Page 37 of The Other Half

“Nothing.” I slide off the barstool and walk out of the kitchen before she can argue. I can’t believe I thought for one minute that my mom would be happy for me.

Chapter 31

Oakley

With my fingers laced through his, we head toward his house on our usual route. The thirty minute walk which used to feel long and treacherous has become so familiar that I could probably do it in my sleep. This road is never particularly busy, but after 11:00 pm there are hardly any cars that pass through it at all, so it’s even more quiet and peaceful than it is during the day. I’ve grown to love the middle of the night. The dark used to scare me, even within the guarded walls of my neighborhood I was a bit frightened to be out after nightfall. It’s ironic, now I spend almost every night in the “worst” neighborhood in town, but I feel less afraid out in the open there than I do inside my own home.

I consider bringing up the conversation with my mom with him, but what would be the point? It would just confirm his suspicions that they won’t approve of him. I hate this. I want my parents to love him, or at least like him. What if we do get married someday? Will they accept him then? I know it’s too soon to think about that, but I’m worried that their disapproval is going to ruin what we have and keep it from progressing.

As much as I dislike my parents’ view of the world, and disagree with it, I still want to be close to them. Despite how weird my relationships are with both of them, deep down I’m still the same little girl who wants her parents to be proud of her. But I feel like all I do is give them more and more reasons to be disappointed in me.

I hear the rumble of a vehicle’s engine somewhere in the distance behind us, and suddenly see a light cresting over the hill, headlights presumably. We shuffle further to the side of the road to make sure the car has plenty of room to pass.

I feel a strange sense of worry overcome me when the car doesn’t pass when I expect it to, instead it seems to have slowed down but it’s still lingering behind us. I’m not sure what I’m worried about. I know Oliver wouldn’t let anything happen to us, and we could easily bolt behind one of the houses on the street if we have to.

Suddenly blue flashing lights appear all around us. My stomach drops, I instinctively know something is wrong. We both turn around at the same time to see the cop car parked directly next to us. I look over at Oliver hoping he’ll give me some kind of reassurance that everything’s fine but judging by the expression on his face he’s just as nervous as I am.

“Fucking pigs…” Oliver says. “What do they want?”

I can just barely see the police officer exiting his vehicle through the blinding glare of the lights.

“Stay right where you are, don’t move,” the faceless cop yells in a monotone voice.

Suddenly another police car is approaching and parking right behind this one. My pulse quickens even more and I can feel my heartbeat in my ears. What the hell is happening?

At this point Oliver has dropped my hand, and I notice he’s put both of his up showing that they’re empty.

“Where exactly are you two headed?”

Finally Oliver breaks the silence, I think I’ve completely forgotten how to speak. “We’re just walking back to my house, sir, my sister and I just wanted to get a little air. We live on this street.”

Two lies, I’m obviously not his sister and his house is at least another half mile away.

“I’m going to need to see some identification. From both of you.”

I don’t even have an ID, I don’t drive yet. Does Oliver have one? He pulls out his wallet slowly and lifts his ID up in front of us so the officer can see it. He walks over and yanks it aggressively from his hand, studying it.

“Where is your’s, miss?”

“I–I don’t have one.”

He studies my face closely, with Oliver’s license still in his hand. The other officer is walking over to join the party now, lovely.

“I think this must be her, Joe.” Cop number one says.

Her? I don’t like where this is going at all.

The second cop walks up to me and interrupts their conversation. “Is your name Oakley Matthews?”

Shit! I can’t say no, it’s obvious I’m in enough trouble already.

“Y-yes,” I reply weakly. I feel like crying. I’ve never been interrogated by any kind of authority figure other than my dad, and especially not a law enforcement officer.

“Miss, your parents have reported you missing, you need to come with us.” I don’t even bother trying to argue. I follow him to the car and get in when he opens the door for me. Oliver and the other cop are still hashing it out over there, but I can’t hear them anymore.

I reach into my pocket to check my phone, I’m sure they’ve tried to call, but it isn’t there. Crap. I must’ve left it in my room without thinking. No wonder they called the police.

The cop gets in the car and we begin backing up, away from Oliver. We slowly drive away in the direction of my house. I’m aware that the cop is trying to talk to me but I can’t understand his words. All I can do is think about how royally I have fucked up.

---