Take Me With You (21 page)

“Here. Take this
before you blow up.” Kayden says, handing me the icepack and motioning to my face.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. What the fuck happened?”

“He was hurting her.”

“I figured that, but why did you get involved? Why didn’t you come out and get me?”

Attempting to shrug and flinching in pain the minute my shoulders make the tiniest movement, I hear Kayden exhale loudly.

“What is with you people?”

“Huh?”

“Belle takes on my brother in order to help me, Cadence throws herself into the middle of a very real fight in order to protect Dillon and you go up against one of the toughest guys on the team in order to save the girl that a few months ago was planning out the best way to hurt you. I swear to god, you’re all bat shit crazy.”

I remember what happened with Belle and I know what I did with Tim, but what he’s talking about with Cadence, he’s lost me completely. I know how stupid a move it was, trying to do anything against Tim, but I don’t care. I would do it all over again if it meant getting her away from him.

“He was hurting her.”

“I know, Eric. It also doesn’t help that you love her either.”

“I don’t.”

“Yeah man, you do.”

I’m in too much pain to argue so I attempt to shrug again and suck in the air around me the minute the pain hits. I really need to stop trying to do that. For once, a grunt or a shift of my body isn’t going to get the point across. It’s just gonna make the pain that much worse.

“Where’s Belle?”

“Calling your Mom.”

“Ugh.”

“Yeah well, if you go home looking like you do right now, I get the feeling it’s gonna be a lot worse.”

He’s right about that. Even if Belle didn’t call, I’m pretty sure Daniels or someone else would. She would have found out regardless, but once Belle tells her, she’s gonna rush down here and want to take me home and that’s the last thing I want. I’m not leaving here until I see Amelia.

“Where’s Amelia?”

“Dillon took her outside.”

“Is she alright?”

“No, Eric. She just watched her boyfriend get the shit kicked out of him trying to help her. Somehow I doubt she’s alright.”

“I’m going outside.”

“No you’re not. I know you don’t exactly trust Dillon, but right now, he’s the best person to be with her. They’ve got history.”

It’s that history that I’m afraid of. I’m not worried about something happening between the two of them, but Dillon, she told me what he was to her. The way she was with him because of everything she was going through with her father. I don’t want him to say something, trigger her somehow, especially after what just happened. I want to protect her.

I don’t want Dillon Murphy to be her lifeline. That’s my job.

“She’s safe with him.”

“She’s safer with me.”

“Yeah, you’re right. She probably is, but you’re busted up pretty bad man. Right now you can’t be her protector, so just let Dillon do it.”

“I hate this.”

“Hate what?”

“This. All of it. It never ends. There are always going to be bullies and soon, you’re not gonna be able to come to my rescue anymore and you shouldn’t have to anyway. I shouldn’t be such a baby.”

“Is that really what you think?”

“No, I’m just making random conversation.” I answer sarcastically.

“Really?”

“Really, really.” I say and the minute it comes out my heart hurts because this time, it’s not a joke and she’s not even here even if it was.

“Eric, you’re not a baby. You’re a guy who should be able to walk the halls of his school without worrying about the next time he’s gonna get picked on or beat up.”

“Tell that to the ones doing it.”

“I have and if I’ve gotta go find Tim later and beat him within an inch of his life to get the point across I will. No one messes with you. Any of you.”

“So what happens when you graduate in a couple months? Go to college? You gonna drive down every day in order to threaten the next set of assholes that come in and start with me?”

“If I have to, sure.”

“You’re insane.”

“No, I’m an asshole. Remember?”

Despite the truthfulness in what he says, it still makes me laugh. It’s probably one of the things I like most about him. He’s not afraid to admit that even though he’s changed over the last few months, become a better person, he’s still that same guy underneath. He just finds a better way to channel it now.

The bully who beats up bullies.

If it wasn’t completely true it would be funny.

“I meant what I said a few weeks ago. You mean something to me and graduating isn’t going to change it. So just get used to it. You’re as stuck with me as Belle is.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amelia

“So, this is weird right?”

Weird is a freaking understatement. There’s no word for what this is right now. Sitting outside on top of a picnic table with your ex-boyfriend, who happened to help your current boyfriend save you from a complete psychopath who you used to consider your best friend?

Yeah, no words for this right now, other than that it might be the perfect segment for the Jerry Springer show.

“Why did you do it?”

“Ames, that’s a loaded question. It could mean anything. You wanna explain?”

“Getting me out of there, why did you do it?”

“Because despite the way everything ended with us, I care.”

He cares. I’m pretty sure that’s bullshit, but I’ll play along for now.

“You don’t believe that do you?”

“Not really, no. Can you blame me?”

“Nope. Sometimes I have a hard time believing me.”

“Same here.”

Agreeing with Dillon is almost as strange as sitting here with him is. It’s not that we never saw eye to eye before because we did, but after the way things ended, I didn’t think we’d ever see eye to eye on anything ever again, much less what we did agree on.

“You wanna tell me what went down before I got there?”

Do I really want to talk about what happened with Dillon of all people? He doesn’t even have a clue about the flashbacks and what I saw after Tim forced himself on me. I’m pretty sure anything I do tell him wouldn’t make any sense.

“Tim’s crazy?” I say, choosing the one thing that I’m pretty sure he’ll agree with and will keep my secret safe. I might be alright with opening up to Eric about everything, but that didn’t extend to anyone else, least of all Dillon.

“Yeah I saw that.”

“Is Eric gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be in pain for a while.”

I hate thinking about him in pain, especially over me. He shouldn’t have been there at all. If he had just stayed outside with the others then he wouldn’t be where he is now. The office with Kayden, broken and bruised.

“Why did we ever think the shit we did was right?”

This makes him think. We might not have had a great relationship but I did pick up on the way he reacts to things. Leaning forward, resting his face in his hands, staring off into space, he only does that when he’s really thinking about something.

“I wish I had an answer for that. I think we just took our shitty ass lives and decided that the right thing to do would be to make everyone else’s lives shitty too.”

“How do you know my life is shitty?”

“You went out with me, it had to be pretty shitty.”

That was definitely not what I was expecting him to say. I’m not exactly sure what it was that I thought he would say, but it definitely wasn’t that. Admitting that he wasn’t that great of a person, it just never seemed like his style. He’s always been so confident.

“I could say the same thing to you.”

“Yeah, you could, but you won’t because even now you’re better than me.”

After the time we’ve spent together over the last year dating and then knowing each other before that, I figured there wasn’t anything he could say that could shock me, but in the span of two minutes, he’s done it twice.

He is definitely not the same guy I hung out with for the last four years.

“I’m not better than you, Dillon.”

“Ames, I know all of the shit I said to you that day, when I found out what you did to Cadence, but I never did tell you that you were right.”

“About what?”

“I did like her. Even when I put that stupid plan in motion, I liked her, but I didn’t want to admit it. I wasn’t fair to you. The other things I said, a lot of that was me being angry.”

Maybe he was angry but just like he’s admitting now that I was right that day, he was right too. I really was as bad as he said I was and he really didn’t deserve any of it. I saw things that weren’t there, took it out on people that didn’t deserve it because it was easier than just admitting what was really going on.

“Angry but truthful.”

“How do you figure that? Ames, some of the shit I said to you, it wasn’t right.”

“Other than you denying that you had a thing for Cadence, everything you said was right. Thanks for that by the way.”

“Yeah, this is definitely weird. Like fucking twilight zone weird.” He laughs softly. “Are we even having this conversation right now?”

“Nah, it’s all in your head.”

He laughs again and despite how awkward I feel sitting here having this conversation with him, I join in. For the first time since I got here this morning, laughing feels right.

“You like Carmen a lot huh?” he asks once our laughter falls away and I nod.

“More than a lot.”

“I figured that.”

“How so?”

“I saw you with him at the bluffs a couple of weeks ago. He was holding your hand I think. I remember seeing it and thinking, ‘holy shit, she actually holds hands.’ It was so messed up.”

“That’s not what you told Eric.”

“No it wasn’t, but can you really blame me?”

“I would have done the same thing if it was me, so no, I don’t blame you Dill.”

“So how long have you two been—uh, whatever it is you are?”

“About a month, but we’ve only been together for a little over a week.”

He leans back and I notice that his eyes are raised. He’s surprised. Maybe he’s not the only one that knows how to shock someone.

“You’re dating?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, now it all makes sense.”

“What?”

“Why the guy went after Tim. Holy shit! That’s fucking hilarious.”

I don’t agree. There’s nothing funny about what just happened in there, least of all what happened to Eric.

“Not funny, Dill.”

“If you think about it, it kind of is. We used to pick on him so hard for being so weak, but taking on Tim the way he did, it proves he’s not. He’s tougher than the one he went after.”

I get what he means now but I still don’t find any of it funny. I can see why he does though. It’s so surprising that it really is a holy shit moment. Tim’s always just followed along with whatever we told him to do, Eric never has and what he did in there a little while ago proves it.

“So how long do you think I have before Daniels kicks me out on my ass again?”

“Hmm,” he says, tapping his chin with his finger and earning the laugh he was after. “Graduation.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Ames, you didn’t have anything to do with that. From what I can tell, Tim’s the one that’s gonna get nailed this time. Eric was defending you.”

“Sure, that’s the truth, but this was my first day back. I somehow doubt he’s just gonna overlook that.”

“Why do you think Eric’s in the office right now?”

The way he asks me that, it’s like I should know the answer to it, but I don’t have a clue. I just assumed that because of what happened, he’d want to call home. Get as far from me and this stupid school as he could get.

“I don’t know.”

“Kayden brought him there so that they could get to Daniels first. If I know anything about that kid, especially after what he just went through for you, he’s not gonna let you take the fall for this. Kayden won’t either.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Didn’t I already answer this question?”

“Different meaning this time. Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because despite you saying that everything that I said was right, I know for a fact there’s something that was dead wrong.”

“What’s that?”

“I wasn’t the best boyfriend to you.”

“And this is your attempt at doing that now?”

“No. Well, not exactly. Take the boy part out and you got it right.”

“You want to be a friend to me?”

“Exactly. Ames, you deserved better than I gave you when we got together and even though I can’t go back and do it over, I can do something now. I can be your friend, if you want me to be.”

Dillon, he’s being sincere for the first time since I met him four years ago. The way that Eric somehow saw that there was more to me than just the girl that ran around school hurting people, I’m seeing it with him now. There’s a whole lot more to him than I knew. I get the feeling that this is the Dillon that he was before his shitty life got in the way.

It’s him being this way now that makes me do something I never thought I would ever do again.

Lifting my sleeves slowly, one at a time until they’re both wrapped tightly around my shoulders, I hold them out in front of me and look him directly in the eye, watching as his eyes drop down and he reacts.

“Everyone has secrets, things they keep buried away from the rest of the world. This is mine Dillon, and my name isn’t Amy. It’s Amelia.”

Sliding off the table until he’s standing directly in front of me, he slides his shirt up until he’s holding it up with his chin and seeing the scars on his chest, adding it to the one I see just at the start of his hairline, I get what he’s trying to do. He’s showing me his secret.

He’s showing me the same way Eric did. What it really means to be a friend.

“My dad used to force me to fight, and when I didn’t he would beat me until it was easier to fight for him then against him.”

His honesty, it breaks something in me and before I can stop it, I’m crying. Dillon moves toward me but before he can get close enough, I put my hand out in front of me to stop him.

He opened up to me, so I’m going to do the same.

“My dad’s been forcing himself on me since I was four and if I didn’t do what he said he would beat me. Eventually it was easier to do what he wanted than to go against him.”

“Did he burn you too?”

“No. I did that myself.”

Reaching his hand out and grabbing a hold of mine, he pulls me from the table and before I can react, he wraps his arms around me, pulling me as close as possible into him, hugging me.

“No more, Amelia. The time for letting these assholes control us, turning us into mini monsters like them is over. From now on, we’re gonna do what’s right for us, with whoever’s right for us. No one else.”

The only thing I can think about as the tears start falling faster and harder is that Dr. Thompson was right after all and Dillon’s words prove it. It’s time to start living my life the right way, for the right person.

Me.

Eric

After sitting in the office for what feels like forever, we finally got in to see Daniels, both Kayden and me going into detail about everything we knew, making sure he understood that what happened in the hall wasn’t Amelia’s fault.

It was Tim’s.

After hearing our side of everything, he took off from the office and I can only think he left so quickly because he was going to find Tim and Amelia so that he could get their side of things before deciding what to do.

Explaining what I walked up into and why I chose to stop it was hard, but I felt a whole better once I admitted everything to him. Telling people that Amelia is just a friend was a lie and it was one I was tired of telling. Admitting that I wanted to stop a guy from hurting my girlfriend felt a whole lot better, not just physically but deep in my heart too.

I want the whole damn world to know that I’m with her, even if they don’t approve or think I’ve lost my mind, which after the talk with Daniels, I’m pretty sure he believes.

The fear that we had this morning, concerned about how it would appear, the two of us being together considering who the entire school believes her to be and what they know of me, it was stupid. I never should have said we needed to take things slow and keep things hidden in order to protect myself.

All hiding does is make everything worse.

I’m starting to think that if I had just spoken up when the bullying started when I got here, it never would have reached the point it did. When the guys chose me in order to get to Belle last fall, I should have stood up and told the truth about what happened instead of keeping it all inside and backing away from the only real friend that I had.

I made everything worse keeping it all bottled inside. My suicide attempt is solid proof of that. No one should ever reach the point that I did, the dark thoughts I was thinking and how eager I was to make them become reality. In my silence I had almost taken myself away from a mom that loves me, a little sister who pretty much thinks I’m the most awesome person on the planet and the girl that’s now sitting outside with her ex-boyfriend.

The beaten down and broken girl that should be in here with me instead.

“Where outside are they?”

“You know the picnic table about four feet away from our tree? That’s where Dillon said he was taking her anyway.”

Holding out his phone to me, I take it and see what it is he wants me to see. It’s just a text, but knowing the way I am, he’s giving me the proof I need so I can be sure he’s not keeping things from me.