Trapped

9

n i n e

And there she was. She looked good, too good to be visiting someone like me. If anything, I was surprised that she was here. Maybe she actually meant all of those things that she said. How did she find me here? So many questions were running through my mind.

"Hey, Chris." She said and our eyes slowly met.

"Hey..." I said, leaning against the door frame.

I watched as she watched my every move.

"I thought that you might want this back." she said, holding my hoodie out.

So that's why she came...

"And my socks?" I asked, coldly.

"I didn't bring those..." she said, staring at me with those beautiful eyes.

There was silence between us, and I was thinking of closing the door.

"Why, Chris?" she finally said and looked at her with confusion. "A group home..."

"Dreams really do come true, don't they." I said and her facial expression changed.

"That's not funny Chris. You were supposed to leave." she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What?"

"You were supposed to leave, it's what we talked about."

"Hold on, you're mad at me for waiting with you after you passed out?"

"Yes! They would have found me. And maybe you wouldn't be here."

"Na'lini... there is no need for guilt. You know that I won't be here for long." I said and her facial expression softened a bit.

"What I don't understand is why you're even here in the first place."

"My foster parents lied and said I ran away."

"Oh... I'm sorry." she said stepping forward. My dad didn't know you were with me. He thought that you came with the alarm."

"Well, there only so much that I can tell the police. And you know CPS thought that this was the best possibility for me."

"That sucks..." she groaned, and I almost smiled at her. "How come you haven't been in school?"

"I've been around."

"I thought that you could sit with me at lunch... if you wanted to." she said my nostrils flared.

"I'm good." I said and she nodded her head. "Better get back to what I was doing."

"Okay, I'll see you around I guess." she said, turning around to leave.

I closed the door behind me, mentally cursing myself for just doing that. What was she doing to me?

Na'lini POV

I didn't think that that question would have offset him like that. I frowned and walked back to my car. Maybe one day he be more open to spending time with me. I shrugged it off and hopped inside. Maybe the bracelet on his wrist didn't mean anything to him. Nothing meant anything to him, and nothing mattered when it came to him. It was clear that day that he didn't want anything to do with me and now that that was in the air, I could stop worrying about him.

I didn't expect to see my father sitting on the couch when I came home.

"And where have you been?" my father asked, making me stop dead in my tracks.