The Opposite Of Good

[19] High Over The Speed Limit

[Justin's POV]

Mornings. The part of the day from midnight to midday. For me, mornings meant the start of yet another unwanted day, the start of yet another hopefully not full of negative events day. But in a life that's considered to be Justin Hazard's, 'negative' events became regular events.

It has been like that for a long time, to the point where living my life did not bother me anymore. Throughout the years, I've been isolating myself from a lot of things in life, isolating myself from people whom have wanted to have positive interactions with me, isolating myself from the regular things that teenagers do these days such as these high school parties...i basically don't care for them.

No one knows just WHO Justin Hazard is. Everyone at school is afraid of me and I couldn't have had it any other way. That's a reputation that I've built for myself, I've made sure to never be crossed.

I don't want people discovering anything about my life simply because I don't want anyone to be put in danger. I've been avoiding having someone get close to me in any way possible because any name mentioned along with mine immediately becomes a target to many people. An endangered one.

I live in a hazardous world and the danger is inevitable.

I've forbidden myself from having any kind of close relations with anyone because of not wanting anyone meddling in my business but she is a different story.

Although I've got no intention of perusing anything inappropriate with her, it's just that living under the same roof as her sometimes gets me feeling probably too relaxed...

When I learnt that Amara's uncle was abusing her, the first thought that came to mind was to crush that sorry excuse for a man like a bug because I didn't in no way understand why someone would do that kind of cruelty to their niece.

Amara is so sweet, kind, caring...

She once told me herself that she felt a lot better and safer when she's with me, but I could see that that's not all. I get the feeling that she's not telling me everything, that there's more to the story. Yes I agree that abuse isn't something that you can freely converse on any given day, but I thought she'd be open with me.

She, like me, has hidden woes of her own that she's not yet ready to share with the world. And I'm not here to judge her but to fucking support her because that is what she needs.

According to me, she's too much of an unflawed, pure soul to be going through so much trauma and she's still so young. I really despise her fucking uncle for causing her so much pain...I could never imagine her crying out of pain when I'm the one protecting her.

I once told Amara that I'm right by her side now. I know my world is complicated enough to involve her in but she's got no one to go to. And I could never abandon her.

Without further thoughts, I decided it was time to get out of bed. The time on my phone read 09:45... Amara is usually still in her bedroom by now. I really didn't know what time she wakes up because I'm always finding her awake in her room.

My bare feet touched the cold wooden floor as I made way to open the curtains. Not much sunlight was there because of the current season, but it5s good to know that spring is coming in a month's time.

I was shirtless and only had boxers on. If I was still living alone, I would probably spend the whole day indoors like this but now I have to put my clothes on to avoid making her feel uncomfortable.

So I gabbed a pair of pants and pulled on a sweater without bothering to put a shirt on first.

I exited my room and made way to the bathroom which was just the next door. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face.

I don't shower in the morning unless I have to attend school or go somewhere else.

Today all I'm planning to do is stay indoors with Amara and watch a movie or something, I'll even cook her delicious breakfast just because I can.

As soon as I came out of the bathroom, I heard my cellphone's ringtone. I rushed back to my room and answered after I saw that it was Nick calling me.

"Hello?" My voice was evident that I just woke up.

"Hey man are you at school?" He asked and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"No, why? I'm not attending until Amara feels better enough to start going again. I really don't want to leave her alone in the house."

Nick exhaled loudly before replying, "Uhh...I was asking to verify because Amara is actually at school."

Amara is at school? But that's impossible.

"What!? No she's probably in her room still sleeping, I don't actually want to disturb her. I'm sure whoever told you that information mistook someone else for Amara."

"No bro, she's actually right here standing with her friend and another girl." Nick said once again and he sounded convinced. My nerves rose a little bit.

"Okay I'm going to check her in her room now, and what the hell are you doing at Paul Etta High anyways?" I asked as I made way to Amara's room. What is she really is gone? 

Nick said something over the phone but I didn't pay attention to that. My eyes widened when I realized that he was indeed telling the truth, Amara was not in her room. Her bed was made, her books on the desk were gone... Why would she go to school alone?

I thought she understood just how dangerous it is for her to go out alone.

I felt different kind of emotions at once... anger, hurt, uncertainty, confusion...

Why didn't she fucking tell me that she was leaving?

The thought of her being out there in public alone, the thought of her psychotic uncle finding her and abducting her, the thought of me never seeing her ever again.

I couldn't take it, Amara should've gone out alone. Why didn't she even inform me that she was going? I can never let her put her own life in danger because when I said I'm right by her side, I meant each and every word of it.

I would go anywhere with her and not give a damn, which is why I found myself hopping inside my car and racing towards the school, high over the speed limit.

*****