My friends stop me before I turn on my street.
“Hey, Jade, there’s a mini-concert this weekend at the park. Wanna come?”
Before I can decline, Amy touches my arm. “You’ve been so distracted and stressed lately. Come chill for a bit, Jade. For us?”
My parents seem glad I’m not being antisocial anymore, at least. I make sure to stay a little longer on the couch between after dinner, making up for my absence. I won’t deny that I’m still worried about a certain dark boy. But with the new plans for the weekend, I try to brighten up and think about girly teenage things for a while.
I’m just about to drift off to sleep when a distinct sound wakes me up.
Pushing myself up, I peer around my darkened room, wondering if I imagined it. Then it comes again, and I track down the source. Climbing out of bed quietly, I creep to the window and peek outside. A shadow moves, and I find myself staring at Tallan. Clinging onto my window ledge.
“What are you doing here?”
Getting over my initial shock, I quickly open the window and let him in. He drops onto my carpet heavily, groaning slightly. I close the window, glancing at my closed door.
“I’m sorry I woke you,” he says quietly. He sits up, huddled on my bedroom floor. He looks like he has no idea how he got here, but he’s not sure he wants to leave either.
I crouch down next to him. “Are you okay?”
His grey eyes catch mine, and he shakes his head once.
“Why weren’t you at school today?”
He shakes his head again, squeezing his eyes shut. “School’s stupid.” A pause. “He got drunk and didn’t come home until four. He-----I----I couldn’t stay there, and I just-----” He sucks in a breath, but before I can tell him that he doesn’t have to say it if he can’t, he chokes out, “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Oh, Tallan.” I reach out a hand, but thought better of it. “Are you, um, hurt anywhere? Do you want me to----?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Not... not like that, what he did... it was...” It takes him a moment of heaving silently. “He didn’t just... hit... me... I don’t---I can’t sleep there...”
I don’t know what to say. He doesn’t deserve this. “Do you want to stay here tonight?” I ask him before I can think it through.
Tallan stares at me, grey eyes wide. “...Stay?”
I nod. “You can have the bed. I’ll just go find some blankets...” I stand to go, but his hand suddenly reaches out and grabs hold of my wrist. We both glance down in surprise at it. I look back up at his face, but he’s averting his eyes. He bites his lip, nervous, tired.
“S-Stay. Please. Don’t leave me... alone.”
Softening my expression, I put my hand over his. “Okay. Okay.”
He scrunches over into a ball on his side of the bed, facing the wall, breathing still uneven. I make sure to stay on my side, just enough so he knows I’m there, but that I’m not touching him exclusively. I know by now that he doesn’t do contact. Though I don’t know how I’ll fall asleep now, with a boy lying next to me.
I’ve been staring at the ceiling blankly for some time now, and I notice his breathing has slowly faded into a steadier rhythm. I let out a sigh of relief. That’s good. He’s asleep. Perhaps he can actually get some rest now. He looks like he needs it. My worried mind finally at peace, I slowly drift off to sleep as well.
YOU ARE READING
Sketches and Scars
Krótkie Opowiadania"But once you start noticing something----especially someone---- it’s not as easy to just go back to life before." He was that kid in the back you didn't know existed except when the teacher did roll call. He was that kid that got shoved into in the...
