Safe with You (17 page)

Grabbing my measly old mp3 player I head to my closet and put my headphones in to try and drown out the noise going on.

Every single person that is here is no doubt high or drunk or both. What makes people turn to that stuff? Thank God I didn’t follow in mom and dad’s footsteps. I don’t understand my parents. How is a party laying low? I mean seriously? And they say I’m the one who needs to learn the rules!

I made a makeshift bed on the floor in my closet using my comforter and pillow off my bed. I closed my eyes relishing the music coming from my mp3 player.

I awake sometime later to the same noise I had silenced for a little bit. I glance down at my dead mp3 player and frown. How long was I out?
Not long enough apparently.
 

Growling in frustration at my bladder for all of a sudden deciding to be full I peek out my bedroom door before tiptoeing across the hall to the bathroom.

I suddenly realize that I hadn’t taken the time to get a shower earlier.
I might as well get one while I’m in here.
I tiptoe back across the hall, grab some clothes, and then sneak quietly back.

I stand in the shower letting the water cascade over my body. For a moment, my worries and fears are relinquished.

When I’m done I dry off, throw on my clothes, and brush out my hair. A loud bang and the frantic turning of the knob of the bathroom door startles me.

I swallow against the lump in my throat and slowly open the door. The man on the other side is the epitome of a drug addict. His face is sunken and his eyes are hollow. My stomach churns at the sight of him. Not to mention the strong stint of whatever he is high on is coming from him.

“Well, well. Who do we have here?” A creepy smile adorns his ugly face. “Where have you been hiding?” His voice sends fearful shivers up my spine.

I want to step around him, but I fear he won’t let that happen. As I feared, the guy steps forward blocking my only way out. “Do you talk?” I don’t respond. “Well, that’s okay you don’t have to.” The lump in my throat grows larger as he moves closer to me. “You don’t have to be afraid, sugar. I’ll take good care of you, I promise.” He winks suggestively and it’s a wonder I didn’t throw up on the spot.

I flinch when he runs his finger along my collarbone. As soon as he turns to shut the bathroom door, I make my move. Raising my knee up, I connect it with his balls. He drops to the floor in pain. I was almost out the door when his hand gripped my ankle causing me to fall to the floor. Using all my strength, my foot connects with his face a couple times before his grip on my ankle fell away. I get up quickly and run to my window so I could get far away from here.

Once my feet hit the grass I sprinted away from the house. I pray no one is following me and I pray my parents don’t notice I left.

I did not stop until I reached J’s front porch. Struggling to keep the tears at bay, I knocked on the door. Sweat poured down my face, my bare feet throbbed, and my soaked shirt clung to my skin.

The porch light flips on above me and I hear the click of a lock. The door opens revealing Dan. My eyes widen when I notice the gun in his hand.

When he realizes it is me, he tucks it behind him. “Cassie? Is everything alright?” I shake my head vigorously on the verge of tears. “Come in darlin’ and tell me what’s wrong.” He opens the door wider motioning me to come in. “Let me go wake J. I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.”

When he is out of sight, I sit down on the couch and bury my head in my hands.

I feel the couch dip beside me, but I know it isn’t J. A small hand touches my back. “Whatever is goin’ on sweetie know that we are here for you.”

I lift my head from my hands and glance at Jane noticing the worry in her voice. Not trusting my voice to speak, I just mouthed ‘thank you’. She just nods in understanding.

The sound of quick, heavy footsteps filled the silence. J comes barreling around the corner his face etched with concern. He crouches down is front of me. “Cassie.” He reaches up and cups my face. J’s voice triggered the tears. He scoops me up in his arms, taking my spot on the couch. I bury my face in the crook of his neck. “Baby, what happened?” he asks frantically.

“What’s goin’ on?” A sleepy Bo asks as he came into the living room. “Cassie?” He asks more awake.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake all of you I just didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Darlin’ you’re always welcome here. You know that” Bo replies reassuringly. Dan and Jane nodded in agreement.

“Cass, I don’t care what time it is. If you need me I’m here,” J murmurs into my hair. “Now, can you please tell me what happened?”

I let out a shaky breath. “Okay, um, well my parents had some people over so I stayed in my room. I ended up falling asleep listening to my mp3 player. When I woke up, I had to use the bathroom. Since my bathroom is directly across the hall I thought it was okay. I wound up taking a shower since I was in there.

“I was brushing my hair when someone knocked on the door. When I opened it to go out a guy was standing there. He, uh, started talking to me and he would get closer to me while he did it. Then he touched me.” I feel J stiffen beneath me. I retrace the pattern the guy made with his hand. “When he turned to close the door, I kneed him. He grabbed my ankle when I tried to go around him to get out so I kicked him in his face and as soon as he let go I ran to my window and left.” When I am done, Jane’s eyes are wide, her hand on her chest. Bo and J have murderous looks on their faces.

Dan’s look is stern, but the police officer in him is stirring up questions. “What did this guy look like?”

I describe him exactly how I remember him though I didn’t mention he smelled like drugs. If I did I would’ve had to answer why my parents allowed him over which would require me to tell why we are here and I can’t do that.

“You didn’t go to your parents?” I shake my head, afraid of where this question might go. “Why not?” he probes.

“Because I just wanted out of there.”

“I understand that, but don’t you think that they would want to know? If you were my daughter I’d want you to come directly to me before anyone else.” If my parents were like J’s I would’ve gone straight to them, no questions asked. Then again, Dan and Jane would be smart enough not to hang around people who are hooked on drugs. Mine aren’t.

“My parents weren’t exactly coherent so it wouldn’t have done any good.” Honestly, they probably wouldn’t care. That’s how low they are. If I had of went in the amidst the party it would be like a worm in a sea of fish. I’d be the bait they all wanted.

“What!” J roars.

“J, calm down son, you’re scaring her more than she already is,” Dan speaks calmly.

Bo speaks up next. “What do we need to do now dad?”

“There is nothing I really can do unless she considers filing a sexual harassment charge against him, but even then we’d need a name to go with his description. If she really wanted to I could do some investigating, see what I can find.”

That is definitely not an option. My parents would pack us up so fast I’d be out of here as soon as it was filed. “I don’t want to do that, I just want to forget about it.”

“Cassie, you were almost taken advantage of tonight! That’s not something that’s easy to forget!” J growls as he tightens his arms around my waist.

“But I wasn’t and like your dad said we have nothing to go on except for the description I have of him,” I argue. “Please J, just let it go, okay? For me?”

J doesn’t say anything right then. Finally, he sighs. “This is gonna be hard, Cass, but I’ll do it just because you asked me to.” My body sags in relief.

I kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

“If you change your mind let me know and I’ll do everything I can,” Dan adds.

“Thank you, Dan, but I think it will do more harm than good.” I’d probably never get to see J and his family again. My parents would make my life worse than it already is and if the story gets posted online somewhere, the people that are looking for us would be beating down our door the next day. I couldn’t take those risks.

“I think I need to go.” I try to move from J’s lap, but he doesn’t loosen his hold.

“Can’t you stay here?”
God, I wish.

“No, I can’t. I need to get home before my parents notice I’m gone,” I say regretfully.

J looks at his parents and Bo. I assume he wants them to back them up.

Jane sighs sympathetically. “I wish it was that was that easy J. I would love for her to stay, but she’s right. Since her parents don’t know she is gone she has to go back. I also think Bo should be the-”

J cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “No, I’ll do it.”

“J, look at me.” I wait until his eyes meet mine. “Bo needs to be the one to take me home. If you go you will cause a scene which will not help the situation any. Do you want our Saturdays back?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then please let’s not piss them off anymore, alright?”

He leans his head back against the couch like he is contemplating his decision. When lifts his head back up he looks directly at Bo. “You make sure she makes it to her room safely and that it’s clear. If it’s not safe you bring her back. Got it?”

“Do you honestly think I’d leave her there when it’s not safe?”

“I was just checking.”

I go to stand, but Jane stops me. “Oh my! Cassie stay seated dear.” She runs out of the room and I look at J confused as to why I can’t get up. When I see J’s darkened eyes, I follow his stare to my cut feet. Jane rushes back into the living room carrying a first aid kit. I hiss under my breath when she starts cleaning the wounds. Soon she had them bandaged and I was ready to head back.

J mutters he will be right back while I say goodbye to Dan and Jane and I thank them for opening their home to me.

J insists he carry me to Bo’s truck so instead of arguing I let him. He carries me in silence over to where Bo is already waiting. J sets me down carefully on the ground and he pulls his phone and power cord out of his pocket and hands it to me. “I want you to take this. If you need anything and I mean
anything
I want you to call Bo’s phone. Please don’t fight me on this. I will be able to sleep knowing you’re okay.”

My mind is swarming trying to figure out how I will hide this from mom and dad. I take the phone from his hand knowing that I will have to find a way because the look of apprehension on J’s face is gutting me. “I’m not sure if I know how to use this thing since I’ve never owned one before,” I joke trying to make light of the situation. The only phone I really had was just a basic Motorola phone. It was nothing grand like J’s iPhone.

J crushes my body to his like this is the last time I will see him. We stand there locked in each other’s embrace for what feels like an hour but really was only a few minutes. He kisses me deeply before opening the passenger door to Bo’s truck and helps me up.

When I’m situated, he kisses me once more before he shuts the door.

Bo puts the truck in reverse and slowly backs up. After Bo has the truck turned around to head out the long drive I watch from the side mirror as J fades into the darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cassie

Bo grabs my hand comfortingly as he drives away. “Everything will be okay darlin’.” If it were anyone else, I’d be questioning their motives, but it’s Bo who I see as no one other than a protective brother.

I had Bo pull off where J did when he snuck me out the night of the bonfire. When the house comes into view, I notice a few of the cars are gone, but a couple still remain. My body shivers at the thought of creepy guy still being here. The lights are still on just as they were when I left.

“Well, this is me,” I joke. “Thanks for bringing me home,” I say when we reach my window.

Bo looks around nervously. “I don’t like this darlin’. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Bo, I have no other choice. Whether it’s safe or not I have to stay.” As quietly as possible I raise my window up and climb in. My room looks just as I had left it except for my door being closed. I wonder who closed it?

“Cassie, are thosedrugs I smell?” Bo asked in an alarmed tone.

I spin around and motioned for him to keep quiet. “You can’t say anything to anyone about this!” I whisper loudly.

“You expect me to just drop this? Darlin’ your parents are doin’ drugs!”

“I know, I hate it alright! Because of
their
problem I have to suffer the consequences!”

Bo and I instantly freeze when we here feet padding along the hardwood floor. I shove Bo into my closet and toss J’s phone to him. “No matter what you hear you keep quiet!” I shut the door and sit on my bed trying to make it look like I was studying.

Dad burst through my bedroom door with an irate look on his face. In that moment, I knew that he knew. “Where the hell have you been? Huh?”

“I went for a walk to get some fresh air,” I lie easily.

Of course, he didn’t buy it. It was not exactly a believable lie either. “You’re lying!”