"Hello? Earth to Bella?" Katie waves her hands frantically in front of my face, pulling me away from my imagination and back into the real world scurrying on around us. Students left and right are skidding out of their seats and out the classroom door, their backpacks barely zipped up before they get up to make their leave.
I sigh, tuning into Katie as she bends down to get my own bag up off the floor, shoving it into my hands tiredly. "You're usually the first one out the door when the final bell rings. What's up?" Katie urges. Her eyes look curiously over to me, not bothering to pay attention to any of our mindless classmates that are pushing through us and trying to get to the front doors of the school. Katie begins to follow suit but I quickly pull her back, pushing her in the direction of the closest stairwell. There might be a couple or two littering the space, but it'll be much more private than right here in the middle of the hallway.
"I want to talk to you about something." I tell Katie distractedly. We abruptly come to a stop right next to the bottom of the stairwell, plopping ourselves onto the floor very ungracefully to speak. "It's been bothering me since I read it at lunch."
Katie furrows her eyebrows, nudging my shoulder with her own to urge the information out of me. "What is it? Let me see." She instructs, impatiently jutting her hand out in front of me for the information.
I dig my phone out of my pocket and throw it at her, huffing out a long breath as she breaks the code and starts to snoop. "Go to the last text message." I inform her, tentatively leaning backwards so that my elbows prop me up against the cool tiled floor.
"Come over. It's important." Katie mumbles, reading the message out loud for the both of us to hear, as well as the pair swapping spit just a few feet behind us. She's silent for a moment, the gears slowly clicking into place in her head as recognition begins to cloud her vision. "This is from Derek. He lives with Caden now though, doesn't he?" Her eyes are wide as the question she already knows the answer to leaves her lips.
"Yeah." I offer up the information anyways, the admission doing nothing to stop the dread from spreading in my chest. I can't help but fear that this message is concerning Caden no matter how hard I've tried to make myself believe otherwise. I know he isn't mine to worry about anymore, but I can't seem to help myself. When it comes to Caden, I'll always care.
What worries me even more is that the message could be about Max. He's had danger following him from the moment he was born, and I can't help but think that this time it won't be any different. He's supposed to be safe with Caden and Derek now, but after receiving Derek's message this afternoon, I can't be so sure.
"Are you scared about seeing Caden?" Katie asks, looking to me sympathetically for all the wrong reasons. She places a gentle hand on top of my knee and smiles, trying to look encouraging for this big step. "I get it Bella, it can be scary."
"What?" I ask, slightly taken aback by how wrong she is. "No- that's not why I'm scared. I'm not scared to see Caden." I tell her truthfully. I shake my head again, thinking about her words once more. I'm almost tempted to laugh, but I'm too high strung to do such a thing right now.
Katie looks at me genuinely confused, slowly placing my phone back on my lap so she can fiddle with her own. "Then what's got you so worried?" She flips her phone distractedly into the air and watches it half-heartedly as it falls back down onto her leg, only to pick it back up again to repeat the action until I speak.
"What if something is seriously wrong?" I press, my voice raising gradually as each word leaves my lips. I've been trying to mask my constant state of worry the entire afternoon, the task pushing me to my absolute breaking point. Sitting here right now I feel like I could explode, the worry that's been building up inside me already bursting through the seems of my skin. "They could be in trouble again, Katie. Or they could be hurt! What if Caden's dad found them?" I ask, the steady stream of words coming from my lips more for me than they are for Katie. It's helping restrain me from standing up to punch the nearest wall.
YOU ARE READING
Saving Max
Teen Fiction"What are you doing here?" I ask Caden, ushering Max into the hospital room and closing the door behind him, the sound echoing off the walls. "I'm here to see the person who's been helping my brother. I wanted to say thank you, and let you know that...
