The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Thirty

Jo buckled Ricky into his car seat. She glanced at the tiny house as if waiting for something. Nothing happened. Jo couldn't feel anything but happiness at that moment. She slid into the front seat and turned on her new GPS system. She typed in the address, listened and smiled as the lady directed her east.

As she flew down the road, she couldn't help but feel something tugging her back. Greyson's face flashed through her mind but she ignored it. She was finally free and nothing nor no one was going to stop her.

***

It had been a full week since either Greyson or Scarlett had seen Josephine Hall. Teachers had stopped asking if she was sick. No one knew what had happened to the strange southern girl who had only attended for a few months.

She had left quite the wake, though. Addie Lorren had been knocked down a few rungs. Luke Harris had found the girl of his dreams and a new group of friends. Claire Summers and Tina Derkins announced they were dating. Eli Warren was sort of drifting in space and no one really knew what was going on with him. Frankie Zupther and Harry started dating and were incredibly happy. Ryan and Stacy had broken up and Stacy had moved on while Ryan tried to figure out what had happened to Jo, much to Greyson's annoyance. Scarlett had sunk into a type of depression and only Greyson could get her to smile anymore, not that anyone understood that change.

As for Greyson, he was starting to realize that something must be wrong. Despite having formed a tentative relationship with Scarlett, he felt as though something was wrong with him. He couldn't understand what was missing until the last period of the day on Friday.

Mrs. Illsen forgot and accidentally called Josephine Hall. When no one responded, she tsked to herself and crossed something off her paper. Greyson felt something twinge in his chest. He glanced over at the empty seat next to him and felt the overwhelming sensation of longing. The feeling settled in his chest like a crushing weight.

He didn't quite understand what was going on inside him. He had been furious the night of the dance. When he'd gone to Jo's to finagle the truth from her, the last thing he had expected was a story proving her innocence. He had spent so long assuming that the girl who had run had been in the accident. He hadn't seen the girl on the side of the road like his parents had.

His family had been visiting the Smoky Mountains on a family vacation. Zach had been tied up at work and hadn't been able to come. Greyson spent months wishing they had never gone on that stupid vacation. Then, inexplicably, he found himself a little glad; because if the accident had not happened, he never would have met Jo nor Scarlett.

Greyson missed the entire lecture that day in class. He had firmly made up his mind that he was going to forgive Jo. He felt as though forgiving her would make up for ever horrible thing he had ever said to her. And maybe, just maybe, she'd come back to class. 

As class was ending, Greyson made up his mind. Twenty minutes after the final bell had run, Greyson was parked outside Jo's home. He shut his car off and and marched up to the door. In his mind, he was thinking of all the things he would say to Jo. How he was sorry he had assumed anything about her, how sorry he was for blaming her when she wasn't to blame, how much he wanted her to come back to class. He missed her. He missed the snarky comments she would whisper under her breath during class. He missed her presence and her smile when Scarlett said something funny. He wanted to make her smile. He wanted to make her laugh. He had only heard her laugh once and he had loved it.

Greyson took a deep breath and knocked. Suddenly, everything he wanted to say flew out of his mind as the door swung open. There in front of him was a tall, dark skinned man. He had a few days stubble growing and no shirt, displaying his massive amounts of chest hair.