Drowning

Chapter 52:

About 10 minutes later, I heard my passenger side door open. I looked over and saw the familiar spiked auburn hair of the boy I called to save me. Aiden climbed in my car as his wide eyes took in my half-dressed body.

I looked over at Aiden silently begging for help. My wild hair was in front of my face and tears were running down my cheeks.

"What did he do to you?" He asked, moving my hair out of my face gently. I leaned my face into his hand and closed my eyes.

"Can you do something for me?" I asked him. "You can say no, I would understand. I'm not really dressed to go into a store."

"What do you need?"

I steadied my breath and began to explain.

Aiden ran out of the pharmacy entrance about 15 minutes later with a little brown bag. He looked around the parking lot like he had just stolen money from the cash register. If I wasn't so nervous about what was in the bag, I might have teased him a little bit about it.

He opened the passenger door and climbed in out of breath.

"I didn't know there were so many kinds." Aiden's face was pale and his eyes were wide. He couldn't get past the shock of what he just did. "I grabbed three different boxes, a pink one, a blue one, and one that had a smiley face. The woman at the counter looked at me like I was insane."

"Thank you, Aiden. It means a lot to me that you came." I told him as I spaced in and out staring at the bag.

I had no tears left in me to cry. Ezra had taken them all from me. I might have hugged Aiden just to try to feel something again if we weren't talking about how many pregnancy tests he just bought me. It seemed uncomfortable and inappropriate to touch him right now—it definitely wouldn't have made my current situation any better.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked me.

"I'm not sure." I looked down at my outfit. I couldn't go home looking like this. It would draw too much attention if I walked into the house with almost nothing on. My Mom would lose her mind even if I was with Aiden.

"Riley, I think we have to go back to the house. I can't think of any other options right now. I can follow you over. I will go in and grab your stuff and we can go wherever you want after that." Aiden offered up his only suggestion.

"What about Ezra?" I asked. I didn't want to start anything else between the two of them.

"I'm not worried about him. I won't let him near you." Aiden said. "Follow me over and stay up the street. When I come out, you can hop in the passenger seat and I will drive you wherever you decide."

I nodded and he placed his hand on my cheek. Aiden rubbed his thumb across the tear stains and frowned.

Aiden let go of me and hopped out of my car and into his. I followed him up the street towards the band house. When we got close to the house, I trailed back, keeping my distance. Aiden went up to the door and waved me forward a few minutes later.

"He's not here. You can come in." Aiden announced through my window.

I pulled into a spot on the street and parked. I grabbed the little brown bag. The contents inside were taunting me. My stomach was fluttering and I felt flushed. I think I might vomit again.

Aiden held the door open for me and I stepped in the doorway. I was still on my guard, expecting Ezra to pop out of a corner and start screaming at me again. Aiden put his hand on my back and helped me in the door.

"He's not here, I promise. Do you want to..." He said, looking down at the bag in my hand.

"No, I don't." I admitted.