Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1)
Page 43
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I felt my arm shake and heard my name from the darkness of sleep. “Liz…”
I slowly opened my eyes to figure out where I was. When I realized I had fallen asleep on Patrick’s shoulder, I sat upright, embarrassed. “Uh. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. That’s not why I woke you.” Patrick handed me a cup of water. “We’re landing soon. I didn’t think you’d want to wake to the plane shaking as it landed.”
“Thanks. Yeah, it probably would have freaked me out.” I quickly drank the water. It felt good. My mouth was so dry. “I’m glad you woke me. I might have woken up screaming or something when the plane landed. That would have been bad.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that the rest of passengers would have reacted well.” He laughed.
Sometimes it was scary to think how well Patrick knew me. Most of the time, though, it was nice. Nice to know I had a friend that I didn’t have to put up a facade for. I folded up the blanket, to try to fully wake myself up. I was still really tired and couldn’t help but yawn.
Once we landed and pulled up to the gate, Patrick called home. “Hi, Dad. Yeah, we’ve landed. The flight was fine. It was a long day, Liz slept the entire way back.” There was a short pause. “That’s a good idea. Okay, bye.”
“What’s a good idea?” I was still tired, but I knew I missed something.
“My dad suggested that I drive you home and he’ll pick me up at your place. You know, to save you the extra drive.”
“I don’t mind taking you home. After all you did for me. It’s the least I can do.”
“But you’re tired. I would feel better if you were at home sleeping instead of dropping me off and driving home by yourself.” I couldn’t help but make a face. “Besides, it’d make my folks worry about you, and you wouldn’t want that. Now, would you?”
Great. Make me feel bad that his parents would worry about me. “No, I don’t.”
“So, let’s drive you home and my dad will just pick me up there.”
I was too exhausted to fight it and it did make sense. “Wait. He doesn’t know where I live.”
Patrick looked at me a little guilty. “I left your address on the fridge, along with your phone number. Just in case. My folks are cool, they just like information, in case of emergencies and stuff.”
I wished my parents were more like his—protectiveness balanced with understanding and trust. People you could have a healthy relationship with. Nope, not going to happen with my parents.
Patrick wouldn’t let me drive home. He insisted on driving my car. To be honest, I knew he was right and I shouldn’t be driving, so I let him. When we got there, his dad was already parked in front of my house.
We walked over to his dad, who sat in his car. “Hi, Dad.”
“Mr. Connor, thank you for letting Patrick come. It really helped me…a lot. Made a big difference.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad he’s a good friend and helped.”
I smiled, “Yes, he’s a great friend. Lindsey was great too. We all went to the zoo this afternoon and had a lot of fun.”
“That’s good.” Mr. Connor smiled back. “Liz, if you need anything, Mrs. Connor and I are here. You are always welcome at the house. “
“Thank you.” I shook his hand. Patrick walked me to the front door. “Somehow, ‘thank you’, doesn’t seem enough. But I don’t know what else to say.”
“It’s more than you have to.”
I hugged him tightly. I pulled away and looked across the street at his dad. “If your parents ask what happened… I understand if you have to tell them. I don’t want you to lie to them because of me. It’s okay with me if you tell them, I trust you. I just don’t want anyone at school to know. I’m not ready for that. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for that.”
“Okay. Don’t worry. If my folks ask, I won’t go into details. But I won’t tell anyone else. This is for you to tell, whenever you are ready and want to.” He hugged me. “Go, get some rest. I’ll see you early tomorrow at Mr. D’s for the make-up quiz.”
“Okay. Night.”
“Good night, Liz.”
I unlocked the door and walked inside. I saw him walk to his dad’s car and waved back at me. He got into the car and they drove off. The house was just as I left it in the morning—dark and quiet. I got a glass of water and headed to my room. I looked down the hall at my parent’s room. A light flickered underneath the door, they were watching television. I went to their door and knocked.
“Yeah?” My dad answered through the closed door.
“I’m home. My flight was delayed.”
“Okay.”
That was it. That was the extent of my conversation with my dad upon coming home after testifying in court against a guy who attacked me. So, I got ready for bed, went to my room and shut the door. I fell asleep, exhausted.