His Secret

30|Shutting Down

Eve's POV

"You need a ride home, Bear?" dad asked as he parked in front of school.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. "I'll just carpool with the others."

"I love you, Bear."

Bear, that silly nickname dad gave me from since I was seven.

...

"Daddy, I think I see one!" younger me shouted as I ran further into the forest to catch the small, white rabbit.

"Eve wait!" he shouted as he chased behind me but I ignored him to catch the rabbitat.

I was determined to catch it. It was right there. How hard could it be?

The rabbit finally stopped in the middle of the forest, right in the open.

A big smile popped up on my face.

This was going to be easy.

I ran to catch it but the rabbit ran off again and I ended up landing on my face.

"Eve, I told you to wait."

I started to cry as I sat up.

He immediately pick me up and checked for bruises. "Oh no, looks like you have a boo boo on your knee."

I cried even harder. "Can you fix it daddy?"

He kissed it. "Feel better?"

I nodded. "Daddy, why does the rabbit keep running away from me? Does he not like me?"

"No, he is afraid of you. You're like a bear to him. He doesn't want to get hurt."

"So, am I a bear?"

"Do you want to be one?"

I nodded with a smile. "I don't want to be the one getting chased around."

"Okay from now on, you are a bear."

...

"I love you too dad."

When he drove off, I made my way to the others.

"I didn't know your dad was back in town," Belly said.

"Yes, he leaves tomorrow. How did you find out?"

"I saw him dropping you off," Chase said. "I wanted to say hi but I wasn't so sure if Steve liked ne anymore."

"Steve is the chillest man I've ever met. He literally makes us call him Steve!" Aaron praised.

I laughed. "Can we stop talking about my dad?"

"Look, it's Haze and his crew coming through the entrance," Aaron informed us.

I turned to the door to see him. Things didn't end well with us the last time and we never spoke since. He would usually send me a text but he hadn't even been online recently.

Today, he wore his black hoody with some jeans and sneakers. His facial expression was cold as ice and he had dark circles under his eyes.

I couldn't help but wonder if the way he looked was because of me or it was just that stupid, tough guy act he puts on at school.

Some guy accidentally walked across his path and Haze pushed him out the way.

Everyone in the surroundings physically tensed.

His crew shortly followed behind.

"Jeez, what's his problem?" Belly whispered.

"That guy is a psycho fighting his demons," Chase suggested.