Drake ✔️

Chapter 73

Maya

I breathe in the crisp winter air as I step out into the cold, hugging my coat around my body to ward off the chill of this early December evening.

The boat party was a few weeks ago now, and I've only seen Alex a handful of times since. We've met up outdoors around my side of town, then we've talked and driven around in his car. He hasn't come to my house since that night, not once, and I'm glad. I've seen Hunter around school but he hasn't so much as glanced in my direction when he's passed me in the halls. I think he believes I've ended things with Alex, and so long as Alex and I cool off on the time we spend at my house, I think we're out of the woods as far as Hunter's concerned.

I still haven't told Alex what Hunter said to me, and I have no intention of telling him. Because last weekend, Alexander finally caved and took me to his apartment. 

Suffice it to say, it did not go well. 

I sit down on the low stone wall lining the fountain in my back yard, kicking off my shoes and socks as I sit. It's freezing out, and I hate the cold, but whatever. I wanna feel numb, I wanna do something crazy tonight, and while dipping my toes into ice cold water may not be the wildest thing I could possibly do. It's wild enough for me. 

I really do hate the cold. 

I wince as I submerge my feet into the icy water. It stings, but it's a welcome sting. It takes my mind off of the horrendous experience I had at Alex's place a few days ago. He picked me up, he drove me to the southside, he showed me into the apartment he shares with his father. It was fine, I mean, I was pretty bummed out when I saw the shithole he lives in, but it was what I expected. I always knew Alex and me came from totally different walks of life, but I guess actually seeing it with my eyes was a bit of a wake up call for me.  

He showed me around, which took all of ten seconds, then we moved to leave the apartment. We'd already agreed we weren't gonna hang around his place all night in case his father showed up, I just wanted to see it. I just wanted the inside track on his private life. 

And boy did I get it when his father did show up, right as we were leaving. We were caught pretty by Joaquin and two of his cronies, and it was awful. They said terrible things about me, they were inappropriate, rude and downright nasty. The comments they made about my appearance made my skin crawl, and Alex defended me as best he could. He even made up some excuse about us being school friends that were working on a project together, but Joaquin didn't buy it. He was convinced I was 'pussy' that Alex had taken home, and I felt sick to my stomach when Joaquin and his friends suggested that they're more capable of showing me a good time than Alex is. 

Seriously, I almost threw up on the street corner after I rushed out of the building with Alex. 

Emotions ran a little wild; he got into a fight with Joaquin and the two men before we made our getaway, and it wasn't pretty. Alex's lip was busted and his knuckles were coated in his fathers blood. Before I left the apartment, the last thing I saw was Joaquin's body being thrown into the glass coffee table in the tiny living room. So much violence, so much depraved behaviour. It's just not my world. 

Alex was real quiet after we left. We got in his car and he drove me out of the southside without delay, and without stopping by the emergency room like I tried to persuade him to do. He wouldn't hear of it, he just wanted to get me home. To get me safe. 

I tried to comfort him about what had just happened. I told him I didn't care; just because his father was a dick to me doesn't mean it's gonna change my opinion on him. And just because it hadn't gone to plan didn't mean it had to ruin our plans. I reminded him about how much I want him - how much I still want him, in spite of what happened - but he was just so... quiet. He didn't have much to say to me at all, and as I sat there in his car, unwilling to get out and leave him after he pulled up along the road by the stone wall surrounding daddy's property, I hated the energy in the car between us, I hated the tangible shift in the vibe between us. It felt like something changed, and when I got out of the car and closed the door, it felt like I was closing a book after finishing it. It felt so final, and I hated it.