Run Away

Chapter 17

When Sandra entered the kitchen, she indicated to Brian with a nudge of her head that she needed to talk to him in private and together they left the kitchen, leaving Owen, Zane and Kelly sitting at the table.

"What do you think is going on?" Kelly asked her older brother and his friend who sat silently, oblivious to the events that had been happening over the previous week. "What happened at the lake party? And why do you have a black eye?"

Zane looked to Owen, waiting for him to answer. When he stayed silent, avoiding both sets of eyes on him, Zane just offered Kelly a half smile.

"Fine," Kelly moaned, sick and tired of being treated like a baby in the family, she was a teenager, nearly an adult, and they still treated her like a child. "Don't tell me. I'm sick and tired of being left out of everything. I'm going to Melissa's."

Without another word, Kelly stood up from her chair in frustration and headed towards the front door. The boys watched in silence as Kelly stormed out of the house, letting the door slam close as she did.

Sandra heard the bang of the door and rushed back into the kitchen, with Brian close behind her.

"What happened?" Sandra asked as she looked around the room, "Where's Kelly?"

"She went to Melissa's," Zane replied, watching Owen sit uncharacteristically quiet beside him.

"Mum, what's going on?" Owen questioned his mother, standing up and walking around the table to face his parents, "Something is going on with Evie that you're not telling us."

"Don't use that tone with your mother," Brian warned his son.

"It's complicated," Sandra spoke gently, a hand resting on her husband's arm to calm him, "Evie is a complicated case, I don't know exactly what."

"I still think we should be contacting the authorities," Brian turned to face his wife while ignoring the confusion on the two teenaged boys' faces.

"That's something we need to discuss with Evie," Sandra replied quietly. "I just need to gain her trust enough for her to open up to me, she obviously has no care for the authorities, I've seen that for myself. Let's just give her some time. We are all probably just overreacting to nothing for all we know."

"What about the safety of our family," Brian argued back at his wife, indicating a hand towards the boys, "Our children?"

"Why would we not be safe with Evie being here?" Owen enquired, lost in confusion, not knowing exactly what his parents were saying. He had believed there was more to Evie than what he knew, but he never thought it would be serious enough that his father would be concerned for their safety or a need for the police to be involved.

"Her right hook seems pretty dangerous to you," Zane joked from where he still sat at the table, but stopped smiling as soon as he registered the serious looks on everyone else's faces around him.

"Does this have anything to do with her freaking out last night?" Owen turned his attention back to questioning his parents.

"For now, all you boys need to know is Evie needs your support and keep her close," Sandra explained.

"What do you think we've been doing for the past week?" Owen exploded, "I've missed many classes because of Evie. What more do you want from me for some stranger you found on the side of the road and decided to adopt?"

Owen had never spoken to his parents in such a way, but the secrets and tension in the house was getting too much, all because of a girl. Evie was hiding something and it seemed his parents weren't letting on how much they knew. His father was concerned for their safety, was Evie dangerous? What had she done in the past two years? What bothered Owen more is the feeling that he actually felt protective of Evie.