Hold On...

Chapter 2. New home

        I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. i could hardly see the blurred screen through my tears. I put my phone to my ear. Caleb picked up.

        "Hey Cat. So why did you have to..." His tired voice was interrupted by my loud sobbing. I've always tried not to cry around him. I want him to think I'm strong so he doesn't worry too much.

        "Oh my gosh! Cat what is wrong?! I've never heard you cry like that before. Tell me what happened! Please." He sounded extremely worried.

         "Caleb can-- " My voice cracked as I tried to force the words out. "Can I come-- over to your house? Please... I can't-- stay at mine-- anymore." I said in between sobs.

        "Sure just let me tell my mom and dad you are coming." He said, still sounding really worried. "But hey, when you get here you have to promise to tell me everything, alright?" I nodded my head, and realizing he couldn't see me I said "yeah." He hung up. I set my phone down in the cup holder next to me. I hope he doesn't worry too much, I thought. Who am I kidding of course he will be worried. I just called him hysterically crying at 11:00pm.

         I turned down his street and pulled my car up into his driveway. Caleb and his parents were looking out the window and came running out of the house when I parked. Caleb and his dad, Mr. Ray, opened my trunk and got all my stuff out for me. His mom, Mrs. Lisa, opened the door for me and helped me get out of the car. We started walking up to the house, everyone seemed to be watching me.

        Their house was small, but cozy. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big bonus room (Caleb's room), a large kitchen, a dining room, and a comfortable living room. We walked into the living room and Mrs. Lisa brought me over to their ginormous leather couch and said, "You can sit here sweetie, I'll go make some tea." She left the room and went into the kitchen as Mr. Ray and Caleb walked in with my duffle bags.

        Mr, Ray looked at me and said, "You will be staying in Caleb's room for now. We have set up a separate full-sized bed on the other side of the room." I looked at him and felt my face heating up a bit. 

        "Wait aren't you afraid of... that we might... you know...?" I said quietly.

        He cleared his throat and said, "Well we were at first but we realized you two are old enough to make your own decisions now." I felt my face go back to normal as he talked. "He is 19 and you are 17. We trust you are old enough to make the right choice. Anyway, there was no where else to put you. My mother, granny Jones, is staying in the guest room, and you couldn't stay in the other room because I work in there. We definitely weren't going to have you sleep on the couch so..." He trailed off as Mrs. Lisa walked in with the hot tea and four mugs.

        "And," She added. "We thought Caleb could comfort you while you are going through this. We felt that if you stayed with Caleb you would have someone to talk to." She set my mug in front of me and poured the tea in. I picked it up and took a tiny sip.

        "Thank you." I said, my eyes stinging a bit. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here."

        "Anytime." Mr. Ray said as he sat down on the matching leather couch across from me. Caleb walked over to sit by me and grabbed my hand. His eyes locked with mine and he gave me a reassuring look. His Mom sat down across from us next to Mr. Ray. Here it goes, I thought. I'm going to tell them everything. I'm not holding anything back.

        I took a deep breath and started talking. Once I started I couldn't stop, "Ever since I was little my dad has hit me." Mrs. Lisa gasped quietly. "He... He drinks a lot and I would have to explain to my teachers different stories about how I got all the bruises. My mother didn't help me though, she just verbally abused me." My lip quivered a bit, I had never told anyone anything like this before. "My brother was always there for me though. Di-Dillon was my safe place." I heard my voice crack as I said his name. "He always stood up for me and tried to take the hits for me, turning around the story so that it was his fault, or just standing up to dad saying he shouldn't do this." I took a shaky breath as i felt a hot tear roll down my cheek.