“Drake?” I squint to get rid of the slightly blurry vision. He nods and lifts me into his arms, taking me to the bed. I don’t bother to fight him as he sits and pulls me into his lap.
Drake hands me two pills and a glass of water. “Take these.” He drops the pills into my hand, and I do. I don’t ask what it is; I just trust him enough to know it’ll help. Once I’ve taken medicine, I curl into him and tuck my head under his chin. It’s comfortable, especially when his fingers slowly and softly brush up and down my arms, then my back, then rub soothing circles on my hip.
“What happened?” I ask, not remembering much from the night.
“Do you remember anything?”
“Th-there was a clown and I- I was so weak. I hated it.”
With his fingers tucked under my chin, he tilts it up and kisses my forehead softly. “He tried to take you, but we stopped him, and he’s in jail now,” Drake informs me curtly, and I nod, tucking my head back under his chin and hiding my face in his shirt. I should’ve been able to defend myself.
I bury my face deeper in his neck, clinging to his shirt.
Drake wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer. “It’s not your fault, Flower,” he tells me, then lifts my chin again. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.”
“I do,” I mumble. Drake sighs, his eyes closing briefly.
When he opens them again, he says, “Not when I’m around.” Then he lowers his head and captures my lips with his. The kiss is slow and soft. He pours his emotions, fear, anger, and love into the action, then he slides me into his lap, making me straddle him.
When we pull away, our heavy breathing mixes, our lips sitting mere inches away from each other. I brush my lips to Drake’s in a soft kiss before wrapping my arms and legs around him. He’s right. If I have him around, I can lean on his strength. Tonight showed me that more than anything, but he’s been my rock since I met him.
It’s a comforting thought.
“Thank you,” I whisper-yawn. I take up my earlier position, leaning against Drake’s body with my face in the crook of his neck. “I’m sleepy,” I murmur, feeling exhaustion take over. Slowly and carefully, Drake lifts me off of him and lays me on the bed. When he moves to leave, I grab his hand, lacing our fingers. “Stay,” I mumble, half asleep.
A second later, he climbs under the covers, lays one arm under my head as a pillow, and wraps the other arm around my waist. His warmth seeps in, and I hum in approval. My own personal teddy bear, I think as I curl into his chest. As I’m falling asleep, I hear him whisper, “I love you.”
~*~
“How ya feeling?” Chase asks as I hop up on the kitchen counter. All four guys shoot concerned looks my way.
“I’m fine,” I growl. Since I slept through Saturday night and yesterday, I’m fine… well, in the health department. On the other hand, my anger is at an all-time high- like a level red danger zone.
“Dude, she’s got a murder-y vibe going on. She’s gonna kill us all,” Ross whispers loudly to Alec, who smacks him on the back of the head. I cut my eyes at him and huff in annoyance.
“I’m fine, guys. Furious at that man and myself, but I’m fine.” They nod in response, each watching me with a different expression. Ross, like I’m going to explode or break at any minute. Chase with interest. Alec with concern. Drake with anger and concern. Without another word, I go to the front door and Alisha’s house.
When I get to the house, I quickly change into a pair of black shorts and a loose, short-sleeved purple shirt. I put on my hidden heel sneakers and grab my wallet and phone, sliding them into my pockets. I pull my hair into a half up and half down bun and run out of the house. These days, I do everything I can to avoid my step-family. They haven’t bothered me as much since I’m mainly at Drake’s place, so it’s not too bad.
Drake meets me on his bike, and I nod, letting him know I’m ready. Once I’m on, we drive away. We’re both skipping school today, so I can go to the police station to give my version of what happened Saturday night. I’m a bit nervous, mainly because my name will get out, and having my name out in the open gets attention, and I don’t want that. However, I need to do this, so my attacker doesn’t get away and hurt anyone else.
It doesn’t take long to get to the station, and when we do, Drake tells me he’ll wait outside. I don’t blame him because he’s getting some cautious looks from the officers standing outside. He’s not exactly a cute and cuddly guy to everyone except me; he looks dangerous, especially with all his tattoos.
I make my way inside and up to the front desk. The woman sitting there looks up and smiles. “How can I help you?”
“I’m here to talk to…” I trail off, pulling the paper out of my pocket. “Uh, Officer Drew and O’Hara,” I read, and she holds up a finger and grabs a phone.
“Officer O’Hara, there’s a young woman here to see you and Officer McKinley,” she says into the phone. She hums a response and says okay before hanging up. The woman smiles again. “He’s on his way. He wasn’t at the original scene, but Officer Drew had a prior engagement. Oh, there he is. Officer McKinley,” she calls out, pointing to the large, muscular man walking our way.
My eyes bug out of my head when I recognize him. “Jason?”
“Athena? Wait, you’re the girl that…” he trailed off, an angry expression flashing through his eyes. I nod, answering the unspoken question. How’d I not know he was a cop? Better question; how’d I not know he was back?
Jason is an old friend, like a brother. He’s five years older than me, and he left for college right before my dad died. I thought he’d come to see us when Dad died, but he never showed up.
“What? When did you come back to town?” I ask, throwing my arms around his waist and squeezing.
“About half a year ago.” I follow him to a desk that has his name on it, and we sit down. I take this moment to look him over. Jason looks different, but the same… I don’t know. He’s taller and more muscular, but his light brown hair is the same, and his blue eyes still stand out. He still has the familiar smattering of freckles across his nose and the tiny scar on his chin from where I fell on him and caused him to bust it years ago while we were trying to ride the same bike.
“Why didn’t you come to see Mason and me?”
He sighs and drags his hand through his hair. “I tried,” he answers. “You were at school, and that lady you call your mother told me you didn’t want to see me because I left you,” he says, a hint of sadness in his voice and his eyes.
I slam my fist on the desk and jump to my feet. “That little-” I curse. “I never wanted you to leave, Jason. I needed my big brother.” My volume softens with every word. A tear falls from my eye, and I furiously wipe it away, making Jason stand up.
He pulls me into a hug. I clutch the back of his shirt in fists. “I’m sorry, Thea. I’m so sorry,” he mutters into my hair as I hold on as my life depends on it. I’m not mad at him, really, but I just… I needed him, and he wasn’t there.
“What the hell is this?” A voice growls, making me look up to find Drake standing there, anger painted across his face. Jason sees Drake, too, and pushes me behind him a bit.
“Who are you?”
Before anything can happen, I lay a hand on Jason’s arm and step around him. I wish people didn’t take one look at Drake and think, ‘danger!’
“Jason, everything’s fine,” I tell him, and he looks down at me. “This is my boyfriend, Drake,” I continue, and Jason looks up at Drake. “Drake, this is Jason… he’s a close friend.”
“Were you the one that called us about the piece of sh- scum that tried to hurt Thea?” He asks, and Drake looks at me then back at Jason.
“No, my friend did. I was holding her when the officers got there.”
Jason turns to look at me and offers a small smile. “Speaking of that night, we should get your statement.” We all sit at his desk as he pulls out an official-looking document, which I assume is for witness testimony.<
br />
“Athena, tell me what happened,” he instructs.
“I left the game room to get water, and because Drake had told me not to drink something open, I got a bottle. When I got to the drink cooler, I grabbed a water bottle, checked the seal, then opened it,” I tell him. “I was walking back to the game room when some guy in a creepy clown costume bumped into me and grabbed my arm so I wouldn’t fall. I thought he was just nice to help me, but I think that’s when he slipped the drug in my drink,” I explain and pause so Jason can write everything down.
“Continue,” he says, looking up at me. I nod and cross my legs in my chair, leaning my elbows on my knees. “Um, I went outside and sat on the lawn to drink the water. I wanted some air, so I stayed out for about ten minutes, I think. After that, I decided I should go back inside so Drake wouldn’t worry if I took too long,” I say, glancing at my boyfriend, who grimaces, which tells me he feels guilty for not coming for me sooner.
Reaching over, I grab and gently squeeze his hand to let him know I don’t blame him.
“That’s when I started feeling dizzy. I stumbled inside, and that’s when the clown found me. I tried to fight back, but my entire body just felt weak. I don’t know, but I felt like my body was getting heavy and slow,” I grumble. I look at both guys in front of me to see identical angry expressions on their faces. I understand and appreciate the anger, too. It tells me they care.
“What happened next?” Jason asks, making me bite my lip.
“Uh, I yelled, I think. But then he was dragging me away. I don’t remember much after that,” I admit. He nods, writing a few details down.
Once he’s done writing, he sighs. “Well, you can thank your boyfriend for saving you. He beat that man pretty badly, but if he hadn’t, we might not have been able to find you,” Jason tells me truthfully, and I shudder.
Drake’s face hardens, and he stands. “I wouldn’t let that happen. I would’ve killed him,” Drake growls, making Jason’s eyebrows raise.
“Watch what you say, kid,” he warns, but Drake merely glares at him, then sits down. He mutters something under his breath and grabs my hand, waffling our fingers together. I smile at his show of affection and turn back to Jason.
“So, what’ll happen to the man?”
“He’s going to jail for five to ten years. No trial, since we have the drugs he used, the water you drank, and eyewitness accounts of several people that saw him carry you away,” he tells me. I nod. A silence falls over us, and I notice Drake standing up out of the corner of my eye. I look up at him as he runs a hand through his hair.
“Ready?”
I glance at Jason and sigh, “Um, actually, I want to stay here for a bit. I’ll meet you back at home?” Drake’s eyes flicker to Jason, who nods, and then he looks back at me. “Okay, I’ll see you later,” he tells me, pecking my lips. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I smile and watch him. After he disappears through the door, I turn my attention back to a smirking Jason. “What?” He just shrugs, his smirk changing to an amused grin.
“Nothing… come on, we’re going to get lunch,” he tells me, standing and grabbing my elbow; not in a harmful or forceful way, though. I let him guide me out to a black Camaro, and we climb in.
Jason pulls away and onto the road, asking, “So, how’s Mason?” My eyes widen as I realize I haven’t seen or talked to Mason since Wednesday, and I haven’t told him what happened. He won’t be happy that I left him out of the loop. Quickly, I pull my phone out and call him.
The phone rings a few times before he answers, “Thea, is something wrong? Why are you calling me during school?” He asks, and I mentally curse myself. I forgot about school.
“Sorry, I just need to talk to you. Um, wanna ditch?” I ask, and Jason gives me a pointed look. I shrug. What else am I going to do?
“Sure, what do you have in mind?” I look to Jason and cover the speaker.
“Where are we going?”
“I was thinking about just going to Roscoe’s for burgers,” he tells me, and I nod. I could eat a burger, and that’s Mason’s favorite burger place.
I take my hand off the speaker and tell Mason to “Meet me at Roscoe’s ASAP.” He agrees, saying he’ll be there soon. We hang up, and Jason glances at me.
“We can just run by the school and pick him up.”
“No, we can’t,” I mutter angrily, my mind turning to Alisha. We pull up to Roscoe’s lot, and Jason parks.
“Why not?” He questions, turning in his seat, so he’s facing me. I do the same and lay my hands in my lap. The curious and confused expression, along with the tapping of his fingers on the steering wheel, tells me he’s impatient for the answer. The last time he saw Mason, we were a happy family.
“Alisha called child services because I wouldn’t be her little slave, and she got them to take Mason away to an orphanage a couple of towns over.”
“She what? She can’t do that. You’re-”
“Only seventeen. Alisha technically never adopted us. I’m not exactly sure how she did it, but she did,” I tell him, and he frowns, clearly unhappy.
“She tried to pull some Cinderella crap and make me be her little maid, but I eventually refused. I’m not so Cinderella-like that I’d lay down and take it, but she thinks she owns me,” I inform him and get out of the car. Jason stays quiet and stays seated. Turning, I stare at him through the window as he slams his fist on the steering wheel.
It only takes a minute of his anger before he climbs out, and we silently walk into the restaurant. A woman seats us quickly, giving us menus.
We order drinks and decide to wait for Mason to order our lunch. The same woman who seated us brings us our drinks, which is when Mason comes running in. He frantically looks around, and when he spots me, he gives me a relieved smile. “Is everything okay?” He exclaims.
“It is now, thanks to Jason,”
His eyes narrow on Jason, then widen in realization. “Jason? Wow, you’re a cop! Wait, you’re back? When did you get here? How did you find Athena?” He spits out question after question quickly. Jason laughs and shakes his head while I grab Mason’s hand and pull him down on a seat.
“Yeah, it’s me. Yeah, I’m a cop. I got back half a year ago,” Jason answers. Mason continues staring. Last time Mason saw Jason was years ago. He always looked up to Jason a lot when he was our neighbor. Jason would play with Mason, and as he got older, he coached Mason in soccer.
“So, about your situation with the foster home and everything… I think I can help you out,” Jason says with a smile. “I don’t like the thought of you guys separated.” Mason and I nod for him to continue. If anyone knows how to get us out of this situation, it’s a cop who’s a good friend. “Well, I know your birthday is soon, but I might be able to help you get custody early if you want.” If I want? Of course, I want that. There’s nothing I want more than to have my family with me.
“Yes!” I yell, then cover my mouth when people stop and stare. I give them a shy smile, turn away, and lean in to listen. “How?” I ask, and he smiles.
“I have some people who owe me favors,” he shrugs. “Let me talk to some people, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, okay?”
“Thank you!” I squeal, climbing out of my seat and hugging him. He laughs, and I let go, then embrace my brother.
Maybe something will go right for once.
Chapter 25
Athena
“Okay, Jason. I’ll tell him, thank you so much!” I exclaim, and he chuckles, saying bye. Once he hangs up, I break into a happy dance and squeal. I know, very girlie. I can squeal right now if I want to. Jason just told me I have a private custody hearing at the courthouse tomorrow. I’m so excited.
It’s been a week since I first talked to Jason about the situation with Mason and me. I was getting worried, but today changes everything.
I dial Mason’s number. Three rings later, he answers, breathing heavily, “Hey, Thea. What’s up?”
“So,
I talked to Jason, and I have some good news.” I hear him take in a gulping breath, staying silent to gauge his reaction.
“Is it happening? Did he get the judge to agree?”
“Yeah! We’re going tomorrow,” I say and rub my cheeks. They hurt from smiling so much.
Mason makes a noise of excitement on the other side of the phone before he yells, making me laugh. “What time do I need to be there?”
“We ‘re meeting the judge at three, so be there before that,” I answer, and he says okay. Next, we talk about his next soccer game on Thursday night, which is in two days. I’ve enjoyed going to his games and seeing him do something other than race his bike and fight. There are other things he can do in his life besides put himself in danger.
“Yeah, what time does it start?” I ask, hearing him shuffle on his end. He’s probably getting out of soccer practice at the moment, which explains the panting.
“I have to be at the school early, but the game starts at six. If you want good seats, I suggest you come early, too,” Mason tells me. He’s spent years watching me fight, so the least I could do is get a good seat to watch him play.
“That’s fine. Hopefully, you’ll be here tomorrow so we can work it out then if we need to,” I tell Mason, and he sighs.
“Me too, Thea. I’m glad I get to come home. Everyone here is nice, but I miss you,” he tells me, making me smile. Mason and I have always been close, never fighting because we knew we only had each other. We depended on each other and couldn’t afford to fight, verbally or physically.
“I miss you too, but tomorrow will change that,” I state confidently. Honestly, if tomorrow goes terribly, I don’t know what I’ll do. After everything that’s happened to us, I have to remind myself to be positive; however, it just feels like the other shoe is about to drop. I promised Mason that I’d take care of myself, but if I can’t get custody of him, I just don’t know. I need him in my life, and I don’t want to wait.
With a sigh, I realize I sound like a brat, demanding things go my way so that I don’t have to be patient. It’s just hard.
Not So Cinderella Page 23