by Brooks,Anna
“You gonna do it?” he asks.
I nod my head, and he lets go. “Get on your knees. I want a blowjob since you’ve made me work so hard to get it.”
My head shakes. “Please don’t make me, Derek. Please,” I beg. Tears roll down my cheeks, and my breath shudders from fear.
“I’ll be fast.”
I sob as I drop to my knees but take the opportunity to punch him in the balls. When he reaches for his sore extremity, I run. He curses behind me, and just as I’m about to round the corner, I’m yanked back by my hair. My expensive updo was a complete waste.
I scream as I fly to the ground. Derek’s large, muscular linebacker body lands on top of mine, knocking the air from my lungs as his hand wraps around my throat again.
“Bitch,” he spits.
Attempting to gasp for oxygen proves futile as he pushes my dress up to my stomach. While he undoes the button of his suit pants, I realize the black pupils of his eyes are larger than normal. I’m finally able to speak, and I sob and plead for him to stop, but every time I do, his hand tightens, telling me how easy it would be for him to strangle me.
His zipper slides down, and I turn my head to the side so I can’t see when it happens. A scream of terror leaves me when he rips my underwear off.
“Shut up, Jessa. Fuck.”
A grunt sounds from above me, and since I’m not looking, I don’t see why Derek’s not on top of me anymore. All I know is he’s not and I can finally take a full breath, so I push myself up and scramble away. What I see both scares and comforts me.
It’s him. His black t-shirt is the first thing I see, and then it’s his fist flying into Derek’s face. His knee comes up, and when it connects with Derek’s crotch, Derek screams. I wonder if being hard made it worse.
He doesn’t say anything but continues to hit Derek with a fury I’ve only seen in an action movie… something I thought was fake, but this guy is proving me wrong.
Derek’s face is split open in several places, and he has blood running down to his crisp white shirt. After one final punch to the gut, he falls to the ground.
My savior stands over Derek’s still body, watching, waiting for him to flinch. After a minute with no movement from Derek, the guy turns around and looks at me. His eyes rake from my head down to my sparkly silver toenails and then back up again. “You good?” he asks.
I nod. Now that you’re here. “Yes. Thank you.”
He grabs my tattered panties and hands them to me. “I’ll walk you home.”
He begins to take off, and I scurry to catch up to him. We’re not far from my home, but it’s not that close either. I could easily call my parents to come and get me, but I don’t want to stick around here and wait for them. I feel safer with him, as if nothing could touch me because he won’t let it.
I have to work double time to keep up with his strides, and after a few blocks, my feet begin to burn. I am wearing heels, after all.
“I need to slow down,” I tell him.
He turns to me, looks at my shoes, and then slows his pace.
“So, uh. Thank you. Again.”
All I receive is a nod in acknowledgment. No “you’re welcome” or anything.
“Why were you there? I didn’t see you at the dance.”
He doesn’t answer, so I try again. “What’s your name?”
“Ty.”
I take his short or non-answers as my cue to be quiet and just follow him. I don’t know how he knows where I live, but I’m too overwhelmed to think much about it right now.
We’re only two blocks from my house now, but my feet are killing me. I stop by a tree and slide my heels off, then walk on my bare feet. Ty waits for me to catch up with him then turns and scoops me up in his arms.
I gasp and grab his shirt. He looks ahead, not at me, but I stare at him. His thick eyebrows, the three freckles on the right side of his nose, and his black eyelashes. How his eyes constantly scan his surroundings.
Beneath the shirt, his heart beats against my fist. Strong and steady. Just like him.
He sets me on the bottom step of my porch, turns, and starts to walk away. He gets to the sidewalk before I shout, “Wait!”
I run down the walkway, ignoring the pain in my feet. “You can’t just leave.”
“Go inside.” He turns me by my shoulders and gives me a slight shove. “Now.”
I turn around. “No.”
He sighs and crosses his arms. “What, Jessa?”
“You know my name?”
“Yeah.”
“What were you doing there?”
“Meeting friends.”
“Why haven’t you been in school?”
“Listen,”—he widens his stance as he glances around—“I was in the right place at the right time. That’s all, okay? Hopefully, that prick won’t mess with you again.”
“I don’t know—”
“I’ve gotta go.” He turns and jogs away before I even have the chance to reply.
I have so many questions, and so much more to say to him. His presence helps to take away from what just happened with Derek, and I’m afraid that when Ty’s out of sight, the terror of what happened and what could have happened tonight will hit me. I’d rather just sit with Ty all night, but since I don’t have the chance, I hang my head and go back to the porch. When I turn around, he’s disappeared.
Chapter 2
Jessa
eighteen years old
“You ready for tomorrow?” my mom asks, joining me on the front porch.
“Yes, I’m so glad high school is done.”
“What’s on your mind?”
Leave it to her to know something’s up. Motherly instinct, I suppose. “He was there that night, Mom.”
“I know, honey. I believe you.”
“I think about him all the time. I just don’t understand how I can barely know him, but he’s already such a big part of me.” Ty’s constantly on my mind. It’s more than a teenage crush. He’s more than that … He’s everything.
She pats my knee and gives it a squeeze. “Sometimes, there isn’t a rhyme or reason for things, Jessa. But I hate to see you so hungup on someone who has appeared to vanish.”
“I know.” I sigh and rest my head on her shoulder. “I just can’t get him off my mind. He’s always there. He left my life, but he never leaves my heart, and it hurts.”
“Oh, honey.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “I wish I could say something to make you feel better, but the truth is mending a broken heart is easier said than done. One day soon, you’ll move on, but until then, try to remember him for what he was, okay?”
“And what do you think that was?”
“He was your savior, honey. He saved you from a horrendous situation. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be more than that.”
She kisses the top of my head and heads back inside, leaving me reeling. No, she’s wrong. He was meant to be so much more. I just fear I’ll never have the opportunity to know for sure.
* * *
Our entire graduating class tosses their caps in the air, and I smile when I catch mine. Finally. Done. I’m done with this hellhole. I’m done with these judgmental people. Done with the stupid politics of this community. I’m fucking done.
Kat, my only true friend, winds her arm through mine, and I hug her with my other arm. “Yay!”
“I know, right. Yay!”
We head over to where our parents and family sat excitedly through the two-hour ceremony. Everyone heads to a local restaurant downtown, and we park in succession in a parking garage. Our early dinner is happy and cheerful and celebratory. Kat’s leaving to go to New York to college, but I’m going to California. I need to get out of town for a while and see what else is out there. I’m sure I’ll come back eventually.
Kat’s grandparents leave the restaurant the same time mine do, and her parents are quickly behind them. Mom and Dad stay a little while longer, but when Dad yawns, we all walk out together.
“Oh,
let’s go to that new yogurt bar! Ice cream sounds great!” Kat says excitedly. Vaughn just shakes his head at his little sister’s sweet tooth.
“You three go on ahead. We’re tired, and he needs his blood pressure medication,” Mom says, tilting her head at my dad.
“I actually have a date tonight, so I’ve gotta take off,” Vaughn says.
“Of course, you do,” Kat teases. “My brother the player.”
“Hey, I can’t help it; the ladies can’t resist me.” He hugs all the girls then shakes hands with my dad and heads to the parking garage.
“Guess it’s just us.” I wink at Kat, and she smiles big; her beautiful white teeth are front and center, thanks to having an orthodontist for a dad. She could seriously be in a toothpaste commercial they’re so pretty.
We walk to the little shop on the corner and indulge in a delicious treat. Kat gets chocolate on top of chocolate, and I get vanilla ice cream with Oreo.
My mouth hurts from smiling so hard because I can’t believe we’re finally graduates. The past couple of years have been tough for me ever since that night with Derek. I told my parents as soon as I got home, but since it was his word against mine, and because his father was a judge, he didn’t get in trouble.
He claimed that while we went outside to get some fresh air, we were mugged, and he fought off the attacker so I could run home. Ashley said I left willingly with him, and since she was the one who found him in the alley, the police believed their story.
It didn’t make sense, though. Wouldn’t I have called the police? Wouldn’t I have been worried for Derek’s safety? They tried to tell me I was in shock.
People started talking about me behind my back, labeling me a liar, a snitch, and a prude. I didn’t care—nobody was ever my friend aside from Kat anyway—but it still hurt that people, especially other girls, were so quick to judge me.
Ty never came back. I didn’t see him after that day, and as far as anyone could tell, he’d vanished. My dad used what resources he had to find him, but since he was apparently in a group home at the time, it was easy for him to run away unnoticed.
I think about him constantly. His beautiful eyes and the way he cradled me in his arms. How I never felt more happy and secure than in those few short minutes with him carrying me. God, I want more of it, too.
Regardless of what happened that night and no matter what everyone called me, I know that he believed me. Ty believed me, and he saved me. If it weren’t for him, who knows what would have happened. I know I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to play the what-if game. I just want to move on.
Kat and I get into our cars, and she waves as she drives away. I put the key into the ignition and get nothing when I turn it. What the hell? I try again with the same result. I take out my cell to call Kat to come get me, but I have no reception here in the lot. Climbing out of my car, I move around trying to find service. As I’m almost to the sidewalk, a man jogging comes close.
He’s tall, wearing gray sweats and a gray hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped off to show off his large biceps. His head is down, but when he senses me, he looks up.
“Ty,” I whisper, my heart stilling in my chest, and goose bumps cover my skin.
He slows his jog and stops in front of me, his heaving chest inches from mine. He’s not a boy anymore. I knew he would grow up nice, but I didn’t expect him to still be so beautiful.
His eyes trace over the features of my face, they glide lower to my breasts, which have grown since the last time I saw him, and then slide down to my shiny pink toenails before they come back up. I suck in a breath and rest a hand on my chest, willing my heart to beat again.
He has to feel that. The connection. The spark. It’s undeniable, and it’s something that I don’t think will ever be comparable with anyone else. How can it when it’s stayed with me for years?
“Why did you disappear?”
“I’ve been around.”
“Where?”
“Why are you here?” he asks as an answer.
“Stop being so mysterious, Ty. God. I just want to talk to you. You can’t tell me I’m the only one who knows there’s something here.” I motion between us.
“Nah, you’re right.” He nods. “But a sweet, innocent little girl like you and a guy like me don’t belong together, babe.”
“How do you know I’m sweet and innocent?”
His tongue darts out and moistens his lips, and then he takes a couple of steps toward me. My breath hitches, and when he runs a finger down the side of my face, I close my eyes. He lowers his head and runs his nose along my ear before his lips replace it. “Damn, you smell good.”
I swallow loudly, and he chuckles. “Nervous?”
“No.”
He sighs and steps back then runs his hands through his hair. “Why are you here?”
“Why did you leave me that night and never come back? I missed you.”
“I need you to trust that it’s better for you if we’re not together, okay? Hell, I missed your beautiful face so damn much, but fuck … Just, why are you here all alone?”
I cross my arms over my chest and give in. I might be attracted to him, but he’s probably right. He screams naughty boy while I’m the naïve girl. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to get to know him. Something exists between us on a level I don’t understand quite yet. I need more time with him. “My car won’t start, and I don’t have reception in there.”
He nods and walks to my car, leans in, and then pops the hood. “Try to start it again.”
I don’t question him, since he seems to know what he’s doing, and I turn the key with the same result.
“It’s your spark plugs. I can change them. Just gotta go to the shop and get them.”
“Okay.”
He slams the hood then starts to walk away. I watch him, not sure what to do. He’s so intriguing, so quiet, yet so evasive. The reasons my heart pounds. He’s the bad boy with the soft heart. The guy your parents don’t want you to date. The man who would protect you until his last breath.
He turns his head so he can see me over his shoulder. “You coming?”
Locking the door behind me, I hurry and catch up, having to practically run to keep up with him. My flats are much more comfortable this time, and when we get to a shady neighborhood a half a mile away, I automatically reach for his arm.
He glances down at me. “Don’t be scared.” His Adam’s apple moves slightly, and his eyes darken before he looks away from me. Again, his eyes are all over the place, looking for something or someone. I don’t know — don’t want to know — but whatever it is, I wouldn’t want it to be me.
With a quick stop, he opens the door to an old beat-up pickup truck and ushers me inside, holding my hand to help me. I get in without hesitation. Normally, I’d be skeptical of any other guy, but not him. I feel like I’ve known him my entire life. He comes around to the other side, grabs a key from under the floor mat, then climbs in and starts the big rumbly truck.
“Where are we going?”
“To fix your car.”
“How have you been?”
As he’s turning a corner, he grunts.
“Really?” I reply sarcastically. “That’s fantastic. I’ve been swell myself, thank you so much for asking.”
His lips tilt up on the side, and I sigh at how handsome he looks when he’s happy.
“You should smile more often,” I suggested.
“I didn’t smile.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Whatever.” He smiles even bigger.
I do an exaggerated raise the roof motion. “You totally did. I love it, though. Makes you look less of a criminal when you do.”
In a millisecond, the mood changes in the cab, and the small upturn of his lips has transformed into a hard line. Fuck, I’m an idiot.
I shut my mouth and look out the window. A short five minutes later, he pul
ls into an auto body shop and kills the engine. I hop out of the truck with him and hurry to his side since we’re in a worse neighborhood than before.
He unlocks a door and then hits some lights to illuminate the place. I stick by his side as he grabs some tools and car stuff, and then follow him back out to his truck. He sets his stuff on the bench seat between us as we climb back in, and we take off.
By the time we get back, the sun is beginning to set, and a chill is in the air when I jump down from his truck. He nods at the hood, and I unlock the door with my key fob, and then pull the lever to pop the hood.
I sit on the curb watching him work. He’s quick and confident, only stopping to grab a different tool or set something down. After about forty minutes, he slams the hood, picks up his stuff, and then tosses it back in his truck.
“Keys,” he says, holding out his greasy hand.
I toss them at him, and he leans in to start the car. He steps back and points in the general direction of my vehicle. “You should be good now.”
“Thank you.” I stand up, bend down to pick up my purse, and then turn to ask him if I can see him again, but he’s already in his truck.
The roar of the engine echoes as he pulls out of the garage, and when I blink, he’s gone.
I feel like shit for upsetting him but also infuriated and frustrated that he just left — again. So I go back to where we got his truck from, assuming it’s his house, but it’s not there. I drive to the garage, even though being alone in this neighborhood scares the shit out of me. Of course, he’s not there either.
My heart sinks and tears burn my eyes. I thought I’d never see him again, and when I do, he saves me for the second time and then takes off as if I don’t mean shit to him.
* * *
Ty
God, she’s fuckin’ pretty. With her big blue eyes and long blond hair that frames her angelic face. The freckles that dance across her angelic face make me want to kiss every one of them. Her pouty lips beg for mine. Her skin pleads for the tips of my fingers to trace every inch of it.
But I can’t. I’ll never be able to. She’s too good. Too pure. Too innocent.
