Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 31

     "You're not going home," Jai said, blocking me from leaving the front door.

    "Jai, I have to," I said, sighing as he made himself a starfish in front of the door.

    After three days of sleeping at Jai's home, I knew I should go home. Even though my heart was racing at the thought of seeing my parents, I knew I couldn't hide from my life forever. This was my life and even if I wished it was a lie, this was it. It was all I had and it was better to deal with it now than later, when things would probably get worse.

     "You don't have to," Jai said, his voice almost pleading. "You can stay here. Live here with me."

    "That's not fair to you. You're already tight on money and if I live here, it'll be worse."

    Jai didn't argue with that because it was true. Since I'd been here for a few days, I learned that Jai worked - a lot. He worked for a few hours every day to help out around the house, which made me sad. School was already tough as it was, but adding work was hell. If I stayed here, I knew Jai would work harder.

    "I hate you parents," Jai said, his eyes turning sad. "You can't go back to them. You... Can't."

    "But I have nowhere else to go." My eyes softened. "Jai, my life sucks sometimes, but other than a few harsh words my parents leave me alone for the most part. I doubt what happened last time will happen again. It was just because... They saw you and they must of noticed I was happy. They hate that, so they freaked."

    Honestly, I wasn't sure if my parents wouldn't hurt me. They never had before but lately, they seemed more willing to and my dad even did the last time. At the thought of it, I shivered and hoped Jai didn't notice. As much as the thought of living with Jai sounded great to me, I didn't want to be a burden.

     "Scarlett, I'm worried," he said, looking unconvinced.

     "I'll be fine," I said, trying to convince myself.

     Jai stared at me for a moment and I stared back at him. With my eyes, I tried to convey confidence to assure him I would be fine. It seems to work because he let his arms drop to his side.

    Reaching for me, he said, "Promise you'll come back if things get bad."

     "I promise," I said, smiling as he wrapped his arms around me.

    Jai brought me to his chest and hugged me tightly. I sighed, feeling safe in his embrace. With what I was about to do, I really needed this. I needed to feel like I had a home to come back to if things got bad. That was why, I hugged Jai as tightly as possible.

*****

     My heart was pounding against my chest as I walked up my driveway. With every step I took to the place I called hell, memories of the day I ran off flashed before my mind. My dad's hands, my parents words, how terrified I had been all came back to me. It hit me hard and suddenly I was trembling.

     I reached the door and grabbing onto the doorknob with a shaky hand, I felt pathetic. The one thing I had never been was scared. I had never cared about how my parents treated me, but suddenly I was terrified. I was shaking at the thought of my parents, which frustrated me.

    Knowing I had to get over it, I pulled out my keys from my pocket and opened the door. I threw it open and stepped in, telling myself I could do this. That I would be okay. Walking to the stairs, I was glad to notice I stopped shaking.

    Once at the stairs, I looked at the living room at the other side, wondering if my parents were there. To my surprise, they were. Sitting together and reading a newspaper side by side, they looked disturbingly peaceful.