Letting Go

Chapter Nine

We sat in silence. After Spencer had dragged me out of the party he drove me home but neither of us moved an inch once we sat outside my house. I was the one to break the silence.

"I'm gonna ask you one last time, what the hell was that back there?" I asked demandingly. Spencer sighed and turned to face me.

"Remember when I said that Aaron was dangerous and that you should be careful around him?" I nodded.

"Well, this is what I was trying to warn you about" he explained.

"So you mean to tell me that I should have seen this coming? That I should have known that the sweet, innocent guy I was paired with for my art project would turn out to be a possessive asshole as well as a drug addict? Oh gee talk about assuming the worst in people. No one when meeting you for the first time automatically assumes that you're a drug addict. So how could you expect me to know this is what you were talking about?"

He just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me expectantly.

"What? A couple weeks ago you had so much to say on the topic and now that I actually know what you were talking about, you have nothing to say." I continued

"Well no, it's just that.. what is there to say?" He asked. "I mean you know now" he continued

"Well no, not exactly. Let's start with why. Why did you neglect to tell me about this, I'm pretty sure that it would have been more productive to tell me that he is a drug addict rather than telling me to be careful?" I started.

"Well no, he isn't a drug addict - he was a drug addict and that is why I told you to be careful because even though he was clean until tonight I didn't know for sure if he would start this crap again." He defended.

"Well why is he using again?" I asked annoyed. He shrugged his shoulders and spoke again

"Don't ask me, I don't know why." He placed his hands on my shoulders quite roughly and looked me dead in the eyes

"Jen, you can't tell anyone about this. His parents made us swear not to tell anyone for fear of a scandal. So Jen" he paused "You can't tell anyone.. ever. Not even Caitlin." He told me. I just nodded my head and looked down at the floor of his dirty Ford Taurus.

"I think you should go inside and get some rest, we leave early tomorrow morning." He suggested turning to look out his windshield.

"Yeah." I said and got out, beginning to walk up the path to my porch I turned back to him

"Thank you" I added

"For what?" He asked me.

"Everything.. I guess. It's nice to know there's someone looking out for me" I smiled and continued to walk.

"It's my pleasure.. Anytime" I heard him say behind me. When I reached my door I turned to say goodbye, he waved and when I was safely inside I heard him start up his engine and drive off.

After tonight I had a lot to think about but tomorrow I was to leave on a week free of all the drama and nothing and no one was going to spoil that. I decided to forget about what happened tonight for now and just try to enjoy my spring break.
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My alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning so that I had exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes to get ready. Spencer was fetching me at 9 o clock, he offered to drive us there rather than have my dad pay to have us fly over and of course my dad being the money saving guy he is, he accepted.

So instead of only having to be stuck in an enclosed space with him for just 1 hour I have to be stuck on a busy road for at least 5.

When I had finished getting ready I brought my bags downstairs and placed them by the front door ready to go. I checked my phone and saw I had twenty five minutes left before Spencer would arrive. I went into the kitchen and poured some Captain Crunch and milk into a bowl and sat down to eat.
When I finished I washed out the bowl and put it on the drying rack. I turned around to see my mom stroll into the kitchen