Whispers on a Wing

Chapter Thirteen

I was lying in bed later that night as I stared up at the cracked ceiling of my bedroom, the moon bright enough for my eyes to trace the lines as they spider webbed across the plaster. My brain just wouldn't shut up, my thoughts going back and forth and around and around until my head spun.

I just couldn't stop thinking about Jake, about our confrontation earlier today. I had been so terrified that he'd guessed what was wrong with me, or if not guessed exactly then definitely at least knew something was unnatural about me, but all he thought was I'd seen something the police wanted me protected for.

The excuse worked, explaining why I didn't have a phone or a social media presence. Why I acted so weird and closed off at school, and why I shunned anyone who wanted to get close to me. The excuse had worked, but did that mean I could then go back to that school? To see him again knowing he didn't believe my standoffish personality I'd perfected over the years?

My brain hurt from over thinking and I groaned in frustration. I'd left schools and towns for far less, sometimes just a curious look from a few to many students had caused me to flee before, so why was I so indecisive about leaving now?

I could blame it on the fact I had no money for a new identity, that I didn't want to leave my home and that school because it was unsafe for me to do so and I had nowhere else to go, but was that really the truth? If I was being honest with myself I knew I had to give some of my hesitant reasoning to Jake. The guy infuriated me, was insufferable and never took no for an answer but... he cared about me.

I wasn't sure how I knew, maybe it was because he'd stayed with me through my panic attack, or maybe it was because he kept coming back, even after I'd told him time and again to go away. I wasn't sure, but maybe that had to count for something.

The next day I found myself getting up and ready for school before I'd even released what I was doing. Had a small part of my brain decided that it was safe for me to stay at this school? Or was this the stupid part of me that was craving human connections, no matter how false they were, no matter how much they were built on lies.

I didn't know, and I wasn't going to give myself time to question it. I had trusted my gut on keeping me alive for so many years, and if it said I was safe to stay here then I was going to listen to it, however stupid that may be.

When I arrived at school, early like always, Jake was already there, waiting in the courtyard on the picnic bench where we'd first met. I smiled slightly as I thought about him, how he'd stuck with me and stayed with me during my panic attack, but quickly shook it from my mind. Even though I'd turned up today, I still wasn't sure what his angle was, why he'd wanted me to come back and stay at this school even after everything he thought he'd worked out about me, but I was at least going to give him a chance.

"You're here early," I stated as I drew close enough for him to hear me.

His back was to me, but upon hearing my voice his whole body whipped around and he sprung up from his seat. "You're here," he sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I said I would," I shrugged as I walked around him and the picnic table before taking a seat opposite him.

"I know," he nodded as he retook his seat, looking far less like the cocky athlete he usually looked around this school and more... reserved. "I just didn't think you'd actually show after everything that happened last night."

"Neither did I," I replied as I dumped my bag on the floor by my feet, the metal buckles jingling loudly in the otherwise quiet courtyard.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked as he looked intensely at me. His bruising had been healing slightly, day by day changing colours, but it still looked pretty painful.