Rye didn’t move or respond the whole time, but Jake could feel him trembling.
“You’re safe, and I’m here with you,” Jake said, and when Rye gave a small nod, Jake’s heart clenched. “There’s one other thing. Two news vans are here, and we have to walk past them to get into the building. And I’m not sure if they’re here because they found out you’re going to be here or for something entirely different, but you’re safe, and I’m here with you, and we can just walk right by and ignore them. Okay? Whatever they say, don’t listen or try to answer, just keep walking. Because you’ve studied hard for this test, and you’re ready for it, and you’re going to pass.”
And I don’t wanthimto take another thing away from you.
Rye almost seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he nodded a little more clearly this time, and then he forced out a sharp breath and said, “I will.”
“You will,” Jake agreed. “You ready?”
Rye didn’t answer this time, but he unfastened his seat belt and started to get out of the car. Jake copied him, and by the time Jake had climbed out and shut his door, Rye was already around at the front of the car, his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Jake joined him, and they silently started forward, Jake positioning himself on Rye’s right side, ready to put space between Rye and the reporters, should it come down to that.
They were about halfway across the parking lot when they were finally spotted, and both reporters and their camera crew jumped to attention. Jake kept half an eye on them, but most of his focus was on Rye, and when Rye’s steps faltered for the first time, Jake quickly lifted his hand to gently touch Rye’s back, encouraging him to keep going.
“Ignore them, we’re almost there,” Jake said softly, even as one of the reporters—the woman who’d been there first—approached, already firing off questions.
Had Ryan heard the news about Raymond Hirsh being sighted down in Arizona? How did Ryan feel about the fact that Raymond Hirsh was apparently stalking elementary school children? What did Ryan think about Raymond Hirsh still being at large?
Rye’s hands flew out of his pockets and up to cover his ears, but he kept walking, moving forward with Jake.
“You’re so brave, Rye. We’re almost there,” Jake said again, and he shifted closer to Rye to shield him from the woman’s view. It did little good, however, since the other reporter approached then, too, stepping almost right in front of them.
The man shoved a microphone forward toward them. “Ryan Davis, care to comment on—”
“He has no comment,” Jake interrupted quickly, not caring to let Rye hear Raymond Hirsh’s name spoken even one more time. He pressed his hand gently into Rye’s back to guide him around the man, past the vans, and up onto the cement walkway leading to the testing building. “Almost there. You’re doing great.”
Rye nodded, though his hands still covered his ears, and he kept moving. The reporters followed, but stayed back and didn’t try to ambush them with more questions. They reached the building, and someone else heading inside held open the door. Jake gave them a grateful nod and guided Rye the rest of the way in.
And Rye almost immediately sank into Jake as the door closed behind them. His hands dropped to his sides, and he shook his head, though he stayed quiet.
Carefully, Jake wrapped his arm around Rye’s shoulders and directed him out of the immediate entryway to the building, over to a bench positioned along the wall. As soon as Rye sat, he scooted until his back was against the wall and pulled his feet up onto the bench, hugging his knees to his chest. Then he lowered his forehead to rest on his knees and let out a long, shaky breath.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Jake murmured quietly, and Rye gave a tiny nod but didn’t say anything. Just that tiny nod, though, held enough meaning. Jake could barely imagine how much courage it had taken for Rye to get this far. “Alright, let’s see where we need to go, yeah?”
This time, Rye didn’t respond, but that was okay.
Keeping his hand on Rye’s back to steady both of them, Jake took in their surroundings. He knew they were supposed to check in by 8:55 a.m. with a woman named Denise, who was to be the proctor for Rye’s exams, and the clock up on the wall showed that they were just a couple of minutes late now. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem.
After another minute or so, Jake managed to get Rye back up and moving. A sign on the wall pointed GED test takers down a hallway to the right, and Jake led Rye that direction. About halfway down the hallway, they found the room where Rye was supposed to test—alone and with the door open, per the accommodations that had been approved for him. As they entered, an older womanwith short gray hair stood and greeted them, introducing herself as Denise. She was kind and calm, and she took her time getting Rye checked in and reviewing all the rules for the test session, including all of Rye’s special accommodations. Then Rye got settled at the testing computer, and Jake took his designated seat near the door.
There was nothing else Jake could do now except wait. So that was what he did. He sat and watched and waited as Rye somehow pulled himself together and got started on the first of his four exams.
Eighthourslater,Jakeheld open the door to the hotel room with one hand, balancing a pizza box in the other. Rye had chosen to power through all of his exams without a lunch break, and so neither of them had eaten since breakfast. It had probably been the right choice—if they’d left campus to eat, they might’ve had to brave the media again, and Jake wasn’t sure Rye would have been able to handle that a second time.
As it was, he could tell Rye was barely holding himself together now. He walked past Jake and into the hotel room, one arm gripping his midsection and his shoulders tense. Then he stopped just inside the room and took a long, shuddering breath.
Jake followed him in, but held the door handle to make sure the door closed softly. Then he stepped up behind Rye and carefully set his free hand on Rye’s lower back.
“You’re okay?” he asked quietly. But Rye didn’t answer, not even to nod or shake his head. Instead, he moved away from Jake and farther into the room, over to his bed. Jake frowned, but let him have space. Limping a bit more than he’d like, Jake crossed the small room and set the pizza box down on the desk. Then he busied himself with getting their dinner ready, pulling out a paper plate and napkin for each of them from the stash the pizza place had given him and divvying up the small cheese pizza.
He finished quickly and turned around to Rye. “There we go, hope you’re hungry, I—” He paused, his smile fading as he saw Rye, now sitting on the edge of his bed.
Rye had picked up his phone, which he’d left powered down at the hotel that morning, and he stared at the black screen, his expression tight.
“What is it?” Jake asked, though he didn’t exactly expect a response. Rye hadn’t spoken since that morning, since just before they’d gotten out of the car, which wasn’t surprising given everything.
And instead of answering, Rye lifted his eyes and looked up at Jake, frowning. Then he stood, slowly closed the distance between them, and handed the powered-down phone to Jake, his eyes now downcast.
Jake swallowed hard but took the phone. “You want... me to turn it on for you?” he guessed. When Rye nodded once, Jake glanced down at the phone and hesitated. “Are you worried about, uh... messages from your mom, or the news, or your test results?”
