Nineteen

Chapter Eighty-Five

Once we're both inside Links's car, he turns to me.
"Clark told me about what happened," he says.
I feel embarrassed, but not as bad as I have the last few days.
"Do you want to talk about it?" His eyes show sympathy, no hint of judgement at all. I shake my head no.
He turns around and starts the car. "Where to?" He asks with no acknowledgment of the conversation only seconds before.
I tell him where the bookstore is, and he begins to drive.
Do I want to talk about it? I've been holding a lot in about it. I barely feel any emotion toward the whole situation.
Not today.

He parks outside of the bookstore, and I reach up to take my bandage off.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asks.
"No," I say, "but I'm not going in there with it on."
He shakes his head as I lay the white cloth down in the seat beside of me.
"Good luck, I'll be waiting here," he says as I shut the door.
I give him a thumbs up and look at my reflection in the window.
Black. My face is black from the bruises. I didn't use enough makeup.

The interview was awkward, the lady wasn't the one who spoke on the phone with me. She introduced herself as Sarah, and claimed to be a cashier here as well, filling in until the manager gets back in a few days. It lasted maybe five minutes and she took down my information. She said she really just needed a work friend, and she'll start working on my schedule.
I say thanks and goodbye, and walk out of the store to go and see Link.
I'm greeted by him standing outside of his car. Parked beside of him is a black truck. Both of them are standing against their vehicles when they see me.
Collin is wearing black jeans with a black long sleeve shirt, sleeves pushes pack to his elbows. His backwards hat hiding most of his curls.
"Lover-boy here tells me that you two have some feelings for each other," Collin says when I approach the two of them.
"What?" I ask.
He's smiling, but not a happy one. A smile that shows he's angry, but doing his best to control it.
"Yeah, says you two have been hanging out again," he turns to Link, "what did you say? Just like old times," he uses air quotations around the last words. "And that he's gained some interesting new feelings." His smile barely lets the words through.
I close my eyes for a second to try and gather what is happening. I turn to Link.
"You told him about your apparent love for me?" I ask, using the finger quotations as my own. I'm mad. I'm angry that he would bring Collin into something innocent, making him believe it's not.
Collins eyes widen. He looks at me, and then looks to Link. "Love?" He asks. His smile is faded, tearing town the protecting wall.
"Nobody said anything about love," he says as he raises from his truck. Before I can do anything, he's grabbing Link by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the pavement. "I've had enough of you," he says as he holds him to the ground.
"Stop," I say, but nobody notices me.
Collin is sitting on Link's stomach holding him by the shirt. The situation is familiar.
It's me.
I step back and look at them once again, right as Collin's fist connects with Link's face. It's me on the ground. It's the man holding me down. I reach up and touch my jaw.
My feet carry me before I know where I'm going. I run behind the bookstore and down a street. I go and go until my heels hurt my feet and I can't go anymore.
I stop at a building that I don't recognize. I slide down the wall and sit behind a dumpster.
I use my hands to wipe my face, clearing it of tears I didn't know I had. I use my hands to cover my ears to block out any noise, and I just sit.

I don't know how long it's been since I first got here. My only view has been the concrete straight in front of me. My hands have blocked out any sound from the outside, and thankfully, nobody has came by. My eyes are heavy from the crying, and I close and open them really hard a few times.
I finally reach into my bag around my shoulder to grab my phone. I have twenty missed calls from Link and Collin.
Ignoring all of them, I dial Mac.
"Hello?" He says through the speaker.
"Do you remember how you said it will hit me?" I ask, still shaky for the crying.
He takes a second to remember what I'm talking about. "Yeah, are you okay?"
"I don't know where I am, and I'm scared," I start to cry again.