Page 3 of Run to Me
“Jace,” he says almost a little too quietly. “Is everything okay?”
I shake my head, looking back at a group of kids pointing our way with their faces twisted in disgust. “I need to go home.”
He nods and takes my hand. “Okay. We can walk there together.” There’s warmth in his voice and it’s almost as comforting as his fingers tangling with mine.
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Yeah, go home, freak,” someone screams.
“Shh. It’s okay. Don’t listen to them. They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Nate whispers to me as he tugs me toward the double doors. Some guy blocks our way, grinning. “What do we have here? Freak boyfriends?”
“Fuck off, Kyle,” Nate spits. “This is my stepbrother and he’s been through a lot, so just get out of our way.”
Kyle’s jaw tightens and he shoves hard against Nate’s chest, nearly knocking him off his feet. “Not until he knows what it’s like to be tied up and left in the dark like he did his victims.” He grabs me by the collar of my shirt, and Nate tries to stop him from dragging me toward my locker but a group of others hold him back. Kyle removes his belt, and everything happens so fast as he binds my arms behind my back and shoves me inside the cramped space of my locker. I’m scrawny enough to mostly fit, due to my bad eating habits, and whatever part of me doesn’t fit gets slammed by the locker door.
My screams cut through the air and I can hear someone shouting for everyone to get to class. “What’s going on out here? Do you have someone in that locker?”
I’m curled into myself, closing my eyes, when light invades the darkness I was worried would swallow me whole. What they don’t realize is that I do know what it’s like to be tied and kept in dark places. I was the reason my dad was able to get it right the first time he tricked some young guy into coming home with him from the club.
A hand lands on my shoulder and I shake my head. “I’m sorry,” I shout. “I’ll do better next time.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s just me.” I open my eyes and the vice principal who I’ve only met once smiles down at me, her eyes heavy with sympathy. “Those guys will be dealt with accordingly, I promise. Your brother is here and your mom’s on her way. Do you think you could take my hand so I can help you out of there?”
I struggle against the belt until I’m able to pull my hands free, my wrists burning from the leather rubbing my skin raw. Sniffling softly, I take her hand and allow her to help me to my feet. Nate rushes my way, pulling me into a hug. I haven’t felt one of these since my mom first brought me home. I forgot how nice they were. Why isn’t he running away like the others? Why is he still here? I wouldn’t have blamed him if he joined them. After all, I deserve it, don’t I?
“How about you two come and wait in the office?”
Nate nods against me and pulls away. “Want to come sit with me for a bit?” He grabs my hand, his expression soft.
“Yeah,” I say, and I follow him to the principal’s office. We sit beside one another in matching purple chairs. The principal asks me if I need anything or if I’m hurt anywhere, and I assure her I’m fine at least three times before she finally gives us some space.
“You didn’t run.” I tug at the ends of my shirt sleeves, looking everywhere but at him.
“Did you want me to?”
I bite on the inside of my cheek, considering my answer before speaking it out loud. “No. But everyone is usually scared of me. Aren’t you?” I finally look at him and his blue eyes hold me hostage. Big and beautiful like the ocean I’ve only ever seen in movies, giving me a temporary vacation from reality.
He blinks a few times and my palms sweat as he opens his mouth to speak again. “I wasn’t sure what to think at first. So many people said you’d end up being like your father. Some of my family call you evil and dangerous. Our parents even worry how everything you went through will affect you later. My mom tried to convince my dad to let me live with her. She said you weren’t safe.” He takes a breath. “Today, when I searched for the danger and evil they all mentioned, I didn’t see it in you. I saw it in everyone else. The way they cornered you like prey, held you down and hurt you. It’s why I didn’t run—the reason I won’t run. I don’t think you’re like your dad, and you should have at least one person on your side to remind you that you aren’t.” He smiles softly and my lips copy his.
We don’t say anything the rest of the time, and for once silence doesn’t feel like a bad thing. Not with Nate next to me, sitting so close to remind me of everything he said he would. Because my dad had proven to be nothing but a monster, and who wants to keep a monster company.
Two
Jace
I skip my locker and go right to class this morning, and I don’t pay attention to the faces made behind my back or the paper being tossed at my head before class starts. Nate hangs with his friends most of the day. We don’t have any classes together, only lunch. Clutching my lunch bag to my side, I walk to the courtyard and lower myself onto the sidewalk in a hidden spot along the building. The sun feels amazing on my face and I smile up at the birds flying above me.
I really missed a lot before—only being allowed outside when my dad was home, and even then it was limited. I mostly had to stay in the back yard where there weren’t any trees or flowers and almost everything growing from the ground was dead. It was a small gated area with a tall wooden fence that made me feel more caged in than the house.
People pass by, not paying me any mind as I scoot closer to the wall, facing away from them. Only three things are in my lunch box, since I said no to almost everything my mom tried to give me. She’s been frustrated with how my first week is going, andso am I, but I didn’t choose things to go this way. If I could make life easier for her, Terry, and Nate, I would.
Often I worry that all I do is get in the way of their happy little unit. They don’t post smiling family pics online anymore. Will I ever know what it’s like to be a part of one? I guess we’d all have to be happy in order for the pictures to be good enough to post. Sighing, I stab my Yoo-hoo box with the straw and lean back against the wall, studying the clouds as they form different shapes in the sky.
“That one kind of looks like an alligator eating a donut, don’t you think?” Nate sits beside me, setting his food in front of himself. He has a sandwich, grapes, Doritos, and a Sprite. It looks like real food compared to my peanut butter crackers and fruit leather.
“I don’t know, I see more of a dinosaur kicking a ball myself,” I respond before taking a sip of my drink.
He laughs and his big smile brightens his whole face. Why do I enjoy looking at him so much? Maybe because he’s like sunshine after a rainstorm.
