Returning Back (Drake)
"Where is Adam?" I asked Dakota.
He dropped his spoon in his soup in surprise, his gray eyes wide. "I-I thought you knew where he was going."
Pete took a bite of garlic bread, looking thoughtful. "I thought I saw him in the parking lot, but I wasn't sure."
I groaned and pushed myself away from the table. Raven, who was busy stacking bread slices, glared at me when they fell.
"What the hell, man?"
"Adam went to go see Theo," I growled. "I told him that he'd get hurt. Are they anywhere in here?"
"Go ask Britney, Violet, and Andrew," Dakota said cautiously, pointing to the trio across the cafeteria.
I got up and walked over to them. "Hey," Violet waved. "It's the gay fuckboy."
"Where's Adam?" I asked Britney.
"I dunno," she said. "I don't keep track of his whereabouts." She glared at me. "Aren't you being a little to controlling of him?"
"No," I said. "I'm trying to look out for him."
"Miss Poole." A tall man walked up to the table and set down a paper in front of Violet. "Mr. Carson is waiting for your daily therapy session in the camp hospital."
Violet looked down at the paper. "This says it's in room 212," she said in confusion. "I usually go to room 303."
"That room is under renovation," the man said. He left briskly before she could say anything else.
Violet shrugged and crumpled up the paper and threw it at me. "Go fuck a boy, you fag."
"No thanks," I snapped.
The boy next to Violet chuckled. "I didn't know gay boys had attitude," he said. "By the way, have you seen Theo?"
"I thought I saw him walking toward the camp hospital," I said, unsure why I was lying about it. "Maybe he didn't feel well. I don't care about him."
Violet narrowed her eyes at me as Britney inspected her manicured nails. Andrew, the boy next to Violet, waved me away. "Go find your boyfriend, queer."
I left, sensing that I wouldn't be able to get any answers from them. Dakota looked concerned as I sat down at our table.
"They don't know where he is?" Pete asked.
"No. Maybe Theo took him without anyone's knowledge." I shook my head. "What if Theo forced him to go with him?"
"Maybe he went on his own terms." Raven chewed on bread. "He's his own person, Drake. Perhaps he wanted to make friends with Theo."
"Ha. I doubt that."
"Wait, there he is." Dakota pointed to the door as I turned.
Adam smiled at us, a cup of coffee and a sandwich in both hands. "Hey, guys." He sat down next to me. "What's up?"
"Where were you?" I exploded. I couldn't believe Adam was sitting here acting casual when he just went to grab coffee with the guy that was forcing himself upon him. "I was worried sick! Why didn't you tell me you were going out with him?"
"You told me you didn't want that," Adam snapped, suddenly angry with me. "I just wanted to see what he wanted and all he wanted was to talk at a coffee shop."
"He hurt you, Adam!" I said. "He could've done something worse to you!"
"Well, he didn't!" Adam retorted. He sipped his coffee silently, then looked at me with a kind of expression. "I have to talk to you later."
"Why not now?"
"Because it's for your ears only." Adam looked at our comrades as they groaned. "Sorry."
"I just want to hear the juicy gossip," Raven said. "Tell us one little bit please!"
Adam hesitated a little. "Theo said-"
"Theo doesn't care about you!" I snapped.
Adam flinched away from me, his gaze turned from my face to the ground.
Guilt stabbed me in the chest and I reached out to hold Adam's hand. "Don't touch me," he said quietly. Adam stood up and walked away with his coffee. "I'm going to my cabin."
"It's not even cabin bible study time yet," Dakota stammered.
I watched him leave, then stood up myself and followed him out of the cafeteria, then toward the parking lot.
Half way there, I smelled the familiar trace of cigarettes. I turned around to look for the sorce of the stench.
"Hey, kiddo," I heard my father's voice speak up behind me. The sharp point of a knife poked me in the back. "Took your mother long enough to tell me where this place was. Too bad I had to leave her body home."
"What the hell did you do to her?" I growled.
He chuckled lightly and started pushing me toward the cars in the parking lot. "You'll find out soon. It's not like she'll be going anywhere."
I glanced around in a panic, hoping to find someone to help me. I saw Theo, sipping coffee from a straw, on the roof of his car. He glanced in my direction as my dad forced me to keep walking. His eyebrow raised and his nose wrinkled, then he went back to drinking his coffee.
Of course he won't help me, I thought angrily. Only thinks of himself.
He then did something I barely didn't notice. He gave my a thumbs up, not a positive one, but one I think was meant to mean "I see your situation".
My father pushed me toward his beat up truck and forced me in, quickly getting in the driver's seat and started the engine.
The loud roar of the truck startled me, making me hit my head on the ceiling. In the side mirror, I saw Theo writing something down and walking away, tossing his coffee cup away as he disappeared around the corner of a building.
"Son," my father spoke up. "I just missed you, son. So that's why I'm taking you to California with me. No one will take you away from me now."
"I don't want to go with you." I growled. "I want to stay here.
My father slapped me. "Shut up, you fucking queer! I'm taking you home with me and that's final!"
He pushed on the gas and drove out onto the road and we soon left the camp in the dust. I attempted to unlock the car, but I heard a click and looked over at the revolver my father held in his hand as he drove.
"If you want to live," he said, "I'd recommend staying in the truck."
I sat quietly the rest of the way, scared he'd blow my brains out if I said or did anything.
