DEAD INSIDE

(15)

"Hey Sweetie, you've got some mail, I left it in the kitchen for you." My mother called from the sofa where she was lying down in front of the TV.

"Ok..." I said, immediately dreading a new message from the psycho.

I found the small envelope on the counter and frowned when I saw that it had been posted in Seattle.

My father's family was from there.

I quickly tore the envelope open and sure enough, it was a letter from my Dad.

I dropped it on the counter and took a couple of steps back, suddenly filled with the same uncontrollable anger as the evening before.

The run had helped then. Maybe it would help again now, I thought, and headed to my room to get changed.

I was half-way there when something occurred to me. My mom would be devastated if she fell upon his letter so I ran back to kitchen and retrieved both the envelope and the letter.

Once in my room, I put the letter in the drawer of my bedside table and quickly got changed.

"I'm going for a run..." I called and didn't wait for an answer before leaving.

I groaned when I caught a glimpse of a dark car resembling Scott's parked in front of the house. Not seeing him today had been a relief that I'd thought would be permanent.

I guessed I was wrong.

He must have had a sense of déjà-vu as I started running like my life depended on it.

Only this time, it hurt a lot more because of my still open scratches so that I had to stop after half an hour. As I paid attention to my surroundings, I saw that I was at the park by our old Junior school.

I slowly walked to a nearby bench and plopped down stiffly.

I closed my eyes as the pain seemed to be throbbing now that I had stopped running.

"You're ok?" My eyes popped open at the familiar voice and I did a double take when I saw Gregory Hilton himself crouched in front of me.

He was wearing sunglasses and a cap, probably not to attract attention on his presence in a forbidden zone of Newcastle.

"If I wasn't in so much pain I'd probably be insulting the papa out of you..." I groaned. "But I can only ask you nicely what on earth you're doing here!?"

"I wasn't supposed to get out of my car but I saw you were in pain so..." His voice trailed and even though I couldn't see his eyes because of his dark Ray Bans, I knew that he felt just as awkward as I did. "I'm actually only now realizing how stupid of a decision that was..." He added. "I supposed you don't trust me enough to hop in my car so we can talk?"

Oh God! I thought. After Milo and Scott, Gregory Hilton was suddenly popping up in my life, too. What on earth did I do to deserve this?

I took a deep breath.

"Is it relevant?" I asked. "I mean, you're not going to tell me you fancy getting into my pants or something shady like that, are you?"

"I get all the sex I need with chicks from NewEast and even though I'll admit I had a small boner when you hugged me the other night..." My grimace made him chuckle. "I am fully aware of your deep dislike of me, Alison... It's like, written all over your body and I'm not one of those dudes who enjoy the chase." He slipped his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "So to answer your question, it is relevant. At least for me, anyway..."