Flightless Bird

Chapter 20

As soon as I was out of the alcove, I made sure the door was shut and the curtain was covering it so no one would find the attic. Then I walked away. Even through the tears, and my whole body shaking, I still knew that if I ran then I'd have another asthma attack, and despite the amount of self loathing I had right now I didn't exactly want to kill myself. I walked as fast as I could to try and get as far away from him as I could. I knew he was dangerous but I never thought he would be able to ruin me like this so quickly. As I walked down stairs and through corridors, I had no aim other than trying to forget about what had just happened. I guess it was a good enough plan, until I ran into my boyfriend. I was just wandering through the second floor when I turned a corner and ran into Jacob. And Anna.

"Oh, hey guys," I said, turning away as I did so to wipe away my tears.

"Are you okay baby?" Jacob asked, stepping towards me.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine!" I said, smiling as wide as I could.

"Are you sure?" he asked, moving closer and lowering his voice.

"Completely. Sorry if I interrupted," I said.

"You don't ever have to apologise to me," he said. And only I know how wrong he was.

"Jake, she said she was fine, can we just go already?" Anna asked, moving round so I could see her too. Jacob turned around to her, and I saw the subtle shift in her position as she moved her chest forward, and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Anna, I'm sorry but could you excuse us?" Jacob asked.

"Whatever, but we're so gonna fail this project if you can't even spend a whole hour with me without running off with her," she said as she started to walk off down the hall.

"No, Anna, stay. Jacob, I'm seriously fine, you guys should carry on with whatever you were doing. I'll see you later," I told him, squeezing his hand before moving past him.

"Okay, I'll come by your room later then." I smiled and nodded and walked away. And then, and only then, did I start to run. I reached my room with tears pouring down my face and had to fumble blindly in my bag for my key. At last, I found it and practically fell into the room. Unfortunately, it was only now that I realised Lexi was here with Jayson. They were only practising lines so at least I didn't interrupt anything too important, but I still felt bad as she jumped up and cried,

"Kerri! Are you alright?"

I shook my head, making a choked noise as I tried to say no. All I could taste in my mouth as I tried to clear my throat were my own salty tears.

"What happened?" Jayson asked, standing up and stepping forwards. I still couldn't speak.

"Kerri, please tell me what's wrong," Lexi pleaded, sitting me down on my bed. After a few deep breaths, I managed a shaky answer. It was one word which made Lexi gasp and sit down on her own bed. It caused Jayson to clench his fists as he imagined just what could have happened. The one word that anyone would know meant trouble.

And all I said?

Charlie.