The Ride of My Life (an Ansel Elgort story)

Chapter 15

Lucy's POV

I stumble backwards a bit but luckily I regain my balance quick enough, so I don't fall.

I can't believe I didn't recognize this place.

His place.

But before I could take control of my mind, my body starts running.

Just running.

Away from him.

Ansel's POV

We get to the party and I recognize my buddy, Chase. We walk up and greet each other. Man, I haven't seen him in a while. He's a few years older than I am, but we became friends in school.

I turn to introduce Lucy, and I notice her face has turned very pale. It looks like she's seen a ghost.

"What's wrong-" I try to ask, but before she can answer, she turns and runs in the direction towards the car.

"Does she know you or something?" I ask Chase.

"I don't know, man. She looks kind of familiar." He answers, his words slightly slurred.

Before I can think too much of it, I am chasing after her.

"Lucy! Stop! Come back!!" I yell. After a couple hundred feet, I've caught up to her. I wrap my arms around her so she can't run anymore.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I am gently holding her hands, and through the darkness I can see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It's okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen." I say, with a comforting smile. "What's wrong?"

"Can we leave? I want to tell you somewhere other than, well, here."

"Of course. Anything you want."

Lucy's POV

The car ride is silent and somewhat awkward.

I feel bad for us having to leave minutes within arriving to the party, but I guess since Ansel didn't want to drink it wasn't that big of a deal. So much for my first college party.

We are in a part of town that doesn't look familiar, but Ansel pulls into a driveway.

"This is my house. My parents aren't home." He says, as if reading my mind.

We get out and walk inside. It's a beautiful house. On the wall, there's pictures of Ansel and his siblings. He hasn't told me much about his family, but maybe now that I'm at his house he will.

He leads me up to his room and he sits on the bed. I sit next to him. His room is very clean. After living with two brothers my whole life, I know how a boy lives, but Ansel has gone above and beyond my expectations. He always seems to do that.

Ansel's POV

"So, what was that about?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Are you mad at me? I'm sorry we had to leave." She says.

"No, not at all! I'm just confused. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Alright, well, obviously you know Chase. And so do I. I dated him for like a month or two a few years ago. I should've known not to date an older guy at such a young age." She stares at the floor, trying to remember.

"I was home alone, and he knew that. So, he came over. He came up to my room. I was reading. He pulled me off my bed and started kissing me. It was odd. I could smell the liquor on his breath. I kept telling him to stop, but he wouldn't. He wanted more and more, for us to go all the way. I kicked him in the balls to get him off of me. It was the only way I could. After he recovered from that he was angry. I don't know why I didn't run. But then he hurt me, and I was scared. He pushed me against the wall and kept kicking me. I was trying so hard to fight back, but I couldn't. My brother, Daniel, finally came home and heard us. He got Chase off of me and beat his ass. That's why Daniel and I are so close. He saved my life, Ansel."

"I'm so sorry. If I would've known, I would've never taken you there." I tell her. I mean it. I had never known Chase to do such a thing to a girl but I believe Lucy.

"I would cut Chase some slack, since he was drunk. But he didn't have to hurt me. And I had nightmares about that for so long. I always seem to end up with bad guys." She adds.

"Well, I promise I'd never hurt you." After a bit of silence, I ask, "Lucy, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Ansel, I would love to." She says, with a huge smile on her face.

And then we sleep, my girlfriend and I, in my bed. My arms are around her, protecting her from anything and everything that could possibly harm her.

{thank you all so much for all the votes and comments! Maybe I should end the chapters with cliffhangers more often!}