Page 30 of I Should Hate You-but I Don't

They let the school take care of them and were ignored at home.

She crossed the road and stopped in a vacant parking lot outside a real estate office. Dropping her bag, she scrambled to unzip the outside pouch and remove her cell phone. Then, she sat on the bag with her long dress bunched around her thighs and called the number she had memorized.

She hit connect and gasped for breath, unable to fill her lungs with air.

"Yeah?" answered Zane.

She cried, unable to say anything through the tears choking her. The relief of hearing his voice, knowing he was here and hadn't left or disappeared, only made her despair more heartbreaking.

"River? What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I-I ran away." Sobs tore through her.

It was only as she said the words that she had a plan. She wasn't going back to the Reeves. She wasn't going back to a school that would punish her because her dad was dead. She wasn't going to wait another year only to find herself homeless without anyone in her life.

"Are you okay?"

"No." She hugged her middle and rocked on her backpack.

"Are you somewhere safe?"

She looked around, rubbing her eyes, knowing the mascara and eyeliner she borrowed from Stella before the dance was ruined. Soon, the dance would end. Everyone would leave. Nobody would come looking for her.

"I think so," she whispered.

"Tell me exactly where you are."

She inhaled a shuddering breath, trusting Zane. Throughout the years, he was the only one who cared what happened to her, and no matter what foster home she went to, he found her.

"I'm across from the school, outside Mountain View Realty." She looked toward her right. "There's a Taco Bell down the road. I don't know the street name."

"It's okay. I'll find you. Do me a favor. Stay out of sight. It's dark. You shouldn't be out there alone."

She stood, looking for a place to hide. There was a dumpster at the corner of the lot.

"I'm going to put Kingsley on the phone. I want you to talk to him while I ride over there. It will take me an hour, maybe a little longer."

Her stomach rolled. Being out in the dark, afraid someone would find her, scared her. She tossed her bag down and sat behind the big metal container, trying to make herself small enough nobody would see her in the dark.

"Zane?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She sniffled.

"Hang tight, sweetheart. I'm coming," said Zane.

She rounded her back and tucked her arms in front of her. She had some clothes in her backpack but was afraid of moving and making noise.

The hum of cars passing on the street before her lulled her into believing she was safe. Nobody would notice her.

"River?"

"I'm here."

"It's Kingsley."

"Hi."

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