I could tell he was popular. He’d bring some people around,mostly girls. He also had that whole bad boy thing going for him, his tattoos sealing the deal. I noticed he already had a few, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he had a fake ID or if he was getting inked in someone’s house, much to Julius’s disapproval. Kraven didn’t give a shit. He did what he wanted without considering the consequences or the people he hurt in the process, particularly his brother.
I wasn’t sure if Julius knew I helped Kraven that night. I didn’t tell him. He was furious enough with how reckless he’d been. Dr. Matthews came over to fix him up. They were lucky to have him as a neighbor. He lectured Kraven the entire time, saying he fractured his ribs and how it could have been much worse.
I was surprised Kraven didn’t cop an attitude with him, making me think he could respect authority despite getting in trouble with it at school. The animosity between the brothers grew increasingly intense as the days passed, especially after this incident.
Julius was convinced that Kraven was doing it on purpose to get a rise out of him, and the odds were that he was right. Nonetheless, there was something deeper, darker, a truth hidden in plain sight with both of them, one they wouldn’t give power to. Maybe it was those secrets that drew me to them, making it easy to find them in a crowd. They each stood out in their own way.
When Julius’s eyes bore into mine, finding me from a distance, it made me catch my breath. He walked over to me with that same swagger and confidence he exuded every time we were together. It was another thing I liked about him. He was consistent and never put on a phony act to impress anyone around him.
I knew in my heart he wasn’t showing me anything other than who he was, and I tried not to let him get to me.
But in reality, he was.
I loved having a friend, although I didn’t know the meaning of the word, having never experienced it before him. I quickly understood it was a personal feeling that was indescribable. Over the past two months since we met, it still felt as if I’d known him forever. Every day that went by was another gift of having him in my life.
Once his tall, muscular stature towered over my much smallerframe, he gazed down at me with the same sincere expression he always wore. There was something about him, since day one, that I couldn’t tear my gaze away from. A magnetic pull that I was instantly drawn to.
It came from something deeper.
More meaningful.
A connection I couldn’t explain occurred every time we were together, and it only seemed to grow stronger each time we saw one another. The familiarity in his strong regard made me weak in the knees and heavy in the heart. I hoped he didn’t notice. But I was aware he was the type of guy who would notice everything.
Especially when it came to me.
Neither one of us said a word, but time had proved we didn’t have to. Our eyes spoke volumes, exactly the way they always had, causing the nervous feeling in my core to subside as if it had never been there to begin with.
“Hey, Mouse,” he greeted. Licking his lips, he eyed me up and down with another familiar affection that stirred my emotions.
He started calling me that one afternoon, and I smiled with a glimmer in my stare.
“I got something for you.” I watched as he reached into the pocket of his jeans, showing me a cell phone, and handed it to me. “This is for you.”
I shook my head, immediately pushing the phone back to him. This present was too much. He was already letting me stay at his house for free. I couldn’t accept this, too, along with all the stuff he’d bought me. It wasn’t right. He’d give me money every week, saying it was for anything I needed, and I hated receiving it.
When I didn’t, I’d just find it in my bag or in the pockets of my clothes. Even with that money, I had no way to pay for this cell phone. I was hoping to get a job, but without an ID, it was challenging. I was too scared to try to get one, afraid CPS or the cops would find me.
I thanked my lucky stars every day they still hadn’t, and I was beginning to think that maybe they weren’t even looking. What were the odds of that… I caught whispers about kids just running away from the system, never to be seen or heard from again. I knew it was possible, but I didn’t know their circumstances.
Are they hiding from unintentional murders, too?
I tried not to think about that. There was no way I could outrun my nightmares. I began dreaming about the Bates, mostly about the husband. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, feeling his hands around my throat.
It was an accident.I’d repeat it in my head until I found sleep again, only to be slapped in the face with the reality that I…
May have killed someone, and I had to live with that every day.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
ISLA
I firmly shookmy head again, trying to get my point across to Julius. He didn’t let up, not that I expected him to.
“You need a phone, and it’s prepaid,” he insisted. “Not that you’ll be using any of the minutes to talk,” he teased with a grin. “But at least this way, we can text.”
He was working a lot more, taking on odd jobs. Getting to the house later and later. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the idea of being able to text him whenever I wanted, not because I wanted to keep tabs on him or anything like that, but more from the fact that I’d be able to actually talk to him without having to write it down on a piece of paper.
