Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Chase. You stupid or what? I said get me another drink.”
I didn’t know what came over me, what made me shove off the couch and look him in the eyes without trying to hide my hate of him. “No.”
“What did you say to me, boy?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“I said no!”
Before I realized what was happening, he was on his feet. His arm swung through the air, and I stumbled backward when his hand connected with my face. It had been open-handed, and I was lucky for that. Still, pain shot through me, and fear took over. He came at me again, and I ran, through the living room and out the door.
I heard him call after me, but I didn’t stop, just kept running along the path through the woods surrounding our house on the outskirts of town.
When I was far enough away that I knew he wouldn’t still be coming after me, I fell into the leaves and cried.
God, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Couldn’t wait to leave Havenwood and never come back. I’d find my mom…maybe she went to that lake house in North Carolina. We went there one summer, the three of us. Dad hadn’t been drinking at the time, and it was the best few weeks we ever had. I could find her, and we’d be happy, a family, without him.
I didn’t know how long I sat there before I heard the crunch of leaves. My eyes darted up and landed on this kid—Griffin, I thought his name was. We were in the same grade, but Griffin had been held back in kindergarten, so he was a year older.
“Hey…you okay?”
Shame washed over me. God, I was sitting there crying in the middle of the woods. He would tell everyone. They’d all make fun of me.
“I’m fine,” I bit out, turning away from him.
“You’re, um…under your eye. It’s bruising and swelling some. What happened?” When I didn’t reply, he added, “Did someone hit you?”
“I’m fine,” I snapped again. That was all I needed, him to try and save me. I hated my dad, but I sure as shit didn’t want to get taken away from him either. Where the hell would I go? “I…fell.” Lamest excuse ever.
“Oh. You should be careful,” Griffin said softly. “You might fall harder next time, ya know? And if you keep falling, I’m going to have to get you some help.”
Anger shot through me, but there was something else there too. Appreciation. It was stupid. He didn’t know me. It wasn’t like Griffin could care, but it almost seemed like he did. No one paid much attention to my dad or me. Who gave a shit about George Hawthorne or his son?
“Hey, I got an idea,” Griffin said. “You wanna come to my house? We can put ice on your face and play video games. I bet Mom will let you stay the night. Maybe we can even order pizza.”
My eyes went wide, held his. Why would he try and be friends with me? I didn’t get why he’d care.
“Your parents won’t mind?” I asked with too much hope in my voice. I wanted to eat pizza and play video games and stay the night at Griffin’s house. I wanted to be his friend…to be like everyone else.
“Nope.”
This time, my eyes darted toward the ground, unable to stay on him. “What about my face? Will your mom ask about my…fall?”
“Probably. That’s how moms are, ya know?”
No…no, I didn’t know. My mom had left.
“We’ll tell her we were running and you tripped over a log, but like I said…if you keep falling, I’ll have to say something. You promise you’ll tell me?”
“Yeah…yeah, I promise.” I would have promised him anything to get to go to his place.
“Okay, let’s go.”
We got to his house, and his mom had baked chocolate-chip cookies. She fussed over my eye and then gave us each a cookie and said I could stay over. We had dinner together, and they asked about our day, and all I could think was…so this was what it was like to have a family? And I wanted it, wanted it more than anything.
After dinner, Griff’s dad, who was a therapist, they said, took me aside and asked about my eye. He wanted to make sure I was okay, and that if I wasn’t, I needed to tell him and he would take care of it, which I knew meant turning Dad in, which meant I’d get taken away, and now that I had Griff and his family, I wasn’t going anywhere.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “I just fell.” He let it go that time, but I didn’t think he would again.
I was best friends with Griffin Caine from that day forward. His family became my family. He always stuck by me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him.