“Have you been saved?” he asked me. The heavy scent of alcohol and cigarettes made my nose burn.
I shook my head.
“Do you need saving?” he asked, leaning in a bit too close.
I shook my head and looked the other way. While the man beside me rambled on, I focused on an auto repair garage. The stack of old, beat-to-hell tires became blurry as I thought about the fight and getting kicked out.
“Do you have a cig?” The man leaned against me. Startled, I quickly shook my head and stood. “Then what good are you?” The man got off the bench and ranted out loud as he walked up the street.
That wasn’t going to be me.
I opened Atlas’ contact entry and took a deep breath. Even though it was just after midnight in L.A., it was after three in the morning on the East Coast. So Atlas would see a text when he woke up. I was still shaken by everything at home, and instead of pressing the option to text him, I accidentally hit the option to call. Realizing what I did, I quickly ended the call and opened the text string. I was in the midst of texting him when the screen switched to an incoming call from him.Fuck.
“Hello,” I said after I put the phone to my ear.
“Ryder, it’s Atlas.”
“Hi, yeah. Um, sorry about that. I dialed you in error when I was trying to text you.”
“Is everything all right?” Just by the caring tone in which he spoke to me, I had a feeling he knew something wasn’t right. “Ryder?”
“I was going to text you to see if there was still an open spot for me at Omnia Academy.”
“There is, yes.”
“Okay. I’d like to come.”
“Ryder, what happened?”
I paused and leaned forward over my knees.How do I start?As I stared at the ground, I could feel the dried blood on the back of my neck crack and separate due to the skin stretching.
“I told Pam and Roger tonight that I wasn’t going back to the community college and that I was going to Omnia Academy.” I paused long enough to swallow and take a breath. “I got into a fight with Roger?—”
“Did he put his hands on you?”
I closed my mouth tightly and stared at the wet spot on the cement that my tear just made. I felt myself shaking from the inside, and the sidewalk became completely blurry. I was congested and had to sniffle or else risk snot running out of my nose.
“Ryder, where are you?”
I sniffled hard and sat up. I leaned against the bench and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
“Just out.”I got kicked out and have nowhere to go.
“Tell me specifically where you are.”
“Sunset Boulevard and Orange Grove.”
“Okay, where? Are you in a restaurant? A friend’s house? Are you safe?”
“I’m okay. I’m on a bench by a bus stop.” I glanced in the direction of the man who was looking for cigarettes.
“Ryder, are you hurt?”
“No. I’m okay.” I sniffled again and took a deep breath. “I got kicked out. Roger kicked me out. I’m not going back there.”
“It’s going to take me about six hours to get to you?—”
“What? No. Um… You don’t have to get to me. I’m okay and can crash with friends until it’s time for me to start school. I have final exams at the community college next week. So I’ll be okay. I’ll work and keep out of trouble when I’m not at school.”
