Protection Overload

Chapter 5

Elizabeth POV~

I woke to pounding on my bedroom door. "Elizabeth! Get up!" I threw my pillow at the door and checked the time. 10:47 AM. "Why!?" I groaned. "We have to go up to the school to get your schedule!" Ryan said through the door. "Again, I ask: Why!?" He sighed and opened the door. "Because this is your second to last year, and you need to pass this year." I groaned and rolled over, almost rolling off the bed. I groaned and pulled myself back out the bed. "Come on! You have to be there in an hour." Ryan walked away from my door and I sighed.

Why does school have to start? Why do I have to go? Just another year to get shoved into lockers while others just sat back and watched, debating whether or not to help me. I walked annoyingly to my closet, pulling out a P!ATD shirt and a pair of skinny jeans with a pair of black converse. I grabbed my phone off the charger and the screen lit up. 3 New Messages: Jeremy Fitzgerald.  I locked my phone and put it in my pocket. I'll check it later. I grabbed my band bracelets and put them on while walking down the stairs. "Would you hurry it up? Come on... we're going to pick up that kid, too." Ryan said as he grabbed his car keys. "Jeremy? Why are we picking up Jeremy?" I asked as I followed him out the door. ¨He called about an hour ago, managed to get our number, saying that he needed to talk to you. But seeing how you were asleep, I told him that I'd have you call him after you woke up.¨ He opened the car door and climbed in as I walked to the other side, opening the door and getting in the car. We closed the doors almost semi-simultaneously. 

¨He told me that it was fine, and then asked if I could come and pick him up for the open house today. I told him sure and he told me his address.¨ I nodded and remembered the messages on my phone. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and unlocked it, pulling up the messages. Jeremy Fitzgerald: Message 1: Hey Liz.... uh... its Jeremy....   Message 2: Please Liz... I need someone to talk to.... please?   Message 3: Elizabeth? Can I possibly stay with you guys..... my dad and I had a bit of a disagreement last night and..... well, I'll tell you later.

My heart started racing. What did he mean by 'disagreement'? "Did Jeremy tell you anything? Like anything going on?" Ryan seemed caught off guard then he relaxed. "Yeah.... he said that he and his dad had a little fued.... but he said he was fine." I sighed and laid my head back against the head rest. I managed to calm down a little as we pulled down the subdivision and drove down past five decent sized houses until we pulled up to a light blue house. The front  yard looked like it hadn't been cut in a couple weeks, the flowers had probably died a long time ago.... which was odd.

The front porch looked like it had been used as a yardsale, but then wasn't successful. On the porch, Jeremy was sitting on the stairs, a pair of headphones on his head, not realizing that we had pulled up. He had his book bag and a duffle bag on both sides of him. Ryan parked the car and I unbuclked my seat belt, opened the door, and stepped out of the car. On the ground close to the garage door, piles of newspapers from a couple weeks ago and this week. I walked down the path towards the porch and noticed something: he had been crying. Even if it was a while since he was crying, I could see the puffiness and his eyes were bloodshot.

I sat by him and put my hand on his shoulder. He jumped and looked over, terror written all over his face. When he realized it was me, he relaxed and pulled his headphones off. "Sorry Liz. You scared me." He said. Now I could definitely tell that he had been crying and screaming. His voice sounded raspy and he sounded sad, no matter how hard he tried to sound happy. "Well come on... let's get going so we can get this over with, then we will talk, okay?" Jeremy looked shocked at first, then he sighed and nodded. I grabbed his duffle bag and found it not heavy, but also not light either. "You don't have to do that, Liz." He said. He tried reaching over for the bag, but I put it aside. "No.... I got it." He tried reaching for it, but I had already placed the bag in the trunk.