Safe and Sound (7 page)

 
“That’s not a problem,” Lola told her.

 
“Yeah.
I almost believe that. Except I know Sebastian has been waiting outside his house every night to make sure
you get home
okay
from work.
I don’t like it.
”

 
Lola knew it w
ould do no good to explain
she didn’t know why he was doing that, nor did she
want
him to do that.

 
“How do you know that?”

 
Roxanne took a step closer.
“Because he
told
me.
Says he feels
bad
for you, like there might be something wrong at your house.”
She stopped. “Sebastian has a big heart and
thinks he
needs to protect people.”

 
She knew better than anyone just how big his heart was and how protect
ive he could be. Resentment
Roxanne knew as well reared up, but Lola squashed it down. Roxanne was his girlfriend, of
course
she knew things like that; she
should
know things like that.

 
Lola had merely been his friend since she’d moved in across the street thirteen years ago. She wasn’t anymore. She had to remember that.

 
“I know.”

 
Roxanne’s lips thinned. “I don’t know what game you’re playing at, but you might as well stop.”

 
“Game?”
Lola had no idea what she was talking about.

 
“This past year you’
ve lost weight, gotten all
pale, and have this sad look on your face all the time. You don’t talk to anyone. You’ve turned
creepy
.
”
Roxanne’s voice shook and her hands fisted at her sides. “
And now you try to be cool by getting in trouble.
You obviously want attention.”

 
Lola was stunned by her words, by the heat in her tone. Was that what people thought? That she had withdrawn and changed as a ploy to get attention?
Bitter anger swept through her.

 
“You don’t know…what you’re talking about,” she choked out, close to tears.

 
Roxanne laughed and a shiver went down Lola’s back. “I know you want Sebastian back in your life and I know it’s not going to happen
.” Her nostrils flared as she leaned toward Lola. “You stay away from my boyfriend.
Or else
.”

 
Lola fist
ed
her hands and challenge
d
, “Or else
what
?”

 
The hate on Roxanne’s face was
staggering
. She jabbed a long
fingernail at Lola, pierc
ing the sensitive skin below her neck. “Or else you’ll be sorry.”

 
Roxanne flounced past, taking the scent of raspberries
and loathing
with her.

 
Lola drew i
n a ragged breath, feeling weak. She raised a shaking hand to her neck and touched the sore spot. Roxanne wasn’t just nasty, as she’d first thought; she was
scary
.

 
Sick with all that had happened
in recent days, Lola fell to a
bench and let it hold her up.

 
What Roxanne had said were lies.
Regardless of whether it was true or not; it still hurt.
And telling her to stay away from Sebastian when he’d barely spoken to her in a year? That wouldn’t be hard to do.

 
Lola’s life was such a mess. She felt so helpless, like everyone else controlled her with their actions and words.

 
I wonder what would happen if I wasn’t here anymore?

 
The forbidden thought scared her. That she would think such a thing and that Lola wondered if it really mattered if she was around or not.

*
**

 
It was dark by the time she got home.
She could see her breath in the chilly air.
Lola timed it so that it was around the time she usually got home from work. She’d even worn her work clothes so there was no suspicion.
Lola supposed if
Bob
had decided to check up on her at work it wouldn’t have mattered what she was wearing when she got home.

 
Before she made it to the front door she heard him.
Something smashed against a wall.
Bob
swore
.
Lana softly cried.
Lola’s pulse raced. She couldn’t go in there.
Anytime he was mad, it was somehow her fault.

 
Lola quietly backed away from the door, eyes trained on it.
He never hit her mother, though his words were often cruel. She should be okay and would be leaving for work soon.
Then it would be just the two of them. Lola wordlessly shook her head.
No.

 
She stumbled over a tree root and caught herself.
Lola turned and stared at Sebastian’s house.
Lights shone through the windows
and the television was on in the living room
. The house
and those within it
beckoned to her.

 
Lola ducked her head and hurried down the street. It would be worse for her to show up later, but maybe
Bob
would be passed out, and whatever he would do would
have to
wait until the next day.
One less day of abuse to endure.

 
She
knew her rationalizing didn’t make sense, but right
now
, to her, it did. Daytime monsters weren’t as scary as nighttime ones, no matter wha
t he did to her.

 
A car drove by. For one terrifying second Lola thought it was
Bob
coming to get her, but it passed without slowing. She exhaled deeply and went down an alley, deciding to stay off the main streets.
Her light jacket wasn’t doing much against the cold and Lola shivered.

 
When a cat yowled
she jumped. Lola’s eye scanned th
e dark, searching for a possible
unknown predator. She kept walking until she was near a wooded area on the outskirts of town.
Lola stopped. A forest of trees surrounded her, looking ominous in the dark
, but somehow familiar too
.

 
Had she been there before? She didn’t think so.

 
A limb cracked under her shoes
as she made her way to a rock slab big enough to sit on
.
Or hide under.
It sat high and jutted out, like an upside down L.

  Shadows
moved and Lola squeaked.

 
“Wondered how long it would take you to show up again.”
The voice came from the far side of the rock, low and mocking.

 
“Who’s there?” Lola demanded, heart pounding.

 
She had the insane thought
Bob
had somehow gotten there before her and lay in wait
for her
. Impossible, but fear was rarely logical.

 
The shadow moved and a form jumped to the ground. It lengthened, shaped into a young man.
He was clothed in black, making it difficult to see him in the night.
Lola thought maybe that was the point.

 
He smoothed long bangs back from his forehead and strode toward her.
His green eyes caught her attention first, then his lowered eyebrows. “Well, I’m
not
your knight in shining armor. I’ll leave that title to Sebastian Jones.”

 
His words confused her, along with the way he said them.
What did he mean by that?

 
“What are you doing here?”

 
Jack leaned against a tree and crossed his arms. “I could ask you the same thing. I’m always here. This is where I come when I can’t handle life.”

 
He craned his head back and looked at the sky. His lips curved sardonically and he glanced at her. “
Which is why I’
m here just about every night
.
”

 
His
unshielded honesty tugged at her. Lola could relate to that. She took a step closer.

 
“Why are you in trouble all the time?”

 
Lola stopped beside him and looked at the twinkling stars.
He smelle
d like le
ather and laundry detergent, the cologne from earlier now faded.

 
“
Why were you in detention today?”

 
Lola was unnerved to find his gaze locked on her. She s
hoved her hands in her jacket po
ckets and looked away.
“Mr. Welsh was picking on me.”

 
“He picks on
everyone
. Why take it personally?”

 
“I don’t know,” she answered. It did seem silly now.
She’d just been so fed up, so angry.

 
“I’m in detention all the time because I don’t want to go home. Can’t go home if I have detention, right?”

 
Lola sucked in a sharp breath and glanced at him. “What happens at home?” she asked in a small voice.

 
Jack’s lips pressed together and he shrugged. “
Dad likes
to
knock me around
. He works from six at night until six in the morning. If I’m lucky he’s gone by the time I get home.
”

 
Suddenly Lola saw Jack Forrester in a whole new light. He wasn’t a druggie, a troublemaker, or an academic failure. He was an abused boy trying to deal with it the only way he knew how. He was
her
.

 
Lola felt sick
, like she couldn’t breathe
. She backed away from him, staring into knowing eyes.

 
“What’s your excuse, Goody Two Shoes?”

 
A breeze picked up Jack’s shaggy hair and blew it across his eyes. The lower part of his face was visible, slivers of his eyes glowed through strands of hair.
It was unsettling.

 
Lola licked dry lips
and asked a question of her own
. “Do you ever…do you ever fight back?”

 
Jack stiffened.
“Oh yeah, all the time.
But then he goes after my sister instead.” He swung around to face her, locking her in place with the intensity of his eyes.
“
Once
.
Once I fought back. Bastard hit my sister so hard
she couldn’t see out of her left eye for a week.
He just needs a punching bag.
”
He spread his arms wide. “I’m it.”

 
Lola pressed her arm against her midsection and swallowed with difficulty.
“I’m so sorry.”

 
How could he stand it?
Years
of it.
Bob
had been around for a year and that was almost unbearable. Jack had probably been abused
his whole life
.
He had to be eighteen, or close to it. If he wasn’t failing his classes, he would graduate in a little over a month.
Jack could
leave
.

 
“Don’t be sorry.”
He moved away, pulled himself onto the rock
,
and offered her a hand.

 
Lola hesitated, and then put her hand within his warm, calloused one. He lifted her easily and released her hand once she was on the rock.
For that brief instant their hands touched, she’d felt a connection to another human being.

 
“
I’m an adult.
I could leave. I don’t for my sister. You know her?” Lola shook her head. “No. I guess she would be beneath your notice.”

 
She glared at him and scooted away to put more distance between them. “I don’t know why you act like I’m some kind of snob. I’m not.
Never have been.”

 
“Not this year.”

 
Lola drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees.
People and their assumptions.
None of them right.