“Did you have a good time tonight?”He had the nerve to ask me that?I flipped him off behind the safety of the bedroom door.
Did I have a good time? Was I supposed to have a good time? I was so confused.
“Yeah,” I lied.
“The guys said they thought you’ll fit in really well. They look forward to you working at the label.”
I fucking hate you.I wanted him to get the fuck away from my door. I’d never work at that shitty company, and I vowed to never listen to any artist they produced. But for now, I had to play along.
“Okay, sounds good,” I said.
“Goodnight, baby,” he said through the door.
It was around 1:30 in the morning when I finally let go of my cell phone. My hands were cramped from holding it tightly ever since I’d come back to my room. I had debated for hours about texting Elijah. I never could muster the courage, and I didn’t really know what to say to him. Holding the phone in my hand gave me a sense of security, though, because it was a direct route to Elijah. He’d told me to stay by Thomas, but Thomas turned out to be no better than the assholes he’d left me inside with.
I kept my bedroom light on and pulled the charging cord over. I plugged the phone in and set it on my bed beside me and pulled my blankets up over my shoulders. I couldn’t get rid of the shivers and chills.
Hours passed as I laid huddled under the blankets, thinking about what I was going to do. Running away wasn’t an option. I seriously had nowhere to go. After hours of carefully considering my options while getting distracted, I decided that I was going to try to talk to Elijah tomorrow and see what he’d recommend. If I couldn’t get ahold of him, I’d talk to my school counselor on Monday.
I might have slept for an hour, but I was hyped up on adrenaline. I needed to wait for Mom and Thomas to leave the house so I could go to the rowing complex and talk to Elijah. I could have texted him to see if he could tell me when he was available, but I needed to physically see him. Mom and Thomas always went shopping on Saturdays. They’d go to lunch and spend the day spending money.
While I was waiting for them to leave, I put the address in my phone for the rowing complex and had figured out which bus route I needed to take to get there. Once I had everything figured out, I turned off the location tracker on my phone. I was ready to go, it was just a matter of waiting for my mom and the fucker to leave.
Finally, after they’d left, I waited about fifteen minutes before I texted Mom to tell her that I was going to the library to study for finals next month. I pulled on my black hoodie and slung my backpack over one shoulder and made my way on foot to the closest bus stop. Two bus transfers later, I stepped off the bus close to the Aqua Complex.
I walked through the parking lot to see if I could spot Elijah’s BMW SUV. Relief washed over me when it came into view. He was here, thankfully. From the parking lot, I was able to walk along a path leading to the rowing lake. Wow. I was surprised at how long it was.
Along the lake there were lots of benches. I headed toward one, noticing all of the people walking and jogging along the shore. I sat on a bench that was closest to the path that led from the lake to the Aqua Complex building where all of the pools were. Using my hands, I shielded my eyes from the sun and scanned the water, looking at the people rowing. It took me a little while, but I found Elijah in the second closest lane.
Elijah rowed alone in the boat, and each time he breezed by, I focused on his large biceps. He wore a red tank top that exposed those arm muscles. When he pulled up alongside the dock and stood, signaling that he was done, I also stood. I was both eager and afraid to talk to him.Would he be angry that I’d just showed up here?It had been so calm and peaceful sitting on the bench that, for a few minutes, I’d forgotten the terrible reality that I was in. And even though I felt like I never wanted to have sex again with anyone, my heart still ached, and I felt the butterflies when Elijah walked along the path that led to building. He hadn’t seen me yet. I stepped around the bench and called out to him.
“Elijah.”
He slowed his pace and, instead of veering toward the path that would take him to the building, he walked toward me. Elijah smiled and held his hand up to wave at me, and I felt the threat of tears in my eyes.
“Hi! I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” he said as he approached.
“Hi,” I mumbled and quickly closed my mouth tightly so he wouldn’t see my lips quivering.
Elijah’s forehead wrinkled, and he pulled off his sunglasses as he stepped toward me. He tilted his head to the side as he looked closer at me. I kept it together until Elijah gently put his hand on my upper arm.
“Salem, what’s wrong?”
I looked down when I started to cry. Elijah wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his body. I buried my face against his sturdy chest, and each time I sniffled, I inhaled his scent mixed with suntan lotion.
“Salem, talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong and why you’re upset,” Elijah encouraged. “You’re shaking, Salem.”
“Thomas had people over last night,” I began.
“The party?”
“I thought it was a party, but Mom had gone out with her friends. It was just Thomas and his friends from work.” I sniffled again and nuzzled my head closer to his chest. “Thomas went outside, and I stayed inside with a few of them,” I sobbed.
Elijah comforted me and helped me through telling him exactly what had happened. My body seemed to weaken while I leaned against him. I answered all of his questions with as few words as possible or by nodding.
“I don’t want to go home, Elijah,” I cried.
“Salem, I understand.”
