Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Every Breath You Take"

Saying goodbye to Valerie at the airport this time was harder. Maybe it was the fact that I was still afraid Stephen might try to hurt her. And then there was my mother, who I still hadn't seen since our last conversation. But I think it hit me why it felt so wrong to leave, when I looked over my shoulder and saw her crying. This time, we were leaving her; not the other way around. It felt like we were abandoning her. Up here, she had no family, and possibly no friends. I thought of how frightening that must be, to have your ex as the only person you really know in a place.

I glanced back to where Ms. Harlow and the twins were heading for security, then back at Valerie. She was turning to leave. So I wheeled myself around and went after her. "Valerie!" I called. It made her stop long enough for me to catch up to her. "We were serious when we said you could come with us, you know."

She stood still for a moment, then faced me. Tears stained her face. "Graduation is coming up," she said, putting a small smile on her face as she tried to dry her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. "Just a few more weeks, then I can come down there."

Right. She had school to worry about, too. "Okay," I said slowly. I couldn't make myself take my eyes off of her. "I'll call as often as I can. The others will, too."

She nodded. "I'll be all right. Please, don't worry about me. You'll miss your flight."

I'd miss it for you. "Are you sure?"

She bent down and kissed my cheek. I instantly felt heat rise to my face, and I knew I was blushing something awful. When she took my hand, I could feel the nerves in my fingers begin to tingle. "I'm sorry for everything, Randall," she whispered, tears filling her eyes again.

"There's nothing to apologize for," I replied. I gave her hand a squeeze and we shared a smile.

"You better get going," she said. She threw a glance towards security where the others had stopped to wait for me.

"Yeah..." I let go of her hand. I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I turned and left her there. Yeah, I was ready to be back home, but it made me sick that she would be in Boston by herself.

She said she'd visit in a few more weeks, after she graduates. And there was another thing. Would we all miss her graduation? We had all been together since middle school. We graduated high school together, and had looked forward to graduating college in the same way. Of course...I wasn't going to be there to graduate with them this time, but the least I could do was show up for Valerie's.

I made myself go through security with the others, and I didn't mention the thought to them until we were on the plane and in the air.

"Oh yeah...," Veronica said, crossing her arms. "That sucks."

"It more than sucks," Keto said as he leaned against the window. "I had so much other stuff on my mind, I forgot that we wouldn't be able to be together for graduation. It'll just be me, Veronica, and Arjun..."

"Yeah..." I slumped in my seat. Everything was just going all wrong! "I'm sure her parents will visit to watch her graduate, but still. I hate the thought of us not being there."

"And it's not like we can go, either," Keto grumbled.

"There's always live broadcasts," Veronica suggested with a shrug.

"We'll probably just have to settle for that."

We all went quiet, and I tried to get some sleep to get my mind off of things. It wasn't easy, but eventually I fell into a restless sleep.

It was night by the time we reached home. We dropped Keto and Veronica off at their house, and Ms. Harlow and I started back to the house. I turned my thoughts over to Arjun and wondered what he was up to. Had he gotten rid of Nathan yet? The last text I got from him was before we got on the plane, when he asked us to say hi to Valerie for him.

"Arjun's been rather quiet lately," Ms. Harlow said, her eyes glued to the road. "He usually texts me quite a bit, but I've barely heard from him this week."

She said it like she knew something was up and I had the answers. "Well," I said carefully. "I'm sure he's just busy. Though...I guess I'm a little worried about him myself."

"I hope he's not getting himself into trouble," she said. Her brows knit together with worry. "He's a good boy, but peer pressure can still hurt good boys."

Boy, if only she knew. "Yeah..."

We pulled into the driveway to find the front porch light on. That was a little comforting. It meant Arjun was home, at least. In fact, soon after Ms. Harlow got out of the car, the front door opened and Arjun stepped out, wearing pajamas that consisted of a tight T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Hey, Mom," he said, grinning. He hugged her tightly, then turned to me. "And Randall." Before I could say anything, he went to get my wheelchair out of the backseat and started helping me out of the car.

"Your mom is onto you," I whispered when Ms. Harlow took one of the suitcases inside. "You better explain things to her soon, or she'll find out herself."

He shushed me and frowned. "Quiet! I'll talk to her when I'm ready. Please don't start bombarding me with this as soon as you get home, or I'll send you back to Boston." He gave me a look, then went to get the rest of the bags.

I rolled my eyes and started towards the house.

Maybe going back to Boston wasn't such a bad idea, though.

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Thanks for reading! Sorry I'm a little late.

Listen to "Every Breath You Take" by The Police!

Peace✌️~ A.J.