Bullied (A Tal Fishman Fanfiction)

Chapter 6

"Eva!..Eva?...EVA!"  I bolted upright, my seat belt straining against my chest.  I sat back normally and looked at Tal with wide eyes.

"Where am I?  What have you done to me?"  

"What do you mean?"

"Why am I in your car?  Where are you taking me?"

"You don't remember do you?  Give your brain a second to catch up."  As he said this, everything came flooding back into my brain.  This morning, since it was almost dark out by now, Tal had told me he liked me, he was sorry, and that he was taking  me someplace safe so that Allison couldn't get to me since she was trying to harm me.  

"I remember everything."  I breathed, looking down at my hands that I was nervously fiddling with. 

"Well, we're almost to the place, so I figured you should wake up.  You've been sleeping for the past almost 10 hours.  You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you up.  It seemed rude."

"Thanks.  I think."

"No problem..I guess."  I giggled nervously.  He chuckled in almost exactly the same fashion and ran his hand through his hair, something I had never seen him do.  

"Have you always done that?"  I asked him before I chickened out.  I should probably know more about him if we were going to be together for the next few weeks.

"Yeah.  I try not to do it so much anymore though.  My mom kept yelling at me that it would ruin the newest hair style she had me get done."

"Oh."  I racked my brain for another question to ask him to fill up the silence.  

"Hey Eva?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate me?"

"What?"

"Do you hate me, you know, because I bullied you all those years?"

"I don't know.  That's the only Tal I've ever seen, and I guess I never truly knew who you were, or are.  I guess I'd have to get to know the real you, no secrets?"

"No secrets?  Is this some kind of pact we're making now?"  He asked seriously.

"If you want it to be."  He burst out into laughter.  "What's so funny?"

"Of course it can be out pact.  It's just the fact that you probably thought I was going to hurt you."  His face suddenly turned into a face of grief.  

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"We literally just made up a pact of no secrets..What's wrong?"

"This is awkward...um...ok, here goes.  Eva, I would never hurt you.  I never wanted to hurt you in the first place, but if I hadn't done something convincing to Allison that I hated you, she wouldn't have done things much worse than I ever did.  I tried to make it convincing, so I pretended you were her.  How I treated you was how I wanted to treat Allison...and even worse, especially now.  I know you probably hate me and don't believe me, and I know it's weird that I'm telling you all this, but I just wanted you to know.  You don't have to automatically like me, and I know you won't.  I guess I'll just give you a chance to get to know me before I do anything completely drastic, and this road trip doesn't count.  I know this is a lot to take in, but I wanted to get everything out there in the beginning so there would be nothing kept from you.  I figured this was the best way possible for you to know everything.  By me just telling you straight out in the beginning and not waiting like I've seen other people do. It ends up ruining whatever relationship they had.  Ok, I'm going to stop talking now since we're here."