The Challenge

by Bailey, Aubrey

  I looked out the window at the setting sun. I had been on the bus for about three hours now. I had the whole row to myself, so my feet were curled up on the seat next to mine. Luckily, there were outlets on the bus so I was able to charge my phone, which was now vibrating on my lap. It was a text message from Sam wondering when I'd come back. I texted her back, saying I'd return in a few weeks.

  "Do you know how much longer until the next stop?" I asked, looking at the lady on the other side of the bus. She had been really nice to me so far. Next to her was a sleeping seven year old girl.

  "I'd say about another hour," the lady said. "You haven't said where you're going."

  "My grandma's been sick lately, so I volunteered to stay with her for a while." I lied. Neither of my grandmothers had been sick since that fall awhile back.

  "Well, aren't you a good girl!" the lady commented.

  I smiled to hide the shame of lying to such a kind lady and looked back out the window. My phone rang and I checked Caller I.D. to see that it was Lena. She was the only one I'd talk to. Last time I ran away, Uncle Ethan called me and got me to talk for a few minutes. Someone then found me three hours later and I learned that Uncle Ethan had traced my call. I wasn't making that mistake again.

  "Hey, Le," I said quietly.

  "Hey. How's it going?" Lena asked.

  "Still another hour," I grumbled.

  "Oh that sucks," Lena said. "Hey, you remember where that dance friend of mine lives, right?"

  "Which one?" I asked.

  "Chelsea. Well, I gave her a shout and she said that if you needed to, you could stay with her." Lena said. "She told me to call her back with an answer after I finish talking with you. That way, she'd know when to expect you, and, if you needed, she can meet you at the bus terminal," Lena said.

  "So she really doesn't mind?" I asked in disbelief. I was planning on spending the time in a hotel or something. To be honest, I hadn't really thought it through completely.

  "Well...for the first week she's fine with it," Lena said. "But after that, it will be hard because she's got this competition coming up."

  "A week is fine. I can spend the rest of the time in a motel, like I planned."

  "I'll give her a call then," Lena said. "I'll call you back in like ten minutes."

  "Okay, bye," I said, then hung up. I looked over at the lady near me and was glad that she wasn't paying attention. Then I relaxed and tried to get some rest.

  By the time I got off the bus, my knees were sore from being curled up for so long.

  "Hey, Kristina!"

  I looked around for whoever called my name. Sure enough, there was Lena's friend, Chelsea. I had met her before when she visited Lena and she was gorgeous. Her parents were from Egypt, so she had an exotic look to her. She was taller than I was, with dark hair and hazel eyes. And you could definitely tell she was a dancer.

  "Hey, Chelsea, long time, no see," I said, walking over to her, dragging my suitcase-on-wheels. "Thanks so much for letting me stay with you."

  "Hey, it's no problem," Chelsea said. "Lena told me some of what happened. Sounds like a harsh split."

  I feigned a smile. The next few weeks were going to be rough and it was nice to know I was in good hands. It would be the first time I'd spent more than a day away from family and friends.

  HENRY

  Kris wasn't at the school the next day, or the day after that. I was beginning to worry. I called her house, but her uncle said she had gone off somewhere and wouldn't answer her mobile. I tried her phone, but got what I expected-no answer. Now I had become really worried. I even risked talking to one of the girls, against my better judgement. They just told me, rather harshly, that the only communication they had with Kris was text messaging.

  Things got worse when I realized that David was gone as well. Once I had noticed that, my mind traveled to the worst possible place. I was so distraught that I even asked Lauren about it.

  "How the hell should I know where he is?" Lauren snapped. There was no way she would ever be pleasant with me after I shunned her. "I'm not dating him anymore."

  "Whoever dates you next will likely try to kill himself to get away from you," I taunted her. She slapped me and stormed away.

  On the third day of her being gone, Lena approached me. "What happened between you and Kris?" she asked.

  "I don't know," I said. "Lauren cornered me at the bar on Friday and she tried getting me back, but I wouldn't and..."

  "You kissed her?" Lena asked.

  "She snogged me!" I said. "And I was mental, because first I was thinking about the times that I had kissed her..." I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Then I thought about the times I had kissed Kris and my mind just sort of switched to that mode. The next thing I know, I'm snogging her back!" I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. "God, am I ever going to stop getting myself into these messes?"

  "Probably not," Lena said. I tilted my head and looked at her. "Henry, I'm gonna ask you something that I asked Kris."

  "What?" I asked, lifting my head.

  "Do you love her?" Lena gave me a frown that I mirrored.

  That was the easiest question I'd been asked all year. Of course I did. She was a brilliant, sweet girl, whom I had developed such an intense chemistry with. She never ceased to make me laugh and I couldn't bare to see her cry. Plus, I couldn't think of any other reason why I would beat up David. I hadn't any other reason other than the fact that he hurt Kris very deeply somehow.

  "Yeah," I said. "I really do love her."

  "I'm worried," Lena said after a few minutes. I raised an eyebrow. "David's been gone as long as Kris has and I'm afraid of what might be going on. His parents have no clue where he is."

  "Where's Kris?" I asked.

  "I...I can't tell you right now," Lena said. "If things don't get any better by Friday, then I will tell you. She is in a safe place right now, so please don't worry."

  "Lena, let's go!" Lukas suddenly yelled. Lena gave me one last sad look before running over to her brother.

  After school, I decided to drive around L.A. I had nowhere to go and, as hard as I tried, I couldn't just drive away from myself and my...thoughts. I knew Kris wasn't in town anymore, but that still didn't stop me from looking around. By the time I got home, it was nearly six. On the fridge was a note for me.

  I know where she is.

  -D

  I stared at the note. "D"? That had to stand for David. I knew it was from David and I knew what he was talking about. I grabbed my phone and called Lena, telling her to come to my house as soon as possible.

  HENRY

  It seemed like it took forever for Lena to get there. With her came James, Lukas and Amanda. Amanda was still giving me the death stare and James and Lukas looked more curious than angry.

  "What's wrong?" Lena asked. I handed her the note. "Who's D?"

  "Who else?" I asked.

  "David," James said.

  "Yeah," I replied. "He knows where Kris is."

  "How would he know that?" Lena asked. "No one knows where she's gone."

  "He could have followed her." I said, trying to remember. Was he in the crowd that had gathered during the fight? "Lena...what did he do?"

  "What do you mean?" Lena asked.

  "He did something...something awful...to Kristina," I said. "That's why I got into the fight with him. She never told me what it was but I saw it in her eyes that, whatever he did, it scarred her deeply."

  "Well what do you think he did, exactly?" Lena asked.

  "I don't know. Beat her? Blackmailed her? Threatened her?" I started wondering aloud.

  Then Lena gave me the most immensely sad look I'd ever seen and it all hit me like a ton of bricks. It all made since, how she pushed me away the first time I came over drunk. How it took her so long to come off it. I had to sit down.

  "He didn't...I mean...He couldn't..." I was starting to go mental "Did he-"

  "Yeah, he did," Lena admitted.

  "Will you two tell
us what's going on!" James yelled.

  "I can't...tell all of you," Lena said. "It's bad enough that Henry knows. Kris is gonna kill me."

  "Here," I said, taking Lena's arm lightly and leading her into the kitchen. "So, how'd it happen?"

  "About a year ago..." Lena whispered. "There was this party. Kris and David were sorta broken up." Lena looked uncomfortable and kept her arms folded across her chest. I waited patiently for her to continue; I wanted her to tell me everything. "And...after a while, he told her he was sorry, so she forgave him. Then they danced for a long time and he kept feeding her drinks."

  "Of course he got her drunk," I muttered. Lena shrugged.

  "Well...sometime after midnight, they disappeared," Lena related. She dropped her arms and leaned against the table. "When I saw Kris again, she looked miserable and I could tell she was trying not to cry, so we quickly left. It took me hours to find out what had happened." I straightened and waited. "She told me he said he wanted to talk and so they went to a bedroom. He locked the door and for a few minutes they did talk. But then he started...touching and groping her. But he wouldn't stop when she told him to and when she tried to leave, he just..."

  "Raped her," I whispered, bitterly.

  "Yup," Lena said. She glanced out at the living room to the guys who were watching the telly.

  "But that's not even the worst part..." Lena paused and took a deep breath through her nose. "Several weeks later, she wasn't feeling good." I stopped breathing. "So, we skipped school and went to the doctor...he told her she was pregnant." Now, I was fuming. "Well she couldn't deal with it, so she left for a while and...you know...got rid of it."

  "Oh my word. The poor girl, no wonder she doesn't like talking about kids," I muttered in deep sympathy. Lena nodded. "Lena...you have to tell me where she went. If David knows, then there's no telling what he'd do. He's obviously absolutely bonkers." Lena's eyes suddenly widened and she looked at me with a terrified gaze.

  "He wouldn't know exactly where she is!" She tried to deny the truth.

  "I'm not so sure of that," I said.

  "Trust me, she's fine. She's staying with a friend of mine for the week, but then she's going to a hotel because my friend can't keep her for that long."

  "He'll find her in a bloody hotel," I said.

  "You can't go yet!" Lena cried. "Look...I'll call her and give her a heads up about David, but I won't tell her you know. She'll be fine as long as she's with Chelsea." She took my hand. "Kris is strong, but I don't know how she'll be after this."

  "I didn't mean..." I said.

  "I know," Lena said. "Just don't do anything until I call her, okay? Get some sleep and I'll talk to you at school tomorrow. I promise."

  "Fine," I agreed. "Don't reckon I'll sleep much, though."

  KRIS

  It was amazing how many movies Chelsea had. I spent most of my time in her apartment watching almost all of them. She even had Pulp Fiction , Henry's favorite, but I decided not to watch it for obvious reasons. It wasn't so bad there-not nearly as bad as I thought. At least there was less drama.

  I jumped when I heard my phone ring . It was Lena calling again.

  "Hey...are you okay?" She asked before I could even say hello.

  "Yeah, just watching movies," I said.

  "Okay, well..." Lena said. "The reason I'm calling is because I think David knows where you are."

  "What?" I asked. "How did you find that out?"

  "Well, he's been gone the whole time you've been gone," Lena said. "And he left Henry a note saying he knew where you were." Lena said. "I saw it. And, Kris...it was definitely his writing."

  "Wait, how did you see it?" I asked.

  "Henry uh...called me over," Lena said.

  "Lena, there's something you're not telling me," I probed.

  "I...umm...I told him what happened," Lena said, quickly. I was quiet. "Kris, I'm sorry, but you should have seen him. He was seriously freaking out." I remained silent. "Kris? Kris, sweetie, please talk to me."

  "You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone," I said finally, flipping my phone shut.

  I couldn't blame her for telling him. I guess he really did have the right to know. But that didn't mean I wish she had. That was really something I should have told him about. I looked up when Chelsea came in and forced a smile across my face. I'm pretty sure it wasn't very convincing, though. She had been so hospitable to me and I didn't want to seem ungrateful.

  Shit always had a way of falling apart on me.

  HENRY

  ON FRIDAY, LENA finally told me where Kris was...Las Vegas! A bloody four hour drive away. I couldn't just sit idly by while some lunatic was out searching for her. I decided to leave and try to see Kris, even though there wasn't a shot in hell she'd want anything to do with me.

  "Is there a radio station that isn't playing a bloody love song?" I muttered to myself, switching stations for the seventeenth time in an hour. Two more hours to go and my heart couldn't settle down a bit. I stared at the radio for a while in anger before my eyes shot back to the road.

  "Eh, fuck the speed limit," I said, pushing hard on the pedal.

  KRIS

  "Sorry about having to leave early, Kristina," Chelsea apologized.

  "Hey, it's no problem," I reassured her. "I was gonna leave today, anyway. Thanks so much for taking me in for a few days."

  "You're making it sound like you're a stray," Chelsea said, hugging me.

  "I am...in a way," I said.

  "You are not," Chelsea said. "You, Miss Kristina, are very much loved by many people."

  I hugged her tight. She was so kind to me, just like Lena. She had picked me up at the bus stop, kept me in her home and now she even drove me to the hotel and walked me to my room. I bid her goodbye after thanking her for the hundredth time and shut the door. I lay down on the bed when my phone vibrated, yet again, on the bedside table. I didn't know who was calling and I didn't care. I let it go to voicemail and, once it stopped, I picked it up to see who had called. Okay, so I did care. It was Henry. I frowned. What was he calling for? I hesitated for a moment then I checked the voicemail.

  "Hey, Kris. Look, I'm terribly sorry about what happened and I hope you can forgive me. I'm really worried about you, love. Lena told me about David and it's freaking all of us out that he's been gone since you left. Can you just please... please , Kris...call me back soon. Even if it's just to yell at me," Henry's voice sounded more worried than ever. "Bye, I love you, pet."

  I deleted the message then scrolled through my contacts. I stopped at Henry's number. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I had pressed the talk button and held the phone to the side of my head, listening to its hollow ring.

  "Kris?" Henry's voice came through. I froze. "Kris? You there?"

  "Uh...sort of," I said. God, that was dumb.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Uh...why?"

  "So you haven't seen David?"

  "He wouldn't be able to find me," I said. Nevertheless, I went to the window and peeked outside.

  "There's always the chance he could."

  "Where are you?" I asked suddenly.

  "About an hour from the hotel, give or take ten minutes," Henry replied.

  "Lena told you," I said, sighing.

  "I was worried, so I made her tell me," Henry said. "Don't get mad at her,"

  "I'm not," I said.

  "Good," Henry said.

  "Once you get off the highway, take the Wellington Road exit going north," I said, without even thinking. "The first hotel on the right is where I am. Room..." I went to the door and opened it. "...95."

  "Fine," Henry said. "Stay put then, alright, Pet?"

  "I make no promises." Both of us gave fake laughs, then we hung up. I grimaced as I closed the door and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  About half an hour went by and I was wondering what I was going to do when Henry showed up. I jumped when there was a knock on the door. More of a banging, really.

  I
was afraid that it was an angry Henry, but I knew we needed to talk, so I got up and went to the door. I didn't think to look through the peep hole, seeing as how Henry was a fast driver.

  WHEN I OPENED the door, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I automatically stepped back and went to close the door, but his hand came out and stopped it.

  "'Ello, pet ," David said in a sinister, booze-soaked British accent. I backed up even more and he came into the room, closing the door. I heard a click and knew he had locked it. That was never a good thing when he was involved.

  "What do you want?" I asked.

  "Do you really have to ask?" He sneered.

  I knew I didn't and that just make him look even more satisfied. He moved forward, grabbed my arms and pinned me down on the bed. A thousand burning memories went tearing through my mind.

  "Let go!" I shouted, struggling to get out of his hold. He was bigger than Henry, so I had no chance fighting against him. I was as helpless as last time.

  "Now why would I do that?" David growled.

  My instincts came into action and I thrust my knee up to connect with his crotch. That worked and he quickly let go of me. I scrambled off the bed and almost made it to the door, before he grabbed me again.

  "David..." I whined.

  "That wasn't smart," David said.

  My eyes grew wide with fear, as he pushed me to the wall, his hands locked around my wrists. "You're gonna wish you didn't do that."

  HENRY

  I leaned nearly all the weight of my body on the accelerator. I could see the skyline of Vegas on the horizon and luckily I hadn't passed any cops through the desert. It was supposed to be the first hotel off the highway, on the Wellington Road exit. But the Wellington road exit split into three different roads before there was a single hotel. "God damn it, Kris," I muttered, getting back into the car, after checking a hotel and not finding her there. "You could have given me a bit more information."