Page 16 of Behind the Bars

“Elliott!” I hollered, hurrying over tohim.

“Hey,” he saidtimidly.

I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and hold him close to me. I wanted nothing more than to pull him close and let him know that all the jerks that picked on him were nothing more than trash themselves. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and apologize for a world that didn’t treat him right for stupidreasons.

But, his space was his, and so, Iwaited.

“I have a question,” I said softly, butterflies swarming in mygut.

“I have an answer?” he replied, but in the form of a question—because he was Elliott, and he answered things with questionmarks.

“Can I hugyou?”

He stood up tall, and cleared his throat. Sweat formed on his forehead. “What?”

“I said, can I hugyou?”

He grimaced and stepped backward. “My sister was r-r-right,” hemurmured.

“What?”

“She said you were mo-mocking me, and she wasright.”

“No, Elliott, that’s not it. Ijust…”

“Justwhat?”

My hands started shaking, and I couldn’t find the words for what I needed to express. “Because…” I twitched, feeling more nervous. “Well, because…because…” My eyes glassed over, looking at the skinny boy who seemed so fragile. “Because…” My voice trembled, and Elliott narrowed hiseyes.

“Jasmine?” heasked.

“Yes?”

“Breathe.”

“I-Iam.”

“You’re not. Trust me, I know what it’s like not to br-breathe.”

I took a deep breath, and Elliott’s eyes stayed locked with mine. “I saw your sister, and she told me what the kids did to you before, and I just hate them, you know? And I hate that… I mean, you’re just so nice! And you keep to yourself and…and…and—”

“Jasmine?”

“Yes, Elliott?” I asked, my eyes filling up as I becameshakier.

“Can I hugyou?”

I laughed shyly and wiped away the few tears that fell from my eyes. “Butwhy?”

He gave me a smile that felt so huge, so warm, like a home I’d never known existed. “Because I don’t want you tocry.”

He wrapped his arms around me and held on tight. It was funny how it had worked out. When I’d approached him, I’d been determined to comfort him for his past pain, but somehow the situation had been reversed. As Elliott held me, he was healing the parts of me I always pretended weren’t broken. When his skin touched mine, we melted together and all my cracks were covered with temporarybandages.

And then he whispered, “You’ll beokay.”

How had heknown?

How had he known my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t beokay?

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