I hung up the phone, wearily glancing around the room. I forced myself out of the bed and changed into a fresh pair of clothes, grateful that my roommate seemed to already be up and gone. I glanced at the phone and realized that it was only seven.I slung my duffle bag over my shoulder and crept towards the main entrance of the building. There was an employee sitting at the front desk. I huffed in frustration, gritting my teeth, and jumped out of my skin when a hand landed on my shoulder.
My hand flew to my chest, and I gaped at Ms. Conners.
“If you leave now, you won’t be able to return.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
She gave me a disappointed smile, before wishing me the best of luck. Ms. Conners stood at the door as I ran to the car, shoving my duffle in the backseat. Adrian didn’t wait for me to buckle before peeling away from the curb.
I could feel his eyes on me, the silence filled with questions, but I ignored him and curled up against the door with my knees tucked to my chest. I flinched at his hand landing on my knee, and he quickly pulled it back, releasing a sigh.
I clenched my jaw, gripping my knees closer to my chest.
“Shiloh. Talk to me. What happened?”
I sighed, gathering the energy required to relay all the fucking details. “He took me to the compound. To someone he referred to as a brother, but I know they’re not actually related. Just a term they use to refer to other church members. Anyways,” I sighed again, closing my eyes. “We got there, and it was segregated by men and women. I was in the kitchen with the women, and we served the men their food. But I guess I fucked it up because I touched Theodore’s shoulder. Anyways, the wife, her name is Beth, she apologized—completely unnecessarily—and then while we ate the women explained the rules and shit. And shortly after we left and he told me that he would find a place for me at Eden if I wanted.”
I opened my eyes when Adrian didn’t say anything for a long while and found him scrubbing at the stubble on his face. He shook his head, muttering something under his breath.
“It’s Thursday.”
“Huh? Yeah. It’s Thursday. Why?” Adrian looked over at me like I’d grown a second head.
“School.”
He laughed, reaching over and ruffling my hair. I used it as an excuse to punch him in the pec and he just laughed harder.
“Fuck off. Did you even finish high school?”
He rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the road. “Yep. Graduated with my bachelor’s degree magna cum laude, too. That’s Latin for with great honor. 3.89 GPA, baby.”
I ground my molars and sneered at him. “I’m sure that’s real helpful on your resume. 3.89 GPA. Gang member. Murderer. Rapist. Stalk—”
“Woah. Hold up. You’re fixing to get me real pissed right now bringing up that shit. I amnota rapist.”
I scoffed. “Sure. ‘Cause fucking an unconscious minor totally doesn’t count as rape.”
“Okay, first of all, I didn’t actually fuck you. I just pretended. Something you don’t seem too grateful for. And second, you know damn well the only other option was getting killed.”
“Go eat a sweaty bag of shit-dipped dick tips.”
He choked on air and busted out laughing, again. I debated throat-punching him but figured that wouldn’t help me get home any faster.
“Hangry. I think you’re hangry. I’ll run through McDonald’s. What do you want?”
“I don’t care.”
I dozed off before we reached the drive-thru and startled awake when the car suddenly stopped. I looked around, confused to see that we were already in front of our apartment building. He handed me a bag and an orange juice.
“I’ll text you about a debrief with Carlos. Probably won’t be until Saturday because he’s packed with pre-Thanksgiving shit for city hall.”
“Kay.”
I stood out of the car, stretching before reaching for the duffle and food and heading inside the building. When I made it upstairs, the clock on the stove read almost ten. I managed to scarf down all the food and the OJ while sitting at the kitchen island.
I powered on my phone, reading through all the missed texts and calls from Enoch and Jae. The urge to cry was overwhelming and I cursed myself for being so goddamn emotional. I hightailed it to the shower before I wallowed in self-pity any longer.
Feeling a little more like myself, smelling like Javi’s shower soaps and dressed in a mixture of my leggings, Javi’s shirt and Enoch’s sweatshirt, I grabbed my backpack and decided to go to school for the rest of the day. If nothing else, I wanted to see Enoch. And Jae. I wanted to pretend everything was normal. I didn’t want to think about everything that happened the past week.
