Creep

Pushed away (ch. 12)

I take the bus to the hotel and open the door to our room. All the lights are off. "Jonah?!" I yell, searching the small area. I look under the bed to see him cradled up, shaking.

"They're coming." He whispers so low I can barely understand him. "Who?" I ask. "They have guns." He replies. "Come on get out from under there. I switch on the lights and have to pull him out myself. He starts sobbing. It wasn't like a normal sad sob. It was a cry for help. I hold him. I run my fingers through his long matted hair. And he cries for hours.

I wake with a startle. Jonah is walking around the room. "What're you doing?" I mumble and realize he must have carried me to the bed when I fell asleep. I try hard not to blush. "Cleaning. This rooms a mess." He smiles and continues tidying up. I stand up and take a deep breath. "What was wrong earlier?" I ask. He ignores me and I grab onto his arm to stop him.

"What was wrong?" I ask again. "Nuthin." He tries to pull away. "You keep getting super sad and then you're fine again." I point out. "Mhm." He rolls his eyes. "Tell me why." I demand. "None of your business." He pulls away and the force causes me to fall to the ground.

I blink back tears as I get back on my feet. "Tell me what is going on." I demand again, speaking harshly. "I'm just helping you so you don't have to go to the orphanage." He snickers. "Why would I tell someone I barely know?!" And with that, he walks out of the room.

I don't bother chasing after him. I pull my phone out of my back pocket to see a million text messages and missed calls. And A voicemail from Theo. I press play. "Hey...Cassie I'm worried about you. So is Harlee and Talia also a bunch of people from school.. So call me or something." It ends there.

I check the time, 7:09. School starts soon. I change into a pair of blue jeans and a tight plain black top that I brought from home and head to school.

Imogen doesn't show, which isn't surprising. I tell Theo what I found out the day before and Harlee, Ben and Talia join us at the table. A few othersend up sitting with us too, one of Talia's friends Brandon who has pitch black hair and piercings, and a new girl who was friends with Ben named Martie. It was the first time I actually enjoyed lunch in ages, and it ended too soon and I dreaded having to go back to class.

About an hour after school I get a call from Bella. "Hey Cass I don't have a lot of time but my court hearing is tomorrow at 6:00, it would be nice if you could come." She says. "Okay I'll be there." I respond. "See you then." The call ends.

I go back to the hotel and see if the key card still works and it does, which means he didn't cancel the rent. I can't stay much longer. I'm sure he doesn't want me to.

I walk into the bathroom to take a shower, but when I notice a thing of pills on the counter. Anti-Depressants. I take a few, shower and change into a black dress.

I call up everyone from lunch, and we head to a club Ben knows about. The flashing lights and blaring of music makes me feel alive.