Ocean Of Lies

The dodgy cop and the goodbyes

As Xavier strides of to his car I push out of Shane's grasp and run after him, I finally catch up to him as he stops outside his car. I start shouting at Xavier, I trust him to win as he's never lost a race but why'd he thinks it was okay to allow him to objectify me?! He gets into his car and with one final look towards me he takes to the finish line just like I did. I climb onto Shane's shoulders so I can get a better look at the track and wait for the flagger to commence the race.

I'm tapping on Shane's head in anticipation as both cars drift round the second corner, Xavier accelerates yards before the line and crosses it in front of his rival. Only by a couple of seconds through. I jump up and down on Shane's shoulders earning a groan from him, he puts me down and I send a quick apology his way before I go running into Zay's arms just as he gets out of his car. 

He's taken aback by this and stumbles for a couple of seconds before hugging me back. He claims the money from the guy he just raced, the dude sends me a wink before walking back to his car and speeding of out of the tracks. I take another look at Zay's watch, realising it's 6 o'clock I hug all the guys knowing I will probably not be being seeing them again, leaving Shane and Zay till last.

I walk over to Shane, a puzzled look on his face. I have never opened up to anyone here. Last time I did that the boy got extremely hurt and there were a couple of deaths in the town. I give him a hug making him bend down as I whisper my goodbye. I tell him that I am leaving Louisiana as soon as I get back home. I feel him stiffen as he registers my words but before I can let him speak, I tell him to look after Xavier when I'm gone, and I let go of him. 

Sending him a sad smile, I turn towards my boyfriend who's waiting at the driver's side of my car with a big smile on his face. I give him the biggest hug I could and as I get in the car, I tell him to behave, and try not to get into any trouble. I close the car door and quickly drive off, scared of what he could have said.

Just as I pull out the tracks I look back to the group of people I call my second family, as a tear falls down my face I see Shane telling Xavier what I am doing and turns to the nearest person he sees, which was unfortunately Corey, and punches him square in the face. He storms across the tracks towards his car, so I put my foot down not wanting him to catch up with me. Shane tries to follow, and I watch until the tracks become a distant view. That's the last I see as I drive down the road towards the gym.

I pull into the car park of the gym and grab my rucksack checking the time on my phone, quarter past 6, I see a flood load of voice messages from Xavier and text messages from Matt and one from Avery reminding me to be ready by 8 o'clock. I turn my phone off and head inside to change into my fighting gear, in the changing rooms I hear the cheer of people as they arrive at the dark circle.

I peer out of my tiny window and see them crowded around the cage that was made for the fighters. I psych myself up and head to the circle, I'm standing on the outside of the ring waiting to be introduced by the ref. He introduces my challenger as some girl called Hope, must be new around here. Now it's my turn, the ref introduces me as The Rebel and Hope turns her head and stares at me with fright, I smirk at her as she's finally realised who she's up against.

The bell rings for the fight to start and I go on the defence straight away letting Hope attack until she becomes slow enough for me to get a few punches in and win the match. Hope puts up a good fight but becomes tired a lot more quickly than any other person I have fought, confirming how new she is to this. This led me to get the critical punches in and finally after what seemed like half an hour, I won the fight and was given my cash prize. 

I walked through the corridors counting the winnings I got. I walked to my room to find it was unlocked. I'm sure I locked it before I left, and I don't have a spare key. I start to freak out. What if it was Derek? Could he have found me quicker than we had expected? I quickly grab all my stuff, making sure I don't leave a trace of myself behind and run to the car park.

After driving back home, I drop of my car in the garage and make sure all our money is safe. I walk back towards the house. I enter through the front door and shout to Dan that I am back. I hear mumbles from the kitchen and before I walk upstairs, I peer around the door frame to the kitchen to see a petite woman standing beside Dan watching as he starts to serve the food on the plates. I clear my throat and step into the kitchen, Dan sends me a small smile and motions towards the table.

I start to set the table for 3 as I am not quite sure who this woman is and what she is doing. The woman still has her back towards me talking to Daniel. After I am done, I turn towards the woman who has now turned towards me. I would be able to recognise that face from a mile away.

Jessica Hughes.

Why had Dan got the dodgy police officer here, she's the reason we can't stay properly hidden from Derek. I know she feeds him information about where we are. Sending me a fake smile she walks up to hug me, whispering in my ear she tells me that she knows I know what she does. She pulls out of the hug and turns towards my brother and grabs the first plate before going and sitting down. I help Dan take the other food to the table and sit down. We finish eating and start chatting about our next destination, how far we are going to have to travel and where we will be relocating to.