Summer Jam (gxg)

17. Safe

The next day, I finally answer Rachie's strings of texts, and she calls me to nearly scream at me for ignoring her for "an awfully long eternity". I chuckle because I didn't think it would go any differently, and I did miss her little dramatic side.

We make plans to hang out tomorrow, as I am "still not feeling too well" today. She seems overjoyed by it, already planning to go by bike to get ice cream by the river at my favorite spot. No matter how much I wish I could ignore how she makes me feel, I still can't help but to blush a little.

***

I haven't even drank my coffee yet, but I am already outside and running. This morning I was texting Rachel and smiling, but that already all feels like it was long ago.

"I don't recognize my own girl."

I try to stop my mom's voice from echoing on repeat in my head. I was talking to Sarah on the phone, mom must have heard...

"That friend of yours, Sarah... you two seem close."

Or maybe she saw? What if she found my phone?

"Why are you even seeing that girl? There really are not enough men at school?"

I stop running, panting and hurting and my heart breaking and my tears flowing. I stop in my tracks, unable to go farther.

10 more minutes and I will reach the river. 10 more minutes.

"What did I do to cause that"

I run again, ignoring the pain in my throat, focussing on the pain in my thighs. I run and run until I reach the old part of town, until I see the water. In my safe place, away from everything, I finally breathe in.

If only dad had been home.

I close my eyes, feeling the breeze on my face, listening to the flow of the water. I hang on to the first structure I get my hands on to stop myself from collapsing.

Why didn't I deny anything?

When I finally catch my breath, after a few hours letting the wind refresh my thoughts and mess up my hair further, I grab my phone to call a taxi. I do not know where I am going yet, but I can't stay here forever.

"Where are we going, Miss?"

"To Sarah."

"Where?"

I give him the name of Sarah's dorm building, and he plugs the address into his GPS.

The drive goes by like a dream, and before I even know it I am at Sarah's door. I knock a few times with no answer, so I settle with sitting on the ground, my back against the door. It doesn't take long before exhaustion takes over and I fall asleep.

Sarah wakes me up when the sun is already down, and she helps me back inside. She hugs my exhausted body, laying me down in her bed next to her without explanation. After a few little kisses on my forehead and cheeks, I fall asleep in Sarah's comforting embrace.

I have found my new safe place.

♡♡♡

If anyone is still reading, know that you can thank a cute girl for the update!

And isn't that safe feeling the best? ♡