Soft Spot

F I F T E E N

I stayed in bed all weekend. Joseph came to see me but I told my mom not to let anyone in. I sent him and everyone else a text that I had the flu and didn't want to get anyone sick. The only person I let see me was my mom, but even she didn't know what was wrong. I couldn't tell her because she would have the cops involved in a heartbeat and I didn't want to draw any attention to myself, I was still the new girl in the city. I felt like I couldn't walk outside of my room or he'd be out there. I didn't want to face a world with him running around, free. I didn't even know he was out of jail already. I couldn't even come to terms with the fact that he's in New York, and he was at my school auction and that he bid on me. It was like a terrible nightmare and I wanted to wake up.

"Katherine, honey you need to get up." My mom said, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I can't mom.." I whispered, laying my head on her lap. She sighed and ran her fingers through my hair trying to comfort me.

"What happened sweetie?" She asked me, "do I need to call your father?" I shook my head and sat up. Calling my father would just make things worse.

"Can I just stay home mom, please?" I pleaded, hoping she'd say yes.

"No, sweetie. Whatever you're going through today you'll be going through tommorow so you might as well get up and face it today." She said, walking out the door and leaving me alone. I grabbed my phone and called the one person I knew would help me without asking questions. It rang a few times before he finally answered.

"Why are you calling me?" He answered, sounding annoyed.

"I need you to do me a favor."

There was a knock at my door, and before I could answer it Nathan walked in, laying on my couch. He tossed me an apple, and I rolled my eyes taking a bite. He smelled disgusting, not surprisingly.  "Are you sure you want to do this, penguin?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me. I nodded and he got up, walking out the door with me following him. "I know where we can go." We walked out the lobby and to his car. I quickly got in, locking the doors behind me.

"Scared to get caught?" He laughed, starting the car and driving away. If only he knew what I was really afraid of. I had asked Nathan to help me skip school. I didn't want to be alone, but I couldn't ask anyone else or they'd get suspicious.

"Something like that." I muttered, leaning my head against the window. A little into the drive I realized that everything looked really familiar. I turned to Nathan and narrowed my eyes at him. "What the hell Nathan?" I asked him just as we pulled into the schools parking lot.

"I asked you to help me skip school and you take me to school?" I snapped at him. He nodded and laughed.

"You can't get over your fears if you don't face them." He shrugged.

"You sound like my mother." I rolled my eyes, and he laughed. "You're a bad friend." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"Who said we were friends?" He grinned, and I rolled my eyes getting out of the car. There were a few people still in the parking lot, and they were all staring at us.

"Oh my god are you guys dating?" A girl asked, and I told her no that I'm still dating Joseph. I walked into the school and to my locker, where Jospeh was.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" He asked me, giving me a hug. I tensed a bit at first, but relaxed and hugged him back.

"Yeah, my mom took care of me." I told him, smiling. I looked around the halls, slightly expecting Carter to jump out at any second.

"Are you okay?" Joseph asked, and I looked at him nodding my head.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked him nervously. Of course I wasn't okay, Nathan just betrayed me.