When we pulled into the school’s parking lot, I immediately hopped out. I hustled toward the gymnasium where the assembly was being held. “We should head toward the far side of the building,” I called back over my shoulder.
After rounding the corner, I looked through the glass to see if the assembly had ended. It hadn’t. The boys had to jog to catch up to me. I glanced at Gabe on my right and Jake on my left; we were quite the sight—all three of us dressed in black, concert T-shirts.
Gabe eyeballed me, eyeballing him. “We look like triplets.”
I stifled a giggle.
“I know I’m gonna get a ration of crap when the guys get a load of me.”
“You look good. It suits you.”
“I do?” Gabe sounded surprised.
“Yeah. Don’t you think so, Jake?” I asked, trying to keep the everything-is-fine charade going long enough to get inside. He didn’t respond. He just stared straight ahead.
I searched his face, but his expression was unreadable. Inside, kids began to pour out into the hallway.
“Well, are we going to go for it?” Gabe asked.
Confidently I stated, “Yes.”
I led the way back around the campus to the far-off buildings, hoping all the teachers would still be at the assembly as they slowly filed out of the gym.
We hustled across the walkway, trying to appear casual as we snuck over to the doors outside the shop wing. Quickly, I peeked in the door’s window to see if there were any teachers. When I saw none, I waved frantically at a girl who had been in my freshman music class. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember her name. As she approached, I pointed down at the locked door. She looked at me and then my shirt, and tilted her head.
Oh, great! Here we go.
When she saw Gabe and the new kid behind me, all dressed the same, her mouth fell open.
“Open the door,” I mouthed, trying to break her from her stupor. She shook her head, stepped forward, and pushed the release lever.
“Thanks.” I smiled and stepped in.
She ignored me completely. Instead, she flashed a smile at Gabe.
I rolled my eyes.
Gabe smiled right back at her. “Thanks.” Gently, he waved his finger in the air. “I’ve seen you around, your name is . . .” He floated out the invite like a pro.
Her eyes widened. “Sylvia.”
“Yes, Sylvia. That’s right. Thank you so much.” He furrowed his brow, yet remained dashingly handsome. “I’m sure you won’t tell anyone you saw us come in this door.” He shook his head, like he was he giving her a little Jedi mind trick.
Her head mimicked his. “No. No, of course not.”
He flashed her one of his melt-em’-like-butter smiles; she beamed.
I shook my head. Normally, I would have been offended on behalf of the rest of the female population that one of our own had so easily succumbed to this alpha male’s charm—but because it was my posterior his magnetism was saving—I had to keep my mouth shut.
We walked down the hall and blended into a group of students headed to class. Gabe looked relieved, while Jake walked like a zombie.
“Well, gentlemen, I think we can safely say we ran the gauntlet and survived without getting caught.” I spoke in a light, comical voice. “And you’ve both helped to make this my most interesting first day at school.”
Jake didn’t respond, but Gabe laughed. “Yeah, it’s been fun. Let’s just never repeat it, okay?”
I smiled. “Agreed.”
“I’m sorry we fought earlier.” Gabe turned to Jake and offered him his hand. “It’s been good getting to know you, man.”
Jake, still in a haze, stared at Gabe for a second.
Slowly, Jake reached out and took Gabe’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Yeah, good getting to know you too.”
“I’ll see you around, Simplicity.” Gabe waved as he turned to go.
“Yeah, see ya.” As I watched him shoot off down the rear stairwell, I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled down to my dad’s contact number. I puffed out a quick breath and glanced over my shoulder. Jake still hovered. He looked white as a sheet. When I moved forward, he followed.
Feeling safe within the familiar walls of my school, I turned the corner right at the elbow of the long, back hallway that led from the shop wing to the main building. I wanted to shake Jake loose and go call my dad.
I turned and faced him squarely. “Jake, since it’s your first day here, you need to go to the office and get your schedule.”
I waited for a response, but his blank expression didn’t fill me with much confidence.
“Jake? Do you know where that is?”
Oddly, he scanned the area and then responded dryly, “No.”
“Well, it’s in the main building.” I pointed down the rear hallway with my cell phone.
His head snapped as his attention focused on the phone in my hand. “Who are you calling?”
I pulled my phone back and covered the name. “No one.”
He stepped toward me. “Are you going to call your dad and tell him what happened?”
At first, I thought he was referring to Gabe punching me. Trying to keep it light, I joked, “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. My father likes Gabe’s parents too much to beat him up too badly—he should survive.”
Jake glared at the wall for a second and raked his hand through his thick, dark hair. “Please, don’t tell your father.”
“Why not?”
His menacing brow lowered. “You know why.”
“No, I don’t. I have to get going.”
He started frantically patting himself down. “Damn it, where’s my cell phone.” His face went pale.
I took a few steps back.
He gritted his teeth and stepped closer. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sorry. I don’t want to talk. I’ve got class.”
I started to turn, but he caught me by the elbow. I looked down at his large hand wrapped around my arm. “What are you doing?”
He drew his face in close, but spoke softly. “I saw you eyeing that gun in my living room.”
I swallowed. “So what?”
“You’re a cop’s daughter.”
I tried to pull my arm back. “Yes, I’m a cop’s daughter. So I hope you realize you’re about to get into serious trouble if you don’t let go of my arm—right now.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Too bad.”
“Damn it. Don’t make me do this.”
“Don’t make you do what?”
Jake clenched his jaw and tightened his grip as he scanned behind my shoulder again. I turned my head and followed his gaze. Suddenly, it dawned on me what he saw—no one else was in the secluded back hallway.
CRAP!!!
Realizing my mistake too late, I turned to bolt, but like a hunter after its prey, he ambushed me. I tried to scream, but his hand clamped over my mouth. He snagged me around the waist and pulled me back up against his chest. I shrieked but his large hand muffled the sound. I pulled at his fingers, but they wouldn’t budge. I squirmed trying to run, but his arms just tightened around me.
Frantically, he looked around the hallway, then he picked me up and carried me into the janitor’s closet.
I freaked.
It was pitch-black in the little room. Fear raced through me. For a split second, I lost my sense of equilibrium. As my head spun, it felt like I was tumbling down into a black hole.
Kicking and flailing in the dark, I struggled to break free. I knocked over what sounded like a bucket and a mop.
“Stop fighting me.”
My heart pounded in my chest and my legs went numb with terror. I fought back hard, but his powerful arms just continued to pin me hard against his unyielding body. His chest heaved with each breath. He stood firm and just held me in place—as if he was letting me burn myself out.
After a minute of me vainly attempting to escape from his vice-like grip, he towed me back
toward the wall. “Don’t squirm,” he said. I could feel his shoulder jerk as he searched for something along the wall every few inches. When he found what he was looking for, he pushed the light switch up with his elbow. An eerie fluorescent-blue light flickered on overhead.
He continued to hold me tightly against his chest. As his body settled around me, his breathing slowed. I didn’t know what the hell he intended to do. I scanned the shelves across the room looking for a weapon, but saw nothing except innocuous cleaning supplies. How I wished for a nice heavy hammer.
As my body shook with an intense fear, I cursed myself. How had I been so stupid? I’d totally misjudged this guy. I never expected someone who appeared to be so nice to change so rapidly.
His muscles, rigid and tense, felt like stone. I struggled some more, but the hold he had on me was so tight I couldn’t move. I tried to formulate a plan of escape, but my mind awash in terror, drew a blank.
I tried to make sense of it all. What is he thinking? What is he planning to do? I looked down at my body and my heart skipped a beat. Fearing the worst, I panicked and began to hyperventilate.
In a soothing voice he whispered, “Try to calm down.”
I fought to catch my breath knowing fainting right now would only make things worse.
After a moment, I regained my self-control and my breathing returned to normal. Once recovered, I jerked and tried to break free again. Through his hand, I garbled, “Let go of me!”
“I will, but I want to talk to you first.”
Slowly, he loosened his grip around my waist and I took full advantage. I planted my left foot down on the ground, and then with my right foot I horse-kicked straight at his groin. He shifted his hip and I missed.
“Damn, girl. Don’t kill me.” Quickly, he snagged me again only tighter. I ended up in a worse position than before. Now he had both my legs pinned down.
I was furious at him and at myself. Here was someone I’d started to trust, and he’d totally blindsided me. How did my intuition not see this coming?
“Simplicity,” he said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you.”
As my body squirmed, I shrieked through his hand, “Put me down!”
“If I do, will you promise not to scream and take off until you’ve heard me out?”
What a ridiculous question! Right now—with how angry I was—he should be more concerned about keeping his manhood intact.
He tilted his head and searched my face. “I didn’t hear your answer.”
Through his hand I garbled, “How the hell can you hear my answer with your damn hand clamped over my mouth?”
His eyebrows squished together. “I have no clue what you just said.”
Frustrated, I stopped struggling. It was obvious he could physically overpower me. I analyzed the map of the school in my head and calculated the distance to the nearest classroom. The shop and art classes in this wing were spaced far apart and they had all that loud industrial equipment. Even with his hand removed from my mouth, I wasn’t sure anyone would hear my screams until it was too late.
I weighed my options. How would a hostage negotiator handle this situation? But I couldn’t think of any damn TV episodes where something like this had ever happened.
Taking a long breath, I tried to calm down. Right now, my level head was more valuable than his brawn, and keeping it in the game was my best chance to navigate out of this madness.
His breathing slowed down matching mine. “Do you promise not to scream or try to escape?”
Reluctantly, I nodded. Slowly he removed his hand from my mouth.
“Let go of me,” I said coldly.
“No.” He kept a tight grip. “Not until I’ve said what I need to say.” His arms crossed over mine, bear-hugged me into submission.
“Well, then get on with it,” I snapped.
“I saw you eyeing that gun and ammo.” His mouth was inches away from my ear. “Are you going to say anything to your father about them?”
Say anything to my dad? Now? After all this? Yes, of course! What did you think? Was what I wanted to say, but I stopped myself from giving a rash answer.
I took in a deep breath before coolly responding, “I was just admiring it—that’s all.”
“I saw you scrutinizing it. I figure from your reaction you know it’s illegal.”
Is that why Jake dragged me into this closet? He was worried about me telling my father?
My breathing slowed and my heart stopped racing when I realized he hadn’t planned to sexually assault me.
Still I was confused. If this was about the ammo, why do this? His dad would’ve been the one in trouble, not him.
I had no idea what was going on in his mixed-up head, so I tried to play the whole thing off as if it were nothing. “Even if I told my father about it, it’s not a big deal. In this state, it’s like a fifty-dollar fine or something. He might not even bother with it.”
He leaned back on the wall and it took me with him. The position forced my body to lie back onto his. Softly, he murmured, “Why don’t I believe you?”
Because I hate lying, even to save my life.
I remained silent, waiting to find out what he planned to do next.
“I shouldn’t’ve tried to help you,” he muttered as he stared across the room. “I’m an idiot…I thought you were just a cute teenage girl.”
I wanted to agree with that statement—that he was an idiot—but kept my mouth shut instead.
We stayed there for a moment in this strange deadlock.
My adrenaline surge waned. With all my energy sapped, my muscles began to grow weak.
As his body softened, he rested his chin on my shoulder; his body now held me, more than restrained me.
I exhaled.
He whispered into my ear, “Simplicity, please, don’t tell your father.”
I’d seen the fierce fighter that lay barely contained below the surface of this young man. I knew that something wasn’t right with this picture. Still my curiosity overrode my self-preservation. “Why shouldn’t I tell my father?”
“I can’t tell you.”
I snapped in anger. “So you drag me off into a closet and then expect me to trust you?”
“Fine. Be like everyone else,” he barked back. “I know you’ll just lie to my face and then hurt me—”
He stopped.
I wondered what that meant.
After he took in a long, deep breath, he softened his tone and began again. “I know you shouldn’t trust me, but I did save your life today, if that means anything at all.”
“You could also say you started the chain of events that almost took it.”
“You’re right.” He knocked his head hard, back into the wall. “I have no clue what the hell I’m doing. I think it’s the right thing to do, but it never turns out that way.”
We stayed there for another agonizingly long minute—him, lost in thought; me, growing more confused.
Wanting to break the tension, I quipped, “So was this your brilliant plan? To keep me in a closet forever? Start a life here, maybe?”
“No.” Deep pain quivered in his voice. “But, if you plan to tell your dad, can I ask one thing?”
“What?”
“Give me a couple hours’ warning.”
His warped reasoning was getting stranger by the minute. “A warning?”
“Yes. Before you tell anyone about the ammo, the gun…or me.”
I balled my hands into fists. Logic told me to run straight out of here and turn Jake in—though for what I didn’t quite know—yet something gnawed at me. Who was he protecting, and why?
Boldly, I asked, “What if I said I planned to tell my dad as soon as you let me go? What would you do then?”
He swallowed. “I don’t want to have to do it, but if you’re asking me to choose between you or sacrificing my family,” he looked across the room, “I guess I’d have to take that twine over there and tie you up.”
>
I froze. I knew from his tone—he was serious.
“Is that why you dragged me into this closet? To give yourself time to escape?”
“If I couldn’t talk you out of it, then yes, I planned to tie you up and take off.”
“That’s all you intended to do.”
“It was.”
“So this was just you trying to save your own skin?”
“No! I want to be done with all this.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “But it’s not just me I’m worried about.”
The strange, yet smart young man who looked out of place, lied about where he’d lived, and had illegal firearms casually lying around his home were all things that shouted a warning as high as a signal fire on a mountaintop. My mind screamed, Don’t listen to him, but my intuition leaned in the opposite direction. “I’m not sure I should believe you.”
Jake’s voice became soft. “If they find us again, we’ll have to run.” He leaned forward and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Simplicity, I don’t want to run anymore.”
My cheek shivered.
Tenderly, his hand came up and touched the side of my face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
His soft words, gentle touch, and the genuine warmth in his expression began to break me down, but I mustered my indignation and countered, “Are you going to release me?”
Immediately, he let go. “I’m sorry.” He put his hands up. His expression filled with remorse. “I’m sorry I dragged you in here.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry I scared you. I just panicked. I was just hoping—” He stopped himself and straightened up.
“Hoping what?”
He took in a deep breath. “That there was still a chance to stay.”
I shook my head and sarcastically cracked, “Well, before you drag me off into a closet again—ask me first.”
A faint glint of hope flashed across his face before it quickly disappeared. “Will there be a next time?”
Given the dangerous circumstances, I should’ve just lied and gotten out of there, but for some reason I felt compelled to tell him the truth. “No, Jake. There won’t be—I plan to tell my father.”
Immediately, Jake’s countenance changed: his jaw tightened, and his breathing grew ragged. His pupils dilated, growing dark and ominous. As his facials muscles tensed, his expression turned bitter.
Yet deep in those tormented eyes, I saw nothing but pain—he looked like a wounded animal.
I huffed out an exasperated breath as I cursed my bleeding heart. “What are you running from?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I crossed my arms. “Then why should I believe you really want to stop running? That this isn’t just a trick.”
He looked around the room. “After I found out your dad was cop, I was about to bolt out of the car. I could’ve asked Gabe to pull over and let me out. I guess I probably should have.” He shook his head. “I wanted to . . . but I didn’t.”
I crossed my arms. “Why not?”
His eyes focused on mine. “I guess I don’t want to go.”
I shook my head and turned away.
“Simplicity,” he pushed himself off the wall and stood in front of me, “do you have to tell your father?”
I pursed my lips, unsure what was the right thing to do. My dad and I were so close; there were never any secrets between us.
Gently Jake touched my upper arm. “Please, don’t,” he whispered. “I don’t want anything to happen to my family.”
My defense shields crumbled—my family meant everything to me.
Damn it!
His words and the brokenness in his gaze melted my heart.
Slowly, the tension in my shoulders dropped. “Fine,” I begrudgingly huffed. “I’ll give you a warning.”
His eyes searched my face—as if his ears didn’t believe what they heard.
I stepped back and placed my hands on my hips. “But right now I’m putting you on notice. If I see you do anything suspicious—fighting, cutting class, or even throwing a recyclable into the regular trash—I’m making a beeline straight to my dad.” I leaned in and arched one eyebrow. “Got it?”
His gaze drifted over me and he absently said, “You’re adorable, you know.”
I pulled my head back and glared. “Don’t you dare try to sweet-talk me now.”
He backed up and raised his hands. “I wasn’t trying to sugar talk you. I apologize. I didn’t mean to say that out loud—I mean—I didn’t think that.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Nervously, he stood straight at attention and gave me a sharp military salute, just like a soldier. “I’ll follow your orders to the letter, ma’am.”
I tilted my head; He didn’t appear to be teasing. I shook my head as another layer of mystery increased his already mysterious persona.
I glanced around the room. My mind was still unsure, but my instincts felt right. “Okay then, I’ll give you a warning.”
“Not many people have ever trusted me like this.”
His genuine expression softened me further. Hesitantly, I held out my hand as I offered to shake on our lopsided deal. Surprised, he looked at it for a second then reached out and delicately raised my hand from below. For a second, I thought he was about to bend down and kiss it, but then he stopped. Instead, we awkwardly shook hands up and down like a seesaw.
Firmly, I asked, “Well, are you going to let me leave now?”
He nodded, walked to the door, and then swung it wide open as he stood to the side and held it open.
When I stepped out into the hallway, I took in a long, deep breath of the cool air, grateful to see the light of day again. I realized my fear that morning about surviving the first day of school wasn’t so far-fetched.
I turned, and our eyes met. Checking my instincts again, I wanted to make sure it was the right decision.
I could swear he knew what I was thinking. He stepped back about ten feet. “We’re out in the open, now.” He gestured around us. “You can change your mind,” he swallowed, “if you want to.”
I deliberated.
He took in a sharp breath. “Is that what you want to do?” He watched me intensely. “Change your mind?”
I took a long, hard look at him. He was a paradox wrapped in an enigma. There was more to his story that I wanted to know, but now wasn’t the time to ask. I didn’t know if I was being a complete fool or not, but the intuition I clung to gave me a clear answer. “No, Jake. I’m not going to change my mind.”
His face lifted. “Thanks.”
I nodded.
He glanced around, searching. I pointed toward the corridor that led back to the main office. He nodded.
We stood for a moment, silently looking at each other—the air thick with tension.
My eyes never wavered in intensity as I gazed straight into his. He surrendered first and looked away.
He stepped back, turned, and without another word, walked off. As I watched him go, I wasn’t sure if I had just made one of the biggest mistakes of my short sixteen years of life. I didn’t know what torments haunted this young man, but I hoped that if he honestly wanted a fresh start—here in Stony Creek—he could make one.
And I guess, at that moment, I was going to let him.
CHAPTER TEN
Once Upon a Time
Jake Hanson