Page 31 of The Other Side of Apart

Frustration boils in my chest, its heat rising in my throat. “Then what do you want me to do? Just let him find us? Let him rape you? Kill you? What, Mei? We never made a plan for this. Never talked about what we’d do if Nick found us here. Because he’s supposed to be locked up.” Even though…Dad asked me what I would do if I found out Nick was out. But Dad was just trying to scare me. No way Nick’s out of jail.

She shakes her head and won’t look at me. “He’s not in jail. He hasn’t been for a while.”

“How do you know that?”

Tears roll down her cheeks, and I reach out and hold her face between my hands, wiping the tears away with my thumbs.

“The night you told me you got back into Stanford,” Mei whispers. “Right before you came into the restaurant. My mom called. She told me Nick was out. There wasn’t enough evidence to keep him in custody. I should have told you. I know I shouldhave told you, but you were so excited about Stanford. I couldn’t ruin it.”

I stare at her. Wait for understanding. Swear. “Not enoughevidence?” I let go of her face. Step back, hands gripping the back of my head. Give myself some space. “How is that even possible? You called the cops. Told them what went down.”

She nods, stiff and tense. “And when they got there, they found Nick in a puddle of his own blood, and he blamed me for it. Said I went crazy on him. Stole from him. Mama told me to stay away from San Francisco because he was asking about me. He’s been looking. But after seeing how excited you were, I decided to be excited with you and hope and pray he would never find us.”

Dad knew. He knew, and he didn’t warn me. The thought turns to boiling rage. “No. No, no, no!” I curse to the sky, raking one hand through my hair. “We have to call the cops. We have no choice. We can figure out how to keep you in the States after Nick’s in custody, but?—”

“It doesn’t work like that. The moment they know where I am, it’s over. I’ve seen how it works. I’ve watched it. I’m on their radar for assault. They’ll send me straight back to Taiwan or put me in jail here, so I’m leaving before they can. Nick knows people who will make sure I don’t get out. But you don’t need to come with me this time. Stay here. I’ll find somewhere to?—”

“Are youinsane?” I burst, grabbing and squeezing her hands. “You’re not going anywhere alone. If anything?—”

Someone yells my name, and my head snaps over my shoulder, my focus going to the head coach who’s staring at me, chomping his gum, hands on his hips. He already took me aside and talked to me about the day Dad showed up. Said I need to keep my personal life and soccer life separate and stay focused.

My legs tense, ready to hop the fence and run back to him. Instead, I yank Mei toward the bleachers, calling, “Be rightback!” to my coach, and steer her around the corner and out of sight.

“I’ve gotta get back to the team. Hang out here. You’ll be safe, and then, after practice, we’ll figure it out. We’ll find a solution, I promise.” I search her eyes, but they fill with tears.

“It’s only a matter of time before he shows up here, Marcus. He won’t stop.”

No way am I walking away from Stanford and giving up everything when therehasto be another choice to ending this game of hide and seek. But is there really a choice? After what Dad said and now Mei…I’m not so sure anymore.

“He’ll stop if he’s locked up. It would take one phone call. You get that, right?” I wait, hoping she says yes to reassure me.

“There is no evidence to hold him. All the bruises are gone. There’s nothing I can say or do that will keep me here with you. I have to go. And I won’t ask you to give up everything to go with me. Never again.”

“It’s not about asking me to give it up. We’re in this together. Remember our plan? Stanford’s a big part of it. I can’t just walk away. We can figure this out, I swear.” I glance over my shoulder at one of my teammates running toward me and pull Mei to me, my mouth on her ear. “Hang out here, and when I finish practice, we can decide what to do. We’ll figure out why he’s following you. Come up with a plan to stop him. Please.” I lead her around the bleachers to a bench. “Be there in a minute,” I call to my teammate.

“Coach is flamed, dude. You can’t just walk away.” He shoots a look at Mei, then back at me, shaking his head. “He told me to tell you that if you walk away again, kiss your season goodbye.”

“Yeah. Got it—I’m coming.” I turn back to Mei. “Stay here. He won’t do anything with all of us here, and if he tries, that’s the perfect way to get him locked up. It’s only a couple more hoursbefore we take a break, and then we can talk. Stay right here where I can see you. Yeah?”

Mei meets my eyes but says nothing. Finally, she nods. I let out a frustrated breath and run across the field to take my position. But the corner of my eye catches movement by the bleachers, and I look over to see Mei disappearing around the corner.

I take off at a sprint, focusing on her, ignoring Coach’s yells for me to get back into position. I yell Mei’s name, but she takes off running, so I yell louder and run faster, grabbing her arm when I catch up to her. I spin her to face me.

“What are youdoing?” My chest heaves.

She’s sobbing. “I can’t do it. I won’t. It’s always going to be like this as long as you’re with me, and I can’t live knowing I ruined your life. The guilt will crush me. It’s already started. You’ve got everything you need here, and I’m not going to hold you back anymore. I ruined your relationship with your dad and made you run away from your life. I love you so much, but I can’t keep doing this to you, so…call your dad. Tell him everything. Just give me a head start so I can disappear.”

I swear and grab both of her arms, pulling her closer and holding her in place. “No—stop, Mei. You’re not even making sense right now. I can’t even…” I curse again and let go. “What are you saying, Mei?” I squint at her like I can prevent the words she said from sinking in too deeply.

“I’m saying, if you stay with me, it’s never going to get better than this. Wherever we go, Nick will find us. You can’t have Stanfordandme. And I will never make you choose.”

I take a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. “I just need you to sit on the bench and wait until after practice. Everything is happening too fast, and we’re not gonna make any more last-minute decisions.”

“Every decision we’ve ever made was last minute. Your team is waiting,” she whispers but it’s a hurricane, blowing everything apart, hurling it away from us. “Go.”

“And if I do?”

“You’ll win your season.”

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