tear us apart. I don’t wanna—” My sobs took over again, and I let myself fall into his arms.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Okay, hey, listen to me.” He brushed over my hair, not caring about all the blood running down my head. “I need you to go home, okay? If they find you here, we’re in even bigger trouble.”

He leaned back and looked into my eyes. “You can’t be here right now. Go home, or go directly to the hospital. You need stitches.”

There were so many emotions swirling around in his eyes, and I was sure mine were the same.

“I love you, Juno. We’ll figure this out, but I need you to go now.”

“But I don’t want to!”

“Juno, leave! You need to see a doctor.” His voice was stern.

I couldn’t leave without one last kiss. I leaned in and pressed my lips against his while he cupped my face again. Salty tears mixed into our kiss, and after what felt like an eternity, he let go of me.

“Go,” he told me, nodding toward the front door. “I’ll figure everything out, I promise.”

And so I left, leaving my heart with him and taking his with me. Our love wasn’t over, and from now on, it was only a matter of time until we’d be together again.

I just wished it was sooner rather than later.

Chapter Thirty-One

Juno

Benji called Mom last night, asking her to go see him with Aggie and me in school today. After leaving Ezra’s place, I went straight to the hospital because the pain at the back of my head was starting to get unbearable.

They stitched it up and the doctor told me that I shouldn’t have waited so long to get there. I had lost a fair amount of blood, and I was lucky that I didn’t pass out.

But as much as that should’ve been bothering me, it didn’t.

This morning, instead of going to school, I went to the island to process everything that happened in school the day before.

I was angry at Pixie for not keeping her mouth shut. Angry at Benji for not listening when I said that Ezra wasn’t the bad guy in this situation, and I was mad at myself for not hiding all those pictures of Ezra and me.

I didn’t talk to my mothers after that phone call, instead I went into my room and pushed the nightstand over the gap in the floor so none of them could come up there.

Some alone time was what I needed, and although I missed Ezra, I didn’t call him.

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